I was hoping the Hawkeyes would make it a close game last Saturday in Indianapolis. Too much Michigan offense, defense for the victors and Iowa finishes 10-3. I had a bad feeling after the Wolverines took a 14-3 lead after the first quarter.
Michigan scored on a 67-yard run for a 7-0 lead. The Iowa defense doesn’t give up big plays like that. Then, the Hawks drove down and Caleb Shudak misses a chip shot 31-yard field goal. That’s not Shudak. The Wolverines took over, executed a perfect end-around pass from Donavan Edwards to Roman Wilson for 75 yards as the Iowa defensive backs were caught flat-footed. That was the first pass Edwards had ever thrown and it goes for a touchdown. That was the kind of day it was for Iowa. It didn’t help that Iowa was 1-of-9 on third-down conversions in the first half. Michigan racked up 461 total yards, 211 on the ground. Iowa had 279 total yards, 104 on the ground.
Spencer Petras was 9-of-22 for 137 yards but was replaced by Alex Padilla in the second half because of an apparent injury. Alex finished 10-of-15 for only 38 yards as the Hawkeye offense could not crack the Wolverine red zone. Galvin Williams and Tyler Goodson combined for 106 yards but neither had more than an 11-yard run. Sam LaPorta and Tyler each had six receptions but the Hawks could not break a big play over 28 yards. Tory Taylor had a decent day averaging 47.3 yards on seven punts although he did have one blocked that led to a Michigan score.
Michigan is in the college football playoffs and will be a tough team to beat. Iowa will play Kentucky Jan. 1 in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
Hawkeye men play two on the road
The Iowa Hawkeyes faced their toughest challenge so far, traveling to Virginia and No. 2 Purdue last week. Iowa led by 21 over Virginia but the Cavaliers came back and took a 71-70 lead with less than two minutes left. Thanks to Joe Toussaint and Patrick McCaffery, the Hawks pulled out a last-second win. Toussaint came down with eight seconds left, banked in a shot while double-teamed and Iowa led 75-74. Virginia had two shots to win but McCaffery blocked the last and the Hawks are 7-0.
I thought Jordan Bohannon would come out strong. He was 1-of-8 on his last 3-pointers, but made his first four threes, finished 6-of-9 with a season-high 20 points. I didn’t think Toussaint would finish with 10 points and no turnovers playing 26 minutes. He has improved as much as anyone taking over at point guard. For the season, he has a team-high 30 assists and only eight turnovers, is shooting 50% from the floor, 50% from three and is 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
The Hawks are shooting 81% from the charity stripe.
In their second game, Iowa gave second-ranked Purdue, who will be ranked No. 1 when you read this, a good game last Friday. The Hawks trailed by 19 in the second half, cut it to two with 2:40 left but missed their last seven shots and lost 77-70.
Iowa played tough the whole game without Keegan Murray, who was out with a sprained ankle. Purdue also controlled the boards 42-30. McCaffery (15), Kris Murray (14) and Tony Perkins (12) led the Hawks in scoring. I’ll give Iowa credit, down by 19 without their best player, playing hard until the end. Bohannon and Philip Rebraca, both starters, combined for seven points. I also have to give Josh Ogundele some play. I wasn’t too high on the big man from London, England. He played behind Luka Garza last year and only played in eight games. This year he has played in five and had his best game against Purdue, playing 16 minutes, scoring seven points and grabbing five rebounds, all career highs.
Hawkeye women
Iowa traveled to Duke last week losing 79-64 and opened Big Ten play hosting Michigan State. The Hawkeyes hadn’t played in two weeks because of COVID-19 and it showed against Duke. Iowa came into the game shooting 33% from three, but was 0-of-6 in the first half and finished 3-of-19 (15.8%). Duke also had a 29-2 advantage on bench points. Catlin Clark had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Monica Czinano had 21 with six boards. It wasn’t enough and the Hawks are 4-1.
What a difference home cooking makes and congratulations to Lisa Bluder for her 800th win in the Michigan game. Good passing, good defense and good shooting make the win even better for the coach. Iowa came out firing and blew the game open in the second half, after leading 39-37 at the half. Iowa outscored State 33-11 in the third quarter and 16-13 in the fourth. The Hawks had a 46-32 advantage on points in the paint and 30-4 on fast breakpoints. Clark struggled against Duke going 1-13 from three. Against the Spartans, Clark had a triple-double with 24 points, 10 boards and 12 assists, her third of her career. Catlin is fun to watch in open court as she helped Czinano score 19 on 8-of-12 shooting. McKenna Warnock also had some easy layups, thanks to Catlin, made three threes and finished with 21. Coach Bluder’s favorite stat would be 23 assists on 33 made baskets. Also, the coach liked the Hawks going 14-of-16 (88%) from the free throw line.
No. 1 Iowa 22, No. 13 Iowa State 11
The Hawkeyes made it 17 straight over the Clones last Sunday at Hilton, even wrestling without three starters including Spencer Lee, who is recovering from knee surgery. The Hawks won six matches including major decisions by Jayden Eierman (141) and Alex Marinelli (165). “A lot of juice for the Hawks,” said head coach Tom Brands after some alterations during and after the meet.
Wrap up
What a week. Tough loss for Iowa football. The men’s and women’s basketball teams suffered their first losses of the season and the wrestlers won their 21st straight dual.

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Iowa’s Zach VanValkenburg takes down the Michigan ball carrier.