Northwestern stuns undefeated Iowa 17-10
IOWA CITY, Iowa - All season long, corn-shucking cynics have insisted that the passwords at Kinnick Stadium have been ‘‘lucky’’ and ‘‘charmed.’’
But no one knew that those words would pass over from No. 8 Iowa to Northwestern in the blink of a Hawkeye on Saturday.
(AP)
With firepoling Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi lost to an ankle injury on a massively game-changing play early in the second quarter, the Wildcats scored one of their biggest upsets in years, handing the Hawkeyes their first loss of the season, 17-10.
With Stanzi, Iowa (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) coasted to a 10-0 lead.
Without Stanzi - who was blasted and stripped by Corey Wootton on a slow-developing bootleg in the Hawkeyes end zone - Northwestern stitched together just enough offense to complement a defense that forced three other turnovers and simply wasn’t going to go home empty.
‘‘We fully expected if we could put together sixty minutes of Wildcat football in all three phases, we’d have an opportunity to compete,’’ said Pat Fitzgerald, whose Cats (6-4, 3-3) became bowl-eligible for a third straight season. ‘‘To the credit of our young men, we did.’’
Actually, NU put together approximately 42 minutes of Wildcat football - all after Wootton’s big play -but it was enough to effect a shocker heard ’round the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Iowa was a mixed-nest No. 4 in the BCS standings entering the weekend but will never see that lofty a perch again this season. The Hawkeyes now must win at Ohio State next Saturday to retain the pole position for the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
‘‘I think the course of the game was pretty obvious to all,’’ Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. ‘‘The bottom line is that we weren’t good enough to overcome the problems that we caused ourself in the first half and the problems that [Northwestern] forced.’’
The biggest problem was caused by Wootton, the 6-6, 280-pound defensive end who has courageously labored through an uphill season after suffering a serious knee injury in the Alamo Bowl last December.
With the Wildcats desperately in need of some kind of spark after their languid start, he got quick contain penetration on a second-and-10 at the Hawkeyes’ six-yard line and suddenly found himself claw to wing with Stanzi..
Wootton swooped, down went Stanzi and NU’s Marshall Thomas covered the football for a touchdown.
Stanzi limped off the field - already with 134 yards passing and a touchdown - never to return. The Hawkeyes would generate only 121 yards in total offense after Stanzi departed.
Asked about his linchpin’s bad ankle, Ferentz said: ‘‘The X-ray was negative. That’s good news. The bad news is that it’s a severe sprain.’’
Replacement James Vandenberg - a redshirt-freshman who had thrown only three passes all season - finished 9-for-27 for 82 yards as the Northwestern defense crafted a shutout the rest of the way.
That defense also helped stake the Wildcats to a 14-10 halftime lead after linebacker Quentin Davie intercepted Vandenberg and ran it back to the Iowa 46.
Ten plays later, No. 2 NU quarterback Dan Persa found Drake Dunsmore for what would prove to be the winning touchdown 5:20 before the intermission.
Persa spent a skeltering afternoon, first in relief of starter Mike Kafka and then sidelined himself with a hand injury sustained late in the third quarter.
Kafka - despite lingering soreness from a hamstring tweaked during a 34-13 loss to Penn State last week - returned and kept moving the chains just enough to prevent the Hawkeyes from making one of their trademark fourth-quarter rallies.
‘‘It was a great team effort,’’ said Kafka, who finished 10-for-18 for 72 yards. ‘‘It wasn’t one guy standing out. Everyone did it. If Dan and I had to do a little tag-team action to get the win, then that’s what we did.’’
The lightning-bug Persa had only 37 yards (5-for-9) through the air but repeatedly kept the Iowa defense scrambling with 67 yards rushing in 17 attempts. Scott Concannon buttressed the NU ground game with 59 yards in 15 tries.
‘‘I think we’re starting to play our best football of the year,’’ Fitzgerald warned remaining opponents Illinois and Wisconsin. ‘‘It has nothing to with Iowa. It has everything to do with us. I really believe we’re starting to hit our stride.’’
In Iowa City, the once ‘‘lucky’’ and ‘‘charmed’’ now understand.