BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Iowa may finally have learned its lesson: One way to avoid close losses is to put opponents away when you get the chance.
Jewel Hampton ran for three touchdowns, Ricky Stanzi threw for two more and Shonn Greene scored once as the Hawkeyes routed Indiana 45-9.
It was a welcome respite for a team desperate for a victory after losing three straight by a total of nine points.
“It’s definitely big,” coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But one point would have been fine, too. We just wanted to get on the plane with a victory, and I’m really glad to see that.”
In previous weeks, the Hawkeyes (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) couldn’t finish drives or games.
Against the mistake-prone Hoosiers (2-4, 0-3), they did both.
Iowa took advantage of two turnovers, Indiana’s inexplicable penalties, a missed extra point and a sputtering offense that failed to produce a first down on six of its first eight possessions. Iowa finished with its highest point total since scoring 47 against Purdue in 2006.
Indiana has now lost four straight and its goal of reaching bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1990-91 is in serious jeopardy.
Even the posthumous presentation of the revered I-man award to Jane Hoeppner, widow of late coach Terry Hoeppner, between the first and second quarters couldn’t give the Hoosiers a spark. The game was so ugly fans were booing in the first half and by the start of the fourth quarter, most of the students had left.
“We have to play better,” coach Bill Lynch said.
The Hoosiers’ script was simple: Stay close enough to make plays late and win at the end — just like Iowa’s three previous foes — Pittsburgh, Northwestern and Michigan State — had done.
But Stanzi and his teammates refused to let it happen.
The sophomore quarterback, who had struggled in the Hawkeyes’ previous three games, found the perfect remedy Saturday — Indiana’s defense.
Stanzi finished 12-of-20 for 184 yards, and got help from Greene and Hampton, who each topped 100 yards. Greene ran 23 times for 115 yards, his seventh straight 100-yard game this season, while Hampton finished with 114 yards on 22 carries.
Most importantly, zero turnovers.
The worn-down Hoosiers had no answers.
“Jewel looked like he was having a good time,” receiver Andy Brodell said. “The holes he had to run through, I’m sure any running back in the country would like that.”
Indiana’s offense was no help, either.
Kellen Lewis was 13-of-18 for 108 yards with one touchdown and one interception before leaving in the second half after injuring his lower left leg. Backup Ben Chappell was 9-of-18 for 83 yards, and the ground game managed just 95 yards on 28 carries.
It wasn’t nearly enough, given the self-inflicted damage.
Lewis’ third pass was picked off by Brett Greenwood, and Iowa converted it into a field goal. After a third straight Indiana three-and-out, the Hawkeyes needed just five plays to make it 10-0 on Hampton’s 1-yard run.
And that was just the start.
“You’ve got to do something to turn it, you’ve got to do something to turn it in the kicking game, get a turnover, do something offensively,” Lynch said. “They beat us in just about every way.”
Iowa took advantage again two series later, with Greene slicing his way through the Hoosiers’ defense for a 12-yard TD run to make it 17-3 early in the second quarter.
Stanzi opened the second half with a 34-yard TD pass to Brodell and a 20-yard TD pass to Brandon Myers to make it 31-9, and Hampton scored again in the final minute to close it out.
The Hoosiers’ only spark came just before halftime when Lewis hooked up with Terrance Turner on a 17-yard TD pass to make it 17-9. But Austin Starr pushed the extra point wide right and things continued to go downhill.
“I’d talked to you guys about that before, finishing and how important that is to us,” Stanzi said. “We did a good job of that today. It was good to drive down the field and not be disappointed on the 10-yard line. Instead, we were coming off with a touchdown and if we can keeping doing that, we’ll be all right.”
Iowa Sports
October 12, 2008
Iowa pulls away from Hoosiers
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