Each week, "One Defining Moment" will dive into the game's most important moment and break it down in all its glory, or in unfortunate cases, its horror. This week: a complete game for the Hawks is hard to distill to a moment, but the start of the 2nd quarter showed Iowa at its peak.
How do you distill the best full game performance by a team in years to a single moment? There were so many big plays by this team that would normally be the focus of this article and a handful of other small ones (Look at all that play-action! Look at all the passing on first down!! Those deep shots!!!) that paved the way for the thrashing of the Terrapins.
If the game can't be described in a single play, we'll have to settle for the incredible sequence to start the second quarter. Finishing off a strong drive from the first quarter, generating an immediate turnover and score, causing another interception two plays later, and capitalizing on that one too to all but put the game away.
Depending on the rest of the season, we may look back on this game as the defining moment for the entire year. It was the best the defense has looked (and that's saying a lot), but more importantly, the offense looked like we've always thought it could. Domination on both sides of the ball just in time for the biggest game of the year.
The Moment
Iowa started the second quarter with a patented QB sneak, to retake the lead at 10-7. On the ensuing kickoff, the special teams unit swarmed to the kickoff return, causing another fumble, Two plays later, Iowa was in the end zone again off the back of a nicely designed play-action pass to Arland Bruce IV. Maryland elected not to return the kickoff this time, but that only prolonged the inevitable as the Terps' first down pass was intercepted again after Jack Campbell tipped a pass over the middle. Iowa punched it in with another Petras sneak and within five minutes of game time, the Hawkeyes turned a 4-point deficit into a 17-point lead.
A Closer Look
Iowa didn't have to dig deep into its bag of tricks to turn the tides of the game. Instead, they leaned on their strengths and the openings those strengths provided to completely ruin Maryland's game plan.
A QB sneak touchdown is one of the least surprising developments for the Hawks. The ensuing kickoff and fumble recovery came from an unfortunate injury to the Maryland returner, but Iowa put the pressure on with a swarming coverage unit. The touchdown pass to Bruce was a perfect example of what opens up for a team once you establish the run. Iowa's offensive line had their best game of the season by far in terms of creating running lanes for Goodson & Co. Once you establish the line of scrimmage, play-action becomes the obvious counter and Iowa ran it to perfection all game. The leaks, flats, and crossers gave Petras easy completions and kept Iowa moving in the right direction.
Iowa's defense wasted no time doing what they do best and forced another interception on Maryland's very next play. Campbell sat in his zone, tracked the QB's eyes, and made a great athletic play to get his hand on the pass. Koerner was aware, found the floating ball, and turned it into a pick and return (special props to Dane Belton for somehow coming out of the pile with the ball on the fumble at the end of the play). The linebackers have been great all year, but Campbell showed off yet another aspect of his game on this pick. We've been praising his sideline-to-sideline speed and his ability to finish plays, but here, he sits in zone coverage and reads the QB to make a play. I don't think Tagovailoa ever saw Campbell, or else underestimated his vertical, but either way, Campbell made a great play to get a hand on it. Maryland was finding some success early in the game hitting receivers between the linebackers and the secondary. Seeing the Hawkeyes make the small adjustments necessary on the fly is a great sign that this defense is firing on all cylinders.
The Hawks leaned on Goodson and that offensive line to make their way to the goal line, where Petras snuck in for his second touchdown of the day, a back-breaking turn of events for Maryland, whose bad day was just getting started.
Impact
Like we mentioned at the top, this wasn't a game that turned on a moment. It was a beatdown for the better part of 60 minutes and Iowa excelled in all three phases of the game. Seeing the offense come alive and being creative without being gimmicky was exactly what I was calling for last week (I will choose to believe that Brian specifically read my post and will be taking all credit for the offense's performance on Friday). Scoring 50 shouldn't be the expectation every week, but if this offense can find their way to 30 points a game, the Hawkeyes aren't going to lose very many games.
This defense has been showing off its versatility in the ways it can dominate throughout the early season. They've controlled the game with sacks, they've scored points themselves, and this week, they completely shut down Maryland's productive passing game with six (!!!) interceptions. The unit continues to manhandle whatever offense is unlucky enough to show up, yet every week, there seems to be a question over whether or not the Hawks can do it again. We're sure to hear it this week as Penn State comes to town and they should be the best offense Iowa has seen so far, but the conversation should really be whether or not Penn State can produce against an elite unit, not whether or not Iowa can stop them.
Last week, I would have told you I was terrified for Penn Staet. After watching Friday, I'm just excited. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but Iowa deserves to be where it is. The defense is as good as any Iowa's had and the offense has the tools to hold its own. This is a special team in the midst of a special season. Next week will determine just how special it can be.
Go. Iowa. Awesome.
