Iowa Beats Northwestern 24-10 with a Kickoff Return Touchdown
Eleven seconds. That is how much game clock separated Northwestern's only field goal from Iowa's kickoff return touchdown, and the Hawkeyes' 24-10 win over the Wildcats turned right there. With 4:14 left in the third quarter Jackson Kleather hit a 45-yard field goal to make it 14-3. At 4:03, Braeden Jackson took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and it was 21-3.
Iowa did not need much else. Hank Brown ran 21 yards for a touchdown on the opening score, then threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tony Diaz in the second quarter, and the Hawkeyes led 14-0 at that point. Caden Buhr added a 52-yard field goal late in the third to make it 24-3. Iowa never trailed and never let it get tied, and Northwestern did not score a touchdown until Nicco Marchiol found Joseph Himon II from 2 yards out with 1:51 left.
The yardage says it should have been closer. Northwestern finished with 286 total yards to Iowa's 299, throwing for 181 and running 37 times for 105, while Iowa threw for just 126 and ran for 173. Iowa gave it away twice (an interception and a lost fumble). Northwestern did not turn it over once and still lost by 14. Blame the return touchdown.
Iowa is 7-2 and Northwestern 6-3. Not a trophy, but a good place to be.
For fantasy, Brown's 18.8 points came from 126 yards, a touchdown pass, a rushing touchdown and an interception. Marchiol was nearly identical at 18.4, mostly volume: 24-of-32 passing and 23 carries. L.J. Phillips Jr. had the best day of his season with 128 yards on 21 carries.