Iowa heads into November unbeaten
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Unbeaten Iowa kicked off the supposedly soft part of its schedule with a victory that could have come easier.
Desmond King had an 88yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and 10th-ranked Iowa beat Maryland 31-15 Saturday for its eighth consecutive victory.
Akrum Wadley, LeShun Daniels and Derrick Mitchell had touchdown runs for the Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten). They’ll enter November unbeaten for only the second time in 17 seasons under Coach Kirk Ferentz.
Iowa used a touchdown late in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead into halftime. The Hawkeyes defense took over from there, and King’s return put the Hawkeyes ahead 31-7 with 7:38 left.
Will Likely had a 100-yard kickoff return for the Terrapins (2-6, 0-4), and Maryland threw for just 74 yards.
Maryland pulled to within 21-7 early in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Perry Hills to Taivon Jacobs, capping a drive highlighted by Iowa penalties.
Marshall Koehn’s 49-yard field goal pushed Iowa’s cushion back to 17 with 11 minutes left. The Terps quickly drove deep into Iowa territory, but King stepped in front of Hills’ pass for his second career touchdown.
Likely took the subsequent kickoff back for a score, and the Terps tacked on a twopoint conversion. But Iowa was able to run out the clock in the first of five games against teams that, save for Minnesota, will struggle for bowl eligibility.
Hills rushed for 104 yards and was 11 of 20 passing for Maryland.
Iowa had a bye last week, allowing some of its key players to heal from injuries and leaving the Hawkeyes rejuvenated — for a half, anyway.
Daniels had been hobbled since mid-September with a sprained ankle. He finished off Iowa’s first scoring drive with a 1-yard run.
Wadley was buried on the bench because of fumbling issues and only had a chance because Daniels and Jordan Canzeri (sprained ankle) were injured against Northwestern two weeks ago. Wadley got the start in this one and made it 14-0 on an 11-yard TD run midway through the second quarter. He finished with 67 yards rushing.
Iowa’s final drive of the first half epitomized just how much things have changed for the better in 2015.
Iowa pinned Maryland deep in its own territory with less than two minutes left. Ferentz — who’s been criticized heavily for his clock management in the past — wisely used two timeouts in hopes of getting the ball back. The Hawkeyes then partially blocked a punt to set up great field position, and Mitchell’s 2-yard run gave Iowa a 21-0 lead.
Maryland pulled to within 14 as Iowa struggled to move the ball in the second half.
But for the most part, the Terrapins reverted to the form that saw them score just six points over consecutive losses to West Virginia and Michigan.
In other games involving Big Ten teams, Christian Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass and Penn State beat Illinois 39-0. … David Blough threw four touchdown passes and ran for a score, and cornerback Anthony Brown intercepted three passes, leading Purdue to a 55-45 victory against Nebraska. … Corey Clement ran for three scores and 115 yards in his first game in eight weeks, powering Wisconsin to a 48-10 victory over Rutgers. … Wilton Speight came off the bench and threw a 12-yard touchdown to Jehu Chesson with under five minutes to play and No. 15 Michigan stopped Mitch Leidner on a sneak as time expired to escape with a 29-26 victory over Minnesota.
PACIFIC-12
UCLA scrapes by
PASADENA, Calif. — Soso Jamabo rushed for the goahead touchdown with 8:28 to play, and No. 24 UCLA blew an 18-point lead before escaping the Rose Bowl with a 35-31 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
Josh Rosen passed for 262 yards and a touchdown for the Bruins (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12), who avoided an embarrassing loss despite giving up 18 consecutive points in the second half and yielding 554 total yards to the Buffaloes (4-5, 1-4), who haven’t beaten a ranked team on the road since 2002.
Patrick Carr rushed for 110 yards, and his touchdown run put Colorado ahead with 12:04 to play. The Bruins answered with Jamabo’s score before stopping the Buffaloes twice in UCLA territory.
Takkarist McKinley’s pressure forced a poor throw by Sefo Liufau on fourth down with 3:34 to play. Nate Meadors intercepted a pass by Liufau near midfield with 51 seconds left.
Liufau completed 37 of 57 passes for 312 yards while Colorado ran a school-record 114 plays, outgained UCLA by 144 yards and had the ball for more than 41 minutes.
In other games involving Pacific-12 teams, Adoree Jackson returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown and Ronald Jones ran for 80 yards and a score to lead Southern California to its 12th consecutive victory against California 27-21. … Devontae Booker rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown as No. 13 Utah handled Oregon State 27-12.