No. 10 Iowa holds off Maryland; still undefeated
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Unbeaten Iowa kicked off the supposedly soft part of its schedule with a win that could have come easier.
Desmond King had an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and 10th-ranked Iowa beat Maryland 31-15 Saturday for its eighth straight 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 just the second time in 17 seasons under coach Kirk Ferentz.
Iowa used a touchdown late in the second quarter to lead 21-0 at 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 100yard kickoff return for the Terrapins (2-6, 0-4), and Maryland threw for just 74 yards.
Maryland got within 21-7 early in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard TD 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 two-point 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 on a 1-yard run.
Wadley was buried on the bench because of fumbling issues and only got 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 2 minutes left. Ferentz — who’s been criticized heavily for his clock management in the past — wisely used a pair of 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. 29 of 48 for 407 yards with four touchdown passes.
Penn State 39, Illinois 0: Christian Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, caught a scoring pass and Penn State beat Illinois 39-0 on Saturday.
Hackenberg was 21 of 29 and connected with Chris Godwin and Geno Lewis for 5- and 6-yard touchdowns in the first quarter. He caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Nick Scott in the third.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 84 yards on 20 carries and added another 58 yards receiving. He scored on a 7-yard run to give Penn State (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) a 32-0 lead early in the fourth.
After two of his extra points were blocked and he sailed a kickoff out of bounds, Joey Julius was replaced by Tyler Davis who made 42- and 28-yard field goals. Mark Allen added a 20-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring.
The Fighting Illini (4-4, 1-3) managed just 167 yards and punted on 12 of their 15 possessions.
Purdue 55, Nebraska 45: 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 on Saturday.
The victory snapped the Boilermakers’ nine-game Big Ten Conference losing streak and gave third-year coach Darrell Hazell his first conference victory in Ross-Ade Stadium.
Purdue (2-6, 1-3) improved to 6-26, 2-18 in the Big Ten under Hazell. It is the Boilermakers’ first Big Ten victory since winning at Illinois last October.
Freshman Blough finished 28 of 43 for 274 yards.
Nebraska (3-6, 1-4) played without starting quarterback Tommy Armstrong, who has a right foot injury, and turned to junior Ryker Fyfe, who was intercepted four times.
While Fyfe led back-to-back touchdown drives in the first 3:21 of the fourth quarter to pull his team to within 42-31, a 26-point deficit was too much to overcome. Fyfe finished
Wisconsin 48, Rutgers 10: Corey Clement ran for three scores and 115 yards in his first game in eight weeks, powering Wisconsin to a 48-10 victory on Saturday over Rutgers.
Clement had 11 carries, including a 21-yard scamper to the end zone after the junior burst through a narrow hole on the left side of the line for a 24-3 lead with 3:30 left in the second quarter.
It was a Halloween to remember for Clement following his eagerly-anticipated return from sports hernia surgery.
The Badgers (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) overwhelmed the Scarlet Knights (3-5, 1-4) in their first trip to Madison.
Under constant pressure, quarterback Chris Laviano was just 4 of 14 for 31 yards with an interception. The offense mustered a season-low 165 yards.
Rutgers’ only touchdown came when freshman Blessaun Austin intercepted a poor pass by Wisconsin’s Joel Stave and returned it 50 yards for a score in the third quarter.
— From AP reports