Illinois lost its first game in over a month to Iowa. The Hawkeyes grounded the Illini to the tune of 19-10 in a tight-knit defensive bout. Quarterback Nate Stanley thrived in the passing game for the Hawkeyes offensively, while several turnovers at key points throughout the game kept the Illini from scoring more than a single field goal after the first quarter.

“Turnover ratios like what we had make it hard to win,” said head coach Lovie Smith. “Defensively, one takeaway isn’t enough for us either. We’ve been protecting the football a lot better than we did today, but there were a lot of things we don’t normally do that we did today.”

The Hawkeyes wasted no time on their opening drive. After converting on a 3^rd-and-10, and later in their drive on a 4^th-and-6, Stanley found Tyler Goodson for an easy two-yard run.

Illini quarterback Brandon Peters threw a pick on his first drive, but the Hawkeyes were unable to capitalize after forcing Keith Duncan to fire off an incomplete field goal from 43 yards.

The Illini followed up on their second drive, the starting with a first down pass to junior wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe. Peters found back-to-back holes in the Hawkeye defense and rushed for 15 yards, setting up a 31-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Donny Navarro.

The Hawkeyes opened up the second quarter with a 40-yard pass from Stanley to Beyer that put them at the Illini 31-yard line. The Hawkeyes looked poised to complete their drive, but a tackle made by Khalan Tolson on the 3^rd-and-goal forced Keith Duncan to drill a 28-yard field goal.

Stanley threw his first interception to sophomore safety Sydney Brown, but afterward, another disrupted drive on offense ended with Brandon Peters’ pass on 3^rd-and 13 being blocked. The Hawkeyes caught Blake Hayes’ punt return and dragged all the way to Illinois’ 44 yard-line.

Duncan missed his second field goal, this time a 47-yarder, giving the Illini a chance to take the lead with two minutes left to go in the half. The Illini took a gamble trying to convert on a 4^th-and-6 towards the half’s close, but a Hawkeye blitzed timed perfectly into a sack on Peters.

With 15 seconds left, the Hawkeyes had just enough time for Keith Duncan to hit a 47-yard field goal, finishing the half up 13-7.

“I wish I had that call again. Just play it safe since we knew we’d get the ball to start the second half,” Lovie Smith said. “But games like this that you’re trying to win, if we converted we would’ve been in pretty good shape.”

 Peters opened up the half with his second interception thrown on their first offensive drive, but the Hawkeyes would not capitalize.

The Illini would make another promising drive but were stopped by back-to-back tackles for loss initiated by defensive back A.J. Epenesa. James McCourt missed the resulting 51-yard field goal.

In the following drive, Dele Harding nearly sacked Stanley on the blitz, but Stanley just rolled out of it in time to find Ihmir Smith-Marsette from 40 yards to close out in the Illini red zone.

“We let Iowa get away with a couple of explosive plays. We had that sack, but they managed to scramble around,” Lovie Smith said. “That ended up turning into a big play. There were a lot of big plays happening like that that we didn’t make.”

A late tackle by Stanley Green stopped the Hawkeyes at 4^th-and-goal and opened up their first possession of the 4^th with a 16-7 lead. Dre Brown and Reggie Corbin would respond with two back to back 20 yard carries, leading to a McCourt field goal from 28 yards to bring Illinois back to within six.

The Illini got the ball back on offense with nine minutes left to play, but a back-breaking fumble by Peters just a minute later cost the Illini their best chance at taking the lead. Starting at the Illinois 47-yard line, Stanley marched the Hawkeyes down the field en route to another field goal from Keith Duncan that would prove to be the dagger.

With 2:44 left to play, stalwart defense from Epenesa would stop Peters from going anywhere, and a big hit from Geno Stone sidelined him for the last play. Matt Robinson’s incomplete pass intended for Josh Imatorbhebhe sealed the Hawkeyes victory, 19-10.

With the win, the Hawkeyes improve to 8-4 and snap Illinois’ 4-game win streak, while the Illini drop to 6-5.

“I think everyone realizes now, we’re a different ball club this year. Games like this show it,” Lovie Smith said. “But this is one that we need to win. There were so many opportunities to take, and we have to be able to get over that hump.”

@jaredfarmer

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