Leistikow's thoughts off Iowa football's loss to UCLA: Rose Bowl curse remains for Hawkeyes

Leistikow’s thoughts off Iowa football’s loss to UCLA: Rose Bowl curse remains for Hawkeyes

Posted by Admin November 9, 2024 Football

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(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)

PASADENA, Calif. − As the fourth quarter pressed on at Rose Bowl Stadium, this felt like 2023 all over again for the Iowa football team.

Locked in a tussle, down to a shocking option at quarterback, relying on the defense to save the day.

At least 20,000 Hawkeye fans poured into Pasadena, hoping to see their favorite team finally win one at the Rose Bowl. A win, even in a regular-season game against a 3-5 team, would have been so cathartic for Iowa fans everywhere.

But the problem was, Iowa’s defense didn’t have it on this night.

Poor tackling, poor execution on third downs and without its All-American linebacker for much of the game, the Hawkeyes’ defense couldn’t save the day.

And Iowa’s Rose Bowl curse, if you want to call it that, continued.

The Hawkeyes tumbled to UCLA, 20-17, in front of 53,467 fans. Their fans sulked to the exits as the players were left stunned at another befuddling defensive performance.

“That’s what is most disappointing,” senior defensive end Deontae Craig said. “You go through hundreds and hundreds of plays during the week, and you get to the field and it’s the same thing that you’ve been seeing.”

They allowed the nation’s worst rushing offense to run wild. UCLA entered averaging 73.9 yards a game but accumulated 211 on the ground. This was the third straight time Iowa has allowed 200-plus rushing yards on the road, uncharacteristic of a Phil Parker defense.

The Hawkeyes allowed UCLA to convert nine of 14 third-down attempts, including a third-and-8 pass for nine yards with 2 minutes remaining to clinch the outcome. UCLA outgained Iowa, 415-265, and ran 73 plays to Iowa’s 46. Star Hawkeye running back Kaleb Johnson was held to a season-low 49 yards on 18 carries.

“I just got done telling the team … in football, you get what you deserve,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “And we certainly didn’t play well enough to expect to win tonight, basically in any category. Disappointing. Nothing really clicked for us, nothing really looked great.”

Iowa jumped to a 10-0 lead but squandered it with careless plays by quarterback Brendan Sullivan, who wound up getting injured in the third quarter after a heavy collision along the UCLA sideline. Sullivan went to the injury tent, but emerged limping and returned to the game. He then threw an interception on that series, his third turnover of the game, and crumpled to the ground in pain.

With 4:02 left in the third quarter, Jackson Stratton took over. A walk-on transfer from Colorado State, Iowa needed a player who started the season as a fifth-string quarterback to save the day. Stratton actually brought a little juice at first, zipping a 15-yard pass to Jacob Gill on third-and-14 to set up Kamari Moulton’s 1-yard touchdown run that tied the score, 17-17, with 11:27 to play.

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The walk-on quarterback appeared in the second half of Iowa’s 20-17 loss to UCLA. Hear what he said afterward.

“I felt comfortable the whole time,” Stratton said. “I’ve been playing football my whole life.”

But UCLA answered with a methodical, 13-play, 66-yard drive that consumed 6:38 of clock and resulted in a go-ahead field goal.

Iowa got the ball back one more time, with 4:49 left, but Stratton and the Hawkeyes went three-and-out – a Moulton 5-yard run and two incompletions – followed by a poor 30-yard punt by Rhys Dakin.

Iowa’s defense couldn’t get off the field from there.

Most of you don’t need to be reminded of the dismal Rose Bowl history of the past 4½ decades. Iowa’s four straight losses by a combined 164-78, none of those games being competitive, scarred Hawkeye fans in 1982, 1986, 1991 and 2016. Instead of a healing win, this became another painful Rose Bowl memory.

“It’s got nothing to do with the (Rose Bowl). We just didn’t play well,” Ferentz said. “Nothing about the trip. The trip wasn’t that hard. We played whatever, four night games, and we got another one coming. There are no excuses at all. We just didn’t play well enough.”

One of the wildest first halves of a Hawkeye football game you’ll see

Here’s a quick summary to capture the bizarre nature of the game’s first 30 minutes: There were five turnovers and 20 points before there was a punt.

Here’s another summary sentence: The Big Ten’s worst rushing team outgained the Big Ten’s best rushing team, 146 yards to 34.

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The sixth-year linebacker speaks to poor tackling and what the team thought of Jackson Stratton.

UCLA committed three of those turnovers, two of them coming in Iowa’s end zone. Quinn Schulte hauled in an interception of UCLA’s Ethan Garbers to thwart a second-and-goal from Iowa’s 3 in the first quarter. Jaden Harrell recovered a Garbers fumble in the end zone late in the second quarter. Earlier, Zach Lutmer’s interception on the third play of the game set up Iowa’s first opening-drive touchdown of the season, a 2-yard Kaleb Johnson run.

But Sullivan committed two turnovers of his own after the Hawkeyes held a 10-0 lead.

One of the bigger plays of the first half might have been a 57-yard field goal by Mateen Bhaghani with 11:41 left in the second quarter. The second-longest field goal in UCLA history crawled over the upright and cut Iowa’s lead to 10-3. If that misses, Iowa has the ball at its own 40. Instead, after a touchback, Sullivan was intercepted by Carson Schwesinger on the Hawkeyes’ first snap. Sullivan also had the ball stripped on an 8-yard run by Kain Medrano, only Iowa’s third lost fumble of the season.

With momentum, UCLA punched in a pair of touchdowns to close the second quarter and turn a 10-0 deficit into a 17-10 halftime lead.

In the middle of all that, Iowa uncorked its longest passing play of the season − a beautiful 59-yard deep shot from Sullivan to Jacob Gill. The Hawkeyes’ previous long passing play was a 52-yard catch by Zach Ortwerth last week vs. Wisconsin.

Of note, Gill finished with six catches for 138 yards to become Iowa’s first 100-yard pass-catcher since tight end Sam LaPorta caught nine balls for 101 yards in a 9-6 loss at Illinois on Oct. 8, 2022. Gill is the first wide receiver to reach the century mark since Charlie Jones had two catches for 106 yards in a 27-22 win against Minnesota on Nov. 13, 2021. The quarterback in that game? Alex Padilla.

Gill battled through a stomach flu this week and said he got dehydrated during the game.

“I wanted to go out there and fight through it,” he said.

Some significant injury updates from the Rose Bowl

By halftime Friday, three of Iowa’s four Week 1 captains were either slowed or out of this game. Quarterback Cade McNamara (concussion) didn’t make the trip. Tight end Luke Lachey (quadriceps) started but played limited snaps against the Bruins. And then All-American linebacker Jay Higgins suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury in the first half.

Higgins, the Big Ten’s tackles leader, tried to return after a trip to the injury tent. But he was ultimately replaced by Harrell, the fourth-year junior from Urbandale. This was Harrell’s first extended first-team action of his career. Higgins was out of uniform in the second half and could only watch.

Sullivan’s injury was a sprained ankle. Ferentz said that McNamara “was able to do some exertion at the end of the week, which was encouraging.”

A few more encouraging things: Tight end Addison Ostrenga, who missed his fourth straight game Friday, no longer had a harness around his right arm, which indicated a shoulder or collarbone injury. Ferentz was optimistic that Ostrenga could return after Iowa’s bye. Also, wide receiver Reece Vander Zee traveled and was out of his boot, which seems to be a good sign that the true freshman might be close to returning.

Iowa’s Jacob Gill fought stomach flu, had 138 yards receiving vs. UCLA

The wide receiver had six catches in Iowa’s 20-17 loss to the Bruins. Hear what he said about Jackson Stratton and Brendan Sullivan.

On deck: The Kirk vs. Brian Ferentz Bowl

With Friday’s game in the books, the Hawkeyes don’t play again for 15 days – Nov. 23 at Maryland, at a time likely to be released Monday. And when those teams meet, more than likely the Terrapins will be fighting for bowl eligibility.

They entered Saturday’s game at No. 1 Oregon at 4-4 overall, then they’re set to host Rutgers next week while Iowa is off. If Maryland wins that, its best shot for a sixth, bowl-qualifying win will be at home against Iowa. The Terps’ regular-season finale is at No. 7-ranked Penn State, where they’ll likely be underdogs by 2-3 touchdowns.

Going to Maryland will be an interesting experience for a lot of Hawkeye players and coaches, namely the head coach. That’s because Brian Ferentz, Iowa’s embattled offensive coordinator for the previous seven years, is an offensive analyst for Maryland. The 41-year-old has coached in 153 Iowa games alongside his father in 12 years as an Iowa assistant. This will be the first time he’s ever coached against his father.

Kirk Ferentz will be asked about that dynamic during game week. Beyond the personal feelings, there is a tactical angle to that as well. There’s probably not a person in the world who has coached against Phil Parker’s defense more often than Brian Ferentz. He will know the soft spots and how best to attack the Hawkeyes. (Yeah, yeah … insert your jokes here about the last two years of the Iowa offense.)

Anyway, that’s coming next. For now, a break for the Hawkeyes, who enter the final two games of their regular season with a 6-4 record, 4-3 in Big Ten Conference play. UCLA improved to 4-5, 3-4.

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The senior defensive end discusses a 20-17 loss to UCLA that saw Iowa give up 200-plus yards rushing and passing.

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.