Football Recap: Oregon vs Iowa Clash

When the Ducks last stepped onto the football field, they managed to defeat the Badgers of Wisconsin in a game that left many fans feeling a bit confused. With two weeks to reflect on that performance and a challenging opponent waiting for them after a bye week, there was a lot of anticipation for Saturday’s road game against Iowa. The excitement was further heightened by the release of the first college football playoff rankings during the week, which turned this matchup into a top 20 showdown with the No. 9 Ducks facing off against the No. 20 Hawkeyes.

The day started with some concern for Ducks fans as rumors about potential injuries spread across the internet. However, the official injury report from the team provided clarity on the situation. Injuries are an unavoidable part of football, just like coaches rushing onto the field to call timeouts. To secure a win in one of the toughest places to play in the B1G, the Ducks would need to adapt and move forward. Here is how they responded:

1st Quarter

Oregon won the coin toss and chose to defer their decision to the second half. Iowa’s dangerous return man returned the opening kickoff to the 21-yard line. However, Iowa's offense struggled and went three and out. The Hawkeyes' punter had to make an athletic catch on a high long snap, resulting in an awkward punt that gave Oregon good field position for their first drive of the game.

Oregon came out throwing but couldn’t complete a pass and was forced to punt. James Ferguson Reynolds’ punt went into the end zone, and Iowa essentially picked up their second drive of the game where their first one ended.

On Iowa’s second possession, the Hawkeyes were able to stay ahead of the chains by running the ball, setting up a third-and-short. Surprisingly, Iowa opted to throw on third down and couldn’t complete the short pass, bringing on the punt team again. This time, the snap was too high for Iowa’s best receiver, who also served as the punter. He attempted a combination of basketball and soccer moves to concede a safety instead of giving the Ducks a free touchdown. What seemed like the definition of Iowa football was costing them early in the game as the Ducks took a rare 2-0 lead and got the ball for their second possession off an Iowa free kick.

Off the free kick, Oregon again took over in good field position on their own 33-yard line for their second possession. Instead of throwing the ball, Oregon elected to come out running with Noah Whittington. Four straight runs by Whittington gave the Ducks two first downs, setting up an explosive pass to Gary Bryant Jr. to put the Ducks in a position to score. But just as things looked promising, the drive turned disastrous. When Gary Bryant Jr. needed help to get off the field and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg, a couple of stuffed runs and a false start put the Ducks in third and long. Phil Parker was able to draw something up to confuse Dante Moore into throwing a red zone interception. A drive that started with the Ducks at first and 10 at the 18 resulted in zero points, and Iowa got the ball at the 20-yard line.

Iowa’s third drive was similar to their second, as they were running the ball and staying ahead of the chains. However, a miscommunication in the Iowa backfield put them in third and 14, which effectively meant an automatic punt for the Hawkeyes. The Ducks’ third possession would start on their own 18-yard line. Two nice runs by Noah Whittington gave the Ducks a first down before the wave to the Children’s Hospital.

2nd Quarter

To start the second quarter, Oregon kept the ball on the ground and picked up another first down. But then Iowa focused on stopping the inside running game, allowing Oregon to hit an explosive play-action pass to Jamari Johnson. Then the freshmen duo of Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill got Oregon’s first two explosive runs of the game. A Dierre Hill patience-to-lightning-speed run gave the Ducks their first touchdown of the game.

The Hawkeyes would get the ball down two possessions and in desperate need of points. Just as they did all game, Iowa was slowly and methodically running the ball and staying on schedule. Then on a first down at mid-field, a play-action pass got a receiver wide open for an explosive play that got Iowa down to the 3-yard line. The very next play, the Hawkeyes tossed a quick pass to the outside, and just like that, it was a 2-point game again.

Oregon would start their fourth drive of the game at the 25-yard line with 5:43 left to play in the second quarter. A great opportunity for the offense to win the middle 8.

But the most B1G call by the referee’s possible put Oregon behind the chains in first and 23. The offense did well to gain 20 yards of field position to allow James Ferguson Reynolds to put the ball to the Iowa 27-yard line, where Iowa would start their next drive looking to get a quick stop to give the Ducks’ offense one more possession before halftime.

On second and long, Gronowski hit a wide-open tight end over the middle to get the Hawkeyes to midfield. An incompletion followed by a Gronowski run up the middle would set up a key third and medium on the other side of the 2-minute timeout.

A perfectly timed and executed blitz got the Ducks off the field with a chance to get the ball again with two timeouts and 1:43 to go in the half.

The Ducks elected to play things somewhat safe with two Noah Whittington runs to start the drive. But Whittington was able to run behind some great blocking to get a quick 38 yards and move Oregon into Iowa territory. Oregon still seemed content to not risk anything and keep the lead going into the half. The Ducks did pick up another first down to the Iowa 31, but burned the majority of the time they had left in the half to get there. With 12 seconds in the half and at the Iowa 28, Oregon probably needed to execute one more play to get into more comfortable Atticus Sappington range. Oregon elected to run a screen that got blown up. Some nice moves from Whittington at least got the ball back to the line of scrimmage. For any additional points, Sappington would need to hit a season-long 46-yard field goal. Atticus came up big, and Oregon would take a 5-point lead into the locker room and the opportunity to get the ball to start the second half.

At the half, Oregon led in all three of the team charting statistics:

• Net Success Rate: +2% Oregon
• Net Explosiveness Rate: +14% Oregon
• Net Yards Per Play: +2.67 Yards Oregon

3rd Quarter

The first drive of the second half would be critical in determining the outcome of the game. If Oregon could stretch their lead to a two-possession advantage before Iowa could even touch the ball, it would go a long way in driving home a win. An empty possession and the Hawkeyes would have life.

After penetration to snuff out a run on First Down, Iowa was able to force a third and 6 and then bat the ball at the line of scrimmage to force a very quick third and out to get the ball back.

Iowa got the ball and was running their offense in the exact manner that they wanted to. Efficiency running to barely stay ahead of the chains. Oregon did force a third and long, but Gronowski was able to roll out and hit a receiver on the sideline to move the chains. Combined with an illegal hands to the face called on Oregon, and Iowa was into the red zone. The second play into the red zone, Brandon Finney put his hat on the ball and forced a fumble on an Iowa mis-direction run to stop the Hawkeye drive in its tracks and give the ball back to Oregon.

On second down deep in their own territory, Stein unleashed a read option for Dante that Iowa did not see coming and it led to a huge play that flipped the field. The Ducks methodically moved the ball into Iowa territory and had a third and 2 inside the red zone. An unfortunate tangle of legs at the line of scrimmage, however, tripped Dante Moore and Oregon couldn’t even attempt to run the third-down play. For the drive to end with points, Atticus Sappington would need to hit a 40-yard field goal, which he did with ease to give Oregon an 8-point lead with just under 16 minutes to play in the game. A stop from the defense on the next Iowa drive would be huge as they were slowly running out of time to run their methodical rushing attack.

A rare pass before third down fell incomplete, and it looked like the Ducks had set up the all-important third and long. But a DPI call on Ify Obidegwu, who must have been defending Iowa’s 9-foot-tall receiver for it to be deemed catchable, moved the chains for Iowa, and the Hawkeyes would have the ball just short of mid-field to start the final quarter.

4th Quarter

The first series of downs saw Oregon being stout against the run and forcing a third and long. Gronowski scrambled away from Matayo to throw the ball away and avoid taking a sack, which ended up being huge as Iowa was able to hit a 58-yard field goal with ease to cut the lead back down to 5 points with just under 13 minutes to go. The third possession of the half for the Ducks’ offense and it was the third opportunity for the Ducks to really stretch the lead and put Iowa in an uncomfortable position.

Oregon was doing a great job running the ball against Iowa’s will and got to the edge of field goal range. But a costly holding penalty forced a fourth and long outside of field goal range. Oregon would have to settle for a punt that would pin Iowa inside their own 10-yard line with just over 8 and a half minutes to play. The Duck defense would need to come up with a huge stop.

Iowa was as stubborn as a mule refusing to give up, and Oregon just couldn’t get the big stop. The Hawkeyes marched 89 yards to get to the Oregon 3-yard line on third and goal at the 2-minute warning. The Ducks would need to make two plays to hold Iowa out of the end zone and preserve the lead.

On third and goal, Iowa went with a jump pass to no one. One play to determine the game, it was going to come down to this. Iowa went five-wide, and the QB draw was the most obvious thing to possibly expect, and that’s exactly what Iowa did to get the lead with 1:51 remaining in the game. The Hawkeyes would go for two, the ball would be tipped up into the air, and of course, directly into the hands of an Iowa receiver. The Hawkeye pass catcher was out of bounds, though, meaning the lead would remain at 1 point. Oregon had an opportunity to win the game in regulation with a field goal. They had just under 2 minutes and all of their timeouts remaining.

It was time for Dante Moore to become an Oregon legend. After struggling all day with his leading receivers out of the game, could he lead the Ducks on a game-winning drive in hostile territory to keep Oregon at 1 in the loss column?

That’s exactly what he did, remaining calm, cool, and collected in a pressure-packed situation. Going into the final drive, Oregon had three successful pass plays all game long. On the final drive, they had five, including a huge play fit into a keyhole to Malik Benson to get the Ducks into field goal range.

Atticus Sappington would nail his third field goal of the game to give the Ducks the lead and leave Iowa with only 3 seconds, which ran out on the ensuing kickoff.

What a GUSTY win for the Ducks with a lot of guys missing and every factor going against them. Unbelievable.

I could use a lot of words to describe that win. But I think it’s best to put it this way, nice and simply. Oregon out-Iowaed Iowa.