IOWA CITY — Iowa football nearly found comeback magic again. Nearly.
On fourth and goal, quarterback Mark Gronowski rushed for a touchdown to give the Hawkeyes the lead with 1:51 remaining in the game. Iowa failed the two-point conversion, meaning the score was 16-15 in the Hawkeyes’ favor.
That meant Iowa’s defense had to hold up.
The Hawkeyes weren’t able to do it. Oregon moved the ball down the field and set up a field goal by Atticus Sappington, who made the 39-yarder with three seconds left to give the Ducks the two-point win.
With that, Iowa football’s three-game winning streak was snapped by Oregon. The Ducks took the game, 18-16.
There were dreary conditions for the Hawkeyes’ matchup with the Ducks at Kinnick Stadium as rain consistently came down. Oregon handled the elements better than Iowa. With the loss, the Hawkeyes drop to 6-3 on the season.
Iowa did not play a complete enough game — from a consequential error on special teams to a fumble in Ducks territory.
Iowa prides itself on physical and dominant play in the trenches, but the Hawkeyes were beaten in those areas as the Ducks controlled the line of scrimmage.
Here is a look at the Hawkeyes’ report card from the loss.
Special teams: D
There was a long snapping debacle early in the game.
Iowa escaped unscathed after a poor snap on the first punt of the game. But there was a disaster on the second.
The second long snap went way out of punter Rhys Dakin’s reach and bounded toward the endzone. Dakin alertly saved Iowa some points by knocking the ball out of the back of the endzone. It was called a penalty and resulted in a safety.
Instead of Oregon possibly recovering it for a touchdown, the Ducks led just 2-0 with 9:55 left in the first quarter.
It was a major blunder for Iowa’s special teams, which has featured some boom or bust moments this season. Beyond some troubles on the punt unit, Iowa had a field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown on the last play of the first half against Penn State.
The bad snap was the type of self-inflicted mistake that Iowa couldn’t afford to make in a matchup against No. 9 Oregon.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Drew Stevens attempted his first goal of the game. Stevens knocked through a 58-yarder to cut Iowa’s deficit to 15-10 with 12:39 to go. The boot tied the school record for longest field goal in program history.
Offense: D
Iowa’s running game was not explosive enough to generate consistent success. The Hawkeyes ran for 140 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
The passing game is not very good when the weather conditions are ideal. So the rain did not make a recipe for success for Iowa to move the ball through the air.
Gronowski got off to a slow start and built momentum as the game went along, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. He finished 10-of-18 passing for 138 yards and one touchdown through the air. He also rushed for a clutch touchdown, but Oregon made the final answer.
Iowa made a costly mistake when driving in Oregon territory during the third quarter. The Hawkeyes were already in field goal range, but Kaden Wetjen fumbled on a carry and Oregon recovered. Iowa could’ve cut its deficit to two points or taken the lead, but instead went empty-handed.
Oregon turned that into a field goal to take a 15-7 lead with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.
That made for a potentially six to 10 points swing in a game that was decided by just two points.
Defense: B
It was set to be quite the matchup between Iowa’s stout rushing defense and the Ducks’ explosive ground game. But Oregon won that battle, rushing for 261 yards. That was way above the 83.9 rushing yards per game Iowa averaged on the season entering the contest.
The Hawkeyes’ defense played well enough to win, only allowing one touchdown. But being unable to close the deal after Gronowski’s fourth-quarter touchdown stings.
Iowa let Oregon tack on three points to close the first half. The Ducks went 52 yards in less than two minutes to set up a 46-yard field goal. That gave Oregon a 12-7 lead at the break. The Hawkeyes did not start the first half well, nor did they close the half well, similar to the Indiana game.
The unit forced one turnover.
After the safety, Oregon’s offense moved into Iowa territory. But on a third down from the Iowa 23-yard line, defensive back Deshaun Lee picked off Dante Moore’s pass. It was Lee’s second interception of the season.
Iowa did a good job holding Moore in check. He finished 13-of-21 passing for 112 yards and an interception. But the Hawkeyes did not stop the run well enough and failed to come through on the final defensive drive of the game.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa football report card vs Oregon, Hawkeyes make too many mistakes in loss
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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