Iowa football was riding the high of a trick-play touchdown in the second quarter.
Hawkeyes quarterback Gronowski handed the ball off to Kaden Wetjen, who flipped it on a reverse to Reece Vander Zee. Vander Zee, who spent some of his high school career playing quarterback, then threw it to Gronowski, who had leaked into the end zone for a touchdown.
It was the first passing touchdown of Vander Zee’s college career and third receiving touchdown of Gronowski’s college career. Surprisingly, Gronowski caught two touchdown passes during his South Dakota State career.
That gave Iowa a 21-7 lead with 3:24 left in the first half.
But it was an epic meltdown from Iowa the rest of the way.
USC went on to score 19 unanswered points on its way to a 26-21 victory on Nov. 15 in Los Angeles.
It was a tale of two halves. Iowa put together a strong first half but collapsed after the break, cratering on both sides of the ball.
For the second week in a row, Iowa’s opponent dealt better with wet conditions. After a two-point loss to Oregon at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 8, the weather was similar at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
Iowa’s drought against ranked opponents continues. The Hawkeyes have not beaten a ranked opponent since their 2021 win over Penn State. The Hawkeyes are now 0-4 in such games this season — with losses to Iowa State, Indiana, Oregon and USC.
1st-half offense: A
There was no slow start offensively for Iowa, as there had been in the Hawkeyes’ other three games against ranked teams this season. The Hawkeyes opened the contest versus USC with a 7-play, 69-yard touchdown-scoring drive. Iowa went for it on fourth-and-one from the USC two-yard line and receiver Dayton Howard climbed the ladder to come down with a touchdown catch.
Iowa scored three touchdowns on its first four offensive drives of the game. Gronowski scored on a quarterback sneak in the second quarter, meaning he has rushed for at least one touchdown in each of Iowa’s first 10 games this season.
Iowa’s offense was humming in the first half. Gronowski passed for 107 yards. The Trojans had trouble stopping Iowa’s running game. The Hawkeyes tallied 100 rushing yards on the ground in the first half.
Later in the second quarter, Iowa hit on the trick play to go up 21-7. But that would be the last time Iowa scored.
2nd-half offense: F
Iowa’s passing attack dried up in the second half as Gronowski threw for just 25 yards after the break. The Hawkeyes rushed for 83, but 19 came on one run by Gronowski.
The momentum Iowa had built in the first half deteriorated.
Iowa’s offense made its first major mistake of the game late in the third quarter. Gronowski, who was rolling to his right to avoid pressure on third down, tried to hit Jacob Gill. But the pass was broken up and bounded into the hands of a USC defender. That gave the Trojans the ball in Iowa territory trailing by just two.
USC’s offense turned that into seven points, scoring a touchdown to take a 26-21 lead with 13:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.
It did not help that Iowa was playing with multiple reserves on the offensive line.
Iowa made progress into USC territory late in the fourth quarter. On a fourth down, Gronowski lofted a pass to Kaden Wetjen, who caught it but his foot was just barely out of bounds.
1st-half defense: A-
Iowa did well to contain the Trojans in the first half, holding them to 10 points and just one touchdown. That was impressive against such a prolific offense.
Iowa’s defense came up with a big stop in the first quarter. USC took a risk and went for it on fourth and one from its own 45-yard line. But the Hawkeyes’ defense turned the Trojans away as linebacker Karson Sharar broke through the line to make the tackle. Iowa’s defensive unit has been incredible at stopping opponents on fourth-and-short this season and the Hawkeyes continued that early against the Trojans.
That gave the ball to Iowa’s offense, which capitalized by scoring its second touchdown of the game. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Explosive quarterback Jayden Maiava was held to just 96 passing yards in the first half. Meanwhile, USC rushed for 60 yards, which was on pace for well below its season average of about 200 yards per game.
2nd-half defense: D
Iowa’s defense fell apart in the second half. The Trojans scored on their first three drives of the second half, two of which were touchdowns.
Maiava threw for 140 yards in the third quarter alone (he had 254 passing yards total). Iowa’s pass defense wasn’t bad. The Trojans were just making some exceptional plays and contested catches in tight windows. Iowa’s rushing defense was not bad in the second half, but USC was gashing the Hawkeyes through the air.
For the first time since the UMass game, Iowa’s defense failed to force at least one takeaway. The Trojans held on to the ball and won the battle 1-0 in the ball-control department.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa football vs USC report card from Hawkeyes’ second-half meltdown
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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