By Pat Harty

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Nine different Iowa players caught passes in Saturday's 17-7 loss to Michigan State, including freshmen defensive end A.J. Epenesa.

His reception for 15 yards came on a fake punt by Colten Rastetter on fourth-and-8 from the Michigan State 23-yard line. The play worked to perfection, but Iowa failed to capitalize as quaterback Nate Stanley lost a fumble three plays later.

Redshirt freshman tight end T.J. Hockenson led Iowa with a career-high 46 receiving yards on three catches. Hockenson has eight catches for the season, with with one resulting in a touchdown and seven resulting in first downs.

Unfortunately, for Hockenson, his most productive game as a Hawkeye came during a frustrating loss.

He was asked to explain what went wrong after the game and his answer was interesting to say the least.

"We need to practice better during the week," Hockenson said. "Sometimes, we're not on the same page and it shows. We win during week. Coach (Kirk) Ferentz always ells us that. So we're going to try and win during the week this week."

Senior receiver Matt VandeBerg also had three catches in Saturday's game and now has at least one reception in 24 consecutive games in which he has played.

Stanley completed 16-of-31 passes for 197 yards on Saturday. He has attempted 133 consecutive passes without throwing an interception.

Praise for Joe Tiller: Before answering questions in his post-game press conference, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz paid tribute to former Purdue coach Joe Tiller, who died early Saturday morning at his home in Buffalo, Wyoming. He was 74..

"I just found out this afternoon when I got over here of coach Tiller's passing, and nedless to say, that's something that really saddens many, many people, and certainly me. Joe, in my mind, is one of the best coaches I've ever seen or had a chance to coach against.

"Think about the job he did at Purdue for so long. What he did with that program is just absolutely amazing, and beyond that, a first-class human being."

Tiller coached at Purdue from 1997 to 2008, going 87-62 with only two losing seasons.

He retired after the 2008 season and spent much of his time at his Wyoming home. Tiller had been in poor health for several months, but he was hoping to return to Purdue next week for the Minnesota game, where the school will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Tiller's first Boilers team.

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Ojemudia gets the start: Sophomore cornerback Michael Ojemudia made his second career start on Saturday.

The Farmington Hills, Mich., started for the injured Manny Rugamba at right cornerback. Ojemudia also started for Rugamba in the season opener against Wyoming while Rugamba served a one-game suspension for violating a team policy.

Ojemudia was asked after Saturday's game if it was time to panic.

"Not at all, not at all," he said. "We're a good team.We lost the last couple of games by a couple of scores, so I feel we're right there. We've got to execute better."

Matt VandeBerg had a short answer when asked what Iowa can do to avoid being in a panic situation.

"I've got three words; go to work," he said. "That's all we've got for this upcoming week is that we've just got to go work. We've got to look a the film, correct it and go to work."