By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Even the great Josey Jewell can’t play offense, or quarterback, or receiver, or punter, or punt returner.

Iowa’s senior middle linebacker played arguably his best game of the season in his Kinnick Stadium swan song in a 24-15 loss to Purdue on senior day that ended Iowa’s four-game winning streak in the series.

The 6-foot-2, 236-pound Jewell had 13 tackles, two sacks and three pass breakups. He also passed Chad Greenway for fifth all-time in tackles at Iowa.

But even a valiant effort from Jewell couldn’t overcome dropped passes, miscues on offense and special teams and an almost non-existent running game.

Just two weeks after routing third-ranked Ohio State 55-24, Iowa is now searching for answers after coming out flat against Wisconsin and Purdue.

Even the experienced Jewell has trouble figuring out what has caused Iowa to sputter recently.

“I don’ t know, that’s a great question,” Jewell said. “It’s something we need to figure out, how we energize and how we had that much momentum during that game. Now we’re up and down on a rollercoaster right now and we need to be able to sustain success. 

“It’s all about execution. A couple dropped balls, we had a couple missed picks today. I think it just comes down to going out there and doing your job.”

A week after mustering just 66 yards of total offense in a 38-14 loss at Wisconsin, Iowa again struggled to get anything going against a Purdue team that entered Saturday’s game with a 4-6 record.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz echoed Jewell’s sentiments with regard to Iowa’s struggles.

“We weren't up for the challenge,” Ferentz said. “We weren't equal to it. And part of that was our execution, or lack thereof. And the things that we did or didn't do really seemed to kind of snowball or it was a domino effect if you will. Get a good play, get a penalty, what have you. Don't throw it well enough, don't protect well enough. When we do, we drop it, that type of thing.

“Not sure of the answers. We'll have to get ourselves back on our feet by Monday, though.”

Iowa now faces another turning point in a strange, rollercoaster season.

Iowa can go one of two ways, either beat Nebraska next Friday and gain momentum heading into bowl preparation, or limp into a lower-tier bowl game with a 6-6 record.

Jewell said he told his teammates after the game that they still have two games left to prove themselves.

“I talked a little bit to the team about where do you want to be,” Jewell said. “Where do you want to be at the end of the season. Do you want to go to Detroit or do you want to go somewhere where it’s kind of warm at least. 

“You really think about the end goal and get it in perspective for the guys. Maybe the young guys who don’t understand it as much or haven’t seen it in past years. Just try to understand what can happen and we can still finish the season strong. We can still finish the season with two wins at the end of the season.”

Injury report: Starting strong safety Amani Hooker missed his second straight game due to a leg injury.

The 6-foot, 210-pound Hooker was replaced by senior Miles Taylor. 

The 5-foot-10, 203-pound Taylor also started in place of Hooker last week against Wisconsin.

Iowa is also without junior free safety Brandon Snyder, who aggravated a torn anterior cruciate ligament during his season debut against Illinois.

Junior Jake Gervase has played in place of the injured Snyder.

Wadley in rare company: Senior running back Akrum Wadley finished with 78 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries on Saturday.

Wadley is one of 15 players in program history to rush for 2,000 yards. He is sixth all-time with 2,625 rushing yards. He surpassed Owen Gill, Tony Stewart and Mark Weisman on Iowa’s all-time list.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Wadley has 24 career rushing touchdowns, tying for fourth all-time and 31 career touchdowns, good for sixth all-time.

Wadley is one touchdown away from tying Ronnie Harmon and Tim Dwight on Iowa’s all-time list and only Weisman’s 33 career touchdowns rank ahead of Wadley in the Ferentz era.

Wadley also is ninth all-time with 3,443 all-purpose yards.

Holiday Bowl?: A representative from the Holiday Bowl was in attendance for Saturday’s game.

The Holiday Bowl is played on Dec. 28 at San Diego County Credit Union Stadium in San Diego, Calif. and features a matchup of a Big Ten team and a Pac-12 team.

Senior recognition: Senior members of the Iowa football program were honored before Saturday’s game. Iowa’s senior class is Wadley, Jewell, defensive lineman Nathan Bazata, offensive lineman Ike Boettger, linebacker Bo Bower, running back James Butler, defensive lineman Daniel Gaffey, defensive lineman Jake Hulett, long snapper Tyler Kluver, fullback Drake Kulick, offensive lineman Boone Myers, linebacker Ben Niemann, tight end Peter Pekar, Taylor, receiver Matt VandeBerg, linebacker Kevin Ward, offensive lineman Sean Welsh and tight end Jon Wisnieski.

Welsh, a native of Springboro, Ohio, said despite a bad ending to his final game in Kinnick, now is not the time to be sentimental.

“It’s certainly a tough deal to go out on that one,” Welsh said. “We’ve still got plenty to work on. We’ve got two games left. I have time to me sentimental after the season. This isn’t the time or place for it. Right now we need to worry about improving.”

Recruiting frenzy: Iowa had close to 50 recruits on campus but unfortunately they did not get a chance to witness an Iowa victory.

Three-star safety Dallas Craddieth was perhaps Iowa’s biggest 2018 target in attendance.

Craddieth, a native of Florissant, Mo., named Iowa in his top six schools with Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Vanderbilt in September.

Three-star defensive end Jason Bargy, a native of Momence, Ill., and three-star athlete Kobe Myers, a native of Walled Lake, Mich., were also in attendance.