By Pat Harty

For the Iowa football team, Saturday’s 42-16 victory at Indiana could have been one of those clunkers that sometimes occur under Kirk Ferentz.

It could have been one of those head scratchers where Iowa loses to a team that is inferior on paper.

It could have been a huge momentum-crushing defeat with serious postseason ramifications.

But it wasn’t any of those things because the Hawkeyes took care of business, and did so sometimes in spectacular fashion, like the drive that resulted in Iowa’s third touchdown of the game, which started with a long kick return by Ihmir Smith-Marsette, continued with a nifty display of spin moves by running back Mekhi Sargent on a screen pass and concluded when Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley avoided the rush and reversed field before connecting with Nick Easley on a 12-yard scoring pass in the second quarter.

It was Stanley’s third touchdown pass of the game and it expanded Iowa’s lead to 21-10 with 10 minutes, 3 seconds left in the second quarter.

Iowa scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions in the first half, and on its first two possesions of the second half, and that resulted in a 35-10 lead.

Stanley finished with a career-high six touchdown passes to five different receivers, and Iowa’s two-headed monster at tight end with T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant combined for three of them, including two by Hockenson.

Fant and Hockenson also both finished with over 100 receiving yards and combined to average over 25 yards per catch in a stunning offensive display.

Reserve fullback Alex Kelly caught Stanley’s sixth touchdown pass as Iowa continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter.

Indiana had scored a touchdown with 5:55 left in the third quarter that trimmed the lead to 35-16, and was threatening to score again early in the fourth quarter when Iowa defensive back Geno Stone intercepted a pass in his own end zone.

Iowa defensive back Jake Gervase did the same thing later in the quarter by intercepting a pass in the Iowa end zone.

Last week, Iowa had two true freshmen cornerbacks intercept passes and this week Iowa had two tight ends finish with over 100 receiving yards and two defensive back intercept passes in the Iowa end zone.

It never really felt like Indiana would win the game on Saturday and that’s a credit to the Iowa players and coaches.

But it was strange to see Iowa still throwing late in the fourth quarter and with a 26-point lead, strange enough that the crew from ESPN2 wondered if there was some bad blood between the two programs.

Just think about that for a second or two, a Kirk Ferentz-coached team being questioned about running up the score.

The irony almost makes you laugh.

Iowa now returns home to face a dangerous Maryland squad next Saturday on homecoming. The Terrapins certainly have their flaws, but they also have some of the most explosive skill players in the conference and are a big play waiting to happen.

But on the other hand, Maryland should have its hands full against an aggressive Iowa defense and against an Iowa offense that is starting to click.

It was obvious midway through the third quarter on Saturday that Indiana was overmatched and that Iowa was not in danger of having one of those head-scratching defeats.

Iowa dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, and that is where the beat-down started. It’s so much easier for Stanley and the skill players to do their thing when the big guys up front are doing their thing.

And that’s what happened on Saturday as the Iowa offensive line had an effective surge throughout the contest.

That surge, combined with Toren Young’s powerful running style formed quite a weapon against the Hoosiers, who missed numerous tackles.

Sargent also made a solid contribution at running back, and the decision to add the Key West, Fla., native to the roster this past summer continues to pay dividends.

Iowa doesn't recruit junior college players very often, but made an exception with Sargent, and now we we can see why. His versatility fits nicely in the offense, and he's a complete player, evident by his ability and willingness to block.  

Iowa played vintage Kirk Ferentz football for much of Saturday’s game and the Hoosiers didn’t have an answer on either side of the line of scrimmage.

This also marks the second game in which Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has been noticably aggressive with his play calling. It almost is like he picked up where he left off against Minnesota last Saturday with his foot constantly on the gas and with Stanley firing away.

Brian Ferentz's aggressive play calling is starting to resemble his outspoken personality, and that's good when you have the kind of playmakers that Iowa has on offense right now.

The current Iowa team is not only pretty good, it's fun to watch.