By Shawn Gibbs

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When asked whether Nate Stanley takes things too seriously, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz had this to say after Saturday's 42-16 victory over Indiana:

“He’s really serious, it’s hard to get him to smile, he’s just that way, he’s a serious guy," Ferentz said.

Maybe the junior quarterback will crack a small smile as he looks back on his record-breaking performance against the Hoosiers, which included a career-high six touchdown passes to five different receivers. 

Indiana took the opening kickoff and put together a 13-play drive to the Iowa 14-yard line. But after a near catch was reviewed and confirmed as incomplete, the Hoosiers settled for the 29 yard Logan Justus field goal to take the early 3-0 lead.

Indiana entered Saturday's game ranked fifth nationally with 11 scoring drives of at least 10 plays, so it looked as if the Iowa defense could be in for a tough challenge.

But from there, Stanley and the Hawkeyes dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Iowa has scored at least 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2015, but those games three years ago were both at Kinnick Stadium, whereas the last two games have been on the road.

Iowa defeated Minnesota 48-31 last Saturday in Minneapolis. 

Starting with a nine-yard run by Toren Young, it seemed that the Iowa offense was ahead of the chains for most of the game. Stanley completed all four of his passes on Iowa's opening drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end T.J. Hockenson, who barely stayed in bounds in the back of end zone, giving Iowa a 7-3 lead.

Two costly Indiana penalties, including one on a pass by Stanley that was intercepted, helped keep the drive alive.  

Following an Indiana three and out, Iowa switched to its running attack. And with starter Ivory Kelly-Martin out with a head injury, it was sophomore Toren Young and junior Mekhi Sargent who shared the rushing load.

Stanley completed a beautiful high-arching pass to junior tight end Noah Fant for a 28-yard touchdown that gave Iowa 14-3 advantage.

Fant, who had suffered an apparent head injury against Minnesota, was limited in practice throughout the week, but was cleared to practice on Friday.

Fant showed little effects of the injury as he and Hockenson both finished with over 100 receiving yards while combining for three touchdown catches, including two by Hockenson.

After another Indiana punt, Iowa was on the verge of scoring again when Stanley was intercepted by the son of Indiana head Coach Tom Allen. Thomas Allen returned the interception 29 yards to the Iowa 34 before Stanley tackled him out of bounds.

Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey found sophomore wide receiver Ty Fryfogle for a 33-yard touchdown pass that narrowed the deficit to 14-10. 

On the ensuing kickoff, Iowa sophomore Ihmir Smith-Marsette lost the ball in the sun and made the mistake of picking it up at the Iowa 3. Facing disaster, Smith-Marsette weaved between two defenders and broke loose on the sideline for a 60-yard return that ended with him trying to hurdle a defender.

“It was cool just being able to put the offense in a good position” Smith-Marsette said. “I’m not the type to, you know, fair catch, because I believe in myself to put my team in a better position than the fair catch rule itself.”

Stanley shook off the interception and made another highlight-reel play that was reminiscent of the victory over Ohio State last season, shaking off Indiana linebacker Marcelino Ball and rolling to his right before finding senior Nick Easley in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass that pushed Iowa's lead to 21-10 with 10 minutes, 3 seconds left in the second quarter.

Neither team was able to move the ball for the remainder of the second quarter and Iowa led 21-10 at halftime.

“I made a mental mistake, but Nick did a great job just tracking with me through the end zone and I was able to throw it to him for a touchdown,” Stanley said.

The Hawkeyes kept the momentum on the opening drive of the second half, marching 63 yards for another touchdown that came when Stanley completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Toren Young.

Young started for Kelly-Martin and led Iowa with 96 rushing yards.

“Just felt good and go out there and compete, we were able to get some things going early and get the run game going,” said Young.

Indiana punted again and Iowa’s explosiveness on offense continued as Stanley found Hockenson for a short pass that Hockenson caught on the Indiana 43 and then raced down the sideline for the 54-yard touchdown, giving Iowa a comfortable 35-10 lead. 

Indiana gained some momentum after Peyton Ramsey juked Iowa safety Jake Gervase to score on a 12-yard run to bring the Hoosiers closer at 35-16.

But it was too little and too late.

Following a stalled drive by Iowa at the Indiana 46, Ramsey drove the Hoosiers to the Iowa 6 before Iowa sophomore Geno Stone intercepted Ramsey in the end zone. In addition to the interception, Stone had five tackles and forced a fumble.

“I was playing in and out with the linebacker on the tight end, I kind of read the quarterback and saw that he was trying to throw the slant and that’s when I jumped it,” Stone said of his interception. 

Stanley capped his six-touchdown effort with a four-yard scoring pass to backup senior fullback Austin Kelly, who had replaced the injured Brady Ross, giving Iowa the final margin of 42-16.

With his six touchdown passes, Stanley surpassed Chuck Hartlieb (37) and C.J. Beathard (40) and moved into a tie with Matt Rodgers for sixth all-time at Iowa with 41 touchdown passes.

“It’s a great honor to be in the same category, but obviously, a lot of credit goes out to the receivers and running backs and especially the offensive line to allow me to read that defense and make those throws,” Stanley said.

Kirk Ferentz likes what he sees from his offense, but also thinks there is room to grow.

“We’re seeing growth and we’re trying to get our guys to approach every game like it is a one game season,” Ferentz said.  “One of the things I’m really excited about is how much we can get better, in my mind, if we keep our focus where we need to.”

Iowa improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten and will likely crack the national rankings for the first time in 2018 as it prepares for next Saturday's homecoming game against Maryland.

Ferentz said that injured linebackers Jack Hockaday and Nick Niemann, as well as Ivory Kelly Martin, are making good progress and hinted that all three might play against Maryland.