By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After watching the first half on Saturday in which the only points scored were two field goals by Iowa kicker Drew Stevens, it would have been easy to get carried away with the here-we-go-again negativity.

It would have been easy to say that Tim Lester has picked up where Brian Ferentz left off last season.

It would have been easy to say that Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara was nowhere close to the form he showed while leading Michigan to the Big Ten title in 2021.

It would have been easy to criticize Iowa’s veteran offensive line for failing to assert itself against a 22.5 underdog from the Missouri Valley Conference.

But in this case, all those narratives would have been premature.

Because after regrouping at halftime, the Iowa offense came out in the second half and performed at an exceptionally high level, the kind of level that fans have so desperately wanted to see while cruising to a 40-0 victory at sun-drenched Kinnick Stadium.

McNamara showed flashes of how he played for Michigan, completing three touchdown passes in slightly more than 15 minutes in the second half, including two to true freshman receiver Reece Vander Zee and one to Northwestern transfer receiver Jacob Gill.

It marked the first time that Iowa has had three touchdown passes in a game since the Maryland game in 2021, and the three touchdown passes to wide receivers matched Iowa’s total from last season by wide receivers, and surpassed the 2022 total when Iowa receivers caught just two touchdown passes.

Iowa also finished with 492 yards, converted on 7-of-15 third-down plays and averaged 6.9 yards per play.

“Just coming out at halftime, we just knew that we had to patient and stick with the game plan and that it was all going to fall into place if we just stuck with it and adjusted a few things,” said Vander Zee, who in addition to playing for his high school baseball team this summer also  played quarterback as a high school senior. “Once we got into the end zone the first time, things started clicking.”

Junior running back Kaleb Johnson missed the entire first half, but the Ohio native made up for it in the second half as he scored two touchdowns, including one from 64 yards in which he blasted through a massive opening up the middle and then raced untouched into the south end zone.

The Iowa defense also lived up to its high standard by pitching a shutout, by forcing three turnovers and by holding Illinois State to just 189 yards.

This was a game against an FCS opponent that Iowa should have won convincingly as the 25^th-ranked team in the country, and by the time it was over, Iowa had won convincingly under acting head coach Seth Wallace.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz missed Saturday’s game while serving a one-game suspension, and he had to be concerned about the way his offense played in the first half.

But the game consists of four quarters, and whatever Wallace and the other coaches said at halftime seems to have provided the necessary spark on offense.

Lester’s debut as the Iowa offensive coordinator got off to a rocky start, but whatever adjustments he made at halftime, obviously, worked in spectacular fashion.

For once, the Iowa offense was the story of the game, but for all the right reasons.

“I’ll start by saying I’m proud of our staff and very proud of our team, the players specifically,” Wallace said. “What they did today under the circumstances was really pretty cool.

“We’re excited to get the win, the first game of the season, obviously, and the first chance to be in Kinnick. We told the guys beforehand it’s special anytime you get a chance  to walk into the stadium and they certainly took advantage of that, particularly in the second half.

“In regards to the first half, we had some missed opportunities and we had some of what you would call the norms in the first game, just some things I think we could have handled better. However, the second half was a better indicator of the kind team we are.”

Fatigue probably became a factor for the Illinois State defense in the second half, but that still shouldn’t take anything away from what McNamara and the offense accomplished in the second half.

There was speculation heading into Saturday’s season opener that McNamara was in danger of losing the starting position to Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan.

But that narrative can now be silenced, at least for one week, as McNamara completed 21-of-31 passes for 251 and three scores. He also finished the game with an impressive 167.7 quarterback rating.

McNamara struggled in five starts last season before suffering a season-ending knee against Michigan State in the fifth game. He also was slowed by a quad injury last season.

But on Saturday, McNamara was fully healthy and he played like it in the second half. There were even times when he scrambled in Saturday’s game, something he wouldn’t have been able to do a year ago.

“Today, it felt really good to actually be healthy and run around a little bit,” McNamara said. “I wasn’t expected to run as much as I did today. But it felt good and some confidence was built with that.”

In addition to Vander Zee’s performance as a receiver, Gill also had a big impact, catching three passes for 46 yards, including a 31-touchdown in the third quarter in which he break off his route to create space.

Gill also took a vicious hit on each of his two other catches, but he still hung on to the ball.

The level of competition will improve significantly next Saturday when Iowa faces Iowa State at Kinnick Stadium.

Now the question is which Iowa offense will show up next Saturday? The one that sputtered in the first against Illinois State or the one that showed its potential in the second half.

The challenge for Lester, and for McNamara, is to make sure it’s the latter.

Illinois State 0 0 0 0 – 0

Iowa 3 3 13 21 – 40

I – Drew Stevens 41 FG

I – Stevens 28 FG

I – Reece Vander Zee 7 pass from Cade McNamara (pass failed)

I – Jacob Gill 31 pass from McNamara (Stevens kick)

I – Vander Zee 19 pass from McNamara (Stevens kick)

I – Kaleb Johnson 64 run (Stevens kick)