By Pat Harty

Maybe there is something to the Rose Bowl Stadium curse because the way in which the Iowa football team lost to UCLA on Friday was unexpected and very disappointing.

Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan and Iowa All-America linebacker both suffered injuries in the 20-17 loss.

Iowa struggled to run the ball despite leading the Big Ten in rushing.

UCLA thrived at running the ball despite being ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing at 73.9 rushing yards per game.

UCLA committed three turnovers in the first half, but still led 17-10 at the break.

And probably the strangest thing of all is that Iowa finished the game with walk-on Jackson Stratton playing quarterback after he had recently been switched back from linebacker due to injuries at quarterback.

Stratton was pressed into duty in the fourth quarter after Sullivan succumbed to an accumulation of hard hits.

Stratton joined the Iowa program this past summer as a walk-on quarterback from Colorado State, but he was buried on the depth chart, so the coaches apparently switched him to linebacker.

However, after starting quarterback Cade McNamara and No. 3 quarterback Marco Lainez both were lost to injuries, Stratton switched back to quarterback, and was then pressed into duty in a stadium where Iowa hadn’t won since the 1959 Rose Bowl.

To his credit, he completed 3-of-6 passes for 28 yards and led a scoring drive.

But this game was lost on the ground of all places as Iowa was outgained 211 to 80 in rushing yards.

Kaleb Johnson scored his 21^st touchdown early in the first quarter, setting Iowa’s all-time record for most touchdowns in a single season, but the Big Ten’s leading rusher was held to a season-low 49 rushing yards on 18 carries.

UCLA won this game in the trenches, showing why they were only allowing 100.4 rushing yards per game.

It came down to strength versus strength and UCLA prevailed despite having what had been an anemic rushing attack.

The Bruins converted on 9-of-14 third-down plays.

“To me, as much as anything that stat says a lot,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said on the Learfield post-game radio show. “But I think it ties into we didn’t run the ball well tonight and they ran it way too effectively. And that’s a really bad combination, typically.”

From the very first snap, the Bruins controlled the line of scrimmage, much to the disappointment of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

“They outplayed in basically all three phases, just a disappointing game for us, certainly,” Kirk Ferentz said. “I just told the team; one thing about football, typically, you get what you deserve. We just didn’t play well enough to win tonight.

“And to UCLA’s credit, they did. So, you’ve got to give them credit.”

Iowa bolted to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Bruins answered by scoring 17 consecutive points.

UCLA kicker Mateen Bhaghani made a 57-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and a 27-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter that proved to be difference.

Iowa fell to 6-4 and 4-3 in the conference and now enters into its second bye week before playing at Maryland on Nov. 23 in a game that will have an added twist with Kirk Ferentz’s son and former Iowa offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz, now an Offensive Special Assistant for Maryland.

UCLA improved to 4-5 overall and has now won three straight games since starting 1-5 on the season under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster.

Iowa 10 0 0 7 – 17

UCLA 0 17 0 3

I – Kaleb Johnson 2 run (Drew Stevens kick)

I – Stevens 24 FG

U – Mateen Bhaghani 57 FG

U – Titus Mokiao-Atimalala 2 pass from Ethan Garbers (Bhaghani kick)

U – Logan Loya 29 pass from Garbers (Bhaghani kick)

I – Kamari Moulton 1 run (Stevens kick)

U – Bhaghani 27 FG