Hank Brown goes distance at QB as Iowa edges Iowa State 16-13 at Kinnick Stadium
Iowa prevails on a 42-yard field goal by Caden Buhr with 15 seconds remaining
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team appears to have settled its quarterback competition as Hank Brown played from start to finish against Iowa State on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
But it was Iowa’s new starting kicker, Caden Buhr, who ultimately settled the contest on the field.
His 42-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining lifted No. 22 Iowa to a 16-13 come-from-behind victory over the Cyclones.
Iowa improved to 2-0 and will face Northern Iowa in the final nonconference game next Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, while Iowa State fell to 1-1 under first-year head coach Jimmy Rogers.
“Needless to say, just really excited for our team, excited for our fans as well,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “Great crowd tonight. It was really good to get the win, as you guys all saw, really hard fought.
“We expected that. We expected this to be a tough contest. That’s kind of been the standard any time we get together the last decade plus. And that’s exactly how it played out.”
Buhr, a walk-on from Bettendorf, made all three of his field-goal attempts in Saturday’s game, while Brown completed 21-of-30 passes for 191 yards in his second straight start for the Hawkeyes.
“It’s awesome,” Buhr said. “That’s a true team win. Offense, defense and special teams, everybody.
“Iowa State is a real good team and a really good opponent. So to be able to come away with the win was awesome.”
Brown was expected to rotate with Jeremy Hecklinski at quarterback, as was the case in the first half of the season opener against Northern Illinois last Saturday.
But against the Cyclones, Brown went the distance, though for much of the game, Iowa had to play from behind.
“We went into it as I said pretty consistently and told the TV folks yesterday, the plan was to play both of them,” Kirk Ferentz said Brown and Hecklinski. “We’re totally comfortable doing that. And then you get into a game and you just kind of play the situation, if you will.”
Iowa took over on offense on the Cyclone 45-yard line with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, and trailing 13-10.
Running back Kamari Moulton had what would’ve been a nice gain on first down, but it was erased by a holding call on the final play of the third quarter.
The Cyclones were just 15 minutes from winning for the third straight time at Kinnick Stadium, while Iowa was trying to avoid losing despite being favored by 14.5 points.
About midway through the fourth quarter, Brown completed a pass to Evan James near the Iowa State sideline on third down. James then broke loose from a tackle and appeared to have a first down. However, it was ruled that he stepped out of bounds at the Iowa State 14, making it 4th-down and-1.
Buhr then made a 32-yard field goal to even the score at 13 with 6:22 remaining.
The Iowa defense stiffened in the second half as Iowa State only scored three points after halftime and was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Iowa was trailing 10-0 in the second quarter when Brown threw maybe his best pass of the game to wide receiver Tony Diaz, who had slipped past his defender on a deep post route. Brown hit Diaz in stride for a 56-yard gain to the Cyclone two-yard line.
Brown then scored on a 1-yard run two plays later to finally put Iowa on the board with 5:34 left in the second quarter.
“They made it rough on him, too,” Kirk Ferentz said of Brown. “But I thought he stayed in there and came up with some big plays. Certainly, the big pass play to Tony gave us a real spark there in the first half.
“But I thought he had good composure out there. He kept everybody in good shape and made some good plays in the running game. Just showed real toughness.”
Buhr then made a 45-yard field goal to even the score at 10-10 with 28 seconds left in the second quarter.
Brown completed 11-of-17 passes for 139 yards in the first half, while Diaz had five catches for 92 yards in the first half.
“We didn’t come out as strong as we wanted to,” Brown said. “But just being able to be gritty and continue to fight.
“All we were saying on the sideline is we just need one. And I think getting that one big one to Tony kind of got our mojo going a little bit.”
Iowa State took the opening kick of the third quarter and then marched into Iowa territory before settling for a 51-yard field goal by Kyle Konrardy, giving the Cyclones a 13-10 lead with 10:06 left in the quarter.
The Cyclones wouldn’t score again.
The Iowa running game had sputtered through three quarters against Iowa State, but then finally came alive when it really mattered in the fourth quarter.
Moulton finished with 57 rushing yards after being held to just 11 yards in the first half.
Third-year linebacker Cam Buffington also sparked the Iowa defense with a career-high 15 tackles in just his second career start.
Buhr, meanwhile, had been competing with North Dakota State transfer Eli Ozick for the starting kicking job throughout preseason practice.
Buhr was listed as the starter heading into the season opener against Northern Illinois, but he struggled early against the Huskies, missing both a point-after kick and his first field-goal attempt.
It didn’t really matter, though, as Iowa cruised to a 4o-0 victory.
The circumstances were entirely different against Iowa State as each of Buhr’s field-goal attempts came in high-pressure situations.
“It’s all about pushing forward,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Caden is a great example because that was pretty ugly last week. I don’t mind telling you, I’m not a kicking expert, but even I knew that one. But he looked pretty good tonight.
“That’s part of the cool thing about, you know, college athletics. It was in the NFL, too, and happens in high school, certainly. It’s all about the player’s attitude and their work ethic.”
Buhr credits his family, and especially his father, for helping him reach this point as a kicker.
“My parents are here, my grandparents are here, a lot of family members are here,” Buhr said. “I couldn’t have done this without any of them. There’s a lot of people along the way that help you and put you in positions to be successful.”
First-year starting punter Boston Everitt, who is from Hope Island, Australia, also played a key role in Saturday’s win, punting six times for a 44.0 average.
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Iowa State 0 10 3 0 -13
Iowa 0 10 0 6 – 16
IS – Kyle Konrardy 29 FG
IS – Vince Benetti 4 yard pass from Jaylen Raynor (Konrardy kick)
I – Hank Brown 1 run (Caden Buhr kick)
I – Buhr 45 FG
IS – Konrardy 51 FG
I – Buhr 32 FG
I – Buhr 42 FG
