IOWA CITY – Iowa lost a Big Ten battle with Michigan State Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, dropping a hard-fought 26-14 conference game to the Spartans.
Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock completed touchdown passes to Damon Bullock (47 yards) and C.J. Fiedorowicz (10 yards). He has eight touchdown passes this season, five of which have been for 20-plus yards. After starting the game 1-4 for 5 yards, Rudock finished the half completing 11 straight passes for 138 yards.
Running back Damon Bullock’s 47-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter is the longest play Michigan State has allowed this season. It is also the longest reception of Bullock’s career.
Three Hawkeyes finished the game matching or setting career highs in receptions and yards. Wide receiver Tevaun Smith caught a career-best six passes for a career-high 59 yards. Smith’s 36-yard reception in the second quarter was a career long. Bullock matched his career high with five catches for a career-high 71 yards. Wide receiver Matt Vandeberg caught a career-best four receptions for a career-high 36 yards.
Linebackers James Morris and Anthony Hitchens led Iowa with a game-high 12 tackles. Senior linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Christian Kirksey rank third and 11th, respectively, among Big Ten leading tacklers. Morris has been credited with double-digit tackle games 16 times in his career, while Hitchens has 11 double-digit tackle games. Morris moves into 13th place on Iowa career tackles list. He has 336 career stops, trailing Melvin Foster (337), Aaron Kampman (342), and Dave Haight (346) for a spot inside the top 10.
Iowa held its opponent scoreless in the first quarter for the fifth straight game.
Iowa outscored Michigan State 14-10 in the second quarter. The Hawkeyes have outscored their opponents 86-20 in the second quarter this season.
Iowa lost the turnover battle for just the second time this season. The Hawkeyes are 0-2 in those games (Northern Illinois (Northern Illinois, -2; Michigan State, -1). Iowa is 4-0 when winning turnover margin.
Michigan State won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Iowa has started the game on offense in 146-of-180 games under Kirk Ferentz, including three times this season. The Hawkeyes started on offense against Northern Illinois (L, 30-27), at Minnesota (W, 23-7), and against Michigan State (L, 26-14).
Iowa will be idle next Saturday before returning to action at Ohio State on Oct. 19 (2:30 p.m. CT). The contest in Columbus, Ohio, will be televised by ABC.
