IOWA CITY, Iowa – The state of Iowa is well known for its “Field of Dreams,” but UMass’ trip into Cornbelt Country soon spiraled into a nightmare, for reasons that had little to do with Saturday night’s final score.
Iowa punished the Minutemen, 47-7, in front of 69,250 at Kinnick Stadium. The win gave Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz his 206th at Iowa, surpassing Woody Hayes of Ohio State to become the Big Ten Conference’s all-time winningest coach.
The Minutemen (0-3) fell down 30-7 at halftime, and early in the third quarter, defensive back and special teamer TJ Magee suffered a frightening injury. The junior went down on punt coverage, during a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown by Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen. Magee was treated on the field, immobilized on a stretcher and fitted with a head and neck collar before he was transported across the street to University of Iowa Hospital.
UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak confirmed in the post-game that Magee was able to communicate and move his extremities in the wake of the injury.
“He’s doing the best he can right now,” said Harasymiak. “His parents and a bunch of our staff went over there with him. When I left him, he was moving everything, which is a really good sign.”
Later, early in the fourth quarter, UMass defensive backs Kendall Bournes and Ryan Barnes were both helped off on the same play with apparent leg injuries.
The Minutemen were limited to 119 yards of offense and failed to convert on all 10 third-down situations. Grant Jordan (9 of 14, 37 passing yards) and AJ Hairston (4 of 8, 56 yards) split time at quarterback, but Jordan was sacked five times. Rocko Griffin led the UMass rushers with 28 yards on 10 tries.
From the jump, Iowa (2-1) reached the end zone in only 91 seconds, helped along by a 45-yard completion from Mark Gronowski to Sam Phillips and followed on the next play by a 20-yard scoring strike from Gronowski to Seth Anderson. The Minutemen then went three-and-punt on their opening series and Wetjen, a seemingly game-breaking threat whenever he touched the football Saturday, ripped off a 39-yard return to put the ball at the UMass 39.
Seven plays later, Gronowski (16 of 24, 179 yards, two TD) and Anderson combined on a 3-yard scoring pass. A short UMass punt gave the Hawkeyes the ball at their own 48. It took less than 3 1/2 minutes to get back into the end zone on Wetjen’s 20-yard run on a wingback reverse, putting Iowa up 20-0 with 2:08 left in the quarter.
About all that went wrong for the Hawkeyes was a missed extra point after their second touchdown, when kicker Drew Stevens clanged the left upright.
Early in the second quarter, as Iowa lined up to punt for the first time, UMass’ Kezion Dia-Johnson burst through to block Rhys Dakin’s kick and Zachary Farris recovered at the Iowa 27, adding a 6-yard return to set up the Minutemen at the Hawkeye 21.
UMass worked its way to the 6 before Jordan stayed alive on a deep dropkick, scrambled to his left and zig-zagged his way into the end zone. Derek Morris’ extra point pulled the visitors to within 20-7 with 11:50 to play in the half.
“It was good to get that spark,” said Harasymiak of Dia-Johnson’s punt block.
“He almost got one against Temple and against Bryant. I’d love to scoop it and get a touchdown. They were down, they had every reason to quit, and they kept going. I was hoping that, then the stop, and trying to go for it on fourth down would have created something there.”
Stevens then bombed a 54-yard field goal to make it 23-7, and Iowa got right back in business when Wetjen ran a punt 40 yards to the UMass 22. Stevens’ next attempt from 38 yards, however, hooked wide to the left.
The Minutemen failed on fourth-and-4 from their own 49 when Jordan missed connections with Tyree Kelly, and that gave Iowa 1:28 on the clock. Gronowski finished the drive with a 13-yard shotgun draw, spinning through four defenders, to reach the end zone with 26 seconds to play.
“If we could have converted that, maybe we put a little pressure on them going into the half. Then they go down and score and make it 30-7,” said Harasymiak. “Once those guys start leaning on you, it becomes a little difficult there in the second half. I think the guys kept going and played hard, but the execution level wasn’t there today.”
First-half offense favored the Hawkeyes, 246-34, with a glaring 86-0 edge in rushing yards and only three UMass first downs.
After Wetjen’s huge punt return, tying an Iowa football record set in 1984, made it 37-7, Stevens added a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter and backup quarterback Hank Brown zinged a 2-yard TD pass to KJ Parker with just over 11 minutes remaining. In all, the Hawkeyes rang up 435 total yards.
UMass now takes a week off before heading to Missouri Sept. 27, the return game for the Tigers’ 45-3 victory in Amherst last season.
“We got outclassed, it’s big-time major college football. Big Ten isn’t little people,” said Harasymiak. “The bye week is hitting and definitely helps, with the injuries. Everything’s in front of us still. We haven’t touched MAC play. Going on the road to Missouri will certainly be a challenge; we’re between South Carolina and Alabama for them.
“As coaches, we’ve got to look at the first three games and see what we can do well, how we can put it together and get this team to win.”