Pink Walls Lead Iowa To Victory

#34 Texas Tech – 7
#31 Iowa – 21

IOWA CITY, Iowa - As the sun set, Kirk Ferentz led his Iowa Hawkeyes out of the tunnels of Kinnick Stadium in from of a record crowd of 71,000 fans. Iowa kicked the ball off and forced a punt from the Red Raiders offense right of the gate. Ohio native Ricky Stanzi led the Hawkeye offense out onto the field and they were able to march the ball all the way down to the 18 yard line for a field goal try. Unfortunately, lining up from the right side of the field, kicker Daniel Murray missed the field goal wide right. The first quarter ended all tied up at zero.

In the second quarter, it continued to be a defensive battle although Texas Tech was putting a drive together. The game changing play came on the Iowa 7-yard line when Jordan Bernstine intercepted a Taylor Potts' pass. Once Bernstine intercepted the ball, he was able to pick up some blockers and outran one last defender for a 94-yard touchdown with 48 seconds left in the half. On the Red Raiders next series the Iowa Hawkeyes were able to intercept another one of Taylor Potts' passes which set them up in good positioning to score at least three points before the half. With seven seconds left on the Texas Tech's 38-yard line, Kirk Ferentz decided to put the ball in Ricky Stanzi's hands. Ricky Stanzi threw a ball to his favorite target receiver in double coverage and WR Derrell Koulianos hauled in the ball for a touchdown. The score at halftime was 14-0, Iowa.

Texas Tech answered in the second half as they focused on a balance offense that kept the Iowa defense guessing. RB Baron Batch was able to scamper in for a 10-yard touchdown run. Iowa shifted to its time management offense late in the third quarter, and was able to bleed critical minutes off the clock.

As the players on the sidelines held up four fingers representing the final stanza, Ricky Stanzi was in the huddle motivating his players. Ricky Stanzi got great protection throughout the game, which helped him connect with Derrell Koulianos for another big gain that put Iowa into the Red Raiders' redzone. Iowa continued to control the clock as they moved the ball down to the 1-yard line. With two minutes left on the clock, RB Jewel Hampton punched the ball in for a score to extend the lead to 14 (21-7).

The Iowa defense made one more stand as they held QB Taylor Potts and the Red Raiders offense to turnover on downs. Ricky Stanzi took the field again as he lined up in the victory formation to take three consecutive knees to win the game.

Iowa will face #2 Florida in the next round.

Stats:
Iowa
Ricky Stanzi – QB Rating: 168.6, 7/12, 142 yards, TD, INT
Jewel Hampton – 10 rushes, 21 yards, TD
Derrell Koulianos – 6 rec, 146 yards, TD, 1 tackle
Greg Castillo – 4 tackles, PD
Brett Greenwood – 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 32 yds, 3 PD
Jordan Bernstine – 1 tackle, INT, 94 yards, TD, 2 PD