Iowa Fails to Finish Off Kentucky

Hawkeyes Come Up Short in Citrus Bowl

Kentucky defensive back Quandre Mosely, front, pulls down an interception against Iowa wide receiver Nico Ragaini (89) during a NCAA college football game in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK)

The fate of the pass was so obvious, Charlie Jones threw up his hands in frustration seconds before the final throw of Spencer Petras’ season ended up cradled in the arms of Kentucky’s Deandre Square.

Iowa’s 20-17 loss to Kentucky in Saturday’s Citrus Bowl didn’t have the Orlando magic from the Hawkeyes’ last appearance in this game back in 2005.

Instead of some Drew Tate-to-Warren Holloway winning touchdown pass in the closing seconds, there was the wobbly Petras pass to the middle of the field, where the closest receiver was an opposing defensive back who hadn’t had an interception all season until that moment when he got his hands under the football before it could hit the turf.

Square gathered in victory, and the Hawkeyes drifted into the postseason with 10 wins, a Big Ten West Division championship, and so many questions about what their future will look like.

“It’s hard, it’s hard,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of the emotions of the final quarter, when Iowa rallied to take the lead, only to lose in the final two minutes. “The ups and downs are challenging.”

This one looked to be like so many of the other wins this season for the Hawkeyes — a defense that was in command keeping the game close until an erratic offense could steady itself.

Then, somehow, Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson slipped behind Iowa’s secondary for a 52-yard pass completion down to the Hawkeyes’ 1-yard line. That was followed, after a false start pushed the Wildcats (10-3) back five yards, running back Chris Rodriguez slipped out of the usually-tight grasp of Iowa’s Zach VanValkenburg and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:48 to play.

“It’s a big swing of emotions,” tight end Sam LaPorta said. “It’s really tough, especially when you feel like you’re going to come out on top.

“Yeah, just a big swing of emotions.”

Iowa outgained the Wildcats 384-354, but didn’t get a touchdown until a 20-yard run by wide receiver Arland Bruce IV with 3:21 left in the third quarter. And when Petras threw a 36-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to LaPorta with 10:54 left in the game, the Hawkeyes led 17-13.

They had a chance to take a good chunk, and maybe all, of the final 3 minutes and 59 seconds off the clock when they got the ball at their own 36-yard line. But they could only get nine yards, and on fourth-and-1 tried to draw the Wildcats offsides before calling a timeout. Tory Taylor’s punt ended up as a touchback, and Kentucky was able to go 80 yards in eight plays for the win.

“We tried to get an easy five yards, and if it wasn’t there, let the defense do their job,” Petras said.

“They had 80 yards,” Ferentz said. “I liked our odds. I felt comfortable where we were at.”

Those odds ran out.

Iowa drove 35 yards on five plays on its final possession, getting to the Kentucky 40-yard line before Petras’ interception.

Petras took the blame for the play call, which was designed to be a short pass play to a running back.

“The goal was an easy completion to move the chains, get us into good field position,” Petras said. “If the (pass) goes high, it’s an interception. Bad play call on my part.

“We had plenty of opportunities to make this thing happen, and to come out with a win. I didn’t get it done, and the team didn’t get it done.”

Iowa was playing without running back Tyler Goodson, the team’s leading rusher who declared for the NFL draft. But the Hawkeyes had 173 rushing yards, led by Gavin Williams’ career-high 98 yards. Leshon Williams had 42 yards.

“They were really physical, which is good to see,” Petras said. “I don’t know how many guys Leshon ran over, but it was quite a bit. Gavin was running hard.”

A season that started with a six-game winning streak that got the Hawkeyes to a No. 2 national ranking ended with two losses that will haunt — a 42-3 defeat to Michigan in the Big Ten championship game, and this one.

“I think the team showed a lot of character today,” LaPorta said. “We fought our butts off.”

Kentucky gashed the Iowa defense for a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive on its opening possession — Rodriguez caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis — for a 7-0 lead. But while the Wildcats would possess the ball for almost 38 minutes for the game, Iowa’s defense held them to just two field goals until that final drive.

“The guys came out in the second half, kept playing, gave ourselves a chance,” Ferentz said.

Iowa had 263 yards of offense in the second half.

“Things were rolling for us,” LaPorta said. “We were converting a lot of third downs, making easy plays. Yeah, just got rolling there for a while.”

The biggest question for the Hawkeyes heading into the offseason will be who is quarterback. Petras threw for 211 yards in this game, but was 19-of-30 and had three interceptions. Alex Padilla, who had three starts this season, never played. And Ferentz has spent some of the discussions leading up to this game talking about third-string QB Joey Labas.

“You can say what you want about him,” LaPorta said of Petras. “He’s a competitor, he’s tough as heck.”