Rutgers football: What you need to know for Iowa 9/7

Last Week

Iowa

Playing against MAC school Miami of Ohio, the Iowa Hawkeyes struggled early. They trailed 7-3 almost halfway through the second quarter. That’s when UI quarterback Nate Stanley threw the first of his trifecta of touchdown passes to put his team ahead by three points, 10-7, which held through the end of the half.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz must have given a great half time speech because the Hawkeyes turned it on from there. They outscored Miami 28-7 over the final 30 minutes to win in a blowout. Stanley finished 21-of-30 for 252 yards with zero picks. Running back Mekhi Sargent was also a weapon. He ran 14 times for 91 yards with a TD and he caught an additional four passes for 65 yards.

Defensively, Iowa held their opponents to 245 yards of total offense. They had one interception and two tackles for loss. Linebacker Djimon Colbert led the D with eight combined tackles.

Rutgers

Speaking of slow starts, Rutgers was sloth-like in the first quarter of their season opener against the upstart UMass Minutemen. They were sloppy and out-of-sink, trailing 21-7 after the first 15 minutes of play. Then the switch was flipped. Suddenly, RU remembered that they were the Big 10 team playing at home against an inferior opponent.

The Scarlet Knights scored 41 unanswered points including 31 in the second quarter to win 48-21. Graduate Transfer McLane Carter showed why he deserved to win the training camp competition for the starting quarterback job.

He threw for 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns completing 21 of 31 pass attempts. Carter looked comfortable and confident while doing so. His reads, for the most part, were correct and most often put his passes where only his receiver could make a play. Carter did have one glaring weakness, three passes went to players wearing the opposite color jersey.

The running back combination of Isaih Pacheco and Raheem Blackshear was devastating. They combined for 311 total yards and five touchdowns, four of which were on runs by Pacheco. Wide receiver Bo Melton hauled in six balls for 127 yards and a score. His 33-yard reception on the left side of the end zone on a fade route was a thing of beauty.

Rutgers defense was very shaky, especially early on. They missed tackles, let interceptions go through their hands and took bad penalties. RU finally got their act together and pitched a shutout for the final 45 minutes of play. Both Tre Avery and Avery Young eventually picked off UMass passes. Linebacker Tyshon Fogg is the leader of this defense and he proved it with 11 combined tackles (0.5 for loss).