The Daily Orange

[Click to enlarge]

IOWA CITY, Iowa - For the second week in a row, Syracuse struggled mightily moving the ball on the ground.

SU finished the game with 24 yards rushing, an improvement from the eight it gained against Washington last Friday, but far from adequate for winning games, especially on the road. The problems that haunted the Orange last week came back again, some of which Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said he does not have an answer for at the moment.

"I can't tell you why they penetrated us in the running game the way they did in the first half," Robinson said. "I thought going into the game, we were going to block them some. And in the first half, I didn't see that."

Glaring on the large, luminescent scoreboard above Kinnick Stadium's southern endzone was SU's rushing total at halftime: minus 14 yards. And while the Orange managed to break above zero by the end of the game, there was nothing positive about its running performance on Saturday and nothing more evidently in need of revamping for next week's game against Illinois.

Iowa's defense had little difficulty attacking SU's running backs in the backfield, many times for a loss of yards. At 7:10 in the first quarter, Syracuse starting running back Curtis Brinkley picked up a gain of one yard. The Orange didn't gain any positive yardage on the ground after that point until the eight-minute mark of the second quarter, a span of nearly four drives. Iowa finished the game with 13 tackles for loss.

"It helps when the score tips your way a little bit," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "It makes it a little bit easier to I think crank it up up front."

Kick back

For the second time in Greg Robinson's head coaching tenure at Syracuse, an opponent blocked a kick. Then they blocked another one.

Iowa's senior defensive end Kenny Iwebema snuck through the line to block two field goal attempts by SU kicker Pat Shadle, the first a 39-yarder in the second quarter, the next a 38-yarder in the third quarter. Robinson said after the game, he wasn't sure what exactly caused the disrupted attempts.

"There was some penetration," Robinson said. "We haven't had issues in that area in all my years of being there. We're going to have to check that out."

Neither kick likely would have had much meaning on the outcome of the game. The first kick came on a 4th-and-6 with SU already down 28-0; the second kick led to Iowa's last scoring drive of the game.

Shadle also had no answer for why the kicks were blocked.

"Honestly, I can't tell you until I watch the tape," Shadle said. "My head's down, so I don't see what's happening. I know I kicked the ball well, the holds were there and the snaps were there, so I can't answer that question now."

The missed field goals drops Shadle's completion percentage to 50 percent after going 2-for-2 against Washington in week one. Shadle also missed an extra point in that game.

The blocks were the third and fourth of Iwebema's career and tied a single-game Iowa record. Iwebema also recorded Iowa's last blocked field goal in 2005 against Illinois.

Injury report

Several Syracuse players left the field due to injury during the game on Saturday, including captain Jameel McClain and middle linebacker Jake Flaherty.

Both McClain and Flaherty were injured in the fourth quarter, but both were able to walk off the field under their own power. McClain wouldn't comment on the injury after the game, but he was holding an ice bag to his back during interviews and said he was just a little banged up.

Potentially the most serious injury was suffered by SU center Marvin McCall, who left the game in the second quarter and did not return. Greg Robinson said McCall twisted his ankle and X-rays were negative. Backup center and redshirt freshman Jim McKenzie filled in for the remainder of the game.

SU defensive backs A.J. Brown and Bruce Williams also got banged up on separate plays in the third quarter. Neither was seriously injured.

This and that

Saturday's game marked the 25th consecutive sellout at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa has also won its last seven home openers. … This was Kirk Ferentz's 100th game as the Hawkeyes head coach. He improved to 57-43 after the win. … Thirty or so Iowa fans caught the game from the top of a parking garage behind the north endzone.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools