Hawkeyes pull away for victory over Albany

It wasn’t pretty, particularly in the first half, but the Iowa football team pulled away beginning in the second quarter for a comfortable victory over Albany on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa scored the last 31 points of the game in a 34-7 victory to move to 1-0 on the season. This also marked the 205^th win at Iowa for head coach Kirk Ferentz, tying him with Woody Hayes for most victories in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes opened the scoring with what started out as a very nice drive before stalling out. They eventually had to settle for a 28 yard field goal from Drew Stevens to pull ahead 3-0 after one drive.

That’s the way it remained until Albany scored their first and only points of the game. Quarterback Jack Shields found Lasalle Rose Jr. in the back of the end zone for a nine yard score and a 7-3 lead in the contest.

Then the Iowa offense seemed to get off the mat and find their groove. Xavier Williams, who came into the game after starting running back Kamari Moulton left due to injury, ripped off runs of 14 and 27 yards on the next drive and eventually found the end zone from three yards out and a 10-7 lead for the Hawkeyes.

After forcing a punt from Albany, Iowa got right back to work. Specifically Williams, who rushed for 122 yards on the day. He busted off a career long 43 yard run that got Iowa inside the 10 yard line. It wasn’t the best day for starting quarterback Mark Gronowski, who was only 8-15 on the day for 44 yards, hit Kaden Wetjen for a 2 yard touchdown pass and a 17-7 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Hawkeyes made it three straight drives resulting in a score. Terrell Washington and Mark Gronowski led the way on the ground on the drive. The key play late in the drive was Gronowski finding Jacob Gill for a 13 yard completion to the Albany three yard line. Gronowski then ran the ball in from one yard out and a 24-7 lead.

Iowa was on the move again late in the third quarter, getting past midfield, but the drive stalled out. Drew Stevens headed out on the field and hit a career best 55 yard field goal and a 27-7 advantage in the fourth period.

The Hawkeyes wrapped up their scoring for the game with Hank Brown under center. Jaziun Patterson saw his first action of the game and ran for 17 yards on his first carry on the game. He followed that up with a runs of 4 and 7 yards. Eventually his second run of 7 yards put Iowa on the doorstep of a score that Brown accomplished on a 1 yard sneak and a 34-7 final.

Iowa rushed for 310 yards in the game, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. In total, Iowa had 358 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Albany had 177 yards of total offense in the game, but only 18 of them in the second half.

Iowa now moves on to travel to Iowa State, who moved to 2-0 on the season with a convincing victory over South Dakota. The game is set for an 11 a.m. kick and will be broadcast on FOX.