IOWA CITY - Iowa’s defense spent the week before the Cy-Hawk game studying nearly five years of Iowa State tape. Even with all that prep, the Hawkeyes still ran into a few wrinkles Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
The Cyclones, under first-year head coach Jimmy Rogers, came out with plenty of formation variety and didn’t seem interested in keeping things simple. Iowa State rolled up 255 yards of offense and stayed in the fight until Iowa’s late fourth-quarter drive sealed a 16-13 win.
Iowa defensive back Jaylen Watson said the Hawkeyes saw about 25 different formations. Zach Lutmer thought the number was even higher, putting it closer to 35.
“It’s a good thing, especially with all of the young guys that we have to see all the different things that can be run against us, and obviously we’re a defense, we have to adjust to what they do,” Lutmer said. “It was good to see all the adjustments that we made.”
For Iowa, the challenge wasn’t just the number of looks. It was how quickly Iowa State shifted from one presentation to another, including little details like adding an extra offensive lineman to disguise a tight end. Lutmer said he has never seen an opponent introduce so many new concepts this early in the season, especially against a program built on disciplined defense.
The Hawkeyes leaned on that discipline in their response. During camp, they had worked through the same kinds of adjustments, even if they never fully practiced every version in full speed.
“We’ll go through those adjustments during camp,” linebacker Jayden Montgomery said. “So it’s just being able to have that recall from fall camp where we walk through this. We never even truly practiced it, but we walk through this, and you’ve got to on the fly be able to adjust to that and then go to the sideline and make your adjustments there.”
That preparation showed up when it mattered, though Iowa still felt there was room for more. Lutmer said the defense allowed “13 points too many.” Iowa State jumped out to a 10-0 lead and landed four passing plays of 15 yards or more, along with three runs of at least 10 yards.
The environment only added to the strain. With Kinnick loud and the game carrying marquee weight early in the season, Iowa had to communicate cleanly while sorting through the Cyclones’ shifting looks. Sometimes that meant hand signals instead of talking it through.
“It’s a little bit of both depending on the call and depending on what we see with the formation,” Watson said. “One thing can change to another thing just like that, and we’ve all got to be on the same page so we can eliminate the explosive plays.”
Even with the surprises, Iowa’s defenders were active all over the field. Cam Buffington finished with nine solo tackles, while Lutmer and Watson combined for four pass breakups.
And in the end, the group got what mattered most: a win. With one game left before Big Ten play, Iowa not only banked experience in a tense setting, but also picked up a clearer picture of the kinds of offensive wrinkles it may see again, including in ranked matchups against No.
19 Michigan and No. 6 Ohio State.
“We went in on Sunday and we looked at all those plays, and now we’re very confident with the checks that we were in, the checks that maybe we should have been (in), how we can be better against those same play calls,” Montgomery said. “So that’s definitely going to help us moving forward.”
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