Photos by Marcayla Armstrong
Michigan State has had an up and down season thus far, but Head Coach Jonathan Smith fired up his team for a key victory against Iowa, keeping hope alive for a post season bowl bid in his first year at the helm.
MSU started with the ball and would put points on the board first, driving to the Iowa 23 on their opening drive which resulted in a 42 yard field goal made by Jonathan Kim. After forcing the Hawkeyes into a 3 and out, the Spartans added another field goal to go up 6-0 late in the first quarter. MSU’s defense would come up with additional stops with the offense continuing to have success moving the ball downfield giving opportunities to Kim to continue to extend their lead in the first half. Kim connected on 36 and 29 yard field goals and at halftime it was the Spartans up 12-0 over the Hawkeyes.
Iowa started the second half with the ball and needed to find the end zone to keep the game close. Hawkeyes Quarterback Cade McNamara did just that, finding Reece Vander Zee for an 18 yard touchdown reception making the score 12-7 in favor of the Spartans. MSU would answer that with a drive downfield and 18 yard passing touchdown of their own when Quarterback Aidan Chiles connected with Montorie Foster who scored. This extended the Spartan’s lead back to 12 points. Four minutes later, and right before the end of the third quarter, Iowa scored their second touchdown of the game, this time on a two yard run by Brendan Sullivan making the score 19-14 MSU heading into the final quarter of play.
After a MSU field goal increasing the lead, the defense came up big with a key interception by N. Martinez at midfield. The Spartans took over and would turn that pick into points getting the sixth field goal of the game from Kim from 46 yards out. Kim finished 6 of 7 on field goals in the game getting his career best performance and new MSU record for field goals for the sixth year kicker.
On the first play of Iowa’s next possession, Running Back Kaleb Johnson broke through for a season-long 75 yard rushing touchdown to keep the Hawkeyes within striking distance with just under eight minutes left in the game. Iowa would fail on the two point conversion try making the score 25-20 MSU. The MSU offense behind Chiles would do a great job managing time on their final possession taking over five minutes off the clock before ending the long drive with a one yard touchdown by Nathan Carter. That rushing touchdown gave MSU some breathing room and the cushion of a 12 point lead, up 32-20 with two minutes left in the game. Iowa’s attempt at a comeback victory would however fall short. When the final whistle blew, it was Michigan State earning their fourth win of the season, 32-20.
Michigan State (4-3) will head into the big in-state rival game against the Michigan Wolverines (4-3) next week in Ann Arbor. Iowa (4-3) returns home and will host the Northwestern Wildcats (3-4) in their next contest.
Final Score: MSU 32 – Iowa 20