Stevens nails 53-yard field goal in closing seconds as Iowa beats Northwestern 10-7 at Wrigley
CHICAGO - Drew Stevens knew as soon as the ball took flight. He got all of that one and in a flash, the celebration was on.
Stevens nailed a tiebreaking 53-yard field goal in the closing seconds, and Iowa beat Northwestern 10-7 at Wrigley Field on Saturday.
"As soon as I kicked it, I started celebrating," he said. "I was like, it went in. And then it's like a three-second delay and then the crowd starts cheering."
The Hawkeyes (7-2, 4-2) took sole possession of the Big Ten West lead with Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin all losing. They also put aside a somewhat tumultuous week after interim athletic director Beth Goetz announced that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz will not return next season.
"The month of November really defines you," coach Kirk Ferentz said. "You find out what's what and who's who. That's usually how you get remembered. ... Happy to be at seven. We'd rather be at nine, but we're not. We're not looking back."
The game went as expected, with those predicting a baseball score at the iconic ballpark getting it just about right.
Northwestern (4-5, 2-4) drove for a tying touchdown with just under two minutes remaining. But Iowa - last in the nation in total offense coming into the game - responded.
Aided by a 23-yard pass from Deacon Hill to Kaleb Brown, the Hawkeyes drove from the 28 to the Northwestern 35. Stevens, who missed a 53-yarder off the right upright in the first quarter, nailed one from about the same spot on fourth-and-7 to make it 10-7 with 14 seconds remaining.
He was quickly mobbed by his teammates as a large contingent of fans wearing black and gold roared.
"The wind was slightly pushing it left to right and Mother Nature kind of got me in the first half," Stevenson said. "Made it when it mattered."
Stevenson would have had a tough time shaking off the miss in the past. But not this time.
"If you would have asked me that a few years ago, I probably would have been like, 'It's impossible,'" he said. "It's like one or two minutes, like, 'dang, that (stinks).' But your team needs you in close games like that. It wasn't that difficult to shake off."
Iowa (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) grabbed a 7-0 lead after Anterio Thompson blocked Hunter Renner's punt early in the third quarter. The Hawkeyes took over at the Northwestern 25. Drew Hill rolled to his right and hit Addison Ostrenga for a 2-yard touchdown.
Iowa's defense made a huge stand midway through the fourth quarter. Northwestern had a first down at the Hawkeyes' 2 and got stopped on four runs - three from the 1.
The Wildcats however had another huge opportunity after the Hawkeyes went three-and-out.
A.J. Henning returned a punt 23 yards to the 21, and Brendan Sullivan hit Cam Johnson with a 5-yard touchdown, tying it with just under two minutes remaining.
Hill threw for just 65 yards, completing 10 of 15 passes with a touchdown and an interception. Leshon Williams ran for 79 yards, giving him 1,032 in his career, and the Hawkeyes bounced back from a loss to Minnesota two weeks earlier.