Five Thoughts

1. This is the Iowa defense, right? Because giving up big passing downs gain after big passing downs gain doesn't seem like the Iowa defense. Iowa is dealing with a lot of turnover right now, and on Saturday, a general lack of experience led to a general lack of discipline on passing downs.
   
   
2. The first thing we remember from this game is Steele Jantz making some plays with his legs. But what won the game for ISU was Jantz's sudden ability to pass. A week after completing 18 of 40 passes to his team and three more to Northern Iowa, Jantz torched Iowa for 279 yards, four touchdowns, no picks and a 1.041 Passing S&P.
   
   
3. Iowa running back Marcus Coker gained 140 yards in 35 carries. Efficient, but completely lacking in explosiveness. If you believe the line yardage figure, more than three-quarters of those yards were attributable to the offensive line. They did their job, and it's possible that Coker didn't make the most of his opportunities.
   
   
4. This game was the polar opposite of Minnesota-NMSU. In that game, both teams moved the ball until third down, then fell apart. In this game, teams didn't move the ball until third down.
   
   
5. One quarter in, it looked like this wasn't going to be much of a game. ISU blew a chance by losing a fumble on a bad snap from the Iowa 5, and UI marched 82 yards for a touchdown. ISU went three-and-out (stuffed on third-and-1), and the quarter ended with Iowa marching for what would end up a field goal. It seemed ISU was too mistake-prone, and Iowa was just too damn physical. But starting with a Coker fumble inside the Iowa red zone, the game flipped.