The Iowa Hawkeyes survived a scare against the Troy Trojans Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa, defeating the Sun Belt Conference team 38-21.
Iowa (2-1) entered the second half down four points, after entering the game a 22 and ½-point favorite against Troy (0-3), but needed a second half turnover and strong running performance to defeat the Spartans.
Kaleb Johnson led the Hawkeyes on the ground with 173 yards and two touchdowns. The junior had two runs over 30 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter, putting Iowa ahead 31-21.
Devonte Ross paced the Trojans with 142 yards receiving and two touchdowns on five catches, adding a punt return score.
Brendan Sullivan, a transfer from Northwestern, gave Iowa its first lead of the second half with his only pass of the game. Entering the game on a redzone play, Sullivan sent a shovel pass to Addison Ostrenga for a touchdown.
The touchdown was Iowa’s only through the air, with Cade McNamara passing for 176 yards on 19 for 23 passing.
Then, with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter, Iowa added to its lead with a 28-yard pick six with Jermari Harris reading a pass from Matthew Caldwell and diving into the endzone to cap the return.
Iowa put the game away for good in the fourth quarter when Jaziun Patterson ran 39 yards for a touchdown putting the Hawkeyes up 38-21. Iowa outgained Troy 284-24 on the ground.
Troy gave the Big Ten squad a scare throughout the first three quarters of the game, thanks in part to the play of Ross.
In the second quarter, down 7-0, Ross caught a 63-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Caldwell down the left sideline. Then, with one minute remaining in the first half, Ross scored on a 77-yard punt return to put the Trojans ahead 14-10 at halftime.
In the second half, Ross repeated his first half receiving prowess with a different quarterback. After Caldwell, who had 156 passing yards and a touchdown, threw his interception, the quarterback went to the bench in favor of Tucker Kilcrease. On the sophomore’s first pass, he found Ross for a 62-yard touchdown pass.
