Oct. 18--The chants from the Iowa fans resonated and their unbeaten Hawkeyes made themselves right at home Saturday at Ryan Field.
Northwestern was pounded for the second straight weekend, this time 40-10 before a homecoming crowd of 44,135.
Billed as a matchup between strong Big Ten West contenders, the Wildcats submitted meekly as No. 17 Iowa controlled the time of possession (37 minutes, 22 seconds to 22:38) and the time of agony and frustration for a Northwestern squad that has been outscored 78-10 its last two games.
On a weekend when the 1995 Big Ten champion Wildcats were being honored, Iowa dismantled Northwestern with a steady barrage from backup running back Akrum Wadley (204 yards on 26 carries), who tied a school record with four touchdown runs after starter Jordan Canzeri went out with an injury.
The Hawkeyes (7-0, 3-0) bullied the Wildcats along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, ringing up 24 first downs and 492 yards of total offense against a Northwestern defense that led the nation in points allowed three weeks ago.
"I don't think it was a matter of overpowering (us)," Northwestern defensive end Dean Lowry said. "It was more a matter of poor execution and guys not fitting right. And too many one-man breakdowns. Against a team like Iowa, that can't happen."
Asked if the loss was even more devastating to him personally because it was homecoming and he was one of the stars on the '95 team saluted over the weekend, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said: "I despise losing with a passion. So let's just leave it at that."
Fitzgerald insisted his team wasn't "flat" and the effort was genuine. But poor execution, turnovers and foolish penalties contributed mightily to their demise. Northwestern, which was ranked 20th in the AP poll and 13th the week before, appears destined to fall out of the Top 25.
"I thought we would come out and compete better than we did (at Michigan)," Fitzgerald said. "We put ourselves behind with some turnovers and some self-inflicted wounds."
The Wildcats (5-2, 1-2) flipped the script offensively with 43 passes and just 26 rushes. Running back Justin Jackson, the focal point of the Northwestern offense most of the season, was limited to 30 yards on 10 carries.
Meanwhile, red-shirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson completed 17 of 35 pass attempts for only 125 yards. He was intercepted once and lost a fumble.
Fitzgerald said the ineffective passing game was at least partly the fault of receivers who dropped several passes.
"It's pretty good for the quarterback when guys catch the ball," Fitzgerald said. "Although we want to play with tempo, we have to be a ball-control offense. We're not set up now to go two plays and score. We have to be able to control it and obviously we were not able to do that."
Jackson was the most reliable pass-catcher with five. Mike McHugh had two catches for 43 yards. But there were drops aplenty among the rest of the receiving corps.
"It's personal, it's a pride thing," senior receiver Christian Jones said. "Nobody wants to drop passes. I didn't do very well at all and we have to change our mindset."
Thorson, who was sacked three times, did manage to throw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jones to pull Northwestern within 16-7 with 6:18 left in the half. After a 20-yard field goal cut the deficit to six points, the Wildcats were feeling pretty good about themselves despite an error-filled first half.
"Then we come out in the second half and start to put a good drive together ... then defensively, we just ran out of gas," Fitzgerald said. "We couldn't get off the field. You have to credit our opponent. Iowa, at the point of attack, blocked well. We missed as many tackles as we have all year, which came out of nowhere."
The Hawkeyes last won in Evanston in 2007 by a 28-17 score.
The Hawkeyes are 7-0 for the first time since 2009, the second time under coach Kirk Ferentz, and the fifth time in school history. Iowa started 9-0 in 2009, its best start ever. The Hawkeyes also were 7-0 in 1985, 1922, and 1921.
fmitchell@tribpub.com
2-minute drill
Self control: Northwestern did not look like a very disciplined team, particularly in the first half. Late hits, out-of-bounds hits and an offsides infraction on third down helped Iowa sustain drives.
Where's Justin? The Wildcats rode sophomore running back Justin Jackson to five straight victories to start the season. But he had just 10 carries against Iowa. Northwestern was still within striking range when it decided to pass repeatedly from deep in its own territory.
Shanks a lot: Beating a superior opponent such as Iowa or Michigan requires a precise special-teams effort, as well as winning the line of scrimmage. Not so much in either category recently for Northwestern.
The defense rests: Linebacker Jaylen Prater stood out with 11 tackles and a sack for a defense that had several usual standouts missing in action.
Up next: At Nebraska, 11 a.m. Saturday.
