Iowa tops Mizzou in Insight Bowl
Don Doxsie | Posted: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 12:45 am
TEMPE, Ariz. - On a night of broken records at the 22nd annual Insight Bowl, it must have looked to Iowa football fans as if the outcome also was going to be a broken record.
The Hawkeyes again looked good early, opening a sizable lead against a quality opponent. They again had the lead with 5 minutes to go. But the opponent again seemed to be driving for a go-ahead score in the final minutes, just as it did in all five of the Hawkeyes' losses this season.
One thing was different this time: The Iowa defense came up with the big defensive stop with 2 minutes, 15 seconds to go and the Hawkeyes held on for a dramatic 27-24 victory over 14th-ranked Missouri in the at Sun Devil Stadium.
Freshman running back Marcus Coker led the way with 219 yards on 33 carries - Iowa records for a bowl game - but it took an instant replay reversal to get the Hawkeyes home.
Missouri faced a fourth-and-6 situation at the Iowa 43-yard line and quarterback Blaine Gabbert and receiver T.J. Moe - both set some records of their own - appeared to have hooked up on a 10-yard pass play to keep the drive going. But the replay showed that Moe did not complete the diving catch and the ball went over to Iowa.
Unlike their five regular-season losses, the Hawkeyes managed to make the plays they needed to make after that. Coker carried on three straight plays and on third-and-3 Ricky Stanzi flipped a short pass to Allen Reisner that turned into a 39-yard gain to the 1-yard line. With Missouri out of timeouts, Stanzi simply took a knee on the next play to run out the clock.
"I'm so proud of the effort of our entire team," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game. "Each and every guy who played did a great job."
Gabbert set Insight Bowl records with 41 completions and 57 pass attempts and Moe set a record with 15 receptions.
However, Gabbert's only interception of the game allowed the Hawkeyes (8-5) to reclaim the lead after the Missouri quarterback drove his team for two touchdowns in the third quarter.
Gabbert's short flip along the left sideline was picked off by Micah Hyde, who raced all the way to the opposite sideline and found a clear path to the end zone for a 72-yard score with 5:32 remaining in the game. Mike Meyer's extra point hit the right upright and bounced through to give Iowa a 27-24 lead.
Hyde was named the defensive player of the game, and Coker was the offensive MVP.
Coker, making the fourth start of his career, helped get the Hawkeyes off to a fast start. He reached the 100-yard mark less than 20 minutes into the game and scored the second and third touchdowns of his career to give the Hawkeyes a 17-3 lead.
The second TD was a 62-yard scamper in which Coker found a gaping hole on the right side of the line between guard Josh Koeppel and tackle Marcus Zusevics.
Missouri stayed in the game with its relentless spread attack.
It cut the lead to 17-10 on Henry Josey's 10-yard touchdown run and was closing in on a tying score late in the half when the Iowa defense finally stepped up. Gabbert tried to hit Jarrell Jackson in the end zone but Shaun Prater had tight coverage on Jackson, and the ball caromed away into the hands of former Pleasant Valley star Brett Greenwood with 28 seconds to go in the half.
Iowa pushed it to 20-10 in the third quarter after a 93-yard drive produced a 21-yard field goal by Meyer.
But Missouri responded with back-to-back touchdown drives to grab the lead. First, Gabbert capped a 77-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. Then, after Stanzi was intercepted by Kevin Rutland, the Tigers drove 57 yards for the go-ahead points, scoring them on a 3-yard pass from Gabbert to All-American tight end Mike Egnew.
It was the 25th bowl game in Iowa history but this marked the first time the Hawkeyes have claimed three bowl victories in a row.
The game also shattered the Insight Bowl attendance record. The crowd of 53,453 was more than 4,000 more than the previous record for the 1997 game between Arizona and New Mexico.