Recap: Iowa 30, Illinois 14
Nov 15, 2014
Iowa 30, Illinois 14: Jake Rudock threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Hawkeyes remained in the Big Ten West Division title hunt with a dominating road win over the Illini.
Rudock finished 14-of-21 for 210 yards and two scores to Ray Hamilton, who finished with four receptions for 20 yards for Iowa (7-3, 4-2 Big Ten). The Hawkeyes also received a season-high 134 rushing yards on 23 carries from Mark Weisman and 73 yards and a touchdown pass from backup quarterback C.J. Beathard as they rolled up 587 total yards of offense – also a season high.
Wes Lunt, who had missed the previous three games for Illinois (4-6, 1-5) with a leg fracture, finished 14-of-25 for 102 yards and a touchdown against Iowa’s top-ranked Big Ten passing defense. Mike Dudek caught six passes for 80 yards and the TD, while Josh Ferguson added 29 yards rushing and 12 more receiving for the Illini, which lost for the 13th time in their last 14 conference home games.
The Hawkeyes led 9-7 at halftime but put the game away with Rudock’s 6-yard scoring toss to Hamilton and his 6-yard run on the ensuing drive to give them a 23-7 lead with 13:41 to play. Illinois managed only 38 total yards and was forced to punt on their first four possessions of the second half before backup quarterback Reilly O’Toole connected with Dudek on a 31-yard TD pass with 3:52 remaining in the game for the final margin.
Iowa got on the board first with a safety when Lunt was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone, but Illinois took advantage of Rudock’s fumbled snap at his own 34-yard-line to go ahead 7-2 on Lunt’s 31-yard scoring toss to Dudek. The Hawkeyes regained the lead on Rudock’s 1-yard TD pass to Hamilton with 10:56 remaining in the second quarter, but it was a half of missed opportunities for Iowa, which outgained the hosts 294-108 over the opening 30 minutes but failed to score on four of their five drives into Illini territory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Iowa has now won eight of the last 11 meetings with Illinois. … Hawkeyes TB Jordan Canzeri returned after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury and rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries. … Dudek now has 787 receiving yards on the season, extending his school freshman record.
