Northwestern shocks No. 4 Hawkeyes in Iowa City; Stanzi injures ankle

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Northwestern Upsets Unbeaten Iowa, 17-10
• Speed Game: Iowa Vs. Northwestern

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Also See

• Iowa QB Stanzi knocked out vs. Northwestern

Top 25 Overview

It was over when... The Hawkeyes finally ran out of magic in the final minutes. Gameball goes to... Northwestern's D, which scored twice off turnovers. Stat of the game... 21. With 4 turnovers Saturday, Iowa's season total is 21. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	18	14
Total Yards	239	281
Passing	109	216
Rushing	130	65
Penalties	5-55	4-40
3rd Down Conversions	9-18	4-14
4th Down Conversions	0-0	1-2
Turnovers	1	4
Possession	34:20	25:40

Air/Ground Leaders
Northwestern Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Kafka 10/18 72 0 0 Persa 5/9 37 1 1	Iowa Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Stanzi 4/9 134 1 1 Vandenberg 9/27 82 0 1
Northwestern Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Persa 17 67 0 11 Concannon 15 59 0 8	Iowa Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Wegher 19 63 0 11 O'Meara 3 6 0 4
Northwestern Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Brewer 3 33 0 13 Stewart 4 24 0 8	Iowa Receiving   REC YDS TD LG McNutt 2 91 1 74 Johnson-Koulianos 6 63 0 16

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				NW	IOWA
	TD	14:00	Marvin McNutt 74 Yd Pass From Ricky Stanzi (Daniel Murray Kick)	0	7
	FG	09:50	Daniel Murray 39 Yd	0	10
SECOND QUARTER				NW	IOWA
	TD	11:46	Marshall Thomas Recovered Fumble In End Zone (Stefan Demos Kick)	7	10
	TD	05:20	Drake Dunsmore 4 Yd Pass From Dan Persa (Stefan Demos Kick)	14	10
FOURTH QUARTER				NW	IOWA
	FG	13:29	Stefan Demos 47 Yd	17	10

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- With Ricky Stanzi watching from the sideline on crutches, Iowa (No. 4 BCS, No. 8 AP) ran out of magic.

Dan Persa threw a touchdown pass and Marshall Thomas recovered a fumble for another score, and Northwestern dealt a crushing blow to Iowa's national championship hopes with a 17-10 victory Saturday.

Pressing Their Luck

Iowa had been the masters of the fourth-quarter comeback until Saturday's loss, rallying to win their previous four contests when trailing to start the final period.

Iowa Trailing Entering 4th Quarter This Season

Opponent	Deficit	Result
Northwestern	4	L, 17-10
Indiana	10	W, 42-24
Michigan St.	3	W, 15-13
Penn State	5	W, 21-10
Northern Iowa	3	W, 17-16

Stanzi was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury in the second quarter on the play in which Thomas scored the Wildcats' first touchdown.

"Anytime you lose your quarterback, that's not good," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) have been living dangerously all season, making a habit of comebacks and close games. Still, they were good enough to be fourth in the latest BCS standings, hoping that with a slip or two by Florida, Alabama and Texas they could end up in the BCS national championship game in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 7.

Now that their 13-game winning streak -- second longest in the nation -- has been snapped, the Hawkeyes' focus can shift to the other big game in Pasadena. Iowa can still win the Big Ten and land in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 for the first time since the 1990 season.

Rittenberg: Empty Tank

The fourth-ranked Hawkeyes lost their quest for perfection Saturday, unable to summon enough magic without inspirational QB Ricky Stanzi, writes Adam Rittenberg. Blog
• Big Ten blog

It was the first win over a top-10 opponent for the Wildcats (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) since knocking off No. 6 Ohio State 33-27 in overtime in 2004. It also ended the nation's second-longest winning streak.

Ferentz said Stanzi had a "severe" ankle injury. Freshman James Vandenberg was just 9 of 27 for 82 yards and couldn't lead the Hawkeyes to any points after Stanzi left the game.

Ferentz said that while preliminary X-rays on Stanzi's ankle were negative, he'll likely be out the next couple of weeks. That's not a good sign for the Hawkeyes heading into next week's game against Ohio State in Columbus. Iowa finishes up at home against Minnesota.

"Right now we just have to take the approach that he won't go, and if he does that's a bonus," Ferentz said.

Northwestern scored twice off turnovers in the second quarter. Thomas' fumble recovery made it 10-7. Drake Dunsmore caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Persa after another Iowa miscue.

Brandon Wegher had 63 yards rushing for Iowa. Stanzi was 4 of 9 for 134 yards with a touchdown, an interception and that costly fumble. Iowa committed four turnovers.

"It's hard to win football games against good, competitive teams, and that's basically everybody in our conference, if you're going to turn the ball over," Ferentz said. "If you do that week in, week out, you're not going to win many football games. That's what has allowed us to be successful. We have to get back to that formula."

Vandenberg, a native of Keokuk, Iowa, who holds the state high school record for career touchdown passes, had thrown three passes entering the game.

His inexperience showed and after the Hawkeyes won four games by three points or fewer this season they finally had a hole too deep to climb out.

Fast Facts

• Iowa lost for the first time in 14 games, ending the second-longest active win streak in the nation.

• Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi left the game with a sprained ankle after completing 4 of 9 passes for 134 yards with a touchdown and interception.

• Saturday marked Northwestern's first win vs. a team ranked in the AP top 10 since beating Ohio State 33-27 in overtime in 2004.

• With the win, Northwestern is bowl eligible.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

Northwestern's Stefan Demos hit a 47-yard field goal with 13:29 left to give the Wildcats a 17-10 lead. The Hawkeyes had a chance to tie the game after taking over with 2:04 left on their own 17, but an incomplete pass on fourth down sent the Northwestern bench erupting in celebration.

Stanzi watched from the sideline in a warmup suit with crutches. He was taken to the locker room after being drilled in the end zone by Corey Wootton with 11:46 to go in the second quarter.

"Obviously it was a big momentum play. Not only get the sack to cause a fumble but you also get the touchdown," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said of the hit that knocked out Stanzi. "It was greatly important from a momentum standpoint."

Vandenberg's first pass was intercepted by Quentin Davie, and Northwestern took advantage. Persa's TD pass to Dunsmore gave the Wildcats their first lead, 14-10.

This was a huge win for Northwestern, which just last week got drilled by Penn State 34-13. Starting quarterback Mike Kafka left that game with a hamstring injury, and he and Persa split the snaps before Persa left in the third quarter with an apparent hand injury.

Before the injury to Stanzi, it looked like the Hawkeyes might finally have an easy game. They needed three plays for Stanzi to find Marvin McNutt for a 74-yard touchdown catch to make it 7-0, and Murray's 39-yard field goal pushed the lead to 10 midway through the first quarter.

But a week after committing six turnovers in a win over Indiana, Iowa turned it over four times in the second quarter against the Wildcats. Northwestern took its 14-10 lead despite gaining just 109 yards of offense in the first half.

The Hawkeyes honored former coach Forest Evashevski, who died last week at the age of 91, with a helmet decal and highlights on the scoreboard. Evashevski coached at Iowa from 1952-60, leading the Hawkeyes to three Big Ten titles and two wins in the Rose Bowl.

These Hawkeyes still control their Rose Bowl hopes.

"There's no time to hang our heads," Vandenberg said. "We're in a race with two other good teams and it's all going to be about getting back to work."