(Iowa City, IA) — Iowa’s football team has little time to sit and pout over Saturday’s 18-16 loss to Oregon — the Hawkeyes head to the West Coast this week for a showdown at USC.
The Hawkeyes scored a TD against the Ducks to take a 16-15 lead with 1:51 left but that was plenty of time left for Dante Moore to drive Oregon into field goal range for the game winning kick. Iowa’s defense missed some key tackles against Oregon and also against Indiana that Head Coach Kirk Ferentz hopes won’t happen going forward
Iowa’s defense is still very good by the numbers, ranking #5 in the country but rankings mean nothing if you are not making the plays when they count says Ferentz
Iowa now has lost three games this season by a combined 10 points to Iowa St., Indiana and Oregon. Ferentz says the morale of the team is good and they are dealing with the heartbreak
USC is led by Junior QB Jayden Maiava with 2,614 passing yards and 17 TD passes. King Miller and Waymond Jordan led the best run offense in the Big Ten with a combined 1200 yards and 10 TD. Junior wideout Makai Lemon (61 receptions, 937 yards and 7 TD) is one of the most explosive receivers in the country. Ferentz is impressed
Iowa is 6-3, 4-2; USC is 7-2, 5-1, kickoff is 2:40 central time at the LA Coliseum, it will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
