Cy-Hawk among ESPN’s top five games of Week 2

Being on the wrong end of a college football thriller is the stuff of nightmares for diehard fans.

Unfortunately, that’s the case for the Iowa Hawkeyes after their 20-19 rivalry loss against Iowa State. Though this is indeed a game that Hawkeye fans will remember for some time, it’s not one they will remember fondly for the right reasons.

Still, for Iowa State fans or neutral observers, it was one of the best games of Week 2.

ESPN recognized as much. ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the Cy-Hawk game as its No. 4 best game in Week 2 of the 2024 college football season.

This was shaping up to be about the most Iowa win imaginable. The Hawkeyes got a lovely early touchdown run from Kaleb Johnson, picked off a pass to set up a field goal and allowed only 101 total yards in the first half. The Hawkeyes led 13-0 at halftime, and that can feel all but insurmountable at Kinnick Stadium.

Second-half yardage: ISU 258, Iowa 107. The Cyclones scored twice in the third quarter, Iowa punted on five straight possessions, and Kyle Konrady nailed fourth-quarter field goals of 46 and 54 yards to finish a 13-point comeback that felt more like a 31-pointer.

I’m not sure what this means for either team — ISU’s path to the CFP was going to primarily come from contending in the Big 12, and Iowa was only going to be a contender if the offense really was improved over last year’s. But the Hawkeye attack vanished when it mattered, and they’ve now lost two of three to their in-state rivals. – Connelly, ESPN.

Is there still a path to the College Football Playoff for Iowa? Yes, it still exists. But, it definitely got dicier and will require significant improvement by the Hawkeyes.

Iowa needs to pass the eye test as the season rolls along and can’t afford to lose anywhere else except at Ohio State. That might still leave the Hawkeyes…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cy-hawk-among-espn-top-124546058.html

Author : Hawkeyes Wire

Publish date : 2024-09-10 12:45:46

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