No. 20 Iowa football drops heartbreaker after No. 9 Oregon kicks game-winning field goal

IOWA CITY — They say ducks are the only bird that truly thrives in the rain.

The No. 9 Oregon Ducks didn’t thrive in Saturday afternoon’s rain when compared to their other performances this season, but they had no issues waddling on the field turf at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski’s fourth-quarter heroics reappeared once again in Kinnick Stadium. Fourth-and-3 with less than two minutes to go, he ran into the end zone in front of Iowa students for his 12th rushing touchdown of the season.

Iowa’s offense did its job in the final moments, but the defense didn’t.

After the Hawkeyes took their first lead with less than two minutes in the game, Oregon’s offense drove down the field in a matter of seconds to secure the game-winning field goal — a 39-yarder made by Atticus Sappington with three seconds to play.

The Ducks flew away and left Iowa stuck in the wake, 18-16.

“It was a really tough, hard fought game with two really good teams competing, and certainly hurts to lose the game,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It's these kinds of games I think are emblematic of November football, especially in our conference.”

No. 20 Iowa (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) didn’t have any luck putting together a quick start offensively. Neither did Oregon’s offense. It was special teams that gave away the first points.

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After a bad snap by the Hawkeyes, punter Rhys Dakin was forced to kick the football out of the end zone to prevent a touchdown, but it still wrapped up with the Ducks earning a safety to open the game -- the two points ultimately being the difference in the final score.

Just like that, without any Hawkeye defensive error, Iowa was already trailing a team that thrives with a lead. The defense found its struggles not long after, though.

The Ducks, playing without star young wide reciever Dakorien Moore and tight end Kenyon Sadiq, threw together a rush attack that recorded over 200 yards of total offense in the first half alone. Iowa allowed 373 in total to Oregon.

“We had a lot of missed tackles, that was a key to their offensive success,” Xavier Nwanpka, who had eight tackles against the Ducks, said. “Just basic things we’ve gotta clean up moving forward.”

Part of the rushing attack included heavily influence from Dierre Hill Jr., who scored with a 19-yard dash to put the Ducks’ lead over the Hawkeyes to 9-0.

Gronowski had spent most of the first half handing off the ball to running back Kamari Moulton. He started the game just 1-for-5 in the passing game, until he completed a 38-yard pass to wide receiver Jacob Gill and followed with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end DJ Vonnahme.

Gronowski threw just 18 times in the rain, with Oregon quarterback Dante Moore also throwing just 18 passes. Neither had more than 140 passing yards, and Moore was picked off by Iowa’s Deshaun Lee in the first quarter.

Lee’s interception was his second of the season, and marked the sixth straight game Iowa’s defense forced an interception.

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In a game with high stakes, mistakes are costly — whether it be big or small errors. The high snap-turned-safety was the first nail in the coffin, but the Hawkeyes slowly pinned themselves six feet under with a fumble in the red zone and repeated missed tackles.

The Hawkeye defense, which was praised by both national college football pregame shows (ESPN’s College GameDay and Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff), wasn’t the defense that steamrolled three Big Ten foes before the bye week. No Iowa defender reached Moore all game. Only one player had double-digit tackles.

Oregon found new ways to gain yards on the ground every play. Through running back Noah Whittington, the Ducks silenced Iowa’s chance at regaining momentum following a program- and Kinnick Stadium-record 58-yard field goal by Drew Stevens in the fourth quarter. Whittington had 118 yards on the ground, despite not finding the end zone.

Sappington converted in all three of his field-goal attempts, including 46- and 40-yard kicks in the second and third quarters, respectively.

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Iowa’s offense showed life in the final five minutes of the game, after two massive completions to Vonnahme and wide receiver Reece Vander Zee set the Hawkeyes up in the red zone.

Gronowski’s run worked, though his two-point conversion pass to Moulton was ruled incomplete. Kinnick Stadium exploded in euphoria.

“I really thought we won that game in that moment, just because we have such a great defense,” Gronowski said. “I have all the confidence in the world, in them, and it was really great feeling to have that.”

Then the Ducks waddled downfield, as they had all game, and halted the magic of a Kinnick Stadium upset just as it finally felt like it was arriving.

“Games like these are heartbreaking,” Gronowski said. “You never get better at losing. It really sucks still, but we went out there and competed.”

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