Pinstripe Bowl Game Review: Iowa Takes the Victory

The 2017 New Era Pinstripe Bowl took place last Wednesday in New York City’s Yankee Stadium and Iowa gave their fans something to worry about at the start. But in the end, Iowa came through with a win for their first bowl victory in a while. How did it happen? Who were the key players?

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 27: Nathan Stanley /

The Boston College Eagles got the ball first as Iowa deferred after winning the coin toss. Eagles quarterback Darius Wade was intercepted on the drive by Iowa safety Jake Gervase who returned the ball to the Eagles six-yard line. Iowa was not able to get a touchdown, so they settled for a 24-yard field goal by Miguel Recinos. That put them up 3-0 two minutes into the game.

Boston College got the ball back but was forced to punt after getting a couple of first downs. Iowa got the ball at the seven-yard line and moved it to the 31-yard line before having to punt. The Eagles got it at the 43-yard line and moved on from there. Boston College moved into Iowa territory and got a touchdown on a powerful run by running back A.J. Dillon. That made it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Iowa’s Akrum Wadley had a big kickoff return to get Iowa into the red zone. The drive was capped off with a Nate Stanley to Noah Fant eight-yard touchdown pass which put Iowa up 10-7. The Eagles took their next possession and went in for a touchdown from Wade to Tommy Sweeny on a long pass play. The ball was tipped by Amani Hooker and Sweeny took it in for the score. Boston College was up 14-10 at that point.

Iowa decided to try a quick kick on fourth down and pinned Boston College deep in their own end of the field. The Eagles got a big run by Dillion to put them in prime scoring position. Boston College was faced with a fourth down and went for the field goal. They made the 30-yard attempt and went up 17-10 with 1:29 left in the second quarter.

Iowa Hawkeyes Football /

Iowa Hawkeyes Football

Iowa had some time left but they could not get much going so they had to punt. With 24 seconds left Boston College tried to get some more points but missed a field goal.

The score at the half was 17-10 in favor of Boston College.

Iowa got the ball to start the second half and got great field position on another strong Wadley kick return. However, they weren’t able to get anything going and went three and out. Boston College got the ball back at the 19 and went three and out as well.

Iowa took the ball at their 42-yard line. Stanley connected on a big 32-yard pass to Nick Easley to help Iowa move the ball into the red zone. The Hawks were able to tie it up with a touchdown run by Wadley. The score was tied at 17 with 7:11 left in the third quarter.

Boston College would go three and out and Iowa would get the ball on their own 41-yard line. They went three and out and so Boston College took over at their own 19. The Eagles got a first down but couldn’t’ get another ten yards and had to punt. Starting out at their 30-yard line, Iowa got some big plays and got down deep into BC territory but couldn’t get a touchdown. They were forced to go for a 38-yard Recinos field goal which was good. Iowa went up 20-17 with 11:32 left in the game.

Boston College got another big play by Sweeny and was in prime position to score a touchdown. With the ball at the seven, the Eagles could not get into the end zone and settled for a 24-yard field goal to tie it up with 8:09 left.

Iowa couldn’t get anything going on their next drive and gave the ball back to Boston College. BC had decent field position. Wade fumbled the football and Iowa got it back at the BC 45 yard line. Following a big Wadley run, it looked like Iowa would score a touchdown on the next play as Nate Wieting caught an 18-yard pass from Stanley. But he was called down at the ½ yard line. The Hawkeyes would score on the next play as Drake Kulick got the ball into the end zone with 3:09 left.

The Hawks went up 27-20.

Boston College got the ball back at their own 30-yard line. Josh Jackson intercepted Wade with 1:18 to go to just about seal the win for the Hawks. However, Boston College would get the ball back with just a few seconds left but couldn’t do anything.

Iowa won 27-20.

Slow starts for Iowa are nothing new and this game was another one of those games where they looked sluggish in the opening frame. It kind or reminded some of the Nebraska game where the Hawkeye offense was clunky in the first half but came out and played well in the second half. Granted, the bowl victory wasn’t a big blowout like the Nebraska game, but the Hawkeyes dominated when they had to and played well.

The weather had a big effect on this game. The field was essentially frozen, and players had a hard time gaining traction. This game might have been a little different had it been warmer, and the players didn’t slip so much. It might have been a much more high scoring game.

The star of the game for the Hawks was Wadley. Wadley ended the day with 22 rushes for 88 yards and a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 24 yards. Wadley had two long kickoff returns that gave the team good field position. It was a great way for the senior to go out not only in having a big game but playing in front of his friends and family.

He will be missed.

The Iowa defensive front had their work cut out for them in keeping Dillon in check. They did allow him to rush for 157 yards and a touchdown, but it didn’t seem like he dominated the game, at least not in the second half. One surprise was Wade. Wade seemed to do much better than projected and did some damage through the air. However, Iowa was able to force him to make a couple of mistakes which helped them win the game.

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Stanley didn’t have that great of a game. He completed just eight passes for 99 yards. He did have the one touchdown but overall, he struggled. Perhaps it was the play calling that affected what was going on at quarterback for the Hawkeyes but the play there was poor. Iowa needs to get the quarterback position moving in the right direction next season or they won’t be winning many games in 2018.

Iowa now goes into a long winter slumber and will start preparing for the 2018 season. It wasn’t a great season for the Hawks but there are bigger and brighter things ahead. This team should be expected to do some great things in 2018 if all the pieces fall into place. They need improvement at the quarterback position, some players to step up at both linebacker and running back and need the play calling to get better. If these things can happen, they will win more games next season.

If Kirk Ferentz and company can’t get this team to a better record next year, the calls for his job will get even louder and Iowa may be forced to do something about it.

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