Iowa football: Top three performances from close Outback Bowl victory

Nate Stanley/Nick Easley

I couldn’t pick just one so I went the easy route and picked both.

Starting with Nick Easley, the senior wide receiver put on a clinic against the Mississippi State defense. He hauled in eight catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns including a 75-yard touchdown pass that was a beautiful connection between him and Stanley.

Here is Easley had to say about his 75-yard touchdown catch.

"There’s a couple different options on that play, a couple different places where the ball could go but with the play action and how aggressive their defense is, they kind of bit on that a little bit, bit on the play fake, and luckily Nate was able to find me. He did a really good job, by him seeing me down the seam and put a really good ball on me."

Easley would go on to win the Outback Bowl MVP award and in my opinion, cement his legacy as one of the best wide receivers in the Kirk Ferentz era.

The guy chucking the ball to Easley though, also had quite an outstanding performance. Sure, some may point to his boneheaded interception throw in the third quarter that significantly swung the momentum away from the Hawks or his QBR of 49.6 on the day, but I walked away from the game incredibly impressed by Stanley’s willingness to hang in the pocket and make plays with his legs.

With the run game worse than dead (they finished with -15 yards rushing), Stanley had to face a Mississippi State defensive line that is honestly even better than Iowa’s as they bore down on him every single play. Despite the constant pressure, Stanley hung in there and delivered 21 completions for 214 yards and three touchdowns including the beautiful pass to Easley for the 75-yard touchdown pass.

While some may take that for granted, I still remember the missed wide open touchdown pass to TJ Hockenson in the Penn State game that could have helped put that away. Additionally, let’s not forget that when Kirk Ferentz decided to go for it on fourth down with a few minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, Stanley found a way to get the first when all of his options were gone.

That was the kind of play that I’ve been looking for from Stanley all year. With the game on the line, can he make the plays needed to win the game. Tuesday afternoon, he did that.