The Iowa Hawkeyes sneaks past Troy in a game that was closer than it should have been

Iowa's game against Troy in Week 3 was an opportunity to get back on track as a whole both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Instead, Iowa caused everyone to have more and more questions, but this time it wasn't just the offense that was worrying people.

Fans were a little puzzled when Iowa went into halftime down 14-10 because somehow the defense allowed Troy to score not just once, but twice. Phil Parker's defenses are not known to give up that many points, especially to a non-power conference team.

Troy was 0-2 and struggled offensively so far this season, but they were able to move the ball fairly easily in the first half against Iowa. The Trojans were playing with backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell who is filling in for the injured Goose Crowder who was named the starter just before the season started.

Caldwell was able to put up some solid numbers in the first half with the help of his tight ends, turning the tables on Iowa, who is known as Tight EndU.

Of course, as always, Iowa's offense struggled in the first half as it has in every game so far this season. Cade McNamara just was getting it done for the Hawkeyes and the fans in Kinnick Stadium were letting him know. For the third straight season, the home fans booed the Hawkeyes offense off the field.

The second half was a little bit of a different story as the Iowa offense was able to get some momentum going, but something to keep an eye on is that McNamara was not responsible for a single touchdown today.

The running backs were responsible for three of the four touchdowns with Kalbe Johnson collecting two and Jazuin Patterson responsible for the other. The fourth touchdown was courtesy of backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan, who offensive coordinator Tim Lester put on the field on a third and goal play in the third quarter.

Could this be the start of Sullivan getting more touches in this Iowa offense? Iowa fans are probably hoping so, but nothing will most likely come of it.

Iowa was able to come away with the 28-21 win over Troy to move to 2-1 before heading into Big Ten play in Week 4, but they still have a lot of work to do before a date with Minnesota.