The Iowa Hawkeyes had their 2024 season pushed off course in week two as they failed to shut the door on in-state rival Iowa State. The offense fizzled twice in the RedZone in the first half and failed to do anything meaningful in the second half outside of another brilliant game from Kaleb Johnson.
The result was a return to 2023 Iowa where all the pressure fell on Phil Parker’s defense. In week two of the new season, we saw that group do something they’ve rarely done over the last decade: they cracked. The Hawkeyes gave up 20 second half points and multiple chunk plays en route to their first loss of the season.