IOWA CITY, Ia. — The way Saturday played out, especially for three quarters, it feels appropriate to dust off an old, often true adage: defense wins championships.
Tenth-ranked Iowa didn’t clinch anything at Kinnick Stadium, unless of course you count the second 8-0 start to a season in program history. But the Hawkeyes came out flying on defense and never gave Maryland a chance to pull a college-football shocker, delivering a 31-15 win before 62,667 fans.
Here was Maryland’s first-half drive chart:
Four plays, lost fumble.
Three plays, interception.
Three plays, punt.
Four plays, punt.