The Iowa Hawkeyes are licking their wounds from a stunning 20-19 rivalry loss versus the Iowa State Cyclones.
Despite shutting out the Cyclones in the first half and leading 13-0 at halftime, the Hawkeyes’ disappointing second-half performance left onlookers with plenty of questions.
One of those was Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz’s decision to opt for a two-point conversion try.
After Iowa State scored its first touchdown of the day with a 3-yard touchdown grab from senior Jayden Higgins with 8:48 left in the third quarter, Iowa responded with a 7-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run from junior running back Kaleb Johnson.
With the Hawkeyes leading 19-7 after Johnson’s touchdown plunge and 4:47 remaining in the third quarter, Ferentz and Iowa opted to try for a two-point conversion to potentially extend the Hawkeyes’ lead to 21-7.
The two-point try failed as graduate quarterback Cade McNamara couldn’t connect with freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee in the corner of the end zone.
Afterwards, Ferentz was asked about his decision to try for the two-point conversion.
“Yeah, I mean, I think maybe the debate would be is it too early, that type of thing. That put us at 19-7. I thought it gave us our best chance to win the football game, and to me the bigger issue is us not at least getting one touchdown out of those two field goal opportunities. We had the ball down inside there close. That’s obviously an area we’re going to have to improve on,” Ferentz said.
The logic for attempting the two-point conversion try makes sense. Convert the two-point try and Iowa State would have needed a pair of touchdowns and extra points to tie the football game.
Instead, Iowa State redshirt freshman kicker Kyle Konrardy’s 54-yard field goal wound up as the game-winner instead of representing a potential game-tying field goal try if the Hawkeyes had elected for a PAT try earlier.
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