Iowa wore down Troy in the second half of a 38-21 victory on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.
The Trojans (0-3) led 14-10 at halftime and trailed by three headed into the fourth quarter before the Hawkeyes’ running game took over. Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson both had long touchdowns to help Iowa (2-1) pull away for the victory.
Troy got a huge game from sophomore wide receiver Devonte Ross, who scored all three of his team’s touchdowns on explosive plays. Ross caught scoring passes of 63 and 62 yards and also ran a punt back 77 yards to the end zone to give the Trojans a 14-10 lead at halftime.
Iowa took the lead back for good on backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Addison Ostrenga with 6:44 left in the third, then used its defensive to pad its lead. Jermari Harris intercepted Troy quarterback Matthew Caldwell and returned the ball 28 yards to the end zone to put the Hawkeyes on top 24-14.
Caldwell was injured on the play, the second straight week Troy has had its starting quarterback knocked out of the game. Goose Crowder suffered a shoulder injury while scoring a touchdown in the first half of last week’s 38-17 loss to Memphis and sat out vs. Iowa.
Tucker Kilcrease replaced Caldwell, and immediately got Troy back into the game with a 62-yard TD pass to Ross with 58 seconds left in the third. Iowa led 24-21 headed into the final period, which it dominated.
The Hawkeyes pounded out 128 of their 284 rushing yards in the final period, including scoring runs of 33 yards by Johnson and 39 yards by Patterson. Johnson, who also ran for a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter, rushed for 173 yards on 25 carries.
Caldwell completed 14 of 21 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown before leavin the game, while Kilcrease went 2-for-5 for 73 yards. Ross caught five passes for 142 yards, and totaled 219 yards all-purpose including punt returns.
Starting quarterback Cade McNamara did not throw a touchdown pass for Iowa, but went an efficient 19-for-23 for 176 yards. The Hawkeyes sacked Troy’s quarterbacks four times and allowed just 24 rushing yards.
Troy, which is 0-3 for the first time since losing starting 0-5 in 2014, will try to pick up its first victory at home next Saturday vs. Florida A&M. Kickoff for that game is set for 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
