Several Golden Flashes had stellar games for the Golden Flashes, as they went toe-to-toe with the Hawkeyes. Keshunn Abram had a standout game for the Flashes, recording a career high in catches with six and yards with 138 and the first-quarter touchdown. Dustin Crum finished the day going 16-of-23 for 185 yards and that 23-yard pass.
Defensively, Adin Huntington had a career high seven stops, including one for a loss. Montre Miller continued his stellar play into Iowa City, recording six tackles, two for loss and forcing a fumble.
Iowa capitalized on a bad snap over Crum's head midway through the first quarter. The ensuing scramble for the ball resulted in a safety and opened the scoring, giving Iowa a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Following the free kick, Iowa broke through with the first big offensive play of the game. On a third and one, Iowa overloaded its right side, only to pitch it back left to running back Tyler Goodson. Goodson out raced the Flashes' defenders for a 46-yard score to make it 9-0 after the extra point.
The Flashes went to work on their ensuing possession. The Crum-to-Abram connection got going as the quarterback hit Abram on 47-yard pass to put the Flashes into plus territory. Moments later, Crum found Abram in the middle of the end zone, and the senior made a spectacular play on the ball to haul it in and make it a 9-7 game.
Kent State forced a fumble on Iowa's next possession as Montre Miller got a helmet on the ball. Nico Bolden and Matt Harmon smothered it for the Golden Flashes at the Kent State 20. The Flashes could not do much off the fumble, and the teams traded punts over the next few possessions.
In the middle of the second quarter, Crum found Abram three more times as the Flashes marched into Iowa territory. However, the drive stalled at the Iowa 30 and an intentional grounding call on third down took Kent State out of field goal range. Josh Smith pinned the Hawkeyes back inside their own five, but Iowa methodically marched down the field to close the half. The Hawkeyes went on a 20-play, 95-yard drive, ending in a four-yard touchdown pass that gave Iowa a 16-7 lead at the half.
Again, the Flashes put together a nice drive, getting inside the Iowa 40 on the opening possession of the second half. The Flashes' drive stalled there when a Crum pass to Abram was broken up on fourth down. The Kent State defense forced another Iowa punt, and the Flashes had another drive deep into Iowa territory
Brian Bradford attempted to dive in from the one-yard line but fumbled before the ball crossed the plane of the goal line, Iowa recovered for a touchback and kept the Flashes from making it a one-score game. On the ensuing drive, Iowa picked up a critical fourth and short and Tyler Goodson found a seam in the defense for a 35-yard run to flip the score to 23-7 Hawkeyes at the end of the third quarter. Iowa would tack on a late fourth-quarter score to put the final at 30-7.
NEXT:
The Golden Flashes now sit at 1-2 on the season while Iowa improves to 3-0. Kent State wraps up non-conference play next Saturday as it travels to Maryland to take on the Terrapins. Kick time is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, and the game will air on the Big-10 Network.