Iowa and South Dakota State Played the Most Midwestern Football Game Ever
The Iowa Hawkeyes and South Dakota State Jackrabbits met at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday and played possibly the most remarkable Midwestern football game you'll ever see.
Per the DraftKings Sportsbook, the Hawkeyes were commanding 16.5 point favorites, with an over/under set at 44.5 points.
Hopefully everyone took the under.
Iowa managed to eek out a 7-3 "victory," sending the powerhouse Jackrabbits back to Brookings empty handed.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz on the sidelines for Saturday's matchup
It was an offensive abomination from start to finish, with both team's defenses utterly dominating the entire contest.
There were 288 yards of offense, not by each team, total.
South Dakota State was only responsible for 120 of those yards, somehow generating just 20 yards more than the length of a football field.
There were 16 first downs combined, averaging just four per quarter.
The teams also combined to go 7-33 on third downs, and South Dakota State had more punts than passing completions. Iowa was barely better, with 11 completions to 10 punts.
While a low scoring game between two Midwestern schools would usually be dominated by the running game, neither team could get much going there either.
South Dakota managed just 33 rushing yards, with Iowa contributing only 57.
Yards per play was equally pathetic, at 2.1 for the Jackrabbits and 2.7 for the Hawkeyes.
But perhaps the most incredible Midwestern fact from this game is that despite the 7-3 score, there were no touchdowns.
Iowa managed to get to seven points with just a field goal and two safeties. Not one safety, two safeties.
While the Big 10 hasn't been associated with exciting offensive football, outside of Ohio State's recent years, this might have set a new low bar for the conference.
Think that's an exaggeration? The "drive of the game" was a punt:
The 2022 college football season is off and running, and Iowa's already living up (or down?) to their reputation.