In Iowa City, Washington beaten black and gold by physical Hawkeyes

Iowa 40, Washington 16.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The sidelines are so tight at Kinnick Stadium that it must feel as if front-row spectators are privy to the game plan. The benches, in particular, sit within whisper distance. The stadium’s north end, renovated in 2019, abuts the east and west grandstands in a way that makes the place feel even more intimate, no space wasted in this 69,250-seat soundbox.

Beneath a glaring October sun, the Washington Huskies couldn’t escape the Iowa Hawkeyes here Saturday — not their performance, which yielded a 40-16 beatdown in favor of the home team, nor the sheer Iowa of it all, a style and degree of execution that reminded of what UW still isn’t.

A program decades in the making imposed itself upon a program still figuring out what it wants to be.

What the Huskies want to be, certainly, is better than what they were Saturday, when they again outgained their opponent — they’re 7-for-7 in that endeavor this season — but not in a manner that suggested they should have won, or that they could have. After an opening three-and-out, Iowa scored on seven of its next eight possessions, seizing upon average drive-start position of its own 45-yard line. For that, the Huskies can blame two turnovers, a long punt return, a decent kickoff return and a couple failed fourth-down attempts.

“We did not play well today,” said UW coach Jedd Fisch. “We need to be better coaching, playing, execution. Too many missed opportunities in this game.”

This was bully ball, the kind Iowa has played for years, though not always with so many points to show for it. The Hawkeyes bulldozed UW’s defensive front for 220 yards rushing on 37 attempts, star tailback Kaleb Johnson taking 21 of those for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Cade McNamara even threw two touchdown passes — an explosion, by his standards, considering his 108 passing yards in this game — including the 33-yarder in the fourth quarter that made it 37-10.

The style, Washington prepared for. That doesn’t mean the Huskies were ready.