First down, he got a pass off for seven yards. The rest of Iowa’s last possession was as pathetic and painful for Ricky Stanzi as it could be.
Iowa Vs. Arizona: Wildcats Sink Stanzi, Hawkeyes In Desert With Suffocating Defense Late
Sack. Sack nullified by false start. Sack. Sack. And with that, the comeback Iowa had engineered to tie a game Arizona once led 27-7 was rendered meaningless.
Stanzi wasn’t the only culprit for the Hawkeyes on this night, though he also threw a pick-six in the first half. No, the special teams are liable, as Arizona blocked a punt and turned the subsequent great field position into points and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. And the defense is guilty, too, wilting in the late goings as Nick Foles lit up the secondary on Arizona’s final go-ahead drive.
Of course, the special teams and defense got Iowa back in it, with a fumble recovery on a muffed punt and a pick return in the fourth quarter. Stanzi’s the one who went 17-of-32 on the night, and the running game wasn’t much help, as Arizona’s “Desert Swarm” limited Iowa rushers to just 1.1 yards per carry.
Arizona had this won, then nearly lost it, then won it. Iowa lost it early, then nearly won it, then flamed out.
This was a game filled with flukes (blocked and muffed punts) and spurts (Arizona early, Iowa late) on both sides, and little in the way of sustained dominance by any unit. It doesn’t knock Iowa out of the Big Ten race, nor elevate Arizona to the top of the Pac-10.
It was just a wacky late-night inter-conference barn-burner. And a reminder that Ricky Stanzi can lose the dramatic ones, too.
For more on this game, visit SB Nation’s Black Heart Gold Pants and Arizona Desert Swarm.
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