SPENCER PETRAS

The Hawkeyes squandered a fantastic chance to play for the Big Ten title in a humiliating 24-17 loss at home to Nebraska on Friday. Iowa needed to simply beat a Nebraska team that entered the game at 3-8 to win the Big Ten West. Now Iowa is out of Big Ten West contention and Purdue is in the title game with a win over Indiana. Iowa needs both Purdue and Illinois to lose to get into the Big Ten title game via tiebreaker over the Boilermakers. And that could ultimately cost Iowa a chance to be a massive underdog to either Michigan or Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.

Iowa’s defense came up with two second-half safeties, and the Hawkeyes opened the season with a 7-3 win over South Dakota State on Saturday.

When a team is coming off a season in which it had one of the worst offenses in the nation, all options are open to fix it. The battle this spring is between veteran starter Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla. Petras, who missed three games because of injury last season, has started 19 of the last 20 in which he's appeared.

Robinson, the game’s MVP, finished with 10 catches for 170 yards, while Levis completed 17 of 28 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. The Hawkeyes stormed back from a 13-3 halftime deficit and led 17-13 after Petras' 36-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta with 10:54 to play. Iowa dominated Kentucky in the second half before the final drive, when the Wildcats drove 80 yards in eight plays. Rodriguez rushed for 107 yards and the go-ahead score, and he caught a short touchdown pass from Levis in the first half. Iowa cornerback Jemari Harris appeared to have capped the win for the Hawkeyes when he picked off Levis with 3:59 to play.

Chris Rodriguez ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play, and No. 25 Kentucky rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 17 Iowa 20-17 in the Citrus Bowl.

Hassan Haskins ran for two second-half touchdowns and broke a school record as No. 2 Michigan captured its first Big Ten title in 17 years and a probable playoff berth with a 42-3 rout over No. 15 Iowa.

Spencer Petras will be the starting quarterback when No. 15 Iowa plays second-ranked Michigan in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday night.

Spencer Petras plunged 2 yards for a touchdown with 2:58 left to give 17th-ranked Iowa its first lead, and the Hawkeyes came back from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to beat Nebraska 28-21.

Iowa quarterback Alex Padilla is described by coach Kirk Ferentz as “even-keeled.” Padilla threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and No. 19 Iowa withstood three fourth-quarter comeback attempts to beat Minnesota 27-22 and keep the bronze pig trophy for the seventh year in a row.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — (AP) — Alex Padilla got his first opportunity to play meaningful snaps for Iowa and did enough to impress coach Kirk Ferentz. Now he's days away from what probably will be his first start in place of the injured Spencer Petras. “Based on what I’ve seen the last two days, he’s handling it,” Ferentz said Tuesday. Padilla led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back touchdowns, then managed the game the rest of the way. Padilla said he knew his time to play was coming from listening to the discussion among offensive coaches over the headset.

Alex Padilla got his first opportunity to play meaningful snaps for Iowa and did enough to impress coach Kirk Ferentz.

Alex Padilla could feel the jitters when he got the call to go into the game. Padilla took over for the banged-up Spencer Petras and led three scoring drives, Tyler Goodson ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and No. 19 Iowa beat Northwestern 17-12 on Saturday night to stop a two-game losing streak. “Definitely some nerves,” Padilla said.

Graham Mertz scored on two quarterback sneaks and threw a touchdown pass to help Wisconsin trounce No. 9 Iowa 27-7 on Saturday for its fourth consecutive victory.

Aidan O’Connell threw for 374 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, David Bell had 240 receiving yards, and Purdue continued its recent mastery over No. 2 Iowa with a 24-7 win.

Penn St Iowa Football Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs (23) sacks Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras (7) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Penn State (5-1, 2-1) lost for the first time in 10 games and headed back to Happy Valley with a list of injuries that could make its path through the rest of the season difficult. The winning drive started when it got the ball at the Penn State 44 with 6:35 left. ___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Spencer Petras threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Nico Ragaini to complete No. 3 Iowa’s comeback from a two-touchdown deficit, No. 4 Penn State’s offense did next to nothing after quarterback Sean Clifford was knocked out of the game and the Hawkeyes held on for a bruising 23-20 victory Saturday.

Spencer Petras threw for three touchdowns and ran for two and No. 5 Iowa took advantage of seven Maryland turnovers in a 51-14 victory.

Colorado St Iowa Football Colorado State defensive back Tywan Francis (8) tackles Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta (84) on a run after a catch during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. 5 Iowa needed a second-half comeback to defeat Colorado State 24-14 on Saturday. Colorado State (1-3) led 14-7 at halftime, but the Hawkeyes scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions that took a combined four plays in the third quarter. Campbell, who had 18 tackles, led Iowa's defense, which held Colorado State to just 32 yards on 19 plays in the third quarter. Colorado State controlled the first half, but couldn't sustain the momentum.

Spencer Petras threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns and No. 5 Iowa needed a second-half comeback to defeat Colorado State 24-14.

A quick glance at the statistics would indicate Iowa's Spencer Petras is an average Big Ten quarterback. One number pops out, though, and illustrates a major reason the fifth-ranked Hawkeyes (3-0) have won nine straight games. The second-year starter hasn’t thrown an interception since early in the second quarter of the Nov. 27 game against Nebraska, a streak of 22 quarters entering Saturday's final nonconference game against Colorado State (1-2).

Iowa running back Tyler Goodson slowly worked his way into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2019.

Iowa Iowa St Football Iowa State defensive end Will McDonald (9) sacks Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras (7) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Ames, Iowa. It means we can keep getting better, keep improving as a unit.”The Hawkeyes (2-0, 1-0 Big Ten) beat consecutive ranked opponents in Indiana and Iowa State. Linebacker Jack Campbell had a fumble return for a touchdown, and Iowa got 20 points off four Iowa State turnovers in last Saturday's 27-17 win. The Hawkeyes rank 126th out of 130 FBS teams in total offense, averaging 238 yards per game. They led 31-3 at halftime against Indiana and had a 27-10 lead early in the fourth quarter against Iowa State.

Defense has led No. 5 Iowa to its highest ranking since 2015.

Oregon and Iowa are the big movers in The Associated Press college football poll after road wins over top-10 opponents.

Nine of the 14 Big Ten football teams appear set at quarterback heading into the fall.

What happens if an outbreak hits a team’s quarterback room? “Obviously this year there’s some things that will be unique,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said Monday without specifically discussing his players’ test results. “I think there certainly were those questions after the decision was made,” Ohio State team physician Jim Borchers said last week. And that’s all we really paid attention to.”Big Ten protocols say that athletes who test positive through point-of-contact daily testing must take a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm the first result. While Wisconsin awaits answers, Big Ten teams continue reminding quarterbacks about the potential risks inherent in this unusual season.