No. 22 Iowa Holds Off Illinois 29-20
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — With their unbeaten season in peril, Iowa put the ball in Jordan Canzeri's hands.
Canzeri delivered, helping the Hawkeyes survive a furious challenge from Illinois. He ran for 256 yards on a school-record 43 carries and No. 22 Iowa held off Illinois 29-20 on Saturday for its sixth straight win.
C.J. Beathard had 200 yards passing and two TD for the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten). They've already taken down four Power Five opponents heading into next week's game against No. 13 Northwestern.
Canzeri's 75-yard touchdown run put Iowa ahead 23-13 late in the third quarter. Geronimo Allison pulled Illinois back within three on a 53-yard TD reception, but freshman Ke'Shawn Vaughn's fumble with 3:09 left doomed the Illini.
Wes Lunt threw for 317 yards and a touchdown for Illinois (4-2, 1-1).
Canzeri gave the reeling Hawks some breathing room with the longest run of his career. Canzeri cut back, hit a hole and went essentially untouched to put Iowa back in front 23-13.
Allison, who was picked off on a double-reverse pass earlier in the second half, took it away with his long TD grab with 10:13 left.
But Iowa responded by handing off to Canzeri 11 times in a row, setting up Marshall Koehn's 34-yard field goal and a 26-20 lead with 3:20 left.
Illinois had won twice already in 2015 with fourth-quarter comebacks.
But Vaughn's fumble, which came on the first play following Koehn's field goal, led to another Koehn field goal, this time from 40 yards with 2:11 left, to make it 29-20.
Vaughn, in for the injured Josh Ferguson, rushed for 67 yards on 19 carries.
The Hawkeyes could have made it easier on themselves if they hadn't come away with just three points on two of their red zone trips in the first half.
Still, Iowa led 16-7 at the break thanks in part to a 17-yard TD catch from Canzeri.
Canzeri somehow survived his long afternoon. But Iowa might head to Evanston missing a few more players.
Star defensive end Drew Ott spent the fourth quarter on crutches and with his right knee wrapped. Tackle Ike Boettger went to the locker room with a left ankle injury early in the second half.
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