No. 17 Iowa made a statement Saturday afternoon when it rolled through No. 20 Northwestern by a score of 40-10, putting it in control of its own destiny in the Big Ten West.
The Hawkeyes were led by sophomore running back Akrum Wadley’s MVP performance with 204 yards on 26 carries and four scores, which tied an Iowa program record. This is an even more impressive stat line when you take into account that the Northwestern defense has only allowed four rushing touchdowns all season, and that Wadley only played half of Iowa’s snaps in the Big Ten West showdown.
The sophomore back had just over 200 career yards coming into a matchup in which he wasn’t expected to play much, if at all, but was called into action after star running back Jordan Canzeri, last week’s Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, left in the second quarter with a boot on his left ankle.
The Iowa offensive line has shown that they are a dominant force, helping a stable of Iowa’s running backs take big chunks of yards from opposing defenses. With the serious injury to Canzeri, the Hawkeyes will need Wadley to continue to pick up the slack in Iowa’s run-first smashmouth offense.
