IOWA CITY — There was one thing Toren Young wanted more than the early-week praise of his coach for a job well done in practice.
He wanted the football.
That chance came on Saturday, when the future proved to be now for the redshirt freshman and the rest of the Iowa football team as it pounded out a 31-14 victory over North Texas to move into Big Ten play with a 3-0 record.
After minor injuries sent starting running back Akrum Wadley and second-team James Butler to the sidelines, Young and true freshman Ivory Kelly-Martin both had plenty of opportunities to put their abilities on display as the Hawkeyes wore down the Mean Green with three lengthy second-half scoring drives.
Young ended up leading Iowa with 78 yards on 19 carries, four more yards than Kelly-Martin collected on 11 carries, including fourth-quarter touchdown runs of two and six yards that secured the victory.
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“I was definitely excited to get on the field and show what I could do,’’ said Young, whose physical running style was complemented by the quickness of Kelly-Martin.
“The coaches say nice things, tell us to keep working hard. There are two good backs in front of us who keep pushing us every day to get better and tell us to be ready for the future whenever we’re needed. The future, it came today I guess.’’
The Hawkeyes punished the undersized North Texas defensive line by running the ball 59 times for 238 yards, an effort that started early but didn’t pick up much steam until a second half when Iowa ran for 167 of its yards and moved the chains on seven of its nine third-down snaps..
“When you can’t get off the field on third down, not only physically, but mentally it’s going to wear you down,’’ Mean Green coach Seth Littrell said.
Iowa needed contributions from players like Young and Kelly-Martin to make that happen.
A lower leg injury ended Wadley’s eight-carry day before halftime. Butler ran 16 times for 74 yards before an elbow injury knocked him out of the game in the third quarter.
Young and Kelly-Martin took over from there, finishing a 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-five play from Nathan Stanley to Noah Fant.
The second touchdown pass of a 16 of 27 passing performance by Stanley erased a 14-10 halftime deficit and moved Iowa ahead to stay with 4 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third quarter.
“At that point, I felt like we were running in quicksand and needed to get something going,’’ coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It was a great call and great execution. … At that particular juncture, I felt like we either needed to dig in and do something or else we were going to keep screwing around.’’
Iowa did something.
“Coach Brian Ferentz (Iowa’s first-year offensive coordinator) isn’t afraid to go for it on fourth down so when those plays are called, we have confidence that we’re going to execute it,’’ said Fant.
And once the Mean Green’s next drive stalled, the Hawkeyes went right back to putting the ball in the hands of Young and Kelly-Martin.
They helped Iowa craft a 16-play, 87-yard touchdown drive that ran 8 minutes, 50 seconds off the clock, a march that ended with Kelly-Martin’s first collegiate touchdown run with 8:16 to play.
That was followed by a 10-play, 43-yard drive that ended with a six-yard carry into the end zone by Kelly-Martin.
“It didn’t surprise me that they went in and did well,’’ Stanley said. “They have prepared well in practice so it didn’t surprise me that they would come in and contribute the way they did. That’s what we see every day in practice.’’
The effort came as Iowa held North Texas to 93 yards of offense in the second half, limiting an attack that entered the game averaging 580.5 yards to 305 yards.
The majority came during an error- and penalty-filled first half that saw Iowa have two touchdowns called back.
The first came on a video review which negated a call on the field, determining that Nick Easley had fumbled the ball in the end zone on the first drive of the game and the second when Wadley was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for high-stepping into the end zone during what would have been a 74-yard pass play.
“Stuff we didn’t need,’’ Ferentz said. “I told Akrum he was better than that.’’
North Texas seized the early opportunity, taking a 7-0 lead on a 41-yard run by Jeffery Wilson at the 5:34 mark of the first quarter.
Iowa overcame the penalty on Wadley, tying the game when T.J. Hockenson scored on an eight-yard pass from Stanley in the final minute of the opening quarter.
Josh Jackson blocked and Manny Rugamba recovered a botched 40-yard field goal try by the Mean Green (1-2) nearly six minutes into the second quarter and Iowa answered with 42-yard Miguel Recinos field goal on the ensuing possession.
A 13-yard pass from back-up quarterback Quinn Shanbour to Jalen Guyton 11 seconds before halftime sent North Texas into the locker room with a lead at the break.
“We went into the locker room knowing we had to get back to playing Iowa football,’’ Rugamba said. “The young guys, they came in and helped us get that done.’’
Iowa 31, North Texas 14
North Texas 7 7 0 0 — 14
Iowa 7 3 7 14 — 31
First quarter
NT — Wilson 41 run (T. Moore kick), 5:34. (Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 2:44).
Iowa — Hockenson 8 pass from Stanley (Recinos kick), :52. (Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:42).
Second quarter
Iowa — FG Recinos 42, 5:23. (Drive: 8 plays, 39 yards, 2:49).
NT — Guyton 13 pass from Shanbour (T. Moore kick), :11. (Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards, :35).
Third quarter
Iowa — Fant 23 pass from Stanley (Recinos kick), 4:24. (Drive: 14 plays, 76 yards, 6:52).
Fourth quarter
Iowa — Kelly-Martin 2 run (Recinos kick), 8:16. (Drive: 16 plays, 87 yards, 8:50).
Iowa — Kelly-Martin 6 run (Recinos kick), 1:47. (Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards, 3:59).
TEAM STATISTICS
NT Iowa
First downs 17 30
Rushes-yards 17-112 59-239
Passing yards 193 197
Comp-att-int 18-29-1 16-27-0
Return yards 25 61
Punts-avg. 5-27.0 1-47.0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 13-118 6-63
Time of possession 19:15 40:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
NORTH TEXAS — Wilson 12-95, Shanbour 1-12, N. Smith 1-7, Murray 0-0, Fine 3-minus 2.
IOWA — T. Young 19-79, Kelly-Martin 11-74, Butler 16-74, Wadley 8-24, Smith-Marsette 1-0, Stanley 2-minus 5, Team 2-minus 7.
Passing
NORTH TEXAS — Shanbour 2-2-0, 26 yards, Fine 16-26-1, 167 yards, Team 0-1-0.
IOWA — Stanley 16-27-0, 197 yards.
Receiving
NORTH TEXAS — Smiley 4-74, Wilson 4-17, Darden 3-30, Lawrence 2-19, K. Smith 1-14, Guyton 1-13, N. Smith 1-10, Q. Jackson 1-9, Bussey 1-7.
IOWA — Easley 5-37, Hockenson 3-29, VandeBerg 3-19, Wadley 2-80, Fant 2-30, B. Smith 1-2.
Tackles (solo-ast-total)
NORTH TEXAS — Muhammad 8-5-13, McDonald 7-3-10, Hall 6-1-7, Young 4-3-7, Ejiya 3-4-7, Brooks 6-0-6, McClain 5-1-6, Garner 5-1-6, Tauaalo 1-4-5, Moore 1-4-5, Flusche 2-2-4, Sanders 3-0-3, Hamilton 2-0-2, Preston 1-0-1, Mann 1-0-1, Lawrence 1-0-1, Jenkins 1-0-1, Robinson 1-0-1.
IOWA — Taylor 4-2-6, Rugamba 4-1-5, Jewell 4-1-5, Hesse 3-1-4, Jackson 3-0-3, Hooker 2-1-3, Niemann 2-1-3, Lattimore 1-1-2, Bazata 1-1-2, M. Nelson 0-2-2, Ojemudia 1-0-1, Gervase 1-0-1, Jones 1-0-1, Young 1-0-1, Hankins 1-0-1, Butler 1-0-1, Bower 0-1-1.
Tackles for loss
NORTH TEXAS — Ejiya 1.5-12, Young 1.5-2, McDonald 1-2, Muhammad 0.5-1, Tauaalo 0.5-1.
IOWA — Hesse 2-14, Niemann 1-1.
Sacks
NORTH TEXAS — Ejiya 1-10.
IOWA — Hesse 1-8.