Oct. 1, 2005

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Illinois had hoped to rebound after a decisive loss to Michigan State a week ago, but had a frustrating day today in Iowa City. The Illini (2-3, 0-2) had two field goal attempts blocked, missed a third try and threw an interception deep in Iowa territory - all in the first half. The end result was a 35-7 loss to the Hawkeyes.

Iowa led 21-0 before Illinois finally scored on Tim Brasic's 1-yard pass to E.B. Halsey late in the third quarter.

Ed Hinkel scored with an acrobatic move at the end of a reverse and caught one of Drew Tate's two touchdown passes, leading the Hawkeyes to the win. The 20-yard run started with Tate pitching the ball to Albert Young, who handed to Hinkel coming back from the right side. Hinkel turned the corner and, with Tate leading the way, sprinted down the sideline. He vaulted over Illinois' Sharriff Abdullah at the 3 and somersaulted into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

Damian Sims added a 66-yard touchdown run for Iowa (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten), which bounced back from a poor performance in a 31-6 loss at Ohio State to amass 476 yards and set a school record with its 21st straight victory at home.

The Hawkeyes put it away with Tate's 7-yard TD pass to 6-foot-7 Scott Chandler, who made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone, and Sims' run. Sims took a handoff on a draw play, cut to his left, burst through Kyle Kleckner's attempted tackle and outran the pursuit.

Iowa made it 21-0 on Tate's 10-yard strike to Hinkel in the far right corner of the end zone.

Tate finished 17-of-22 for 175 yards and one interception. Young carried 13 times for 102 yards before leaving the game early in the third quarter to get treated for dehydration. He did not return.

Illinois came up empty on four good scoring opportunities in the first half, mostly because of kicking failures.

Kenny Iwebema blocked two Jason Reda field goal attempts and Reda was wide left on a chip shot 20-yarder. Another threat ended when Iowa's Jovon Johnson jumped in front of Jody Ellis to intercept Brasic's pass at the Hawkeyes' 2.

Reda's miss was the most disheartening moment of the half for the Fighting Illini because they had driven from their own 17 to the Iowa 3, mixing runs and short passes perfectly to keep the ball for eight minutes.

But Reda, who had been 8-for-9 on field goals coming in, couldn't convert on what amounted to an extra-point kick. Illinois got the ball right back on Justin Harrison's interception and drove to the Iowa 14, but Iwebema broke through again to block Reda's 31-yard attempt on the half's final play.