Holiday Bowl : Wright Gives Secondary Credit : He Says Iowa Comeback Was a True Team Effort

Anthony Wright felt a trifle sheepish about accepting the trophy as the outstanding defensive player in the Holiday Bowl football game Wednesday night.

It wasn’t that Wright didn’t consider himself deserving. After all, he had intercepted a pass and run 33 yards for a touchdown, thus igniting the comeback that would give Iowa a 20-19 victory over Wyoming at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Still, Wright wished there was some way he could have cut up the trophy and shared it with some of his teammates, particularly fellow defensive back Merton Hanks.

Unlike Wright, Hanks didn’t score a touchdown. But he produced one by blocking a punt by Tom Kilpatrick, and on top of that, he blocked a 52-yard field goal attempt by Greg Worker with 46 seconds remaining.

A third Hawkeye defensive back, Jay Hess, picked up the ball after Wright had blocked the punt and ran 10 yards for a touchdown.

“I have to mention Hanks,” Wright said. “If it hadn’t been for him, my interception wouldn’t have meant an awful lot. He gave us our first touchdown by blocking the punt, and he saved the game for us by blocking the field goal.

“This is a big trophy and I’m proud to accept it, but it belongs to Hanks and the team as well as to me.”

Both Wright and Hanks come from Dallas, though they attended different high schools. Wright is a junior and Hanks a sophomore with freshman eligibility.

“Us guys on defense and special teams knew we had to make some big plays to pull the game out,” Hanks said. “We were down, 19-7, and our offense was struggling. On the punt, I came from the left side of the center. On the field goal, I lined up on the left outside.

“The up-back blocking for their punter was vulnerable, and I slipped past him and got to the ball. After I blocked it, I was looking around to see what happened to the ball. I was kind of dazed after hitting the punt head-on. Then I saw Jay (Hess) crossing the goal line, and I knew we were in business.

“What helped me block the field goal was something we had noticed from their films. Their outside people blocked down very hard on field goals, and this gave our outside men a free shot at the ball.

“I’ve blocked kicks before. I got a punt against Ohio State and a field goal against Michigan. Those were in the Big Ten and they felt good, but these helped win a bowl game. They were very special.”

Hess said that the three-step drop used by Wyoming quarterback Craig Burnett had posed problems for Iowa’s secondary. Burnett set a Holiday Bowl record by throwing 51 passes, and he completed 28 of them.

Wright said of Burnett: “He’s a smart quarterback, but he couldn’t handle some things we threw at him in the second half.”

“We hadn’t played a passing team like that all year,” Hess said. “We just weren’t used to anything like that. Burnett has a quick release, and he was picking us apart in the first half. We had to adjust, so we went from a three-deep scheme to a four-deep. That hurt them.”

Of his touchdown, Hess said, “It was a surprise. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Iowa Coach Hayden Fry was relieved to get away with a victory in a game in which the Hawkeyes were outplayed most of the way.

“Our defense and special teams won it with an inspirational effort,” Fry said. “The blocked punt, the interception, the blocked field goal--we needed all three to win.”