Blunderstruck Iowa Refused to Give Up : Hawkeyes: Blocked punt, fouled-up pass pattern and bad center snap proved too much to overcome.

It wasn’t surprising that the only thing Iowa coaches and players wanted to talk about after the Rose Bowl game was the second half.

They won that, 27-13, but unfortunately for Hawkeye fans, the first-half score of Washington 33, Iowa 7 also counted and weighed more heavily in the final outcome of 46-34.

“We made some critical mistakes, three or four of them in the first half, that really put us in a hole, but my theory at halftime was that if Washington could do that to us in the first half, we could do it to them in the second half,” Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said. “I truly felt we could win.

“In the end, it turned out they made fewer mistakes than we did, and mistakes lose games. We made critical ones right off the bat when a receiver ran the wrong route and gave them a touchdown, and when our defense broke down and let them block a punt for a touchdown.”

Washington had a 3-0 lead when Iowa got the ball for the first time. On fourth down and a foot to go on the Hawkeye 35, Jim Hujsak’s punt was smothered by defensive end Andy Mason, who was playing in the middle of the line. The ball bounced into the hands of Dana Hall, who ran 27 yards for a touchdown.

“We had a fake kick planned for that play, but the Washington coaches did a super job of adjusting and their defense was ready for it, so we had to go ahead and kick,” Fry explained. “We’ve had terrible punt protection all year and they took advantage of it.”

Iowa came back and scored and trailed only 13-7 midway through the second quarter when the other blunder struck.

Matt Rodgers’ pass into the flat from his 32 went right into the hands of Washington defender Charles Mincy, who had clear sailing for 37 yards to a Husky score.

“It was a timed play and Matt threw the ball right where he was supposed to, but the receiver (Danan Hughes) ran the wrong route. When the ball was thrown it looked like a Christmas present for the Washington defender.”

Rodgers refused to point the figure at Hughes, however.

“It was my fault just as much as anyone’s,” Rodgers said. “I shouldn’t have thrown that ball when I saw the coverage. Washington did a great job in keeping us from going downfield with our passes. We had trouble with our pass protection, and when they did give me time, I just didn’t throw the ball very well.”

Rodgers ended up with 15 completions in 34 attempts but had three interceptions. He was also sacked five times.

“You have to give Washington a lot of credit,” he said. “Sure, we had some breakdowns, but they were a good football team. We came out sky-high for the game and felt we were totally prepared, but you know, you can’t expect the results to come out like Illinois every time.”

Iowa was an underdog going into the Illinois game, which at that time appeared to be for the Big Ten championship, and the Hawkeyes routed the Illini, 54-28.

“Washington had a great inside rush, as good as Miami, but their defensive backs were much quicker and much better that Miami’s,” Rodgers said.

Fry also revealed that Iowa planned a trick play--a fake field goal--that backfired when the center made a bad snap.

“It was late in the game and it worked exactly the way we’d planned except for the ball bouncing on the ground to the holder,” he said. “Our guy was running off the field like it was a busted play and when he turned and started downfield, the defender moved over and left our tight end all alone in the end zone. I’ll bet he was 15 yards from the nearest purple jersey, but then it was all over when the center was bad. If we’d scored then, we’d have only been nine back.

“I was proud of the way our team asserted itself in the second half, coming up with a couple of onside kickoffs and some other of our exotic stuff. I’ll say one thing, we pulled out every trick we could think of, and most of them worked.”

Quarterback Rodgers laughed when he discussed the tricks that Fry tried to pull.

“It was the first time, this season at least, that I had to write plays on my wrist band so I could remember what I was supposed to do. It was a lot of fun out there in the fourth quarter when we scored three touchdowns.”

Fry and his players said that the sudden death of George Allen was a blow to the team.

“George Allen was one of the most refreshing personalities I have ever met,” Fry said. “and he had endeared himself to every member of the team with his display of interest in what we were trying to accomplish (during practice at Cal State Long Beach). He and his family had planned to come to the game with my family and when he died Monday, it was devastating.”