Arizona Lets It Get Away Against Iowa

There wasn’t much offense displayed between Arizona and Iowa. In fact, both teams were pretty much offensive.

Arizona gave up four fumbles, five quarterback sacks and one interception. Iowa, ranked No. 22, also surrendered five sacks and lost two fumbles, but came away with a 21-20 victory Saturday.

“We just turned the ball over in so many key situations. We can’t afford mistakes like that,” Arizona quarterback Keith Smith said.

“We were ugly in the turnover area,” agreed Arizona Coach Dick Tomey. “The game goes to the team that makes the key plays.”

That was the Hawkeyes, who scored all their points off turnovers.

“They knocked the ball loose a couple of times,” Tomey said. “They created the turnovers. You have to create turnovers and make plays.”

Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said Arizona’s suffocating “Desert Swarm” defense threw his team out of sync, especially with three newcomers along the offensive front.

“I’m not interested in looking at the play-by-play or the yardage,” Fry said. “We played an extremely physical game. Arizona had our number time after time.”

Sedrick Shaw ran for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Iowa used an opportunistic defense to outlast Arizona.

Arizona (1-1) had only one turnover in last week’s win over Texas-El Paso, but the Wildcats self-destructed against the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes (1-0) parlayed turnovers into points and then chewed up the last six minutes with a 15-play drive that left Arizona time only for two long desperation passes in the closing seconds. Both were batted away.