Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Iowa Hawkeyes (6-6) came into the Alamo Bowl as underdogs to the Texas Longhorns (10-3), 18th-ranked and defending national champions. It probably came as a surprise to the entire Alamo Bowl record crowd of 65,875 as Iowa ran out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Iowa almost extended their lead to 21-3 just before the half, but for a touchdown pass called back for an illegal receiver who lined up on the Iowa line of scrimmage.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who began the season as a red-shirt freshman, capped the Texas comeback in the 3rd quarter with a 72-yard pass to tailback Jamaal Charles to take the lead at 20-14.

Tate connected again with Brodell to put Iowa back in the lead, 21-20. Brodell led the Hawks in offence with 6 receptions for 159 yards.

In the fourth quarter, Selvin Young capped a Texas drive by rushing 2 yards to make it 26-21, as the Longhorns failed to make the 2-point conversion. Iowa then marched downfield and Kyle Schlicher kicked a 38-yard field goal to pull Iowa within two points at 26-24 with 11 minutes left in the game.

With just a field goal needed and nearly five minutes to go, Iowa was given a gift when a short 19-yard punt put Iowa in possession near midfield. Iowa coach Kirk Fernetz then tried a bit of trickery which doomed Iowa’s hopes. Texas safety Marcus Griffin tackled Dominique Douglas for a 9-yard loss on a reverse wide-receiver pass on first down. Iowa could not convert and had to punt three plays later, and Texas successfully ran out the clock to win the game.

Coach Ferentz immediately claimed the blame for the risky play call. “It’s totally my fault. I’m sick over it,” Ferentz said. “Guys competed that long and that hard and that put us in a bad situation.”