Iowa TD with minute to go beats Ball St. 17-13

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Jake Rudock's late-game heroics saved Iowa from a big upset.

Rudock threw for a career-high 322 yards and connected with Jake Duzey on a go-ahead 12-yard touchdown pass with a minute left in a 17-13 win over Ball State on Saturday. The Hawkeyes rallied from 10-point deficit in the final 6 minutes.

"I thought the guys responded in tough circumstances," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "The defense gave us a chance to stay alive and the offense responded at the end."

Iowa (2-0) forced a fumble on Ball State's final possession to end the game.

The Hawkeyes broke through with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Rudock to freshman Derek Willies with 3 minutes left to cap a 90-yard drive and cut the Ball State (1-1) lead to 13-10.

After Iowa forced a punt, Rudock completed all four of his passes on the final drive, ending with a short check-down pass to a wide-open Duzey. The big tight end found a spot in Ball State's zone and ran straight into the end zone for the winning score.

"I turned around and the first thing I saw was no one there, so I just took off," Duzey said. "We kept going, kept working as a team and got it done."

Rudock, just a sophomore, is quickly developing a reputation for staying cool in clutch situations.

Rudock led game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime against Michigan and Northwestern last season.

On Iowa's final two drives Saturday, Rudock completed 9 of 11 passes for 81 yards. He also rushed for 32 yards.

"We didn't want to wait until the end of the game to come out and play the way we're supposed to, but it's a four-quarter game," Rudock said. "I was proud of the way out guys stuck it out."

Rudock finished 33 of 52 passing — both career highs — and connected with 11 different receivers. He's the first Iowa quarterback with 30 completions, 300 passing yards and no interceptions in a game since Jon Beutjer in 2000.

Ball State turned two fumbles into 10 points, but the Cardinals couldn't get a stop late. The Hawkeyes racked up 455 yards and 27 first downs.

"We needed to make a stop there at the end and we didn't do it," Ball State coach Pete Lembo said. "It's that simple."

Iowa fell behind 13-3 after missing three midrange field goals and losing two fumbles.

Ball State started the scoring with defensive tackle Blake Dueitt's 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter after Iowa mishandled the exchange on an end-around.

The Cardinals opened the third quarter with a long drive that led to a 42-yard field goal from Scott Secor. Iowa originally forced a three-and-out, but a running-into-the-kicker penalty extended the drive for Ball State.

Iowa's Jonathan Parker fumbled the ensuing kickoff return and Ball State recovered on the Hawkeyes' 23. But the Cardinals were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Secor.

The kicking game was a question mark for the Hawkeyes during preseason camp and it nearly cost them Saturday.

Marshall Koehn missed field-goal attempts from 37 and 35 yards — the second in the closing seconds of the first half.

Freshman Mick Ellis replaced Koehn for a 29-yard try in the third quarter. Ellis couldn't convert, either.

"There's nothing we can do other than just keep working at it," Ferentz said.

Iowa backup quarterback C.J. Beathard made his season debut on the second series of the game. The sophomore connected with Damond Powell on a sharp 38-yard pass in the end zone, but it was ruled an incompletion after replay.

Ball State struggled to move the ball against Iowa's defense.

Quarterback Ozzie Mann completed 15 of 30 passes for 129 yards. Running back Jahwan Edwards had 81 of Ball State's 90 rushing yards.

"They were as advertised," Lembo said of the Hawkeyes' defense. "You have to earn everything you get against them.

"They were you down in the second half and that is what they did to us."