“It was an unfortunate thing and nobody feels worse about it than Mekhi. We have total confidence in all of our backs,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.
Purdue’s Brennan Thieneman recovered Goodson’s fumble in the first quarter, a drop on the 10-yard line that prevented Iowa from having a chance to quickly answer the Boilermakers’ first touchdown of the game.
“We’ve got to get better at it, have to do a better job of taking care of the football,” Goodson said.
The mistakes tarnished an improved collaborative effort by the Hawkeyes on the ground. Goodson led Iowa with 77 rushing yards, an effort Sargent complemented with 71 as part of a 195-yard rushing effort by the Hawkeyes.
Iowa averaged 5.4 yards on its 36 carries, part of a 460-yard offensive game that included 265 passing yards by sophomore quarterback Spencer Petras in his first collegiate start.
Five Hawkeyes carried the ball and eight caught passes in the Hawkeyes’ best offensive effort against a Big Ten opponent since…
