Michigan State football score vs. Iowa Hawkeyes: Game recap, highlights

Michigan State football could not pick up the pieces and figure things out Saturday night against Iowa.

That was the question looming over the Spartans, who were 2-2 entering Saturday’s night game at Iowa. It was Michigan State’s first road trip of the season and also the first game after MSU officially fired ex-head coach Mel Tucker due to sexual harassment allegations.

Secondary coach Harlon Barnett is serving as the interim coach for the rest of the season. MSU is now 0-3 with blowout losses to Washington and Maryland at home in his first two games in charge and Iowa on the road.

The game kicked off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium. The game was televised on NBC and streamed on Peacock and Fubo (free trial). Iowa entered as 10-point favorites over the reeling Spartans.

Read the game recap below.

Final: Michigan State falls to Iowa 26-16

The blunders were too much to overcome for Michigan State, who led late, but lost to Iowa 23-16 on the road. MSU fell to 2-3 on the year and 0-2 in Big Ten play with the loss.

Noah Kim threw three interceptions and Michigan State gave up a punt return for a touchdown with four minutes left to complete the meltdown. Iowa struggled on offense all night without quarterback Cade McNamara, who left with an injury, but the Hawkeyes capitalized on the Spartans’ mistakes at the right time for the win.

Michigan State led 16-10 early in the third quarter after Cal Haladay returned a fumble for a touchdown, but couldn’t score again for the rest of the night. Kim struggled, going 23-39 for 175 yards and the two picks. Both interceptions led directly to Iowa points, the second being the field goal that was the start of the comeback.

Michigan State clung to a 16-13 lead heading into the final stretch of the fourth quarter thanks to the defense, who held Iowa to 224 total yards in the game compared to MSU's 349. The final mistake was the deciding factor, when Iowa returner Cooper DeJean burnt the MSU punt coverage down the sideline for the winning touchdown.

1:04, fourth quarter: MSU fumbles, Iowa adds another field goal

It is officially over for MSU. In a desperate effort to come back, MSU pushed the throttle but wide receiver Tre Mosley fumbled after a catch and Iowa recovered to close the game. The Hawkeyes added a field goal before they could run out the clock. Noah Kim threw another interception as the game closed to put a cap on his miserable night.

3:45, fourth quarter: Iowa returns punt for TD, takes 23-16 lead

The constant mistakes and empty possessions finally came back to bite MSU. After a quick three-and-out caused by multiple pre-snap penalties, MSU punter Ryan Eckley boomed a punt to Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean. DeJean had acres of space and raced to the left sideline past MSU's punt coverage and sped to the endzone. Michigan State's defense did not have the opportunity to stop Iowa to cap off its solid performance

5:19, fourth quarter: Iowa ties game with field goal

Iowa's offense has continued to struggle but were gifted great field position after MSU punter Ryan Eckley shanked a punt. The Hawkeyes picked up one first down before having to kick a field goal. Drew Stevens connected on his third of the night to tie the game heading into the final stretch.

0:38, third quarter: Jonathan Kim misses field goal, MSU lead stays at 3

Noah Kim shook off the mistakes and helped manufacture a drive along with Nathan Carter's runs into Iowa territory. Kim missed on third down though, setting up a 50-yard field goal attempt. Jonathan Kim, who hit from 58 yards earlier, pushed the kick and hit the right upright.

7:38, third quarter: Iowa hits field goal, cuts MSU's lead to 16-13

Michigan State's defense was stout after the turnover and did not give up any ground to Iowa. Cornerback Chester Kimbrough had a sack on a third down blitz to set up the field goal. Iowa kicker Drew Stevens nailed the 53-yarder to pull within three points off of MSU's failed fourth down.

9:37, third quarter: MSU fails on fourth down in own territory

Interim head coach Harlon Barnett decided to get aggressive on fourth-and-1 from their own 30. MSU dialed up a quarterback sneak but Iowa stuffed Kim a half-yard short of the first down marker. Iowa is set up to score and cut into MSU's lead because of the decision.

11:06, third quarter: Angelo Grose intercepts Hill for consecutive MSU turnovers

Michigan State's defense is having the best impact of the entire season at a crucial time. Iowa pieced together the start of a drive after the MSU defensive touchdown, but backup quarterback Deacon Hill sailed a pass directly to Spartan safety Angelo Grose for the turnover. It is the second consecutive week Grose came away with an interception.

13:20, third quarter: Cal Haladay returns fumble for TD after Kim interception

It seemed like Michigan State started the second half on the wrong foot after Noah Kim threw a bad pass for his second interception of the game. Kim underthrew an out route to Montorie Foster directly to the Iowa defender.

On the next play, however, Simeon Barrow forced a fumble and Cal Haladay returned the loose ball to the house for a touchdown to give the Spartans a 16-10 lead and mitigate Kim's mistake.

Halftime: Kim hits career-long 58-yard FG for MSU, Iowa leads 10-9

Michigan State drove from its 25 to Iowa's 40 in 30 seconds to attempt a last-second field goal from 58 yards. Jonathin Kim nailed the career-long attempt with distance to spare to cut Iowa's lead to one going into halftime. The redshirt senior kicker had all 9 points for the Spartans in the first half. The 58-yard field goal is fourth-longest in MSU history. Morten Anderson holds the record with a 63-yard kick in 1981.

Michigan State had a chance to have a two-score lead late in the second quarter but an interception from Noah Kim that led to an Iowa touchdown put the Spartans behind. Outside of the one drive where Erick All dominated for Iowa, Michigan State's defense has done a solid job containing the Hawkeyes offense. Cade McNamara left the game with a leg injury and he was replaced by Deacon Hill.

Noah Kim was off to a good start before the big interception that set MSU back. Kim is 17-23 for 128 yards and the interception. Kim's favorite target was Maliq Carr, who had six catches in the first quarter, but he left with an foot injury and will not returned. Nathan Carter had eight carries for 50 yards.

3:48, second quarter: Iowa takes 10-6 lead on Erick All touchdown

Backup Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill settled in and found a favorite target in tight end and Michigan transfer Erick All. Hill found All for three big plays to quickly move the Hawkeyes down the field and find the endzone. Michigan State's secondary struggled to handle his size in tackling and coverage.

6:04, second quarter: Noah Kim intercepted in the end zone

Noah Kim's great start came to an end on an overthrown pass to the corner of the end zone which ended in the hands of Iowa's Cooper DeJean. It killed the momentum of another solid MSU drive that had big chunk plays on the ground from Kim and Nathan Carter to put the Spartans in scoring position.

11:04, second quarter: Jonathan Kim gives MSU 6-3 lead

Michigan State had a 14-play drive that went 61 yards, but failed in the red zone again. Noah Kim is having his best game in weeks and is 9-12 for 61 yards so far. His favorite target has been tight end Maliq Carr, who has six catches, but he left the game and went to the locker room with an injury. Kim hit the 32-yard field goal to give Michigan State its first lead since its win over Richmond Week 2.

3:48, first quarter: Michigan State hits field goal to tie game

Michigan State had a much more productive second drive after starting near midfield. MSU moved the ball to the Iowa 7-yard line, but an illegal chop block penalty killed all hopes of scoring a touchdown. Jonathan Kim hit the short field goal to tie the game.

8:02, first quarter: Cade McNamara exits game with injury

Michigan State might not see much of Cade McNamara as an Iowa Hawkeye. On their second possession, McNamara was sacked while backed up against his own goal line and stayed down after the hit. McNamara exited the field with the help of trainers without putting weight on his left leg. It appeared that McNamara injured his left leg, which he previously hurt three weeks ago.

11:25, first quarter: Iowa strikes first with field goal

Iowa elected to receive and managed to move the ball into field goal range after only gaining 76 yards last week. Michigan State stacked the box to stop the run and were beat by short throws from Michigan transplant Cade McNamara before getting a stop at their own 23. Iowa kicker Drew Stevens hit the 40-yard field goal for the early Hawkeyes' lead.

Pregame notes

Michigan State is searching for any answers on the field. Washington and Maryland outscored the Spartans 72-16 in the last two games. The biggest issues last week were mostly self-inflicted, turning the ball over five times, and failing to slow down the passing attack once again.

Quarterback is still a question mark after a month. Starting quarterback Noah Kim struggled mightily in his first two starts against Power 5 opponents and redshirt freshman Kaitin Houser showed flashes in limited opportunity. Barnett said MSU will continue to roll with Kim moving forward and start against Iowa.

The Hawkeyes have their own questions swirling around its offense after getting shut out by Penn State last week. Michigan transfer Cade McNamara was benched in the fourth quarter after the offense gained merely 76 total yards.

Iowa’s offensive issues are a welcome sight for MSU’s defense. The secondary was gashed in back-to-back games but now faces an Iowa wide receiver unit with 14 total catches on the season. Starting linebacker Jacoby Windmon was listed on the injury report with a season-ending injury. Cornerback Charles Brantley, running back Jaren Mangham and right guard Geno VanDeMark are also out.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football vs. Iowa: Game recap, highlights