PASADENA, California – The University of Iowa football team was defeated by UCLA, 20-17 Friday night, at the Rose Bowl. Iowa started strong building a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, with Kaleb Johnson scoring a 2-yard touchdown run and Drew Stevens adding a 24-yard field goal.

On the day Johnson had 49 yards on 18 attempts with the one touchdown. UCLA rattled off 17 unanswered points connecting on a 57-yard field goal before scoring two touchdown passes of two yards and 29 yards, respectively. The Bruins took a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Neither team found the endzone in the third quarter. Iowa broke the second-half scoring drought and tied the game in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Kamari Moulton, capping a 13-play, 61-yard drive. With just under five minutes remaining, UCLA kicked a 27-yard field goal to take the lead. Iowa’s final drive stalled, and the Bruins ran out the clock to secure the win.

Iowa had 185 passing yards in the contest, with Brendan Sullivan going 6-for-9 for 157 passing yards and two interceptions before being relieved by Jackson Stratton who went 3-for-6 for 28 yards. Jacob Gill pulled down 138 receiving yards on six receptions. The Hawkeyes were led defensively by Nick Jackson with 12 tackles (nine solo). Zach Lutmer and Quinn Schulte each pulled in an interception, and Kyler Fisher forced a fumble. The Bruins had 415 yards on the day compared to Iowa’s 265.

Hawkeye Coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game: “Obviously not a lot to say, disappointing for us. Just got done telling the team that one thing about football is you typically get what you deserve. We certainly didn’t play well enough to expect to win tonight. Basically, in every category. Nothing really clicked for us, and nothing looked great. So, we turn the page, really all we can be worried about right now is the next two games. It works out that we will try to regroup here in the bye week. Disappointing night.”

The Hawkeyes are idle next week. Iowa returns to action Nov. 23 at Maryland.