"You have to give Iowa credit, they made plays," MSU head coach John L. Smith said. "When you make plays, you end up winning ball games."

The Hawkeyes added to their lead 7-0 later in the first quarter, when quarterback Drew Tate found wide receiver Ed Hinkel in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.

MSU answered Iowa in the second quarter with two 15-play drives. However, both resulted in only field goals from senior place-kicker Dave Rayner, not touchdowns. Rayner made one from 25-yards and the other from 23-yards.

The second field goal came with 38 seconds left in the quarter, and during the kickoff after it, Smith decided to have Rayner squib kick. Iowa's Champ Davis recovered the low bouncing ball and returned it 32 yards, setting up an Iowa field goal. Hawkeyes place-kicker Kyle Schlicher converted the 23-yarder with two seconds left in the first half to give Iowa a 17-6 lead at halftime.

Smith said the squib kick was strategic and he thought the coverage was fine for the most part.

"I think the execution was OK," Smith said. "But, you have a freshman on the outside on that team, and his responsibility is to contain it, and he doesn't get it done."

The second half was a repeat performance for MSU, as Iowa scored on their first drive in the third quarter as well.

Iowa struck quickly, reaching the end zone in five plays. Fullback Tom Busch ran the ball 3-yards for a touchdown, putting the Hawkeyes up, 24-6.

In the fourth quarter, Iowa kept coming, scoring a touchdown at the beginning of the quarter and again with a little under seven-minutes left in the game. At that point, Iowa led 38-9, the biggest lead of the afternoon.

The Spartans' only touchdown of the day came with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton, his fourth of the season. He has yet to throw a touchdown pass this season.

"They really didn't show us anything we weren't expecting," Stanton said. "The plays were there to be made and it's just those little things that keep hurting us."

MSU returns home for two straight games against Illinois on Oct. 9 and No. 18 Minnesota on Oct. 16.