In a weird year, after a weird win over a ranked Michigan team in Ann Arbor last week, everything went back to what Spartan fans saw against Rutgers in a 49-7 loss to Iowa on the road.

The Hawkeyes, who were 0-2 coming into the game, looked like a different team, but so did Michigan State.

"We have to get back to East Lansing, we have to watch the film, we have to make the corrections, OK, and do the work and put in the work so we can be tougher, so we can be more physical so we can play smarter," MSU Head Coach Mel Tucker said postgame.

Iowa’s run game, special teams and defense fire on all cylinders

It was hard to find a negative with the Hawkeyes play Saturday. A defense that gave up 24 points to Purdue and 21 to Northwestern only let up seven. 

A pick-six, two sacks and seven tackles for loss to go with two more interceptions, the defense of Iowa made plays when it was asked to.

An experienced offensive line helped Iowa rush for 226 yards, a week after the Spartans only gave up 152. 

Kick and punt coverage for MSU had been a problem. It became a major one with a Charlie Jones' 54-yard punt return for a touchdown that broke the Spartans back and made it 28-0 in the first half.

When you score the most points, ever, against a specific team across 47 meetings, everything likely is going to go one team's way. That’s exactly what happened for Iowa’s offense and especially the run game, which averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

Iowa’s Spencer Petras wasn’t special, but he didn’t need to be. The sophomore only had 167 passing yards on 15 completions in the win.

Injuries during and coming into the game 

Antjuan Simmons came out of the ball game early in the first quarter and only returned in limited action. It wasn’t clear during the game the reason for his early exit. 

On top of that, which was a major blow to the MSU defense, starting cornerback Chris Jackson, tight end Matt Dotson, wide receiver Tre Mosley and center Matt Allen didn’t travel. 

The ESPN broadcast of Saturday’s game reported that Lombardi might’ve suffered a lower-body injury. What was supposed to be a sort of homecoming for the junior turned into a 227 passing yard, zero touchdown, three pick performance.

"I tried to stay as level headed as I could," Lombardi said. "I think I got better throughout the game but obviously turnovers, they kill games."

He, injury or not, didn’t look anywhere near the quarterback who was tied with Justin Fields for the most touchdown passes in the Big Ten coming into the game.

Injuries, seemingly, played a role Saturday.

MSU was banged up and was missing a high level of play at some key positions. Simmons’ play last weekend was a big reason the Spartans were able to win in Ann Arbor.

Turnovers and mistakes, again, doom the Spartans

Mistake free football can often be an anomaly. The game, like any sport, is often won and lost by who makes the least.

Mistakes by the Spartans: a pick-six by Iowa’s Riley Moss, a miscommunication between Spartan quarterback Rocky Lombardi and Jalen Nailor led to another. The Hawkeyes capitalized, scoring 14 points off the three interceptions. 

"The ball came," Moss said after the game. "It was a perfect throw to me, and I just took it back."

It reminded those watching largely of the sloppy play that came into the Spartans' loss to Rutgers. 

Although it wasn’t seven, those turnovers set the tone for a game that proved to be ugly. 

MSU could’ve had four turnovers, but a Daviyon Nixon scoop and score was nullified by a review that turned it into an incomplete pass.

Payton Thorne got time late in the game when it looked like Lombardi had been banged up for most of Saturday. It all compounded for the first 40+ point performance in the matchup for either team since 2002.