NASHVILLE, Tenn. − There’s a reason that the Iowa football program is continuing to search for a quarterback in the transfer portal.

Missouri had the quarterback advantage in Monday’s Music City Bowl. And, as it happens in high-level football, the team with the better quarterback won the game.

Brady Cook diced up Iowa’s secondary most of the afternoon and delivered when it counted most, sending the Tigers to a 27-24 victory over Iowa at Nissan Stadium.

More:Iowa football: Recap, highlights as Hawkeyes fall to Missouri in Music City Bowl

The Hawkeyes blew a double-digit lead for the third time this season and finished with an 8-5 record. Missouri notched its second straight season with double-digit wins, ending 10-3.

The Hawkeyes led, 24-14, after Drew Stevens’ field goal with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter. Iowa’s Week 2 loss by one point against Iowa State featured a blown 13-point lead in the second half. The Hawkeyes also blew a 10-point first half lead at UCLA.

Blake Craig’s fourth-quarter field goals from 52 and 56 yards pushed Missouri into its first lead, at 27-24, with 4:36 to go. Craig had been wildly inconsistent all season, but he has a big leg and came through when it mattered.

And like the last time Iowa and Missouri met, the game swung on a big fourth-quarter interception.

In a battle of two ball-control teams that emphasize turnover margin, the Hawkeyes made the first big mistake. Quarterback Brendan Sullivan forced the ball on a third-down pass along the Iowa sideline. He tried to sneak a ball to Reece Vander Zee, but Missouri’s Toriano Pride made the interception with 12:50 remaining.

Remember, it was an interception along the sideline of the fourth quarter of the 2010 Insight Bowl by Iowa’s Micah Hyde that turned the tables for a 27-24 victory against Missouri.

Missouri got three points out of the deal after a very questionable personal foul call on Quinn Schulte as Jamal Roberts went out of bounds, which would’ve set up a fourth-and-8 at Missouri’s 48 and probably meant a punt. Instead, the flag led to a tying Tigers field goal.

So, it was a 24-24 ballgame. A Music City Bowl up for grabs with 10:10 to go.

After regaining the lead, Iowa got a stop with 2:00 to go. A shanked Missouri punt gave Iowa possession at its own 45-yard line with 1:54 to play.

As a quarterback and as an offense, this is the scenario you want: To have the ballgame in your hands. But Sullivan failed in that moment, taking a sack he couldn’t take with 1:45 to go. He tried to scramble out of the pocket as he had much of the game and stumbled to the ground, forcing Iowa to burn its final timeout and set up a second-and-23 from the Iowa 32.

The moment got tense after Terrell Washington Jr. took a screen pass 19 yards to set up a third-and-4. But a quick pass to Jacob Gill was short of the line to gain, and a botched quarterback sneak on fourth down ended the Hawkeyes’ brief comeback attempt.

Sullivan finished 14-for-18 for 131 yards and a touchdown, hardly a terrible stat line. But he led the Hawkeyes to only three second-half points and none when it counted most. And, he committed a terrible turnover.

Iowa’s final three drives after the Sullivan interception: three plays, seven yards; three plays, eight yards; four plays, nine yards.

Cook, meanwhile, finished 18-for-32 for 287 yards and two touchdowns to go with 54 yards rushing in a game MVP performance.

Fourth-and-2 from Missouri’s 40-yard line: What to do?

The score was tied, 14-14, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Iowa’s offense had moved the ball effectively, and Missouri’s pass offense had been unstoppable. Kirk Ferentz could’ve gone for the first down; tried a 58-yard Drew Stevens field goal in perfect kicking conditions; or taken a delay-of-game penalty and punted.

No surprise for those who have watched Ferentz for 26 years: He chose option No. 3.

Rhys Dakin’s punt sent Missouri back to its 10-yard line. At the time, I would’ve voted for Ferentz going for a first down considering Iowa averaged 7.5 yards per play in the first half.

But, there’s a reason Ferentz has won 200-plus games as a head coach. His call was the right one.

Here’s how it unfolded. Missouri instantly started moving the ball, reaching midfield in a matter of seven plays (40 yards). But after getting to Iowa’s 48, Missouri stalled as Cook overthrew a receiver, had a dropped pass and then had another overthrow. The Tigers punted back to the Hawkeyes, who started at their own 10 with 4:39 left in the first half.

The way Ferentz thinks about it, if Missouri had taken over at its own 40, it would’ve been in the Iowa red zone after gaining 42 yards. Instead, it gave the Iowa defense time to make a stop – even if it was fueled by Missouri mistakes – and get the ball back for its offense with the score still tied.

The Hawkeyes took that opportunity and cashed in on an impressive 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive that swung momentum in the game. Sullivan’s crossing pass to Kaden Wetjen for 9 yards on third-and-6 was crucial. Kamari Moulton’s 38-yard burst got Iowa down to the Missouri 3. After a bad snap by backup center Tyler Elsbury pushed Iowa back to the 10, Sullivan made a wild, highlight-reel scramble to move Iowa inside Missouri’s 1-yard line. 

From there, Moulton crashed over the goal line for a go-ahead touchdown with 49 seconds left in the first half for a 21-14 Iowa lead at halftime.

Ferentz’s decisions are often gut feels. And he usually leans toward the most conservative call. In this case, the cautious call was the right call to give Iowa a chance.

Kaden Wetjen joins a select list in Hawkeye history

Wetjen’s pregame comments this week drew attention, saying he was “98%” sure he would return to Iowa in 2025 and that he was not yet on scholarship despite a first-team All-American year as a return specialist.

Asked about Wetjen’s status among the 85 scholarship players, Ferentz replied Sunday, “We’re still contemplating that.”

Well, if there was any waffling on the subject, Wetjen surely will be on scholarship come January. The senior blazed from his own end zone to Missouri’s for what was officially a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to break a 7-7 tie in the first quarter. LeVar Woods’ special-teamers had the return masterfully blocked to the left side, and Wetjen’s speed took over from there. Zach Lutmer’s downfield hustle made sure Wetjen wouldn’t be touched in the final stretch toward the end zone.

The Williamsburg product and fastest player on the team hit paydirt for the second time this year, officially, joining an 85-yard punt-return TD he had against Northwestern. Wetjen also had a punt return for a score called back against Illinois State.

His electric play puts him on a short list of players with kickoff-return touchdowns in a bowl game for Iowa. The others? C.J. Jones in the 2003 Orange Bowl (on the opening kickoff) and Ihmir Smith-Marsette in the 2019 Holiday Bowl.

Xavier Nwankpa has an eventful return to Nashville

Nwankpa was looking forward to his return to Nissan Stadium, considering two years ago as a true freshman he made his first career start and delivered a 54-yard, pick-six score in Iowa’s 21-0 Music City Bowl shutout of Kentucky.

Monday, Nwankpa was in the spotlight for mostly the wrong reasons. He was beaten for Missouri’s first touchdown of the day by Theo Wease on a third-down throw from the Iowa 13. He committed a personal foul penalty on a Brady Cook slide (a late hit was ruled, though it was hard to fault Nwankpa on that one). By the second quarter, he had been benched for Lutmer at strong safety.

However, Nwankpa did return in Iowa’s dime package and returned the spotlight after being whistled for targeting on a third-and-15 throw to Wease. The replay official overturned the targeting call, meaning Nwankpa could stay in the game.

Nwankpa was not alone with his pass-defense struggles. Out of the gate, the Hawkeyes looked as bad in the secondary as they did in a humbling 32-20 loss at Michigan State. Sebastian Castro and Quinn Schulte were beaten for chunk gains. Marquis Johnson got behind a confused Iowa defense for Missouri’s second score, as there appeared to be a mixup in coverage from either TJ Hall or Deshaun Lee.

Nobody in Iowa’s secondary seemed poised to make a play.

But after a 9-for-10 start for 122 yards by Cook (who also added 60 first-half rushing yards on too-easy scrambles), he completed just 2 of his next 11 passes … before heating up again late in the third quarter, including a 44-yard bomb to Johnson against Lee’s deep coverage.

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.