Hawkeyes and Panthers Lose, Joining Earlier Cyclone Loss on Thursday

Not a fun football week for Iowa football fans.

Spartans counter every move by Hawkeyes, hand Iowa 26-14 loss (HawkCentral)

It was supposed to be a battle of brawn.

As it turned out, Michigan State showed more ingenuity than Iowa.

Iowa’s C.J. Fiedorowicz scores Iowa’s second touchdown late in the second quarter during the Hawkeyes game against Michigan State on Saturday, October 5, 2013. (Benjamin Roberts / Iowa City Press-Citizen)

“I thought both teams were detailed and just played tough and played sound,” Hawkeye linebacker James Morris said, “but in those sticky situations, I thought they were a little better.”

The Spartans improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten Conference, establishing themselves as a bona fide contender for the Legends Division title.

Junior linebacker Jake Farley, the Panthers' leading tackler in 2013, suffered a broken leg in the second half of UNI's 24-23 loss to the top-ranked Bison at the Fargodome.

When Farley went down, his teammates immediately waved to the Panther sideline for help. The junior stayed on the turf while being attended to by the training staff. Then, placed on a stretcher, Farley left the field on a cart, and he was eventually taken to a local hospital.

UNI head coach Mark Farley, Jake Farley's father, also went to the hospital. Assistant coach Bill Salmon appeared in the head coach's place at the post-game press conference.

"I knew right away what happened and I'm sure the players did, too," said Salmon. "When that happens, it's a bad deal."

On Thursday Texas Survives Iowa State (Associated Press)

It didn't matter how Texas beat Iowa State.

The Longhorns just needed to escape Ames with a win.

They survived -- in a way the seething Cyclones might never forget.

Case McCoy scored on a 1-yard plunge with 51 seconds left and Texas rallied to beat Iowa State 31-30 on Thursday night.

McCoy threw for 244 yards for the Longhorns, (3-2, 2-0), who will head into next week's game against Oklahoma with at least a share of first place in the Big 12.

"I'm really excited. I think I love comeback wins on the road more than anything in football," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I just think I love them. It just says something about your toughness and your team and believing. We're getting back something we lost. We couldn't have done this the last couple of years."