IOWA CITY — On his second passing rep of last Saturday afternoon, Iowa cornerback Deshaun Lee, freshly reinstalled in the starting lineup after missing the Michigan State game, missed a tackle on Northwestern wide receiver A.J. Henning and let the Wildcats into Hawkeye territory.
With the defense still nursing its wounds after the 32-20 loss to Michigan State the week prior, it could have been "here we go again" time for the secondary.
Not for Lee, though.
"The play, I kinda knew what was going on, but I hesitated just a little bit," said Lee. "If I would have just believed in myself and just went on my first instinct, I probably would have made the play. But I'm a defensive back, it's next-play mentality. I can't let that affect the rest of my play."
Instead, Iowa's secondary locked the Wildcats down in the 40-14 win on Saturday in a welcome return to form, holding the visitors to a meager 120 passing yards and a pair of interceptions in the win.
In fact, for all the consternation over the pick-six and general ineffectiveness of Cade McNamara before Brendan Sullivan's entry, Northwestern starter Jack Lausch was actually the worst-rated QB of the afternoon Saturday, registering a mere 62 yards on 10-for-19 passing and both interceptions before being (mercifully) pulled for Ryan Hilinski.
"I feel like we were all just everywhere, just had it to a T, everywhere," said senior defensive back Sebastian Castro, who returned after missing the Michigan State game. "We put a lot of pressure on [Lausch] and made him have to make quick decisions. Wherever he looked, we were around him — we just covered all the spaces."
With the defense still nursing its wounds after the 32-20 loss to Michigan State the week prior, it could have been "here we go again" time for the secondary.
Not for Lee, though.
"The play, I kinda knew what was going on, but I hesitated just a little bit," said Lee. "If I would have just believed in myself and just went on my first instinct, I probably would have made the play. But I'm a defensive back, it's next-play mentality. I can't let that affect the rest of my play."
Instead, Iowa's secondary locked the Wildcats down in the 40-14 win on Saturday in a welcome return to form, holding the visitors to a meager 120 passing yards and a pair of interceptions in the win.
In fact, for all the consternation over the pick-six and general ineffectiveness of Cade McNamara before Brendan Sullivan's entry, Northwestern starter Jack Lausch was actually the worst-rated QB of the afternoon Saturday, registering a mere 62 yards on 10-for-19 passing and both interceptions before being (mercifully) pulled for Ryan Hilinski.
"I feel like we were all just everywhere, just had it to a T, everywhere," said senior defensive back Sebastian Castro, who returned after missing the Michigan State game. "We put a lot of pressure on [Lausch] and made him have to make quick decisions. Wherever he looked, we were around him — we just covered all the spaces."
Iowa Secondary Still Chasing the Best Version of Itself
Iowa's secondary put the clamps on Northwestern in Saturday's return to form, but its appetite for improvement remains.
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