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Northwestern Holds Off Iowa, 38-31

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Justin Jackson ran for 171 yards and Austin Carr caught three touchdown passes as Northwestern held on to beat Iowa, 38-31, on Saturday.

Trae Williams' interception in the final minute secured the win for the Wildcats (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten), who scored touchdowns on three straight drives in the second half for their first win at Kinnick Stadium since 2009.

C.J. Beathard threw for 204 yards and a touchdown for Iowa (3-2, 1-1), which snapped its nine-game regular-season Big Ten winning streak.

Northwestern's Clayton Thorson threw for 164 yards. Carr — his favorite target and the Big Ten's receptions leader — has caught a touchdown pass in four straight games.

Jackson became the fourth player in Northwestern history to reach 3,000 career yards. The junior's 58-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter regained the lead for the Wildcats.

Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo had four of Northwestern's six sacks.

The Hawkeyes had two chances to tie the game in the final seven minutes, but were forced to punt and then Williams intercepted Beathard at Northwestern's 36-yard line.

Iowa's LeShun Daniels Jr. and Akrum Wadley combined for 107 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Wadley has seven touchdowns in three games against Northwestern.

THE TAKEAWAY

NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats entered Saturday as the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten, but exploded for a season-high 38 points in their first road game. Northwestern took advantage of good field position early. It had three scoring drives of 75-plus yards in the second half.

IOWA: Beathard didn't have time to find targets in his first game without top receiver Matt VandeBerg, who broke his foot this week in practice. Beathard was sacked six times and had to scramble to throw most of the game.

UP NEXT

NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats have a bye next week before visiting No. 17 Michigan State on Oct. 15.

IOWA: The Hawkeyes travel to Minnesota with hopes of holding onto the "Floyd of Rosedale" trophy. Iowa got whipped 52-14 in its last trip to Minnesota two years ago.

(© 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

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