Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald wants his team to make a decision after the Wildcats surrendered 78 points in two games.
Do the Wildcats want to be the team that won its first five games? Or do they want to be the team that struggled with tackling and making catches in losing those two games?
Fitzgerald said his 20th-ranked Wildcats made fundamental mistakes in their 40-10 loss to 17th-ranked Iowa on Saturday. After the Wildcats fell to No. 12 Michigan 38-0 last week, they're trying to avoid the kind of collapse they experienced in 2013 when Northwestern lost seven straight games after winning its first four.
"We've got to do a better job as a staff," Fitzgerald said. "We've got to get their confidence back. We've got to get our guys to tackle better. We've got to get our guys to block better."
Akrum Wadley ran for 204 yards and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns for Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten), which lost leading rusher Jordan Canzeri late in the first quarter. Canzeri, who was averaging 116.2 rushing yards per game, sustained an ankle injury following a short run when Northwestern linebacker Jaylen Prater landed on Canzeri.
Wadley, who had only eight carries prior to Saturday, didn't miss a beat.
The sophomore running back scored his third touchdown on a 2-yard run with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter, extending Iowa's lead to 23-10.
"Anyone of us is capable of making big runs, and I just stepped up to the plate," Wadley said.
His record-tying fourth scoring run — which followed a Northwestern fumble — came on a four-yard run that gave the Hawkeyes a 30-10 lead.
"It just seems like they roll running back after running back after running back," Fitzgerald said. "They understand what their system is. They play well in it. I don't want to diminish the young man's game, but I think we helped him."
Marshall Koehn added a 36-yard field goal before Derrick Mitchell scored on a 13-yard touchdown run with 7:55 left.
"I felt like we could do what we wanted to offensively," Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard said.
Northwestern (5-2, 1-2) turned the ball over three times.
"We give up those type of momentum plays against a good football team, it makes for a long day," Fitzgerald said.
Iowa led 16-10 at halftime after failing to extend its lead on the final play of the second quarter. C.J. Beathard drove the Hawkeyes to the Northwestern 16-yard line, but Koehn pushed a 34-yard field goal attempt wide.
Northwestern struggled to find any rhythm offensively for much of the first half, but responded to a 16-point deficit with 10 straight points.
Redshirt freshman Clayton Thorson, who was 17 for 35 passing for 125 yards with a touchdown and interception, connected with Christian Jones on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 6:18 remaining in the first half to get Northwestern to within 16-7.
After Treveon Henry intercepted Beathard on Iowa's next drive, the Wildcats drove to the Hawkeyes 1-yard line, but had to settle for a Jack Mitchell 20-yard field goal to close to within 16-10.
Iowa built an early lead behind Wadley, who scored on runs of 35 and 4 yards.
"If you want to beat Iowa, you have to stop the run and that didn't happen today," Northwestern defensive end Dean Lowry said.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.