IOWA CITY, Iowa — Cade McNamara threw for two touchdowns and freshman Kamari Moulton scored twice after halftime in his debut, helping No. 25 Iowa beat Western Michigan 41-10 on Saturday.
Leshon Williams rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 12 carries as the Hawkeyes (3-0) pulled away in the second half of a game delayed 42 minutes by lightning in the first quarter.
Iowa, which led just 14-10 at halftime, had a season-high 387 total yards.
McNamara, who was 9 of 19 for 103 yards and two interceptions, threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Diante Vines in the second quarter and a 25-yard scoring toss to Williams in the third quarter.
Williams got the bulk of the carries early because of injuries in Iowa’s backfield.
Starting running back Kaleb Johnson was ruled out before the game, and Jaziun Patterson didn’t play after the second quarter. Moulton had touchdown runs of 3 yards and 1 yard in the third quarter.
Western Michigan (1-2) scored first when quarterback Treyson Bourguet threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Sambucci in the first quarter.
Iowa led 14-10 in the third quarter when Anterio Thompson blocked a punt out of the back of the end zone for a six-point lead.
Drew Stevens added a 31-yard field goal for the Hawkeyes late in the fourth quarter, and Max White had a 2-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to play.
THE TAKEAWAY
Western Michigan: The Broncos had just one first down after halftime, with four drives ending on punts, one on a fumble and one on downs.
Iowa: The injury situation at running back revealed more options for the run-first Hawkeyes. Moulton finished with 50 yards on eight carries and fellow freshman Terrell Washington Jr. also averaged 5-plus yards per game with 31 yards on six attempts.
UP NEXT
Western Michigan: At Toledo next Saturday.
Iowa: At No. 7 Penn State next Saturday.