IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) -- No. 23 Iowa took a little time to get untracked in last week's season opener, then had no trouble in thrashing overmatched Buffalo on Saturday.
Nathan Chandler threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score as Iowa coasted to to 56-7 romp.
Chandler completed 8-of-11 passes for 113 yards before resting in the second half after Iowa (2-0) built a 42-0 lead at the break.
Chandler drove Iowa down the field on its first possession, firing a five-yard touchdown pass to Ed Hinkel 4:57 into the contest. He also had a one-yard run just under two minutes into the second quarter and hooked up with Maurice Brown for a 23-yard score to make it 35-0 with 9:23 left in the first half. Brown caught four passes for 82 yards.
Fred Russell carried 12 times for 98 yards and a touchdown before resting with Chandler. It marked just the fourth time in 15 games that the Hawkeyes did not have a 100-yard rusher.
Russell carried 22 times for 167 yards in Iowa's season-opening 21-3 win over Miami of Ohio. The Hawkeyes had just a four-point lead a minute before halftime before pulling away.
Eight different players scored touchdowns for Iowa, which did not get caught looking ahead to next week's game against Iowa State. The Hawkeyes have lost the last five meetings with their intrastate rivals.
Aaron Leeper had a three-yard touchdown run with 6:34 left in the fourth quarter for Buffalo (0-2), which had the longest losing streak in Division I-A extended to 12 games.
Leeper rushed 12 times for 43 yards and Dave Dawson led the Bulls with 47 yards on nine carries.
Iowa scored on each of its six possessions in the first half. Safety Sean Considine picked up a fumble by Leeper and sprinted 18 yards to make it 21-0 with 64 seconds left in the opening quarter. Freshman A.J. Johnson got a chance to play early in the rout and had a two-yard TD run to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive 2:03 before the break. Johnson carried nine times for 36 yards.
Eight different players gained at least 10 yards for Iowa, including Marcus Schnoor who had a career-high 60 yards on 10 carries.
Schnoor had a two-yard TD run with 3:39 left in the third quarter and Ramon Ochoa had a 70-yard punt return two minutes later for Iowa's final score.
