Iowa’s game against North Texas on Sept. 16 was not at all like the one it played in 2015.

Two seasons ago, the Hawkeyes crushed the Mean Green, scoring a season-high point total en route to a 62-16 victory. This year’s squad only managed a 31-14 victory.

2015’s team went on to have a 12-0 regular season and make an appearance against Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

However, the 2017 team’s game against North Texas was nowhere near the shellacking that took place two years ago.

Iowa won, but only by 17, and the game was still a lot closer than the final score indicates.

This year’s team has a lot of similarities to that 2015 team. A new quarterback, a stellar group of running backs, and an above-average defense played key roles in Iowa’s ascension to near the top of the AP poll.

But just like this season’s North Texas game, a lot of the games in 2015 were closer than they should have been, but none were quite so weird.

Injuries, penalties, booth reviews, and wacky plays highlighted the battle and often overshadowed the rest of it.

RELATED: Freshmen backs come up clutch in wake of injuries

“It seemed like there wasn’t really a lot of flow to the game,” wide receiver Nick Easley said. “That’s just kind of the way the game went, I guess. It was a little different.”

Excluding reviews and penalties, things were still weird from the beginning.

After a good first drive, Iowa thought it had a touchdown on a 7-yard bubble screen to Easley, but a review revealed he fumbled before hitting pay dirt, giving the ball to the Mean Green.

Soon after, Iowa thought it had another score on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Nate Stanley to Akrum Wadley, but that was called back for unsportsmanlike conduct after Wadley high-stepped into the end zone.

The Hawkeyes went into halftime trailing 14-10, and by the middle of the third quarter, were without their top two running backs because of injuries.

Wadley and James Butler had solid games until they were forced to leave.

Wadley racked up 104 all-purpose yards, and Butler managed to pick up 74 yards on the ground.

Luckily for Iowa, two freshman running backs stepped up in a time of need.

Redshirt freshman Toren Young ran for 78 yards in his opportunity, and true freshman Ivory Kelly-Martin gained 74 more, scoring 2 touchdowns in the process.

Their much-needed performance played a huge role in Iowa’s second-half surge.

“They both prepared well in practice, and they both compete in practice and play super hard,” quarterback Stanley said. “It wasn’t too surprising that they could come out and contribute.”

With Penn State coming into town next week, the Hawkeyes will need to give all they can if they want to upset one of the best teams in the country.

Even after a game that didn’t necessarily go as expected, Iowa has been playing well not just in Kinnick but on the practice field, which usually goes a long way on game day.

“You would not have known it in the first half, but we practiced better this week than we have thus far,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “My experience is sometimes it just kind of shows up at funny times, and sometimes it doesn’t show up for a while, and that doesn’t mean you’re not getting better away from the game.”