Oct. 30, 2004
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
Memorial Stadium
Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have started on offense 61 of their last 63 games and 63-of-69 contests under Coach Ferentz.
Iowa improves to 37-2 when leading after three quarters under Coach Ferentz. With the win, Ferentz earns career win number 50 (he is 38-31 at Iowa) as Iowa has become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.
The Illinois touchdown in the first quarter was the first touchdown allowed by Iowa’s first team defense in 13 quarters, dating back to the third quarter of the loss at Michigan on 9/25. Michigan State and Ohio State both scored one touchdown late in games against Iowa reserves. Iowa had not allowed a touchdown in the first half since the Michigan game.
Illinois joins Arizona State as the only teams to score points against Iowa on their first possession of the game. ASU also scored a touchdown on its opening drive in Iowa’s third game of the season. Those are the only two touchdowns Iowa has allowed in the first period this season. Iowa holds a 47-22 advantage in the first period in eight games.
Iowa failed to score on its first offensive possession for the third straight game. The Hawkeyes have scored points on their first drive in four of eight games. The Hawkeyes have scored on the first possession of the second half five times. Iowa converted field goals vs. Iowa State and at Michigan and scored a touchdown vs. Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois to start the third quarter. The scores vs. OSU and Illinois came following turnovers.
After starting the game with a 49-yard scoring drive, the Illinois offense was shut down until the fourth quarter. Illinois collected two first downs on its drive that began with 12:55 remaining in the second quarter, and the Illini did not register another first down until 8:31 remained in the fourth period.
Senior DT Jonathan Babineaux forced and recovered an Illinois fumble early in the third period, his first force and recovery of the season. Iowa followed with a scoring drive to take a 14-7 advantage.
Junior DB Antwan Allen came up with his third interception of the season to stop an Illinois scoring threat in the fourth quarter. Allen also had an interception in the redzone in the win at Penn State and he had an interception in the loss at Arizona State.
Junior WR Ed Hinkel had two touchdown receptions, both covering 19 yards, to tie a career-high. Hinkel leads Iowa with six scoring receptions this season. Hinkel had three receptions for 67 yards on Iowa’s first scoring drive that covered 84 yards. With his totals today (five catches for 108 yards), Hinkel surpassed 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career and raised his career total to 853 yards. Hinkel’s previous best was 98 receiving yards in a win over Michigan State earlier this season.
Sophomore DB Miguel Merrick blocked the first punt of his career in the third quarter, with the result being a safety after the ball rolled out of the endzone. The punt block was the second this season for the Hawkeyes, who also blocked a punt in the season-opening win over Kent State.
The safety by Iowa on the blocked punt is the first for the Hawkeyes since a bad punt snap went out of the endzone in Iowa’s win over Akron on 8/31/02. Penn State scored two safeties in Iowa’s 6-4 win on 10/23.
Sophomore QB Drew Tate led Iowa’s offense, passing for two touchdowns and running for a third. Tate completed 24-34 passes for 243 yards and the rushing touchdown was his second of the season. Tate raised his season passing total to 1,710 yards, a total that ranks 16th-best at Iowa for a single season.
Instant replay was used in an Iowa game for the sixth time. In five of the six plays, the call on the field was upheld. The only change came vs. Ohio State when an Iowa pass was changed from complete to incomplete.
Sophomore RB Sam Brownlee started the second game of his career and had career-highs in rushing attempts (19) and rushing yards (50). Brownlee, a walk-on, moved into the starting line-up after four Iowa running backs were injured.
In the win over Illinois, fullbacks Aaron Mickens and Champ Davis were both injured in the first half, and neither returned. Mickens was taken by ambulance to a hospital for precautionary measures.
LB Chad Greenway and LB Abdul Hodge led Iowa’s defense, as Greenway had 10 tackles and Hodge had nine. Greenway and Hodge, both juniors, have each recorded over 200 career tackles. Greenway has totaled 10 or more tackles in six of eight games this season and 14 times in his career. Hodge has posted double digit tackles 12 times during his career, including five this season.