Iowa Hosts Eastern Illinois to Open Football Season

Aug. 27, 2010

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HAWKEYES OPEN AT HOME
Iowa (0-0) hosts Eastern Illinois (0-0) Saturday, Sept. 4 in Kinnick Stadium (70,585) to open the 2010 season. Game time is 11:01 a.m. The game is sold out.

ON THE TUBE
The Big Ten Network (HD) will televise the contest to a national cable audience that includes over 75 million households throughout the United States and Canada. Tom Hart, Anthony Herron and Lisa Byington will call the action.

RADIO BROADCAST
Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Gary Dolphin handles the play-by-play, with color commentator Ed Podolak and sideline reporter Rob Brooks. The Hawkeye Radio Network includes more than 40 stations throughout the state. The game can also be heard on Sirius channel 122 and XM channel 143.

IN THE RANKINGS
Iowa is ranked ninth in the Associates Press preseason poll and 10th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The Associates Press ranking is the highest for Iowa in the initial AP poll of the season since the Hawkeyes were also ninth in 1988. Iowa was ranked fourth in the 1985 preseason AP rankings. Iowa is also ranked fifth by About.com and Playboy, sixth by Sports Illustrated, eighth by Blue Ribbon Yearbook and nationalchamps.net; 10th by Lindy’s, 12th by Athlon’s and 13th by Sporting News. Eastern Illinois is ranked 18th in the FCS in the Sports Network poll and 16th in the initial FCS coaches poll. Eastern Illinois concluded the 2009 season in the FCS playoffs and was ranked 19th in the final Sports Network rankings and 15th in the FCS coaches poll. Around the Big Ten, Ohio State is ranked 2/2 (AP/USA Today Coaches’ Poll), Wisconsin is 12/12 and Penn State is 19/14. Iowa opponents Arizona, Michigan State and Northwestern are listed among teams receiving votes.

FRYFEST ACTIVITIES ON FRIDAY
The second annual FryFest will take place Friday, Sept. 3. Main events during the day include the naming of Evashevski Drive near Kinnick Stadium (9 a.m., Krause Family Plaza, Kinnick Stadium) and the World’s Largest Hawkeye Tradeshow and Tailgate Party (beginning at 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Iowa River Landing, Coralville). Iowa fans in attendance will be taking part in an effort to break the Guinness World Secord for the Largest Hokey Pokey Song and Dance Routine (5 p.m.). An autograph session with members of Iowa’s 1985 football squad will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and members of Iowa’s 1960 team will take part in an autograph session from 2 to 3 p.m. Activities will take place throughout the day at the Iowa River Landing, concluding with a 6 p.m. pep rally and an outdoor concert featuring Three Dog Night (9 p.m.).

REUNION WEEKEND
Two University of Iowa football teams will be honored with reunions as the 2010 Hawkeyes open the season. Iowa’s Big Ten championship teams of 1960 and 1985 will be recognized in Kinnick Stadium Saturday. Returning members of both squads will be introduced Saturday and will be available for autographs as part of FryFest activities Friday at the Iowa River Landing in Coralville.

VARSITY CLUB WEEKEND
Five former University of Iowa student-athletes and a former coach will be inducted into the National Iowa Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday, Sept. 4. It is Iowa’s 22nd Hall of Fame class. The new class includes: Bob Jeter (Football, 1957-59), Ken Leuer (Wrestling, 1954-56), Tracy Dahl (Cross Country, 1989-92, and Track, 1990-93), Mark Ironside (Wrestling, 1995-98), Anthuan Maybank (Track, 1991-94) and Beth Beglin (Field Hockey, Coach, 1988-99). The induction ceremony banquet/dinner will be held Sept. 4 in the Coralville Marriott and Convention Center – – Coral Ballroom at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a 5:30 p.m. reception. The banquet is open to the public. For more information please call the Varsity Club office at (319) 335-9438.

ON THIS DATE
Iowa is 2-1 when playing on Sept. 4. The Hawkeyes defeated Tulsa 26-25 in 1993 and Kent State 39-7 in 2004. Iowa lost to Nebraska 42-7 in 1999. It was the first game for Kirk Ferentz as the Hawkeye head coach.

SEASON OPENERS
Iowa is 88-31-2 (.733) in season-opening games, including a 9-2 mark under Coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has averaged 38.2 points and a winning margin of 31.5 in its last nine season-opening victories (Northern Iowa 17-16 in 2009; Maine 46-3 in 2008; Northern Illinois 16-3 in 2007; Montana 41-7 in 2006; Ball State 56-0 in 2005; Kent State 39-7 in 2004 and 51-0 in 2001; Miami, OH 21-3 in 2003; Akron 57-21 in 2002). Last season, Iowa blocked Northern Iowa field-goal attempts on the final two plays of the game to extend the opening-game winning streak to nine. Iowa’s last season-opening loss came to Kansas State (27-7) in the 2000 Eddie Robinson Classic at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO.

HAWKEYE HISTORY
Iowa has played 1,129 games since beginning football in 1889. Iowa’s overall record is 579-510-39 (.530). That includes a 365-199-16 (.643) record in home games, a 214-312-23 (.411) record in games away from Iowa City, a 285-344-25 (.455) mark in Big Ten games and a 248-163-15 (.600) record in Kinnick Stadium.

IOWA LEADERSHIP GROUP
Iowa’s Leadership Group for the 2010 season includes seven seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen (redshirt). A member of the incoming freshman class will be this in the fall. Permanent team captains are named at the conclusion of each season. The Leadership Group for this season includes seniors Adrian Clayborn, Brett Greenwood, Karl Klug, Brett Morse, Ricky Stanzi, Jeff Tarpinian and Julian Vandervelde; juniors Broderick Binns, Marvin McNutt, Tyler Nielsen and Tyler Sash; sophomores Greg Castillo and James Vandenberg; and redshirt freshmen Shane DiBona and Brett Van Sloten.

LIVE BLOGGING FROM KINNICK STADIUM
Hawkeye fans not able to attend the Eastern Illinois game Sept. 4 can log on to hawkeyesports.com and have a chance to be interactive. The Iowa Sports Information staff will be blogging live from the press box during the game. Iowa fans can log on to hawkeyesports.com and click on the blog story and follow along. Fans will have the opportunity to submit questions and comments, answer quick polls and get up-to-the-minute information about the game and Hawkeyes. hawkeyesports.com averaged over 1,000 unique readers per week throughout the 2009 season, featuring as many as 2,000 reader comments.

TICKET UPDATE
Iowa has sold all tickets for its seven home games. Iowa has issued over 59,000 season tickets, which includes more than 10,000 student tickets. The Iowa record for average home attendance is 70,585, set in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Iowa has sold out Kinnick Stadium 42 of the last 44 games heading into the 2010 season. In addition, Iowa has sold its allotment of tickets to road games at Arizona, Michigan, Northwestern and Minnesota.

FERENTZ NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR
Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz was named the Dave McClain Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in 2009. Ferentz was a finalist for the Liberty Mutual national Coach of the Year award and was one of 15 semi-finalists for the George Munger Award, presented by the Maxwell Football Club to the College Coach of the Year. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named Ferentz its 2009 Region Three Coach of the Year. Ferentz was also the league Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004. He was the Associated Press and Walter Camp National Coach of the Year in 2002. Ferentz has led nine straight Iowa teams to bowl eligibility and the Hawkeyes have finished in the Big Ten’s first division eight of the past nine seasons.

THE SERIES
This is the first meeting between the two teams. This will also mark Iowa’s first contest against any current member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

EIU COACH BOB SPOO
Bob Spoo is entering his 23rd year as a college head coach, all at Eastern Illinois. In addition, he was at Eastern Illinois in 2006 but did not coach due to illness. He holds a career record of 140-113-1 (.553). Among the longest tenured Division I head coaches at the same school, Spoo is tied for fourth behind Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Bob Ford of Albany and Andy Talley of Villanova. He had led Eastern Illinois to nine FCS playoff appearances, including a year ago, when the Panthers lost at Southern Illinois in the first round. Prior to taking his current position, Spoo was an assistant coach at Purdue (1978-86) and Wisconsin (1973-77). Spoo earned his degree from Purdue (1960), where he was a three-year letterman and Purdue’s starting quarterback in 1957 and 1958.

IOWA/EIU NOTES

• The Iowa roster features 14 players from the state of Illinois. There are no Iowans on the Eastern Illinois roster.
• Iowa and Eastern Illinois played one common opponent last season. Iowa won 21-10 at Penn State, while Eastern Illinois lost 52-3 at Penn State.
• This is the third straight season Iowa has opened its schedule against an FCS opponent. Iowa defeated Maine 46-3 to open the 2008 season and defeated Northern Iowa 17-16 to open the 2009 campaign.
• Eastern Illinois is 0-3 vs. current Big Ten Conference teams, having lost to Illinois, Penn State and Purdue, all under current Coach Bob Spoo.
• Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and Eastern Illinois Coach Bob Spoo have both been named conference Coach of the Year in their current leagues three times, including both earning the honor a year ago. Both Ferentz and Spoo were finalists for the Liberty Mutual national Coach of the Year, in their division, last season.
• EIU Coach Bob Spoo lettered at Purdue in 1956, when Iowa scored a 21-20 win over the Boilermakers. Iowa and Purdue did not play the following two years when Spoo was Purdue’s starting quarterback.
• Iowa posted a 5-4 record against Purdue when EIU Coach Bob Spoo was an assistant there from 1978-86. Iowa was 2-3 against Wisconsin when Spoo was a Badger assistant from 1973-77.
• Eastern Illinois assistant Roc Bellantoni began his college coaching career at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake in 1995 and was an assistant coach at Drake University from 1998-00.
• EIU assistant Roy Wittke was an assistant at Northern Illinois when Iowa defeated the Huskies 16-3 in Chicago in 2007.
• EIU assistant Mike Lynch was an assistant coach at Utah State when Iowa defeated the Aggies 48-7 in 2002.
• EIU assistant Matthew Smiley was a walk-on wide receiver at Illinois.

HAWKEYES BY THE NUMBERS
Iowa returns 47 lettermen from 2009, including 21 on offense, 22 on defense and four specialists. The 47 lettermen are one less than the number from 2009. The Hawkeyes return six starters on offense, eight on defense and their kicker and punter. The lettermen breakdown includes 15 three-year lettermen, 13 two-year lettermen and 19 one-year lettermen. The total roster has 122 players, and includes 26 seniors, 22 juniors, 25 sophomores, 16 redshirt freshmen and 33 true freshmen. The first game depth chart includes 19 seniors, 18 juniors, 12 sophomores, five redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen. Just two Division I programs, Hawaii (31) and Louisville (27), have more returning seniors than Iowa, while Texas-El Paso also returns 26 seniors and Ohio State returns 25.

DOMINANT AT HOME
Iowa has won 44 of its last 53 games (.830) in Kinnick Stadium, dating back to the 2002 season. The nine Hawkeye losses came to Western Michigan (28-19 in 2007), Indiana (38-20 in 2007), Michigan (23-20 in overtime in 2005), Ohio State (38-17 in 2006), Northwestern (21-7 in 2006, 22-17 in 2008 and 17-10 in 2009), Wisconsin (24-21 in 2006) and Iowa State (36-31 in 2002). Iowa recorded a school-record 22-game home winning streak between 2002-05, which ended in the overtime loss to Michigan. Iowa’s 44-9 (.830) home record from 2002 thru 2009 is the 11th-best winning percentage in the nation and ranks second in the Big Ten to Ohio State. Iowa was 6-1 at home in 2009, with wins over Northern Iowa, Arizona, Arkansas State, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota and a loss to Northwestern. Iowa is 12-2 at home the last two seasons.

RETURNING WITH HONORS
Iowa returns 11 players who earned all-Big Ten honors a year ago. Among those returning, DE Adrian Clayborn and DB Tyler Sash were first team selections by both league coaches and media. WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and DB Brett Greenwood were second team selections. Those earning honorable recognition included DT Christian Ballard, DT Karl Klug, P Ryan Donahue, RB Adam Robinson, DE Broderick Binns, QB Ricky Stanzi and PK Daniel Murray. In addition, Clayborn was the MVP of Iowa’s FedEx Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech and was named national Defensive Performer of the Year by College Football Performance Awards. Clayborn and Sash are two of four returning defensive players who earned first team all-Big Ten honors a year ago.

HAWKEYES TO WATCH
Eight Hawkeye players have been named to 18 different preseason “Watch Lists” for individual national awards. Those players include junior DE Broderick Binns (Ted Hendricks), senior DE Adrian Clayborn (Walter Camp, Ted Hendricks, Chuck Bednarik, Rotary Lombardi, Bronko Nagurski), senior punter Ryan Donahue (Ray Guy), senior WR Johnson-Koulianos (Paul Hornung, Fred Biletnikoff), senior DT Karl Klug (Outland Trophy), senior PK Daniel Murray (Lou Groza), junior DB Tyler Sash (Jim Thorpe, Chuck Bednarik, Lott Trophy, Bronko Nagurski) and senior QB Ricky Stanzi (Maxwell, Davey O’Brien, Manning). Iowa is one of three programs (joining Oklahoma and Texas) to have five different individual players earn national Player of the Year honors at their position since 2002.

STANZI AMONG VETERAN RETURNING QBS
With 18 wins as Iowa’s starting quarterback, senior Ricky Stanzi ranks eighth among returning signal callers in victories. Stanzi trails the following: Andy Dalton, TCU (29), Kellen Moore, Boise State (26), Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech (23), Case Keenum, Houston (22), Colin Kaerpernick, Nevada (19), Josh Nesbitt, Georgia Tech (19) and Terrell Pryor (19).

IOWA JOINS ANOTHER TOP 20
Iowa has 70 wins since the start of the 2002 season, which ties as the 16th highest total in Division I football. The list includes the following: Boise State (93); USC (91); Texas (89); Ohio State (87); Oklahoma (86); LSU (81); Georgia (82); Virginia Tech (80); TCU (79); Florida (80); West Virginia (75); Utah (74); Boston College (72); Auburn (72); Wisconsin (71); IOWA (70); Texas Tech (70); Miami, FL (69), Penn State (67) and California (67).

BEST DECADE FOR IOWA FOOTBALL
Iowa’s football record in the 2000 decade was 80-45 (.640), a record that ranks as the best decade in Iowa football history, based on total wins. Iowa posted a record of 77-40-4 (.652) during the 1980’s and the Hawkeyes were 62-53-2 (.538) in the 1990’s. Part of the Hawkeye success is due to the stability in the program, as Iowa has had just two head coaches since 1979. Hayden Fry took over prior to the 1979 season and coached through the 1998 season, posting a record of 143-89-6. Current Coach Kirk Ferentz replaced Fry, leading the program for the last 11 seasons. Ferentz also served as Iowa’s offensive line coach from 1981-89 under Fry. In a January, 2010 release, espn.com ranked Big Ten programs over the last decade in the following order: Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois and Indiana. Factors such as Big Ten titles, BCS bowl appearances, bowl record and number of losing seasons played a role in the rankings.

DEPTH CHART INCLUDES 15 WALK-ONS
Iowa’s depth chart for the opening contest includes 15 players who originally joined the program as a walk-on. That includes six players on offense, five defense and four specialists. The list includes OL Matt Tobin, OL Kyle Haganman, OL Josh Koeppel, RB Paki O’Meara, WR Don Nordman, OL Woody Orne, DL Thomas Nardo, DB Brett Greenwood, DB Kyle Steinbrecker, DB Tom Donatell, DB Nick Nielsen, PK Daniel Murray, P Eric Guthrie, PK Michael Meyer and LS Andrew Schulze.

HAWKEYES ON THE TUBE
All Iowa football games this season will be televised on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or the Big Ten Network. The last Iowa contest not televised was vs. Minnesota on Nov. 17, 2001. Iowa has appeared on television in its last 103 games. Iowa will play night games against Arizona (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) and Penn State (7 p.m., ABC/ESPN) and late afternoon games (2:30 p.m. CT) against Iowa State and Michigan (ABC).

HOME GROWN HAWKEYES
Iowa’s roster of 122 players includes 55 players from Iowa. The roster includes 14 players from Illinois; 13 from Ohio; five from Minnesota and Missouri; four from Florida; three from Maryland and Wisconsin; two from Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Texas; one from Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts and Montana and one from Australia and Canada.

MORE THAN ONE
Seventeen high schools have contributed more than one player to the current Iowa football roster. The leader is Iowa City High (Iowa) with seven. Those with three include Washington HS in Cedar Rapids; Regina HS in Iowa City; Humboldt HS; and Glenville (Ohio). Twelve other high schools have two players on the roster, with five of those 12 in Iowa.

THE HAWKEYES, SIZE WISE
The three lightest Hawkeye players, weighing 170 pounds, include junior WR Paul Chaney, Jr., freshman WR John Chelf and freshman QB Evan McMillan. Freshman OL Brandon Scherff is the heaviest at 310 pounds. A total of eight Hawkeye players are listed over 300 pounds. The tallest players, at 6-7, are freshman OL Andrew Donnal, freshman TE C.J. Fiedorowicz, sophomore OL Brett Van Sloten and freshman TE Austin View. The shortest player, at 5-8, is freshman De’Andre Johnson. The average Hawkeye player is 6-2 and weighs 233 pounds. That is the exact same height and two pounds heavier than the average Iowa player in 2009.

IOWA FOOTBALL WITH Kirk Ferentz
The weekly television replay show, featuring Iowa Football Coach Kirk Ferentz, is a 30-minute program, which includes Iowa football highlights and weekly features about the University of Iowa football program. Gary Dolphin, the radio play-by-play voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes, hosts the show. Consult local listings for day and time.

Kirk Ferentz RADIO SHOW
Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz is featured on “Hawk Talk with Kirk Ferentz” each week. The 90-minute radio call-in show is hosted by Gary Dolphin, the play-by-play voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes. The show airs each Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. from Carlos O’Kelly’s in Iowa City.

AFTER THIS
Iowa is home for the second straight week, hosting Iowa State Saturday, Sept. 11 (2:35 p.m. ABC), in the annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series and battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. The Hawkeyes travel to Arizona Sept. 18 (9:35 p.m. CT, ESPN).