Game Notes: Iowa at Michigan State

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1: LB Josey Jewell leads the Big Ten with 44 tackles. He has led the team in tackles in each of the last two seasons (126 in 2015, 124 in 2016). His season totals included two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, and four pass break-up. The four pass breakups tie for fifth in the Big Ten.
 
2: QB Nate Stanley has 12 touchdown passes, the most in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the nation. No quarterback in program history has thrown more touchdown passes in their first four starts than Stanley.

3: The Hawkeyes have two players ranked in the top 10 in the league in sacks. Sophomore DE Anthony Nelson is tied for third in the Big Ten with 3 sacks (12 yards) and true freshman DE A.J. Epenesa is tied for sixth with 2.5 sacks (13 yards).
 
4: Iowa’s starting linebackers have combined for 96 career starts: Josey Jewell (35), Ben Niemann (31), and Bo Bower (30). They rank one, two, and three on the team in tackles.
 
5: Saturday is the first meeting between the schools since the 2015 Big Ten Championship Game.
 
6: Iowa’s second-year tight ends, sophomore Noah Fant and redshirt freshman T.J. Hockenson, have 13 combined receptions, each resulting in a touchdown (4) or first down (9).
 
7: DB JoshJackson leads the Big Ten in passes defended (9) and breakups (7). He also leads the team with two interceptions and ranks fifth with 19 tackles.
 
8: RB Akrum Wadley ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 6 nationally averaging 166.3 all-purpose yards per game.  Wadley leads Iowa in rushing yards (338), receiving yards (227), and touchdowns (4 total: 2 rushing, 2 receiving). He has 2,836 career all-purpose yards, 16th most in program history (2,096 rush, 640 receiving, 100 KO returns).
 
9: Kirk Ferentz’s 82 conference wins rank sixth among the conference’s all-time winningest coaches in Big Ten games. He recorded his first Big Ten win as Iowa’s head coach when the Hawkeyes topped #25 Michigan State (21-16) in Iowa City on Oct. 7, 2000. 

10: RB Akrum Wadley (2,101) needs 128 rushing yards to pass Shonn Greene (2,228) for 10th all-time in program history.
 
     HAWKEYE HISTORY
     Iowa has played 1,224 games since beginning football in 1889. Iowa’s overall record is 636-549-39 (.535). That includes a 397-218-16 (.643) record in home games, a 239-331-23 (.422) record in games away from Iowa City, a 320-370-25 (.464) mark in Big Ten games and a 281-183-15 (.607) record in Kinnick Stadium.
 
     A PLEASANT RESOLUTION TO THE CASE OF THE UNKNOWN
     QB Nate Stanley is the 14th quarterback to start a game under Kirk Ferentz. Since 1999, both of Kirk Ferentz’s Big Ten championships have been with a first-year starting quarterback. Brad Banks led Iowa to a share of the conference title in 2002, and Drew Tate did the same in 2004. In 2015, first-year starter C.J. Beathard was given the keys to the offense and drove Iowa to the Big Ten championship game and Rose Bowl.
     Ferentz teams have also finished in the Associated Press top-10 on five occasions, and in four of those seasons the Hawkeyes were led by a first-year starter — Banks in 2002, Nathan Chandler in 2003, Tate in 2004, and Beathard in 2015.
    
     STANLEY MAKING HISTORY
     QB Nate Stanley has 12 touchdown passes, the most in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the nation. No quarterback in program history has thrown more touchdown passes in their first four starts than Stanley. The four-game stretch is Iowa’s best since Chuck Hartlieb threw 12 touchdowns over a four-game stretch in 1987. Chuck Long threw 14 touchdowns in the first four games in 1985.
     Stanley has thrown 12 touchdown passes since being intercepted on his third pass attempt of the season. He has since completed 64-of-102 (62.7) attempts. Stanley completed 12 of his final 14 attempts (178 yards, 2 touchdowns) in Iowa’s loss to Penn State.
     Stanley threw three touchdowns in his first career start Week 1. The last quarterback to do that was Ricky Stanzi (3, vs. Florida Atlantic in 2008). Since, 1999, the only other quarterback to throw three or more touchdowns in his first career start under Ferentz was Jon Beutjer (4, at Indiana in 2000).  
     Stanley threw for five touchdowns and 333 yards against Iowa State in Week 2, becoming the first Iowa quarterback with 300-plus passing yards and five-plus touchdown passes since Chuck Hartlieb vs. Northwestern in 1987.
After a slow start in the home loss to Penn State, Stanley completed 12 of his final 14 pass attempts, while also leading Iowa on a three-play, 80-yard scoring drive to take a 19-15 advantage in the final two minutes.
 
     FERENTZ AMONG B1G LEADERS, CLOSING ON FRY
     Kirk Ferentz has 138 overall wins and 82 Big Ten wins as Iowa’s head coach. The 82 conference wins rank sixth among the conference’s all-time winningest coaches in Big Ten games.
     Ferentz’s 138 wins in all games coached as a member of the Big Ten Conference rank sixth in league history and second all-time at Iowa. He is five wins from tying Hayden Fry as the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest football coach.
     Both Ferentz (138, 82) and Fry (143, 96) rank in the top seven in overall wins and Big Ten wins. Only Iowa and Michigan have two coaches ranked in the top 10 of both win categories (Bo Schembechler 194, 143; and Lloyd Carr 122, 81).
 
     FERENTZ TOPS IN LONGEVITY
     Kirk Ferentz is in his 19th season as Iowa’s head football coach. He is the longest tenured active head coach in college football. Ferentz was named Iowa head coach on Dec. 2, 1998. Gary Patterson of TCU is No. 2 in coaching tenure. Patterson’s first year with the Horned Frogs was 2001. Among Big Ten coaches, only Pat Fitzgerald (2006) and Mark Dantonio (2007) have been at their current schools for 10 seasons or more.

    THE SERIES
    Iowa holds a 23-21-2 advantage in the series that began with a 21-7 Michigan State win in 1953. That first meeting, played in Iowa City on Sept. 26, 1953, marked MSU’s first game as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Kirk Ferentz recorded his first Big Ten win as Iowa’s head coach when the Hawkeyes topped Michigan State (21-16) in Iowa City, in 2000. The teams have played two overtime contests, with Iowa winning both in double overtime (34-27 in 2007 and 19-16 in 2012). The series is even, 10-10-1 in games played in East Lansing.

     COACH TO CURE MD
     University of Iowa coaches will wear shoulder patches Sept. 30 to help raise awareness and money to fund research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne pronounced DOO-SHIN), the most prolific lethal genetic disorder of childhood. Over the last nine years, Coach To Cure MD has raised over $1.5 million. Every dollar raised has helped advance promising research, which led to two drug approvals for Duchenne in the last year alone.
     More than 500 universities are joining forces Saturday to support the Coach To Cure MD program. To donate $10, text the word “CURE” to 50555. You can also visit coachtocuremd.org to make a donation.
 
     TACKLE BY JOSEY JEWELL
     LB Josey Jewell leads the Big Ten with 44 tackles. He has led the team in tackles in each of the last two seasons (126 in 2015, 124 in 2016). His season totals included two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, and four pass break-up. The four pass breakups tie for fifth in the Big Ten.
      Jewell was named Walter Camp, Lott IMPACT, and Bednarik Award national and Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week following Iowa’s 24-3 win over Wyoming on Sept. 2. Jewell led Iowa with 14 tackles, including seven solo stops.
     Jewell was named Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week vs. Penn State.  He matched his career best with 16 tackles, including 11 solo stops.  He added three tackles for loss, two pass break-ups, and a recovered fumble.  His fifth career interception and 33-yard return in the second quarter led to Iowa’s first touchdown of the game.
 
     YOUNG BLOOD
     The Hawkeyes have two players ranked in the top 10 in the league in sacks. Sophomore DE Anthony Nelson is tied for third in the Big Ten with 3 sacks (12 yards) and true freshman DE A.J. Epenesa is tied for sixth with 2.5 sacks (13 yards). Nelson had six sacks as a freshman last season, second best on the team. Epenesa leads the team with four quarterback hurries.
 
     WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
     Junior DB Josh Jackson and sophomore FS Amani Hooker have stepped up to lead a secondary that lost two members to the NFL (Desmond King, Chargers; Greg Mabin, Bills).
     Jackson has started all four games this season at defensive back and leads the Big Ten in passes defended (9) and breakups (7). He’s tied for the league lead with two interceptions. He also leads the team with two interceptions and ranks fifth with 19 tackles.
     Hooker made his first career start Week 4 against Penn State and recorded a career-high 13 tackles.
 
     FRESH LEGS
     Running backs Toren Young and Ivory Kelly-Martin carried the ball for the first time in their careers Week 3 when RB Akrum Wadley and RB James Butler each left the North Texas game with injuries.
     Young, a redshirt freshman, finished the game with a team-high 19 carries for a team-best 78 yards. Kelly-Martin, a true freshman, finished with 74 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns (2, 6).  Kelly-Martin is the first Iowa true freshman with two-plus rush TD in a game since Marcus Coker in 2010 (vs Missouri).
     The rookies combined for 152 yards on 30 carries and two rushing touchdowns. Iowa’s seniors, Wadley and Butler, had 98 yards rushing on 24 carries.
 
     WADLEY PURSUES RARE FEAT
     Senior RB Akrum Wadley has 338 yards rushing in 2017. He rushed for 1,081 yards in 2016, and with another 1,000-yard campaign he could become the fourth Hawkeye in program history to produce back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and the first since Fred Russell went back-to-back in 2002 (1,355) and 2003 (1,264). The other Hawkeyes with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons include Sedrick Shaw (1,002 in 1994, 1,477 in 1995, 1,116 in 1996) and Ladell Betts (1,090 in 2000 and 1,060 in 2001).  Wadley is tied for 18th in career scoring with 156 points.
 
     wadleY2K
     RB Akrum Wadley is the 15th player in program history to rush for 2,000 career yards. He has 363 career carries for 2,101 rushing yards, 13th all-time. Among the 15 career 2,000 yard rushers in program history, Wadley (5.8) ranks third behind Tavian Banks and Shonn Greene (5.9) in average yards per carry. He is 128 yards from passing Greene and moving into the program’s all-time top 10 leading rushers.
 
     THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER
     RB Akrum Wadley ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 6 nationally averaging 166.3 all-purpose yards per game. Through four games, he has 338 yards rushing, 227 yards receiving, and 100 yards on kick returns. He has 2,836 career all-purpose yards, 16th most in program history (2,096 rush, 640 receiving, 100 KO returns).
     Wadley leads Iowa in rushing yards (338), receiving yards (227), and touchdowns (4 total: 2 rushing, 2 receiving). He has increased his longest pass reception in each of the last three games, with a 46-yard reception at Iowa State, a 68-yard catch vs. North Texas and a 70-yard scoring reception vs. Penn State.
 
      ANOTHER HYPHEN OUT WIDE
      In his first career start on Sept. 9, true freshman WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette had four receptions for 36 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning five-yard touchdown reception in overtime at Iowa State. He is 168 receptions from tying Kevonte Martin-Manley’s all-time receptions record (174).
      Smith-Marsette is the fourth true freshman in the Ferentz era to start at wide receiver. Jerminic Smith started two games in 2015, Matt VandeBerg started two games in 2013, and Dominique Douglas started 11 games in 2006.

     BRIAN FERENTZ IMPACT ON OFFENSE
     Brian Ferentz, a former Hawkeye football team captain and three-year letterman for the University of Iowa football team, was named Iowa’s offensive coordinator on Jan. 9, 2017. He also coaches Iowa’s running backs.
     In his first four games as offensive coordinator:

• QB Nathan Stanley has thrown 12 touchdown passes, the best four-game stretch since 1987.
• Iowa has nine touchdown drives of 10 plays or more. Iowa had six such drives in 2016.
• Iowa had three touchdown drives against Penn State that combined for seven plays in 2 minutes, 36 seconds (1-21-0:06 | 3-74-1:30 | 3-80-1:00).
• Iowa’s second-year tight ends, sophomore Noah Fant and redshirt freshman T.J. Hockenson, have 13 combined receptions, each resulting in a touchdown (4) or first down (9).
• Iowa’s time of possession against North Texas was 40:45, the second highest under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• Iowa had 29 first downs at Iowa State, tied for second most in Kirk Ferentz era, and 28 first downs against North Texas, tied for fifth in the Kirk Ferentz era. The 57 combined first downs is the highest total in back-to-back games in the Kirk Ferentz era.

     Ferentz, the eldest son of UI head coach Kirk Ferentz, was an Iowa offensive lineman from 2001-05. He joined the Iowa coaching staff in 2012, serving as offensive line coach and adding the title of run-game coordinator in 2015.
     In 2016, Iowa’s offensive line was the recipient of the Joe Moore Award, which goes to the best offensive line in college football.  Due to injuries, Iowa was forced to use seven starting combinations on the offensive line, but the Hawkeyes were able to produce two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time in program history.  The Hawkeyes were also a finalist for the Joe Moore Award in 2015.
     Under Ferentz’s direction, left tackle Brandon Scherff won the 2014 Outland Trophy, was the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten; and earned unanimous consensus All-America honors.  Scherff was the fifth player selected in the 2015 NFL Draft (Washington Redskins), while right tackle Andrew Donnal was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round.  Center Austin Blythe was selected in the 2016 NFL Draft (Indianapolis).
     Ferentz joined the Hawkeye staff after spending four years with the NFL’s New England Patriots.  He has been recognized by ESPN.com as one of the top assistant coaches in the Big Ten Conference under the age of 40.  Prior to joining the Hawkeyes staff, Ferentz worked under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and current Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, serving as New England’s tight ends coach in 2011, helping the Patriots win the AFC championship and a spot in the 2012 Super Bowl. He was an offensive assistant coach in 2010, working exclusively with the tight ends.
  
     KIRK FERENTZ RADIO SHOW
     Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz is featured on “Hawk Talk with Kirk Ferentz” each week during the regular season. The radio call-in show is hosted by Gary Dolphin, the play-by-play voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes.  The show airs live each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. from Carlos O’Kelly’s in Iowa City.