Game Notes: Iowa vs. Ohio State

1: Iowa ranks No. 3 in the B1G and ties for 12th nationally in scoring defense (17.4). Ohio State leads the B1G and ranks No. 2 nationally in scoring offense (46.3). Iowa has held 7-of-8 opponents below their scoring average by an average of 11.1 points per game (Iowa State lone exception).
 
2: LB Josey Jewell leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the nation with 11.6 tackles per game. He has 81 tackles this season, tops in the Big Ten and 13^th in the nation. His 9.5 tackles-for-loss (39 yards) ranks second in the Big Ten.
 
3: Iowa has won three of its last four games vs. top 5 teams at home (L 21-19 vs. #4 PSU in 2017; W 14-13 vs. #2 MICH in 2016; W 37-6 vs. #5 MSU in 2010; W 24-23 vs. #3 PSU in 2007).
 
4: QB Nate Stanley has 17 touchdown passes, second in the Big Ten and tied for 19th in the nation. He has a 156.3 passing efficiency in the fourth quarter and overtime (141.3 overall). Iowa has outscored its opponents 76-33 in the fourth quarter.
 
5: DB Josh Jackson has started all eight games this season at defensive back and leads the country in passes defended (17) and passes broken up (15). He has two interceptions this year. He was added to the Bednarik Award watch list on Oct. 6.
 
6: Season-ending injuries to senior tackles Ike Boettger and Boone Myers have cleared the depth chart for redshirt freshman LT Alaric Jackson and freshman RT Tristan Wirfs. Jackson has started every game this season at left tackle. Wirfs has started the last three games at right tackle. He is the first true freshman in Ferentz’s 19 seasons to start at offensive tackle.
 
7: Sophomore DE Anthony Nelson is tied for second in the Big Ten with six sacks (27 yards). Nelson had six sacks as a freshman last season, second best on the team. True freshman A.J. Epenesa is tied for second on the team with 2.5 sacks, and leads the team with seven quarterback hurries.
 
8: WR Matt VandeBerg has a reception in 27 consecutive games played. He has 125 career receptions, two away from moving ahead of Marv Cook and into the all-time top 10.
 
9: RB Akrum Wadley has 30 career touchdowns. He is two scores from moving into the top five and tying Tim Dwight (32) and Ronnie Harmon (32).
 
10: Iowa’s three losses have been decided by one possession, and two have come down to the game’s final play. Since 2014, Iowa is 32-12 in the regular season, and 10 of those 12 losses have been decided by one possession. Since 2014, Iowa is 13-10 in games decided by one possession, including 2-3 this year.
 
     HAWKEYE HISTORY
     Iowa has played 1,228 games since beginning football in 1889. Iowa’s overall record is 638-551-39 (.535). That includes a 399-218-16 (.643) record in home games, a 239-333-23 (.422) record in games away from Iowa City, a 322-372-25 (.464) mark in Big Ten games and a 283-183-15 (.607) record in Kinnick Stadium.
  
     399 AND COUNTING
     The Hawkeyes have won 399 games at home since becoming a varsity football team in 1889. The Hawkeyes are 399-218-16 at home, including a 116-35-1 mark at Iowa Field and a 282-183-15 record at Kinnick Stadium.
     Iowa’s first win at home was 64-6 victory vs. Cornell in 1891 at Iowa Field.
     Kinnick Stadium opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium. It was renamed Kinnick Stadium in 1972 in honor of 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick. Prior to 1929 Iowa played its home games at Iowa Field, located on the east bank of the Iowa River (now a parking lot between the English Philosophy Building and UI Main Library).
 
     HAWKEYES AT HOME                                                              
     Iowa Field (1890-1928)                              116-35-1
     Kinnick Stadium (1929-present)           283-183-15
     TOTAL                                                              399-218-16         
 
     REINVENTING THE STADIUM WAVE
      In a tradition that started at the University of Iowa football team’s season opener in 2017, fans inside Kinnick Stadium and patients and families inside the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital exchange waves at the end of the first quarter of each home game.
      The UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital opened in 2017. It is connected to the south end of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and overlooks Kinnick Stadium from the southwest grandstands. During Iowa football home games, patients and their families can watch the game from the top floor (Level 12), one of the highest vantage points in Iowa City.
      The wave highlights the relationship between the football team and the hospital. The Hawkeyes’ “Touchdowns for Kids” campaign has long been a fundraiser and during every game, a “Kid Captain” from the hospital receives special recognition from the Hawkeye football program.
 
     FERENTZ AMONG B1G LEADERS, CLOSING ON FRY
     Kirk Ferentz has 140 overall wins and 84 Big Ten wins as Iowa’s head coach. The 84 conference wins rank sixth among the conference’s all-time winningest coaches in Big Ten games.
     Ferentz’s 140 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 three wins from tying Hayden Fry as the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest football coach.
     Both Ferentz (140, 84) and Fry (143, 96) rank in the top six 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.
     FINISH STRONG
     Iowa has outscored its opponents 76-33 in the fourth quarter. QB Nate Stanley has a 156.3 passing efficiency in the fourth quarter and overtime (141.3 overall). The numbers include 32 completions in 55 attempts for 470 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Iowa scored points in the final two minutes to tie the game or take the lead against Iowa State, Penn State and Northwestern.
    
     STANLEY MAKING HISTORY
     QB Nate Stanley has 17 touchdown passes, second in the Big Ten and tied for 19th in the nation. He has thrown touchdown passes in seven of eight games this season.
     Stanley threw 12 touchdowns in the first four games of the season, becoming the first quarterback in program history to throw 12 touchdown passes in their first four starts. The four-game stretch was 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 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.
 
     IN THE RANKINGS
     Iowa’s 2017 schedule includes five schools currently ranked in the AP top 25. The Hawkeyes lost at home to then-No. 4 Penn State, 21-19, on Sept. 23. The Nittany Lions are now No. 7 in the country. Iowa State (W, 44-41 OT on Sept. 9) and Michigan State (L, 17-10 on Sept. 30) were unranked when they played the Hawkeyes, but both schools are now in the AP top 25. Iowa State is No. 14, and Michigan State is No. 24.
     The Hawkeyes final four regular season games include Saturday’s home contest against No. 3 Ohio State, and a road trip to No. 4 Wisconsin (11/11).
     The Hawkeyes first eight opponents have a combined record of 36-21. Their final four opponents have a combined record of 22-10.
 
     TACKLE BY JOSEY JEWELL
     LB Josey Jewell leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the nation with 11.6 tackles per game. Jewell missed the Northwestern game due to injury. The DNP snapped a streak of 37 consecutive starts. He has 81 tackles this season, tops in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation. He is a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bendarik Award, and Butkus Award.
     His 9.5 tackles-for-loss (39 yards) ranks second in the Big Ten. He matched his career high with 16 tackles vs. Penn State and at Michigan State.
     Jewell has led the team in tackles in each of the last two seasons (126 in 2015, 124 in 2016). His 2017 totals include 2.5 sacks (24 yards), 9.5 tackles for loss, six pass break-ups, and one interception.
     Jewell has 382 career tackles, seventh all-time in program history. He has 18 career games with double digit tackles.
     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, Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week, Bednarik Award, and College Sports Madness Defensive Player of the Week following his performance vs. No. 4 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.
     Jewell was recently named midseason first team All-American by five media outlets, including Associated Press, ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, Sporting News, and The All-American.
 
    THE SERIES
    Saturday marks the 65th meeting in the series that began with a 12-9 Iowa victory in 1922.  Ohio State holds a 47-14-3 advantage and has won the last five meetings.  The schools have met just four times over the last 11 years. Saturday is the first meeting since 2013.
    Ohio State holds a 17-6-2 advantage in games played at Iowa City, winning seven of the last eight.  Iowa’s most recent win in the series was a 33-7 victory in Kinnick Stadium in 2004.
 
     POCKET PRESSURE
     Sophomore DE Anthony Nelson is tied for second in the Big Ten with six sacks (27 yards). Nelson had six sacks as a freshman last season, second best on the team. True freshman A.J. Epenesa is tied for second on the team with 2.5 sacks, and leads the team with seven quarterback hurries.
     LB Josey Jewell (9.5) and DE Parker Hesse (9.0) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Big Ten in tackles-for-loss. Both numbers are career bests. 
 
     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/49ers).
     Jackson has started all eight games this season at defensive back and leads the country in passes defended (17) and passes broken up (15). He has two interceptions this year. He is a Bednarik Award semifinalist.  
     Hooker made his first career start Week 4 against Penn State and recorded a career-high 13 tackles. He has 40 tackles this season, fourth on the team. He recorded his first career interception Week 6 against Illinois.
 
     BRANDON SNYDER CAMEO APPEARANCE
     Six months after suffering an ACL injury during spring camp, FS Brandon Snyder returned the lineup on Oct. 7 to help Iowa defeat Illinois, 45-16. Snyder started the contest and contributed with three tackles, two pass breakups, and one interception, an 89-yard pick six that halted Illinois’ go-ahead touchdown drive.
     The 89-yard interception return for a touchdown ties for the sixth longest in school history and is Iowa’s longest play this season. Iowa has had at least one pick-six every year since 2009.
     Snyder was sidelined again against Northwestern and Minnesota due to injury.
 
     WADLEY PURSUES RARE FEAT
     Senior RB Akrum Wadley has 643 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 MOVING UP THE CHARTS
     RB Akrum Wadley is one of 15 players in program history to rush for 2,000 career yards. He has 445 career carries for 2,406 rushing yards, ninth all-time.
     Wadley has 23 career rushing touchdowns, tying for sixth all-time, 30 career touchdowns, sixth all-time, and 180 career points, 12th all-time.
     Wadley has 3,182 career all-purpose yards, 12th most in program history (2,406 rush, 676 receiving, 100 KO returns). He is averaging 126.4 all-purpose yards per game, fifth best in the Big Ten.
 
     VANDEBERG STREAKING UP THE RANKINGS
     Senior WR Matt VandeBerg has a reception in 27 consecutive games played. He has 125 career receptions, 11th most in program history. He has 1,589 career receiving yards, 17th in program history. He is 53 yards from passing Al Bream in career receiving yards, and two receptions from moving ahead of Marv Cook and into the all-time top 10 in receptions.
     VandeBerg missed Iowa’s final nine games of 2016 due to a foot injury sustained in practice on Sept. 26. He played in the first four games of the season, leading the team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns (19-284-3 TDs) before the injury. On Dec. 21, 2016, the Big Ten Conference granted the University of Iowa’s medical hardship waiver request on behalf of VandeBerg and granted the wide receiver a fifth year of eligibility.
 
     A NEW LOOK TO NATION’S TOP OFFENSIVE LINE UNIT
     The Hawkeyes entered the season with seven players returning on what was the top offensive line in the country in 2016, but season-ending injuries to senior tackles Ike Boettger and Boone Myers have cleared the depth chart for redshirt freshman Alaric Jackson and true freshman Tristan Wirfs.
     Jackson has started every game this season at left tackle, a position Myers has occupied 17 times, including the last five games of 2016.
     Wirfs has started the last three games at right tackle. He is the first true freshman in Ferentz’s 19 seasons to start at offensive tackle, and only the fourth true freshman under Ferentz to ever start on the offensive line. Center James Daniels, a junior in 2017, made two starts at left guard in 2015. The other two true freshman include Byran Bulaga in 2007 (5 games at LG) and Mike Jones in 2003 (seven games at left guard).
      Boettger  (LT, LG, RT), Myers (LT, LG), and Sean Welsh (RG, RT); Daniels (C), Lucas LeGrand (C), and Keegan Render (LG, RG); and Levi Paulsen (RG) all started at least one game for an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award in 2016.
     The Joe Moore Award honors offensive line units that display a high level of toughness, effort, teamwork, consistency, technique, and “finishing”.  It is the only major college football award to honor a unit.
     The Hawkeyes were selected over national runner-up Alabama and third-ranked Ohio State. Iowa was selected by a voting committee comprised solely of people who played or coached the offensive line position, including all of the current offensive line coaches at the Division I/FBS level as well as former players, coaches and colleagues of Coach Moore, and select media. Iowa’s offense averaged 171.8 rushing yards per game — averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and more than two yards before contact — and 325 yards total offense per game.
 
     MYERS JOINS BOETTGER ON INJURED LIST
     Senior offensive lineman Boone Myers underwent ankle surgery during the week prior to Iowa’s win over Minnesota and is out indefinitely.  Myers joins fellow senior Ike Boettger on the injured list, as Boettger suffered an Achilles injury in Week 2 at Iowa State and is out for the season.  Myers had 25 career starts, while Boettger started 21 times in his career.

     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.

      ALL ABOARD TO KINNICK STADIUM!
      The Hawkeye Express, the passenger train that transports fans from Coralville to Kinnick Stadium, is in its 14th season in 2017.
      Adults can ride the train for $15, round trip, while children (12-and-under) ride for free.  Tickets can be purchased in advance at the UI Ticket Office or on game day (cash only on game day) at the Hawkeye Express depot located near the boarding ramp.  The trip to Kinnick Stadium is approximately 10 minutes. Media credentials are accepted as well.
      Free parking is located in lots near the Comfort Suites and Coral Ridge Mall.  Fans can begin boarding the train three hours prior to 11 a.m. kickoffs, and four hours prior to the start of afternoon and night games. Return trips begin at the start of the fourth period and run 90 minutes after the game.
      The Hawkeye Express is owned by the Iowa Northern Railway Company and operates on the Iowa Interstate Railroad.
 
          IOWA GAME DAY INFORMATION
          The University of Iowa has implemented changes intended to improve the safety and game day experience for fans attending Iowa football home games at Kinnick Stadium this fall. Changes include, but are not limited to, a partial closure of Hawkins Drive, a postgame two-lane traffic pattern on Melrose Avenue, single-game ADA parking, and information regarding the UI Hawkeye Marching Band pregame performance in the Recreation Building. A complete list of game day changes and procedures is available at http://hawkeyesports.com/footballgameday.