Game Notes: Iowa at Minnesota

Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | I-Club Events Page | Gameday Information

 1st and 10

1: Iowa is 9-0 since the start of the 2017 season when scoring 20 points or more.
 
2: Iowa has won three in a row and 13 of the last 17 meetings against the Gophers, including its last visit to Minneapolis, a 14-7 win in 2016.
 
3: The Hawkeyes average 3.3 sacks per game, second best in the Big Ten. DE A.J. Epenesa leads the team and is tied for the Big Ten lead with four sacks. He is one of eight Hawkeyes with sacks.
 
4: TE Noah Fant has 16 career touchdown receptions, more than any other tight end in program history and tying Ed Hinkel and Robert Smith for seventh all-time in program history. He has four touchdowns in 2018, tied for third in the Big Ten and tied for the most among all tight ends in FBS (Jace Sternberger, Texas A&M).
 
5: The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the country in scoring defense (13.0). Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten in total defense (260.5) and rushing defense (84.0). The Hawkeyes have allowed 260.5 yards per game, third in the country. The 84 rushing yards allowed per game ranks fourth in the country.
 
6: QB Nate Stanley has five touchdown passes this season, raising his career total to 31. Stanley ranks 10th all-time in program history. He is three shy of tying Jake Rudock for ninth all-time. He has 3,338 career passing yards, 12th all-time.
 
7: Senior C Keegan Render leads an offensive line that has allowed four quarterback sacks, fewest in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes start two sophomore offensive tackles (LT Alaric Jackson and RT Tristan Wirfs) and rotate guards who have a combined 10 career starts (RG Cole Banwart, RG Dalton Ferguson, and LG Ross Reynolds).
 
8: In the first four games of the season, five different Hawkeye linebackers have made their first career starts. The five linebackers entered the season with a combined 40 career tackles, 832 fewer career tackles than Iowa’s three starting linebackers in 2017 (Josey Jewell 437; Bo Bower, 234; Ben Niemann, 201).
 
9: For the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, Iowa has won at least three of its first four games. The Hawkeyes have earned bowl eligibility in each of the nine previous seasons in which they won at least three of their first four games.  
 
10: Three of Iowa’s first five games of the season are trophy games. The Hawkeyes defeated Iowa State, 13-3, to win the Cy-Hawk trophy in Week 2, and lost to No. 18 Wisconsin, 28-17, in a battle for the Heartland Trophy in Week 4. The Hawkeyes travel to Minnesota on Oct. 6 to defend Floyd of Rosedale. Iowa is 11-3 in its last 14 trophy games, with all three losses coming to Wisconsin. 
 
    TROPHY GAMES
    Three of Iowa’s first five games of the season are trophy games. The Hawkeyes defeated Iowa State, 13-3, to win the Cy-Hawk trophy in Week 2, and lost to No. 18 Wisconsin, 28-17, in a battle for the Heartland Trophy in Week 4. The Hawkeyes travel to Minnesota on Oct. 6 to defend Floyd of Rosedale. Iowa is 11-3 in its last 14 trophy games, with all three losses coming to Wisconsin. 
The Hawkeyes defend the Heroes Trophy, their fourth of four trophy games, on Nov. 23 against Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium.
 
        FLOYD OF ROSEDALE
        As a result of a bet between the governors of the two states in 1935, possession of Floyd of Rosedale is at stake Saturday.  The trophy is currently in possession of Iowa.  Minnesota holds a 42-39-2 advantage in the series with Floyd of Rosedale on the line. Iowa has won 13 of the last 17 meetings.
        The Floyd of Rosedale contest is one of four trophy games on Iowa’s 2017 schedule. Iowa is 1-1 in Trophy Games this season.
 
        THE SERIES
        Saturday will be the 112th meeting between Iowa and Minnesota.
        Minnesota holds a 62-47-2 advantage in a series that began with a 42-4 Gopher victory in 1891. The Golden Gophers won the first 12 games in the series before Iowa earned a 6-0 win in 1918.
        Iowa has won three in a row and 13 of the last 17 meetings, including its last visit to Minneapolis, a 14-7 win in 2016.

     6 THROUGH THE AIR
     QB Nate Stanley has five touchdown passes this season, raising his career total to 31. Stanley ranks 10th all-time in program history. He is three shy of tying Jake Rudock for ninth all-time. Four of Stanley’s five touchdown passes this season have gone to TE Noah Fant. He and Fant have connected for touchdowns 15 times over the last 17 games.
     Stanley threw 26 touchdowns last year, one shy of tying the single-season record held by Chuck Long (27, 1985). Of those 26 touchdown passes, Fant caught a team-high 11 touchdown passes, followed by Nick Easley (4). In total, 20 of Stanley’s 26 touchdown targets return in 2018. TE T.J. Hockenson caught three touchdowns from Stanley in 2017, and WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette pulled in two touchdown receptions.
     Stanley threw for a season-high 309 yards (second career 300-yard game) in Week 3’s win against Northern Iowa. He became the 13th player in program history to pass for at least 3,000 yards. His 3,338 career passing yards rank 12th all-time.
 
     DOWN, DOWN, DOWN IN FRONT
     The Hawkeyes average 3.3 sacks per game, second best in the Big Ten. DE A.J. Epenesa leads the team and is tied for the Big Ten lead with four sacks. Epenesa is one of eight Hawkeyes with sacks. DE Parker Hesse and DE Anthony Nelson have two, and DT Cedrick Lattimore, DT Brady Reiff, DT Matt Nelson, LB Nick Niemann, and LB Kristian Welch each have one.
 
    EPENESA NAMED B1G CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
    DE A.J. Epenesa was named Big Ten Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week following Iowa’s 13-3 win over Iowa State in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Sept. 8. Epenesa was also named the league’s defensive Player of the Week by College Sports Madness.
The Big Ten honor was the first of Epenesa’s career. The native of Glen Carbon, Illinois (Edwardsville HS), recorded a career-best two sacks against Iowa State, causing a fourth quarter fumble that was recovered by teammate Chauncey Golston.  Epenesa had five tackles in the game, and added a pass break-up.
 
     HOLD IT RIGHT THERE
     The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the country in scoring defense (13.0). The Hawkeyes allowed 24 points through the first three games before surrendering 28 points to No. 18 Wisconsin in Week 4.
     Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten in total defense (260.5) and rushing defense (84.0). The Hawkeyes have allowed 260.5 yards per game, third in the country. The 84 rushing yards allowed per game ranks fourth in the country. The Hawkeyes allow 2.7 yards per carry, tied for eighth in the country, and are one of two defenses in the country to have allowed only one rushing touchdown (Auburn).
     The Hawkeyes limited Iowa State to just 19 yards rushing in Week 2, and held Northern Iowa to six rushing yards in Week 3 – a total that ranks second all-time in the Ferentz era (20 years).
     Iowa’s pass defense (176.5) ranks fifth in the Big Ten.
     Iowa has allowed just 59 first downs, second in the Big Ten and seventh in the country.
 
     POCKET PROTECTION
     Senior C Keegan Render leads an offensive line that has allowed four quarterback sacks, fewest in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes start two sophomore offensive tackles (LT Alaric Jackson and RT Tristan Wirfs) and rotate starting guards who have a combined 10 career starts (RG Cole Banwart, RG Dalton Ferguson, and LG Ross Reynolds). QB Nate Stanley has increased his completion percentage from 55.8 in 2017 to 62.7 through four games in 2018.   
 
    YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
    TE Noah Fant has 16 career touchdown receptions, more than any other tight end in program history and tying Ed Hinkel and Robert Smith for seventh all-time in program history. He has four touchdowns in 2018, tied for third in the Big Ten and tied for the most among all FBS tight ends (Jace Sternberger, Texas A&M).
Fant had two touchdown receptions against No. 18 Wisconsin in Week 4. It was the fourth multi-touchdown game of his career. Since 2000, the only Big Ten tight ends with four multi-touchdown games are Fant (4) and former Penn State TE Mike Gesicki (4).
Fifteen of Fant’s touchdown receptions have come from QB Nate Stanley over the Hawkeyes’ last 17 games. His first career touchdown reception came from QB C.J. Beathard (5 yards, at Purdue on Oct. 15, 2016).
His 16 career touchdowns have come from near and far, listed in chronological order: 5, 2, 27, 23, 7, 45, 25, 3, 6, 4, 69, 8, 1, 5, 20, 1.
Fant was one of 10 conference players named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List. He had 30 receptions last season, including a team-high 11 touchdowns, tied for most in the country among FBS tight ends and the most by a Hawkeye since Marvin McNutt caught 12 touchdown passes in 2012. Fant led Iowa and all FBS tight ends with 16.5 yards per catch in 2017.
 
     FOSTER INHERITS FRESH LEGS
     Running backs coach Derrick Foster is in his first season on Iowa’s staff in charge of a position group that graduated 75 percent of its rushing yards in 2017, and entered 2018 with one combined career start (Toren Young).
     RB Ivory Kelly-Martin made his first career-start and had a team and career-high 16 carries for 62 yards and one touchdown in Week 1. He missed Weeks 2-3 with an injury, but returned to the starting lineup and led Iowa with 72 yards on 14 carries in Week 4.
     Young got the start in Weeks 2 and 3 rushed for a team-high both games. He is Iowa’s top rusher with 49 carries for 268 yards.  
     RB Mehki Sargent set career highs in rushing attempts (15), rushing yards (72), rushing touchdowns (2), and receiving yards (48) in Week 3. The junior college transfer ranks second on the team in rushes (44) and rushing yards (151).
     The committee has combined for six rushing touchdowns, three by Sargent, two by Young and one by Kelly-Martin.
     The Hawkeye do not have a junior or senior among the position group. Sophomores Kelly-Martin, Sargent, and Young are the elder statesmen of the group. Henry Geil is a true freshman (15 carries, 37 yards).
     Iowa graduated running backs Akrum Wadley (1,109 yards) and James Butler (396 yards) in 2017. The duo combined for 1,505 rushing yards in 2017.
    
     NEW FACES IN THE CROWD
     Five different Hawkeye linebackers have made their first career starts in 2018. Iowa has used three different starting linebacker combinations through the first four weeks.
     Week 1 starting linebackers Amani Jones, Kristian Welch, and Nick Niemann started for the first time in their careers in Iowa’s 33-7 win over Northern Illinois.
     Niemann started Week 2 alongside Jack Hockaday and Djimon Colbert in Iowa’s 13-3 win over Iowa State.
     Welch returned to the lineup in Week 3, starting alongside Niemann and Hockaday. The same trio started Week 4.
     Niemann is the only linebacker to start each game, but he suffered an injury in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin and is expected to miss 1-2 weeks.
     Hockaday (28) and Welch (26) lead the team in tackles.
     The 2018 season is the first in Kirk Ferentz’s 20 years that the Hawkeyes opened the season without a linebacker with a single career start.
      The five linebackers entered the season with a combined 40 career tackles, 832 fewer career tackles than Iowa’s three starting linebackers in 2017 (Josey Jewell 437; Bo Bower, 234; Ben Niemann, 201).
     The last time Ferentz had this little starting experience at the linebacker position was in 2014. That year, Quinton Alston, Bo Bower, and Reggie Spearman were Iowa’s starting linebackers in the season opener. Only Alston had a previous career start (2012 at Michigan).
     In Ferentz’s first season in 1999, the opening day starting linebackers — LeVar Woods, Aaron Kampman, and Derrick Davison had two career starts combined. Both starts belonged to Kampman, who started the final two games in 1998.
 
     FERENTZ BECOMES IOWA’S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH, MOVES UP BIG TEN CHARTS
     Head coach Kirk Ferentz (146-98) became Iowa’s all-time winningest coach on Sept. 1, 2018. The Hawkeyes defeated Northern Illinois, 33-7. It was Ferentz’s 144^th win as Iowa’s head coach, one more than his predecessor, Hayden Fry (143-89-6). Fry coach Iowa for 20 years (1979-98). Ferentz is in his 20^th season.
     Ferentz’s 146 wins in all games coached as a member of the Big Ten Conference rank fifth in league history. Iowa has at least eight wins in three straight seasons and owns a 31-13 mark since 2015.
     Ferentz has 86 Big Ten wins as Iowa’s head coach. The 86 conference wins rank sixth among the conference’s all-time winningest coaches in Big Ten games.
     Both Ferentz (146, 86) 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).
     Iowa is the only school in the country to have just two head football coaches since 1979.
 
     FERENTZ TOPS IN LONGEVITY
     Kirk Ferentz is in his 20th 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. Iowa is the only school to have just two head football coaches since 1979.
     Defensive coordinator Phil Parker and strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle are also in their 20^th seasons on Iowa’s staff. Defensive line coach Reese Morgan joined the staff in 1999 and is in his 19^th season. Quarterbacks coach Ken O’Keefe was on Ferentz’s original coaching staff before he left for the NFL following the 2011 season. He returned to Iowa in 2017 to coach Iowa’s quarterbacks.
     Ferentz is the only Division I coach to coach three sons. Brian Ferentz, a former Hawkeye letterman and captain (2003-05), is in his seventh season on Iowa’s coaching staff. James Ferentz was a three-year starter on the Hawkeye offensive line and a team captain before graduating in 2013. Steven was an offensive lineman and letterwinner in 2015 and 2016.

    TIGERHAWK ADDED TO WATER TOWER
    For the second time in as many years, a Tigerhawk has found a home at Kinnick Stadium. In June 2018, a Tigerhawk logo and block IOWA lettering were added to the water tower that sits outside the northeast corner of Kinnick Stadium.
The Tigerhawk faces southwest, overlooking Kinnick Stadium, and stretches 24 feet wide and measures 15 feet, 5.75 inches in height. The block IOWA lettering is on the northwest side of the water tower and measures 24 feet by 9 1/8 feet. The height of the water tower tank is 70 feet.
The images were added one year after a Tigerhawk logo was placed at midfield at Kinnick Stadium.
 
     FILLING HOLES IN TAKEAWAYS
     Iowa had one interception in its 33-7 win against Northern Illinois Week 1 (Amani Hooker) and one by Michael Ojemudia  in its 38-14 win against Northern Iowa in Week 3. The Hawkeyes led the nation with 21 interceptions in 2017. The Hawkeyes return nine of the 21 thefts, led by safeties Jake Gervase (3) and Hooker (2). Returners DE Parker Hesse, S Geno Stone, LB Kristian Welch, and DL Brady Reiff also recorded interceptions last season.  Iowa lost the nation’s leader in interceptions, Josh Jackson (8), and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Josey Jewell (2), to the NFL. Both players were consensus All-Americans.
     Iowa has at least one interception return for a touchdown in each of the last 10 seasons, and 15 of the last 17 seasons.
 
     IOWA LEADERSHIP GROUP
     The University of Iowa football program has 12 players among its 2018 Leadership Group. The group includes six seniors, five juniors, and one sophomore. The Leadership Group votes on the weekly game day captains, is involved in team decision-making throughout the season, and provides feedback to the head coach.  Players were selected by team vote.
     The group consists of seniors WR Nick Easley, DB Jake Gervase, DE Parker Hesse, LB Aaron Mends, DL Matt Nelson, and OL Keegan Renders, juniors DB Amani Hooker, LB Amani Jones, DL Anthony Nelson, FB Brady Ross, and QB Nate Stanley, and sophomore RB Toren Young.
 
     BACK ON CAMPUS
     Four former players are on the University of Iowa football staff in 2018. Brian Ferentz, a three-year letterman from 2003-05, is in his seventh year on staff, his second as offensive coordinator. 
     LeVar Woods, a three-year letterman from 1998-2000, enters his 11th year on the Iowa staff. Woods was named Special Teams Coordinator in 2017. He coached tight ends from 2015-17 and linebackers from 2012-14. He rejoined the program as an administrative assistant in 2008.
     Kelvin Bell joined the Iowa program as a defensive lineman in 2000, but had his career cut short due to injury. He returned to the program as a graduate assistant and served as director of on-campus recruiting from 2012-13, before being named recruiting coordinator and defensive assistant coach in February, 2016.
     Broderick Binns, a four-year letterman from 2008-11, was named director of player development in April, 2016. Binns previously served as a graduate assistant in 2014 and 2015, working with Hawkeye special teams.
 
     HAWKEYE LEGACIES
     Iowa has six players on its roster whose father played for the Hawkeyes: TE Drew Cook (Marv in 1985-88), DL A.J. Epenesa (Epenesa in 1997), WR Henry Marchese (John in 1985), DE Anthony Nelson and DE Nathan Nelson (Jeff in 1990-92), and QB Ryan Schmidt (Rick 1984-85).
     Iowa has four sets of the brothers on the team: DL Jack Kallenberger and OL Mark Kallenberger, DL Anthony Nelson and DL Nathan Nelson, OL Landan Paulsen and OL Levi Paulsen, and TE Ben Subbert and LS Jackson Subbert.
     Iowa has two players whose brothers played at Iowa: LB Nick Niemann (Ben in 2014-17) and DL Brady Reiff (Riley in 2008-11). Both older brothers are currently playing in the NFL.
     LS Austin Spiewak is the grandson of Gary Grouwinkel, who played for Iowa in the 1957 and 1959 Rose Bowl Games.
     OL Trey Winters is the son of James Winters, a former All-Big Ten basketball player who led the Hawkeyes in scoring in 1994.
     LB Dillon Doyle is the son of head strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle.
 
     SEEING DOUBLE
     Junior offensive linemen Landan and Levi Paulsen are the sixth set of twins to play football at the University of Iowa. The offensive linemen from Woodbury High School in Northwest Iowa join the company of Leo and Lloyd Jensvold (1929-30), Harold and Herbert Shoener (1946-47), Kent and Kevin Ellis (1977-80), Aaron and Evan Kooiker (1992), and Shane and Shaun Prater (2008).
     The last brothers to start in the same game for the Hawkeyes were James and LeShun Daniels. James was Iowa’s starting center in the 2016 season opener against Miami (Ohio), and LeShun was Iowa’s starting running back.
     The last twins to start for the Hawkeyes were SS Kent Ellis and CB Kevin Ellis in 1980.
 
      HAWK TALK WITH KIRK FERENTZ
Head 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.