| OPPONENT | IOWA vs. Northwestern (Kinnick Stadium) |
| DATE | Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020 |
| KICKOFF | 2:30 p.m. (CT) |
| TELEVISION | ESPN |
| RADIO | HAWKEYE RADIO NETWORK |
1st and 10
1: Kirk Ferentz’s 162 wins in all games coached as a member of the Big Ten Conference tie Joe Paterno for fifth all-time in league history. Ferentz is one of five coaches in Big Ten Conference history to win at least 150 games as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The top five includes Woody Hayes (202), Amos Alonzo Stagg (199), Bo Schembechler (194), Joe Paterno (162), and Ferentz (162).
2: Iowa has won six straight home openers.
3: QB Spencer Petras is making his first career start at Kinnick Stadium. He threw for 265 yards Week 1 at Purdue, the most by a Hawkeye quarterback in making his first career start since Jon Beutjer in 2000 (380 yards).
4: Iowa returns its top seven pass catchers from 2019. That group accounted for 19 of Iowa’s 22 receptions in the season opener. LaPorta and Goodson tied for the team lead with five receptions. The five receptions tied Goodson’s career high. LaPorta’s 71 yards receiving were a team and career-high.
5: 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.
6: WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette returns as the top kickoff returner in Big Ten history. Smith-Marsette averages 29.4 yards on 48 career kickoff returns, the best in school and Big Ten history. He has 2,917 all-purpose yards, 17th all-time. He needs 83 all-purpose yards to become the 15th player in program history to reach 3,000 all-purpose yards.
7: RB Tyler Goodson made his fifth straight start in Week 1. He finished with team highs in carries (16) and rushing yards (77). He also tied to for the team lead with five receptions, matching his career high.
8: K Keith Duncan is Iowa’s all-time career leader in field goal percentage (85.1). He has made 40-of-47 career field goal attempts. He is 19-of-19 in his career inside 30 yards, and has made 38 consecutive PATs and seven consecutive field goals.
9: Iowa had two interceptions in the season opener and has 55 interceptions since 2017, tied for the most in the country over the last three-plus years (Florida Atlantic 55, Louisiana Tech 55, Clemson 54, Alabama 53).
10: Junior DT Daviyon Nixon tied his career high with seven tackles and senior LB Barrington Wade set a career best with five tackles Week 1 at Purdue. Both players were making their second career starts. Wade added his first career sack (nine yards) and first career interception (16 yards). Nixon added a half-sack (five yards) and 2.5 tackles-for-loss (nine yards).
PETRAS THROWS FOR 265 YARDS IN FIRST CAREER START
QB Spencer Petras threw for 265 yards Week 1, the most by a Hawkeye quarterback in making his first career start since Jon Beutjer in 2000 (380 yards). Petras was the fifth Hawkeye quarterback under Ferentz to make his first career start on opening day. He led the Iowa offense to 460 total yards, its highest total in a Big Ten game since 2018 against Indiana (479).
Petras entered the season with 11 career pass attempts. He was 0-1 as a true freshman in 2018, and 6-10 for 25 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He has no career touchdowns or interceptions in three career games played. He has two career rushing touchdowns (1, 1).
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.
NEW DRIVER, EXPERIENCED WHEELS
Iowa returns its top seven pass catchers from 2019, including wide receivers Nico Ragaini, Brandon Smith, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, and Tyrone Tracy; running backs Tyler Goodson and Mekhi Sargent; and tight end Sam LaPorta. The group combined for 216 receptions, 2,681 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Those numbers include 89 percent of last year’s total receptions, 90 percent of last year’s receiving yards, and 94 percent of last year’s receiving touchdowns.
That group accounted for 19 of Iowa’s 22 receptions in the season opener. LaPorta and Goodson tied for the team lead with five receptions. The five receptions tied Goodson’s career high. LaPorta’s 71 yards receiving were a team and career-high.
RETURN TO SENDER
Senior WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette returns as the top kickoff returner in Big Ten history. Smith-Marsette averages 29.4 yards on 48 career kickoff returns, the best in school and Big Ten history. Smith-Marsette has 1,409 kickoff return yards, third all-time in program history (Douthitt 1,762; Johnson-Koulianos 1,575; Hill 1,509; King 1,458).
In 2019, Smith-Marsette became the first player in school history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same season. He did it in consecutive games to end the season. He had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Nebraska, tying for the 10th longest in school history, and a 98-yard return against USC at the Holiday Bowl, the seventh longest in school history, an Iowa bowl record, and tying a Holiday Bowl record.
Smith-Marsette is Iowa’s top returner in receiving yards (722) and all-purpose yards (1,333), and ranked second on the team in receptions (44). He had a team-high 10 touchdowns; five receiving, three rushing, and two kickoff returns. He set a career high with 121 receiving yards in Week 11, his second career 100-yard receiving game (Rutgers, 113).
Smith-Marsette has 1,270 career receiving yards, 30th all-time in program history. He has 2,917 all-purpose yards, 17th all-time. He needs 83 all-purpose yards to become the 15th player in program history to reach 3,000 all-purpose yards.
Smith-Marsette scored three touchdowns at the 2019 Holiday Bowl (all in the first half), tying Shonn Greene’s Iowa bowl record. He is the second Hawkeye in program history to score a touchdown via rush, reception, and kickoff return, in a single game (George Rice, vs. Purdue in 1951). He is the first college player since 1998 (Deuce McAllister, Independence Bowl) to score a touchdown via rush, reception, kickoff return in a bowl game.
GOODSON LEADS GROUND GAME
RB Tyler Goodson made his fifth straight start in Week 1. He finished with team-highs in carries (16) and rushing yards (77). He also tied to for the team lead with five receptions, matching his career high.
Goodson started the final four games of 2020 and became the first true freshman in program history to lead the team in single-season rushing yards (638). The last redshirt freshman to lead Iowa in single-season rushing yards was Ladell Betts in 1998 (679 yards). Goodson led the team with five rushing touchdowns, and had 24 receptions for 166 yards. His 158 combined touches led the team.
In Iowa’s 23-19 win against #7 Minnesota in Week 10, Goodson became the first true freshman to start at running back under Ferentz since 2012 (Greg Garmon).
DUNCAN GETTING HIS KICKS
Senior K Keith Duncan is Iowa’s all-time career leader in field goal percentage (85.1). He has made 40-of-47 career field goal attempts. He is 19-of-19 in his career inside 30 yards, and has made 38 consecutive PATs and seven consecutive field goals.
Duncan led the country with a Big Ten single-season record 29 field goals made in 2019, and was a consensus first-team All-American, the 26th in program history. Duncan was named the Bakken-Anderson Kicker of the Year in the Big Ten Conference in 2019, and was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award.
Duncan has two game-winning field goals in his career. He kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired to defeat No. 2 Michigan, 14-13, at home in 2016. He connected on a 48-yard attempt to give Iowa a 27-24 lead with one second left at Nebraska in 2019.
NIXON, WADE RESPOND TO STARTING ROLE
Junior DT Daviyon Nixon tied his career high with seven tackles and senior LB Barrington Wade set a career best with five tackles Week 1 at Purdue. Both players were making their second career starts. Wade added his first career sack (nine yards) and first career interception (16 yards). Nixon added a half-sack (five yards) and 2.5 tackles-for-loss (nine yards).
Senior Chauncey Golston is the lone returning frontline starter on a defense that ranked in the top 20 in scoring, rushing, passing, and total defense in 2019. Iowa was fifth in the country in scoring defense (14.0 ppg), 12th in total defense (308.2 ypg), 14th in rushing defense (112.5), and 19th in passing defense (195.7 ypg). The Hawkeyes held seven-of-13 opponents to their season-low point total. Golston is the lone returner among the front four. He led the Big Ten and ranked sixth in the nation with three fumble recoveries last season.
Iowa’s scoring defense (14.0) was the second lowest total of the Ferentz era (13.0 in 2008). The Hawkeyes allowed just 16.6 first downs per game, 12th fewest in the country and third in the Big Ten, and just 21 touchdowns, third fewest in the country (San Diego State 19, Georgia 20).
GOING THE OTHER WAY
Iowa has 55 interceptions since 2017, tied for the most in the country over the last three-plus years (Florida Atlantic 55, Louisiana Tech 55, Clemson 54, Alabama 53).
The Hawkeyes intercepted two passes in the season opener. LB Barrington Wade recorded the first of his career, and CB Matt Hankins recorded his third.
Iowa intercepted at least one pass in the final seven games of the 2019 season, including a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by LB Ben Niemann at the 2019 Holiday Bowl. Niemann’s interception was the first of his career, Iowa’s final score of the season, and extended the Hawkeyes’ streak with a pick-six to 12 consecutive seasons. Iowa has had at least one interception returned for a touchdown in 17 of the last 19 seasons.
The Iowa secondary returns two starters from 2019 in cornerback Matt Hankins and safety Jack Koerner. In addition, Dane Belton started four games at the “cash” position last year as a true freshman. He is expected to split time between “cash” and safety to start the season.
