WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana – The University of Iowa football team defeated Purdue on Saturday afternoon, 24-3, at Ross-Ade Stadium.

The Hawkeyes outgained the Boilermakers in total offense, 376-255, with 192 yards coming in the air and 184 on the ground.

Senior Spencer Petras was 13-for-23 throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Sam LaPorta led the team with three receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown while senior Nico Ragaini had three receptions for 56 yards and a score.

Freshman Kaleb Johnson had 200 yards on 22 carries and a score. The 200 yards are the second-most by a Hawkeye freshman all-time (Marcus Coker, 219 vs. Missouri, Insight Bowl).

Defensively senior Jack Campbell had six tackles (four solo) and junior Quinn Schulte had six tackles (five solo) to lead the defense. Seniors Seth Benson and Kaevon Merriweather each had an interception.

PHOTOS

QUOTING COACH FERENTZ

“Fun day for us, really happy for our players. Important win for our team. Really happy for our staff and entire group of players. Did a great job getting ready, just happy with the outcome needless to say. Said last week thought that was the best we played, today I think we took another step forward. Happy about that. Our goal remains to get a little bit better each and every week. Coming into the game I thought the guys were really focused. Anytime we go on the road it is a little different from being at home, so I thought our guys had great focus, thought they played tough competed and really played with great energy for the entire sixty minutes.

Happy that we were able to control the game in basically all three phases. Offensively, got off to a little bit of a bumpy start initially but guys came through. Had good run pass balance, which is best for us obviously. Thought Spencer did a really good job distributing the ball around, and good to see some runs after catch too that always helps. Some good passes, both tight ends, Nico, and then to make yardage after catching the ball is a good thing. Happy about that.

Defensively, can’t say enough. Really good game for our guys defensively against a really explosive dangerous offensive football team. Our guys were wired in pretty good. Come up with a couple turnovers, that was big. Gave up one big play. To hold anybody to a field goal that is a good days work.

On special teams, think about the conditions you worry about every phase. Really start with one of the best things is we did nothing to really hurt ourselves. That is a starting point and then we did some good things on top of that. Good to see, and just overall a good team win for us. Very positive step, and for us to have a 19-day season with three to go, our focus stays the same, want our guys to enjoy this one, look at it on tape tomorrow and then come back to work and see if we can’t keep improving. Happy with the growth and the outcome of the game.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scoreless first quarter the Hawkeyes finished a nine play, 91-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown reception from LaPorta. Petras was 4-of-4 for 81 yards on the drive.

• After a Kaevon Merriweather interception, the Hawkeyes used 0:38 to run three plays for 51 yards including a score on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Petras to Ragaini.

• After a Benson interception with Purdue threatening the Hawkeyes drove down the field covering 77 yards over 10 plays to set up a 26-yard field goal from Drew Stevens with 6:11 left in the first half.
• Purdue got on the board with 1:40 left in the first half on a 34-yard field goal from Mitchell Fineran to cap an 11 play, 53-yard drive.
• On the second play of the second half Johnson broke open a 75-yard run for the Hawkeye score.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• RB Kaleb Johnson had his first career 200-yard game (second career 100-yard game), finishing with 200 yards on 22 attempts with one touchdown – his fourth of the season. The yardage and attempts were both career highs.
  • The 200 rushing yards are the 18th-most in a single game in program history and the second-most by a Hawkeye freshman all-time (Marcus Coker, 219 vs. Missouri, Insight Bowl).
  • Johnson is the first Hawkeye freshman since Coker in 2010 to have two 100-yard rushing games (129 vs. Indiana; 219 vs. Missouri).
  • Johnson had a career-long 75-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half. It is Iowa’s longest rush since Tyler Goodson’s 80-yard touchdown run against Wisconsin in 2020.
  • Johnson also had a career-best two receptions for 17 yards.
• QB Spencer Petras completed 13-of-23 passes for 192 yards and a season-high two touchdowns. It was his sixth career game with two or more touchdown passes.
• TE Sam LaPorta had a 16-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter – his first TD reception of the season and fifth of his career – to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead.  LaPorta had 71 yards receiving (on three receptions) during Iowa’s nine-play, 91-yard scoring drive.
• WR Nico Ragaini had a 29-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to give Iowa a 14-0 lead. It was his first touchdown of the season and fifth receiving touchdown of his career. He finished with three receptions for 56 yards.
• DB Kaevon Merriweather had his third interception of the season (and second in as many games) in the second quarter. It was Merriweather’s fourth career pick.  He also had four tackles in the game.
• LB Seth Benson had his first interception of the season (second of his career) in the second quarter.
• K Drew Stevens was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts with a make from 26 yards. He is 12-of-14 this season with the 12 makes being the most by a Hawkeye freshman since Mike Meyer in 2010 (14).
• P Tory Taylor had a career-long 70-yard punt in the fourth quarter. Taylor had eight punts for 414 yards (51.8 avg.) in the game.  Three punts were downed inside the 20 and five went 50+ yards.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Iowa’s 91-yard (nine-play) scoring drive spanning the first and second quarters was a season long.
• Iowa had a season-high 184 rushing yards – the most since the regular season finale at Nebraska in 2021.
• The Hawkeyes had their ninth and 10th interceptions of the season in the second quarter. Iowa turned the turnovers into 10 points, giving them a 41-27 advantage in points off turnovers this season.
  • It is Iowa’s third game this season with two interceptions in 2022.
• Iowa’s defense held Purdue to season lows in points (3) and total yards (255), 189.6 below its season average (444.6).
  • The Boilermakers finished 2-of-16 on third down.
  • The Hawkeyes held Purdue QB Aidan O’Connell to a season-low 168 yards passing (20-of-43). He completed 46.5 percent of his attempts – a season low and it was the first time he didn’t hit the 50 percent mark this season.
• The Hawkeyes have held seven of their nine opponents to 13 or fewer points, five at 10 or fewer points and three at three or fewer points.
• The Hawkeyes did not commit a turnover for the fifth game this season. Iowa is 4-1 when it doesn’t commit a turnover.
• Iowa won the toss and elected to defer; Purdue chose to receive. The Hawkeyes have played 297 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 218 times (139-79). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 79 times (44-35).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action Nov. 12, hosting Wisconsin inside Kinnick Stadium. The game time has yet to be announced.