| OPPONENT | Iowa at Northwestern |
| DATE | Saturday, Nov. 4 |
| LOCATION | Chicago, Ill. | Wrigley Field (41,649) |
| KICKOFF | 2:30 p.m. (CT) |
| TELEVISION | NBC/Peacock |
| RADIO | Hawkeye Radio Network |
First and 10
- Iowa will face Northwestern at Wrigley Field on Saturday in Chicago. The last time the Hawkeyes played a Big Ten foe in a baseball stadium was on Nov. 24, 1904, in a Thanksgiving game with Minnesota at Athletic Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Gophers won, 11-0. The last time Iowa played in a baseball stadium was the 2017 Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium – a 27-20 win over Boston College.
- The Hawkeyes are 8-11 coming off a bye week under Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has played 13 road games coming off a bye week under Ferentz, including twice at Northwestern (losses in 2017 and 2005). Iowa is 6-6 following a bye week since 2010.
- Head coach Kirk Ferentz is one of 20 coaches named to the 2023 Dodd Trophy Midseason Watch List. Ferentz was the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2015.
- Iowa has five players who have seen action in four or more games this season from the Chicago area on the roster – RB Leshon Williams, WR Kaleb Brown, DB Jermari Harris, DB Sebastian Castro and DL Jeremiah Pittman.
- Four Hawkeyes — Cooper DeJean, Tory Taylor, Jay Higgins and Sebastian Castro — were selected as midseason All-Americans by various outlets. DeJean, Taylor and Higgins were first team honorees.
- LBs Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson were named to the midseason watch list for the 2023 Rotary Lombardi Award.
- Tory Taylor was named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week on Oct. 24. The Australian has been named to the Ray’s 8 five times and he has twice been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week in 2023.
- Iowa is bowl eligible for the 22nd time in the last 23 seasons under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
By the Numbers
47
RB Leshon Williams enters Saturday’s game just 47 yards shy of reaching the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
5
Iowa has five players who have seen action in four or more games this season from the Chicago area on the roster – RB Leshon Williams, WR Kaleb Brown, DB Jermari Harris, DB Sebastian Castro and DL Jeremiah Pittman.
1
Iowa’s rushing defense has allowed just one touchdown on the ground in 2023, which is tied for the national lead.
6
The Hawkeye defense ranks sixth nationally, surrendering 14.5 points per game. Iowa has held its last two opponents without a touchdown and it limited Wisconsin to just six points -- a season low.
101
Higgins leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally (the most by a Power 5 player) with 12.6 tackles per game. He has 101 tackles for the season.
22.0
Sixth-year DL Joe Evans is tied for ninth place on Iowa’s career sacks list with 22.0 career sacks.
ROCK STAR TORY
• Senior punter Tory Taylor was named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week on Oct. 24 after punting nine times for 444 yards, averaging 49.3 yards, against Minnesota. Four of his kicks traveled over 50 yards and four were downed inside the 20. Taylor has also been named to the Ray’s 8 list five times in 2023.
• Taylor was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 9 after punting six times for 284 yards (47.3 average) in Iowa’s 20-14 win over Purdue. Two of his six punts went over 50 yards (61 and 57) and two were downed inside the 20-yard line.
• Taylor earned his second straight weekly honor on Oct. 14 after putting on a punting display in the road win at Wisconsin. He had a career-high 506 combined punting yards (50.6 average) with half of his 10 punts going over 50 yards (two 60+) and six punts were downed inside the 20.
• Taylor has five career Big Ten weekly honors (2021 at Iowa State; 2022 vs. South Dakota State; 2022 at Rutgers, 2023 vs. Purdue; 2023 at Wisconsin). He is a midseason first-team All-American by the AP, ESPN, Sporting News, CBS, The Athletic and FOX.
Wildcats vs. Hawkeyes
SERIES HISTORY
• Iowa holds a 53-28-3 advantage in the series that began with a 12-6 Iowa victory in 1897. The Hawkeyes are 26-16-3 all-time in road games against Northwestern.
• Iowa won 21 consecutive games over Northwestern prior to a 31-20 Wildcat win in 1995 in Evanston. The Wildcats hold a 14-12 advantage since snapping that Hawkeye winning streak.
• Iowa has won the last two and three of the last four meetings in the series, including two straight in Evanston — 20-0 in 2019 and 17-12 in 2021.
• Five of the last seven meetings have been decided by one touchdown or less.
SERIES RESULTS
10/16/1897 W 12-6 (A)
11/23/1900 T 5-5 (A)
10/8/1910 L 5-10 (A)
11/25/1911 W 6-0 (H)
10/29/1913 W 78-6 (A)
11/7/1914 W 27-0 (A)
10/16/1915 W 9-6 (H)
11/11/1916 L 13-20 (A)
11/17/1917 L 14-25 (A)
11/16/1918 W 23-7 (H)
11/8/1919 W 14-7 (A)
11/6/1920 W 20-0 (H)
11/19/1921 W 14-0 (A)
11/25/1922 W 37-3 (H)
11/24/1923 W 17-14 (A)
11/20/1926 L 6-13 (H)
11/29/1927 L 0-12 (A)
11/21/1931 L 0-19 (H)
11/19/1932 L 6-44 (A)
10/7/1933 W 7-0 (A)
10/6/1934 W 20-7 (A)
11/23/1935 T 0-0 (A)
10/3/1936 L 7-18 (A)
11/25/1939 T 7-7 (A)
10/22/1949 W 28-21 (#13) (H)
11/15/1952 W 39-14 (A)
10/26/1957 W 6-0 (A)
10/25/1958 W 26-20 (H)
10/3/1959 L 10-14 (#2) (H)
10/1/1960 W 42-0 (#6) (A)
10/23/1965 L 0-9 (A)
10/22/1966 L 15-24 (H)
11/11/1967 L 24-39 (A)
11/9/1968 W 68-34 (H)
10/9/1971 L 3-28 (H)
10/14/1972 W 23-12 (A)
10/13/1973 L 15-31 (A)
10/12/1974 W 35-10 (H)
11/1/1975 W 24-21 (A)
10/30/1976 W 13-10 (H)
9/10/1977 W 24-0 (H)
9/16/1978 W 20-3 (H)
10/13/1979 W 58-6 (A)
10/18/1980 W 25-3 (H)
10/3/1981 W 64-0 (A)
10/2/1982 W 45-7 (H)
10/8/1983 W 61-21 (H)
10/6/1984 W 31-3 (A)
10/26/1985 W 49-10 (A)
10/25/1986 W 27-20 (H)
11/7/1987 W 52-24 (A)
11/5/1988 W 35-10 (H)
10/28/1989 W 35-22 (A)
10/27/1990 W 56-14 (H)
11/16/1991 W 24-10 (A)
11/14/1992 W 56-14 (H)
11/13/1993 W 23-19 (A)
11/12/1994 W 49-13 (H)
11/11/1995 L 20-31 (#14) (A)
11/9/1996 L 13-40 (#18) (H)
11/15/1997 L 14-15 (A)
10/10/1998 W 26-24 (H)
10/16/1999 L 21-23 (A)
11/11/2000 W 27-17 (#12) (H)
11/10/2001 W 59-16 (A)
11/9/2002 W 62-10 (H)
11/5/2005 L 27-28 (A)
11/4/2006 L 7-21 (H)
11/3/2007 W 28-17 (A)
9/27/2008 L 17-22 (H)
11/7/2009 L 10-17 (H)
11/13/2010 L 17-21 (A)
10/15/2011 W 41-31 (H)
10/27/2012 L 17-28 (A)
10/26/2013 W 17-10 (OT) (H)
11/1/2014 W 48-7 (H)
10/17/2015 W 40-10 (#20) (A)
10/1/2016 L 31-38 (H)
10/21/2017 L 10-17 (OT) (A)
11/10/2018 L 10-14 (H)
10/26/2019 W 20-0 (A)
10/31/2020 L 20-21 (H)
11/6/2021 W 17-12 (A)
10/29/2022 W 33-12 (H)
IOWA’S DEFENSE…
• hasn’t allowed a touchdown in their last eight quarters.
• has given up one touchdown or less in six of eight games this season. The unit has allowed one touchdown or less in 15 of the last 21 contests and has held eight teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.
• allowed a season-low six points in the road win at Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes shut out the Badgers in the first half and it marked just the fourth time in the last 20 years for Wisconsin to be shutout in the first half at home.
• has allowed one rushing touchdown in eight games, which is tied for the national lead. (Iowa is one of two teams to have allowed one rushing touchdown this season (UCLA).
• is sixth nationally in scoring defense, surrendering 14.5 points per game.
• is 11th in the nation in red zone defense (.700) and fourth in passing efficiency defense (101.16).
• has allowed just 12 “explosive plays” (plays of 20+ yards) in eight games this season (two rushing, 10 passing).
