Game Preview: Illinois State

• Iowa returns 19 starters — nine on offense, eight on defense, two on special teams — which are the most in the Big Ten.
• Head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Jon Budmayr will not coach Saturday’s game Illinois State due to a school-imposed one game suspension for a past recruiting violoation. It is the first Hawkeye game not coached by Hayden Fry or Kirk Ferentz since Nov. 25, 1978, at Michigan State.
• Assistant head coach Seth Wallace will be the acting head coach for Saturday’s game.
• Iowa has been ranked in the top six in the nation in scoring defense in four of the last five seasons and in the top 10 in total defense in four of the last six seasons. The unit led the country in fewest yards per play allowed in 2022 (3.99) and 2023 (4.08).
• Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 20 points per game in eight consecutive seasons — the longest active streak in the nation.
• During the College Football Playoff era, Iowa has won 88 games – the 12th-most among Power Five Conference teams. The 88 victories are tied for the fourth-most among Big Ten teams (Ohio State, 115; Michigan, 95; Wisconsin, 90; Penn State, 88).
• The Hawkeyes are one of nine FBS programs with a streak of 10+ years of reaching bowl eligibility – Georgia (27), Oklahoma (25), Wisconsin (22), Alabama (20), Clemson (19), Oklahoma State (18), Iowa (11), Ohio State (11), Memphis (10).
• Head coach Kirk Ferentz has 196 career wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference – third most all-time. He trails only Woody Hayes (205) and Amos Alonzo Stagg (199).
• Iowa is one of 10 FBS programs to have posted 10 straight winning seasons (Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Georgia, Iowa, Memphis, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Utah and Wisconsin).
• Only five programs nationally have posted top 10 defenses for three consecutive seasons — Alabama, Clemson, Iowa, Penn State and Georgia — and only eight programs have posted top 25 defenses in five straight seasons (Alabama, Clemson, Iowa, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M and Georgia).
• LBs Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins both enter the 2024 season as two of the active leaders in career tackles among Power 5 teams and the pair is being tabbed as the best linebacker duo in college football. Jackson has an NCAA-best 455 career tackles, while Higgins is ninth with 222.
• Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards in 28 consecutive games — the longest active streak nationally. The unit has allowed 14 or fewer points in 19 of their last 27 games and it has held nine teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.
• The Hawkeyes are 157-8-1 when allowing 10 points or less since 1970 and 390-59-19 when allowing 10 points or less all-time.
• Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 71-2 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.
• Iowa has sold out Kinnick Stadium prior to the start of the season for a second straight season.
• Since 2009, Iowa has 234 interceptions — the most in the nation. The team’s 34 interception returns for a touchdown are tied for the fourth-most in the nation in that span.

SERIES HISTORY

• It will be the second game in the all-time series between Iowa and Illinois State. The Hawkeyes defeated the Redbirds, 31-14, during the 2015 season in Kinnick Stadium.
•  It is Iowa’s first game against an FCS opponent since hosting South Dakota State in the 2022 season opener.

SERIES RESULTS

9/2/15 – W – 31-14 (H)