Game Preview: Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series vs. Iowa State

• The Hawkeyes have won seven of the last eight and eight of the last 10 meetings over Iowa State dating back to 2013. Last season’s win in Ames was Kirk Ferentz’s 200th career victory.
• Iowa is ranked No. 25 in the preseason Associated Press and Coaches polls. Iowa has been ranked in the preseason poll in five consecutive seasons, matching the best streak in program history (1957-61).
• Saturday’s game is the first home contest televised by CBS since Iowa’s 12-10 victory over Michigan in 1985.
• The Hawkeyes piled up 492 yards of total offense under first-year OC Tim Lester against Illinois State — the most by a Hawkeye OC in his debut dating back to 1979. It was the program’s highest offensive production since 2019 and the most in a season opener since 2002.
• Iowa is currently 40th nationally in total offense (492) and 50th in scoring offense (40.0).
• The Hawkeye defense allowed just 189 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers to pitch its first season-opening shutout since 2005. Iowa has eight shutouts since 2018, second most in the FBS in that span (Georgia, 9).
• Senior QB Cade McNamara completed 21-of-31 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns against the Redbirds. He was 13-of-14 for 177 yards with 3 TDs in the second half. The 251 passing yards are the most by a Hawkeye QB since 2021. McNamara is 63 passing yards shy of eclipsing 4,000 yards in his collegiate career.
• All three of McNamara’s TD passes went to newcomer wide receivers — Reece Vander Zee (2) and Jacob Gill (1). The unit had three combined TD passes for the entire 2023 season.
• Junior RB Kaleb Johnson notched his fifth career 100-yard game, rushing for 119 yards on 11 carries (10.82 average) with two touchdowns (64 and 18 yards). The 64-yard score was the third-longest rush of his career.
• Freshman WR Reece Vander Zee had five receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns in his first career game. He is currently first in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in receiving touchdowns.
• It’s all about the tight ends. Iowa’s tight end room combined for 10 catches for 119 yards against Illinois State, including a team-best six catches for 63 yards by senior Luke Lachey.
• Iowa forced 15 turnovers in ’23… the Hawkeyes had three turnovers — two fumble recoveries and a Jermari Harris interception — in the season-opening win over Illinois State.
• Junior DL Aaron Graves had three of Iowa’s four sacks in the season opener. The sack total was a career best and is leading the nation.
• Head coach Kirk Ferentz has 197 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).
• LBs Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins are 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 460 career tackles, while Higgins is ninth with 229.
• The Hawkeyes are 158-8-1 when allowing 10 points or less since 1970 and 391-59-19 when allowing 10 points or less all-time.
• Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 72-2 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 229 interceptions — tied for the third-most in the nation. The team’s 34 interception returns for a touchdown are the fourth-most in the nation in that span.

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday’s game will mark the 71st meeting in the series. Iowa holds a 47-23 advantage in the series that began with a 16-8 ISU win in 1894. Iowa has won seven of the last eight meetings.
• The Hawkeyes are 2-2 against Iowa State in their last four meetings in Kinnick. Iowa is 25-14 all-time against the Cyclones in Iowa City.
• Ten of the last 12 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including the last six dating back to 2017.
• Head coach Kirk Ferentz is 14-10 all-time against Iowa State, including winning 11 of the last 15 meetings, dating back to the 2008 season.
• The teams did not meet between 1935-1976, or 2020. The teams played 43 straight seasons from 1977-2019 before the Big Ten announced in 2020 that it would not play nonconference games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa held a 29-14 advantage in the series from 1977-2019.

SERIES RESULTS

10/01/1894 L 8-16 (H)
10/26/1895 L 0-24 (H)
10/05/1897 L 0-6 (H)
10/28/1899 W 5-0 (H)
10/18/1901 W 12-0 (H)
11/01/1902 W 12-6 (H)
10/29/1904 W 10-6 (H)
11/24/1905 W 8-0 (A)
11/23/1906 L 0-2 (H)
11/24/1907 L 14-20 (A)
11/13/1909 W 16-0 (H)
11/05/1910 W 2-0 (A)
11/18/1911 L 0-9 (H)
11/16/1912 W 20-7 (A)
11/15/1913 W 45-7 (H)
11/14/1914 W 26-6 (A)
11/13/1915 L 0-16 (H)
11/18/1916 W 19-16 (A)
11/24/1917 W 6-3 (H)
11/09/1918 W 21-0 (H)
11/22/1919 W 10-0 (H)
11/20/1920 W 14-10 (A)
11/04/1933 W 27-7 (H)
10/20/1934 L 6-31 (A)
9/17/1977 W 12-10 (H)
9/23/1978 L 0-31 (#20) (H)
9/29/1979 W 30-14 (H)
9/27/1980 L 7-10 (H)
9/19/1981 L 12-23 (A)
9/18/1982 L 7-19 (H)
9/10/1983 W 51-10 (A)
9/08/1984 W 59-21 (H)
9/28/1985 W 57-3 (A)
9/13/1986 W 43-7 (H)
9/19/1987 W 48-9 (A)
9/24/1988 W 10-3 (H)
9/23/1989 W 31-21 (A)
9/22/1990 W 45-35 (H)
9/14/1991 W 29-10 (A)
9/12/1992 W 21-7 (H)
9/11/1993 W 31-28 (A)
9/10/1994 W 37-9 (H)
9/16/1995 W 27-10 (A)
9/14/1996 W 38-13 (H)
9/20/1997 W 63-20 (A)
9/12/1998 L 9-27 (H)
9/11/1999 L 10-17 (A)
9/16/2000 L 14-24 (H)
11/24/2001 L 14-17 (A)
9/14/2002 L 31-36 (H)
9/13/2003 W 40-21 (A)
9/11/2004 W 17-10 (H)
9/10/2005 L 3-23 (A)
9/16/2006 W 27-17 (H)
9/15/2007 L 13-15 (A)
9/13/2008 W 17-5 (H)
9/12/2009 W 35-3 (A)
9/11/2010 W 35-7 (H)
9/10/2011 L 41-44 (3OT) (A)
9/08/2012 L 6-9 (H)
9/14/2013 W 27-21 (A)
9/13/2014 L 17-20 (H)
9/12/2015 W 31-17 (A)
9/10/2016 W 42-3 (H)
9/09/2017 W 44-41 (OT) (A)
9/08/2018 W 13-3 (H)
9/14/2019 W 18-17 (A)
9/11/2021 W 27-17 (#9) (A)
9/10/2022 L 7-10 (H)
9/9/2023 W 20-13 (A)