IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa football team defeated Troy, 38-21, on Saturday afternoon on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes out rushed the Trojans 284 to 24, and outgained them 462 to 253.

Kaleb Johnson led the way with 173 yards rushing on 25 attempts and two touchdowns. Jaziun Patterson added 72 yards on eight attempts with a score.

“All credit to my O-Line,” said Johnson. “They played their tails off today. Those dudes are putting in work. They are cognizant of doing everything right. They care about the little things and I do too.”

Cade McNamara was 19-for-23 passing for 176 yards, and Brendan Sullivan was 1-for-1 with a two-yard touchdown pass.

“I think overall, I am just really happy about how we responded,” said McNamara. “We put up a lot of yards in the first half, the scoreboard just wasn’t reflecting it. Our ability to continue to respond has been a really good sign, and it will help lead to success down the road.”

10 different Hawkeye receivers caught a pass in the contest. Jacob Gill led the way with 44 yards on five receptions and Addison Ostrenga pulled in a touchdown reception.

Jay Higgins led Iowa defensively with seven tackles (two solo) and Sebastian Castro had five tackles (three solo). The Hawkeye defense recorded seven tackles for losses with Ethan Hurkett tallying two sacks and Brian Allen recording one. Allen had 2.5 tackles for losses and Yahya Black had 1.5.

Jermari Harris had two pass breakups and an interception returned for a touchdown.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

“Good to see everybody. Jut start off by saying it feels really good to get a win. You guys were all there. It was really hard-fought. Credit to Troy. They came in here to win, certain about that. They have a good staff, a good group of players that played really hard. So give them a lot of credit.

We played hard. Not the biggest story, we played a lot better in the second half. Left the door open a lot in the first half. That was a little bit of a challenge.

The positives of note, we played good football, no penalties, no turnovers. Did have the one loose ball on that one punt return. Overall, it’s a good sign. It was good to get the win.

I thought the team responded in the second half, had a little better focus in that second half. We’re going to enjoy this one, but obviously there’s a lot to work to do.

I’ve talked to the team about this. I heard it on the radio Tuesday or Wednesday coming in, a couple people were bandying back and forth on the NFL Network, critiquing a lot of teams in the league, trying to give a prognostication for the season. Got out of the car, I’m thinking to myself, These guys have played one game, right? I know that’s a national pastime.

I know this, for us it’s a path of development. There’s going to be ups and downs. Certainly you like to get out of your downs without getting scathed too bad. Anyway, it’s just going to be a week-to-week process for us.

Saw a lot of good things out there today, some things really encouraging. There’s some things that we’re really going to learn from tomorrow when we look at this tape, hopefully do a better job as we move forward.”

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Iowa got on the board with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter as Kaleb Johnson punched it in from four yards out. The score capped a seven play 56-yard drive that took up 2:51.
• A 63-yard passing touchdown evened the game up for Troy on its next drive. Devonte Ross scored to end a four play 75-yard drive.
• On Iowa’s next possession Drew Stevens connected on a field goal from 42 yards out to end a six play 51-yard scoring drive.
• A 77-yard punt return for Devonte Ross gave Troy the lead with one minute remaining in the first half.
• Brendan Sullivan connected with Addison Ostrenga for a two-yard touchdown pass. The score with 6:44 left in the third quarter gave the Hawkeyes the lead and capped an eight play 70-yard drive that eclipsed 4:30.
• A Jermari Harris 28-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed the Hawkeyes’ lead to 10 with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
• Troy responded on its next possession as Devonte Ross pulled in his third touchdown of the day, a 62-yard reception to cap a three play 75-yard drive.
• Kaleb Johnson found the end zone from 33-yards out with 12:05 remaining in the game. It ended an eight play 75-yard drive that took 3:53.
• Jaziun Paterson matched it on Iowa’s next drive with a 39-yard touchdown rush of his own with 6:01 remaining in the game. The six-play drive eclipsed 71 yards and 3:15.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Junior Kaleb Johnson recorded his third straight and seventh career 100-yard game, finishing with 173 yards on 25 attempts with two touchdowns.
  • He rushed for 100 yards in the first half for a second straight game and for the third time in his career.
  • Johnson is the first Hawkeye running back since Jordan Canzeri in 2015 to rush for 100+ yards in three consecutive games.
  • His seven career 100 yard games are tied for the 15th-most in program history (Canzeri).
  • Johnson had a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a 33-yard TD run in the fourth – his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season.
    • The six touchdowns are the most by a Hawkeye running back since he had six touchdowns in 2022.
  • Johnson two 25+ yard runs – his sixth and seventh this season. He has three touchdown runs of 25+ yards this season.
  • The last Hawkeye to have two or more touchdowns in three straight games was LeShun Daniels, Jr., in 2015 (at Indiana, vs. Minnesota, vs. Purdue).
• Redshirt freshman Kamari Moulton had a career-best 29-yard rush in the second quarter and RB Jaziun Patterson had a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
  • It was Patterson’s first touchdown of the season and third of his career. He had eight carries for 72 yards in the game in his first action of the season.
  • Iowa has nine 25+ yard rushes this season, including four 25+ plus yard touchdowns.
• QB Cade McNamara completed 19-of-23 attempts for 176 yards, completing passes to 10 different players. His 82.6 completion percentage is his highest as a Hawkeye.
  • McNamara improves to 19-5 as a starting QB in his collegiate career.
• Back-up QB Brendan Sullivan had a 2-yard touchdown pass to TE Addison Ostrenga in the third quarter. It was Sullivan’s first completion and touchdown as a Hawkeye (11th career touchdown pass).
• TE Addison Ostrenga’s 2-yard touchdown reception was his first of the season (first TD by a Hawkeye tight end) and third of his career.
• Redshirt freshman WR Jarriett Buie (19 yards), senior WR Kaden Wetjen (33 yards) and RB Kamari Moulton (12 yards) had the first receptions of their careers.
• DB Jermari Harris had his second interception of the season (seventh pick of his career) and he returned it 28 yards for a pick 6 in the third quarter.
• DE Ethan Hurkett had a career-high two sacks and two forced fumbles. It was his first sack since 2022 and his first two career forced fumbles.
• DE Brian Allen had a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
• Junior Drew Stevens connected on a season-long 42-yard field goal in the second quarter.
  • Stevens is 5-for-5 in field goal attempts this season.
• Punter Rhys Dakin had four punts for 197 yards for a 49.3 yard average – the best of his career. He had two punts of 50+ yards and one downed inside the 20.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• The Hawkeyes had a Jermari Harris pick six in the third quarter, marking the 17th straight season Iowa has had an interception returned for a touchdown. It is the second-longest active streak in the nation.
• Iowa’s rushing attack churned out 200+ yards for the third consecutive game. The last time the unit had 200+ in three straight games came during the 2013 season (5 straight to open the season).
• Iowa’s 284 yard effort on the ground was the most since 2019. (Middle Tennessee)
• The Hawkeye defense allowed 24 rushing yards – the fewest since allowing 18 yards against Northwestern in 2022.
• The Hawkeyes’ defense forced one turnover against Troy, turning the miscue into seven points.
  • Iowa has a 5-2 advantage in turnovers this season.
• It is the 30th consecutive game Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards — the longest active streak nationally.
• Iowa didn’t have a penalty in the game for the third game since the start of the 2023 season and for the fourth time in the team’s last 20 games. Since 1970, Iowa has 10 games where it hasn’t committed a penalty.
• Iowa won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Hawkeyes have played 318 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 233 times (149-84). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 85 times (49-36).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action Sept. 21, traveling to Minneapolis to face Minnesota in its Big Ten Conference opener.  The battle for the Floyd of Rosedale will be televised on NBC beginning at 6:30 p.m. (CT).