Game Preview: TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs. No. 19 Missouri

• Iowa accepted an invitation to the 2024 TransPerfect Music City Bowl for the second time in three seasons.  
• The Hawkeyes have qualified for a bowl game in 12 straight seasons -- tied for the seventh-longest streak in the FBS.   
• Iowa is one of five teams in FBS to have won at least eight games in each of the last nine completed seasons (Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State). The Hawkeyes have won 9+ games 10 times under head coach Kirk Ferentz.  
• Ferentz has 204 career victories as Iowa’s head coach -- second-most in Big Ten history. With his next victory, he will tie Ohio State’s Woody Hayes (205) for the most overall wins in league history.
• Ferentz has 10 career bowl game victories, which tie Joe Paterno for the most bowl wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
• The Hawkeyes won their 700th game in program history in Week 10 against Wisconsin, becoming the 35th school to reach the milestone.
• Jay Higgins and Kaleb Johnson are the 32nd and 33rd consensus All-Americans in program history.  Higgins was a unanimous selection, the 15th player all-time.  
• Iowa has had seven consensus All-Americans in the last five years and 12 in the last 11 years.  Iowa is the only program in the nation to have a consensus All-American in six consecutive years.
• Four Hawkeyes -- Higgins, Johnson, Luke Elkin and Kaden Wetjen -- garnered All-America distinction in 2024.
• Iowa had two Walter Camp first-team All-Americans -- LB Jay Higgins and RB Kaleb Johnson.  The Hawkeyes have had at least one Walter Camp All-American in 11 straight seasons and multiple selections in consecutive seasons and five of six years.
• Iowa had three players -- LB Jay Higgins, RB Kaleb Johnson and KR/PR Kaden Wetjen -- win Big Ten positional honors. The Hawkeyes were the only school to have three players recognized. 
• LB Nick Jackson has played in 72 career collegiate games -- the most in NCAA history.  
• Iowa is averaging 199.8 rushing yards per game -- the most for the program since 2002 (214.2). The Hawkeyes have rushed for 200+ yards in eight games (250+ in four games) this season, a program record. 
• The Hawkeyes led the Big Ten in rushing for just the fourth time in program history (1958, 1959, 1960, 2024) and rank 21st nationally.
• RB Kaleb Johnson, who declared for the 2025 NFL Draft in December, rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in 12 games -- the third-most rushing yards in a season in program history. He finished with program records in single season points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing scores (21). He scored at least one touchdown in every game.
• Iowa is 32-0 when scoring 21+ points since 2020. Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 78-4 when leading by eight points at any point in a game
• TOs -- The Hawkeyes have forced 24 turnovers in 12 games -- 16 interceptions, eight fumble recoveries. The 24 takeaways lead the Big Ten and rank ninth nationally. Iowa’s 16 interceptions are the most in the Big Ten (ninth-most nationally) and the most for the program since 2021. The unit has at least one interception in 11 of the team’s 12 games.
• Iowa’s defense is allowing 17.1 points per game in 2024. The unit has allowed fewer than 20 points per game in eight consecutive seasons -- the longest streak nationally. Iowa is ninth in FBS in scoring defense and 16th in total defense (313.6).
• The Hawkeyes have posted 12 straight winning seasons -- the second-longest streak in the Big Ten and seventh-longest in FBS.

WHO’S NEXT?
With Kaleb Johnson off to the NFL, the Hawkeyes will turn to sophomore Kamari Moulton and sophomore Jaziun Patterson in the rushing game. Moulton was Iowa’s Week 1 starter against Illinois State.
• Moulton has rushed for 381 yards (5.7 per attempt) on 67 carries and has two touchdowns during the 2024 season. He logged his first career 100-yard game, rushing for 114 yards on 12 attempts in a road win at Maryland. He had a career-long 68-yard scoring run to give Iowa a two-possession lead in the second half.
• The Florida native also rushed for 74 yards against Wisconsin and 65 yards in the opener against Illinois State.
• Patterson has rushed 54 times for 235 yards and two touchdowns this season. The Florida native had a season-high 66 yards on 18 carries at Minnesota and 10 attempts for 56 yards and a touchdown in the win over Wisconsin.

TACKLING MACHINE
Senior LB Jay Higgins had 14 tackles in three consecutive games in Week 6 at Ohio State, Week 7 against Washington and Week 8 at Michigan State. The Indianapolis native has six 10+ tackle games this season and 17 in his career.    
• He has had at least 14 tackles in a game seven times in his career. 
• Higgins had his second career forced fumble and fourth career fumble recovery against the Buckeyes.
• He has a team-high 118 tackles (9.8 per game) to rank second in the Big Ten and 13th nationally. Higgins also has four interceptions -- tied for the most by a Power 4 linebacker in the nation -- and two forced fumbles. His four picks are the most by a Hawkeye linebacker since Josey Jewell (4) in 2016.
• Higgins is the only Power 4 linebacker in the nation with 100+ tackles and four interceptions.
• He averaged 10.3 tackles per game in Big Ten play, recording 93 tackles in nine games.
• Higgins has 118 tackles this season, becoming the first Hawkeye since Jack Campbell (2021,22) to record 100+ tackles in back-to-back seasons.
• He has 335 career tackles, which are the 15th-most in program history. 

GRAAAAAVES, HURK & MAX
Junior Aaron Graves had his second career game with two or more sacks, finishing with two sacks and two forced fumbles in the Week 7 victory over Washington. He had a career-high three sacks in his first career start against Illinois State.
• Senior Ethan Hurkett had a career-high three TFL and two sacks in back-to-back wins at Maryland and against Nebraska. He also tied a career high with nine tackles against the Huskers.
• Junior Max Llewellyn’s strip sack -- giving him 5.5 this season--– resulted in a Nebraska turnover with 20 seconds remaining, which led to the Hawkeyes’ game-winning field goal.  
• Iowa’s defense has 27 sacks and 58 TFL in 12 games. Hurkett (11.5 TFL/6.5 sacks), Max Llewellyn (8 TFL, 5.5 sacks) and Graves (8 TFL/6 sacks) are the Hawkeyes’ most disruptive defensive linemen.

3 OF THE BIG TEN’S BEST
• Senior Jay Higgins was named the Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year -- the third Hawkeye in eight years to earn the honor. The Indianapolis native is the only player in the nation with 100+ tackles and four interceptions and his four picks are tied for the most amongst Power 4 linebackers.
• Junior Kaleb Johnson is the first Hawkeye recipient of the Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year Award since it was introduced in 2011. The Ohio native had a record-breaking year, leading the league with 1,537 yards and 23 total touchdowns.
• Senior Kaden Wetjen became the fourth Hawkeye since 2018 to win the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year honor. The Williamsburg, Iowa, native leads the nation with 888 combined kick return yards in 2024.

MORE NOTABLES
• Iowa had 20 players earn All-Big Ten recognition, including five first-team All-Big Ten selections.  The Hawkeyes had five AP first-team All-Big Ten selections, the most in the conference.
• Sophomore Kamari Moulton recorded his first career 100-yard game, finishing with 114 yards on 12 attempts with a touchdown in Week 13 at Maryland. He had a 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, a career long and the second-longest rush by the team this season.  
• Moulton and Kaleb Johnson were the first Hawkeye duo to post 100-yard rushing outputs in the same game since 2016 when LeShun Daniels, Jr. (158) and Akrum Wadley (105) accomplished the feat against Nebraska.
• Junior WR Jacob Gill became the first Hawkeye to have a 100-yard receiving game since 2022 and the first Iowa wideout to achieve the feat since 2021, when he had six receptions for 138 yards in Week 11 at UCLA.
• Iowa’s rushing defense has allowed fewer than 100 yards in six games, including just 24 yards in Week 3 against Troy and 43 yards in Week 9 vs. Northwestern. The unit allows 117.5 rushing yards per game, 28th-fewest in the nation, and it has allowed three touchdowns on the ground -- the fewest in the nation.
• Graduate LB Nick Jackson made his 500th career tackle against Washington. He is currently second in FBS history with 547 career tackles and his 6.9 tackles per game this season are 11th in the Big Ten.
• Since 2009, Iowa has 244 interceptions -- tied for the second-most in the nation. The team’s 35 interception returns for a touchdown are the fourth-most in the nation in that span.
• Iowa rushed for 329 yards in Week 10 against Wisconsin -- the most for the program since 2019. The Hawkeyes had four players rush for 50+ yards -- a first under Ferentz.
• The Hawkeyes are averaging 28.0 points and 331.5 yards of total offense in 12 games, which ranks 66th and 113th nationally, respectively.
• The Hawkeyes are 16-for-16 in red zone scoring opportunities (14 TDs, 2 FG) with QB Brendan Sullivan under center.
• OL Gennings Dunker missed the final two games of the regular season because of injury. OL Nick DeJong started the two games in place of Dunker. The Hawkeyes started the same offensive linemen in eight of the team’s 12 games.  
• DB Quinn Schulte has made 39 consecutive starts (fifth-longest nationally among DBs) -- one of nine active players in the secondary with 30 or more consecutive starts.
• LB Kyler Fisher (58) games OL Nick DeJong (58), LB Jay Higgins (57), OL Mason Richman (54), DB Quinn Schulte (53), OL Connor Colby (52), DL Yahya Black (52) and DB Sebastian Castro (52) and DL Deontae Craig (50) have played in 50+ games as a Hawkeye, while OL Tyler Elsbury (49) are approaching the 50-game mark. Fisher and DeJong have played in 58 games -- the most games played under Ferentz.
• Iowa has come-from-behind in the second half to win three games in 2024 (trailed 14-10 vs. Troy; 14-7 at Minnesota, 10-0 vs. Nebraska).
• Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards in 37 of the last 40 games and 14 or fewer points in 25 of their last 39 games. The Hawkeyes have held 11 teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.
• The Hawkeyes are 160-8-1 when allowing 10 points or less since 1970 and 393-59-19 when allowing 10 points or less all-time.