NOTES: Gold Out vs. UMass

1ST & 10
• Saturday’s game is a Gold Out; fans are encouraged to wear gold clothing.
• The Week 3 game is Iowa’s second consecutive home night game. The Hawkeyes have won five straight home night games dating back to the 2022 season.
• Iowa’s defense is 12th nationally in total defense (207.5), 16th in rushing defense (73.5) and 30th in scoring defense (11.5) through the first two games.
• First-year Iowa starting QB Mark Gronowski won his 50th career game in the Hawkeyes’ season-opening win over UAlbany. Cullen Finnerty of Grand Valley State (Division II) is the national leader with 51 career victories, while Boise State’s Kellen Moore ties Gronowski for most wins in FCS/FBS.
• The Hawkeyes’ run game ranks 31st in the nation, averaging 220.5 rush yards per game. As a result, Iowa’s time of possession ranks 23rd in the country (33:53). 
• Iowa is a perfect 8-for-8 in the red zone this season, which is tied for first nationally.
• The Hawkeyes churned out 310 yards in the season-opening victory over UAlbany – the most yards in an opener since 2002 (376 vs. Akron). It was the second time in the team’s last six games it has had 300+ rushing yards.
• During OC Tim Lester’s tenure, Iowa has rushed for 200+ yards in eight games.
• Iowa’s offense ranked 72nd in the nation in scoring (27.7) in 2024 under first-year OC Tim Lester -- a 57-spot improvement from 2023.
• Iowa’s defense allowed 17.8 points per game in 2024. The unit has allowed fewer than 20 points per game in nine consecutive seasons -- the longest streak nationally by six seasons. Iowa finished 11th in FBS in scoring defense and 20th in total defense (318.4).
• The Hawkeyes are 33-1 when scoring 21+ points since 2020. Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 79-5 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.
• UMass analyst Jim Reid announced his retirement on Aug. 28, 2025. Reid, who coached Iowa’s linebackers from 2013-15, previously served as the Minutemen head coach from 1986-91.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s game is the first meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and UMass. 

UNDER THE LIGHTS
Saturday’s game is the 26th night game inside Kinnick Stadium. Iowa is 18-7 under the lights, which includes a five-game win streak.
• Iowa won 27-0 over Nevada in 2022, 26-16 over Michigan State in 2023, 42-10 over Wisconsin and 13-10 over Nebraska in 2024 and 34-7 over UAlbany in the 2025 season opener.

1. Cullen Finnerty (Grand Valley State) 51 (DII)
2. Kellen Moore (Boise State) 50
Mark Gronowski (Iowa) 50 (FCS & FBS)
4. Colt McCoy (Texas) 45

 STARTING STRONG
•Iowa’s defense has started the season strong, ranking 12th in total defense (207.5), 16th in rushing defense (73.5), 15th in first down defense (23) and 30th in scoring defense (11.5) through the first two weeks.
• The Hawkeyes have allowed one touchdown in each of the first two games against UAlbany and Iowa State.
• Iowa limited UAlbany to 177 yards in the season opener, including just 33 yards in the second half. The Great Danes had 43 rushing yards and nine overall first downs.
• In Week 2, the Hawkeyes limited Iowa State to 238 yards and 16 points. The Cyclones entered the game averaging 39.5 points and 421 yards of total offense.

THE D
Iowa’s defense has ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense in each of the last 10 seasons.  
• The Hawkeyes have allowed fewer than 20 points per game in nine consecutive seasons.   
• Iowa has ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense in six consecutive seasons.

NEW LBs
Graduate linebackers Jaden Harrell and Karson Sharar both posted career bests in tackles in Week 2 against Iowa State. Harrell tied for the game high with nine tackles, while Sharar finished with seven stops. Harrell also forced a Cyclone fumble.

HURK & GRAVES = DL ANCHORS
Iowa returns a pair of starters on the defensive line in graduates Ethan Hurkett and Aaron Graves to go along with key reserve in DL Max Llewellyn.  
• Hurkett led the team’s defensive linemen with 56 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, Graves had 33 tackles, eight TFL and six sacks, while Llewellyn had 22 tackles, eight TFL and 5.5 sacks.
• The position group added two defensive tackles in the portal in Jonah Pace (Central Michigan) and Bryce Hawthorne (South Dakota State).  Pace played in 37 career games for the Chippewas, where he had 55 career tackles, 12 TFL and five sacks, while Hawthorne had 5.5 TFL as a freshman for the Jackrabbits.

KADEN “THE JET” WETJEN
Graduate Kaden Wetjen was named the recipient of The 2024 Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. He was the first Hawkeye to receive the distinction.
• The Williamsburg, Iowa, native led the country by a wide margin, finishing with 1,055 combined kick return yards. He ranked first in the FBS in kickoff return yards (727) and second in punt return yards (328). Wetjen had two return for scores in 2024 -- a 100-yard kickoff return against No. 19 Missouri in the Music City Bowl and an 85-yard punt return in the win over Northwestern. 
• He was the only player in the nation to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown.
• During the regular season, Wetjen returned a punt 85 yards for a score against Northwestern, the seventh-longest in school history. He had 100+ kickoff return yards in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State, Northwestern) -- a first by a Hawkeye since at least 1978.

STEVENS APPROACHES RECORD
Senior Drew Stevens moved into third place in program history in career field goals with his two makes in the season-opening win over UAlbany. The South Carolina native is a perfect 5-for-5 in field goal attempts this season, giving him 58 field goals in his career.  
• He has made 14 consecutive field goals dating back to Week 10 last season.

1.     Nate Kaeding (2000-03)    67
2.    Mike Meyer (2010-13)    61
3.    Drew Stevens (2022-pres.)    56

• Stevens connected from 28 and a career-long 55 yards in the victory over the Great Danes. The 55-yarder is tied for the fourth longest kick in school history and it was Stevens’ ninth career make from 50+ -- extending his school record.
• Stevens enjoyed a breakout 2024 season, making 20-of-23 field goals, which were a career high and the sixth-most in program history. He was 5-for-5 from 40-49 yards and had four makes from 50+.   
• He tied Kyle Schlicher’s program record that was set in 2004, making five field goals in the road win at Maryland on Nov. 23. The five makes also tied the SECU Stadium, which led to him being named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. 
• Two of Stevens’ makes came from 54 and 50 yards, making him the first Hawkeye since Tim Douglas (at Illinois, 1998) to make multiple 50+ yard field goals in the same game. 
• Stevens has four career games where he has made at least four field goals and he has three career game-winning field goals (21-yarder with 28 seconds left in road win at Minnesota in 2022, a 53-yarder in road win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field in 2023 and a 53-yarder as time expired in a win over Nebraska in 2024).
• For his career, Stevens has made 58-of-71 field goal attempts (81.7 percent) and is 88-of-89 on PATs. He is 9-of-13 from 50-59 yards in his Hawkeye career.  

STEVENS ASCENDS IN CAREER SCORING
Senior Drew Stevens has scored 16 points in the first two weeks of the 2025 season to lead the team. He now has 262 career points, which ranks fifth all-time in program history.

1.    Nate Kaeding    373 (1 TD, 166 PAG, 67 FG)
2.    Mike Meyer    324 (141 PAT, 61 FG)
3.    Rob Houghtlin    290 (128 PAT, 54 FG)
4.    Tom Nichol    277 (142 PAG, 45 FG)
5.    Drew Stevens    262 (88 PAT, 58 FG)

WOODY & KIRK 
Kirk Ferentz is in his 27th season as Iowa’s head football coach. He is the longest tenured active head coach in college football and he won his 200th career game as a member of the Big Ten Conference on Oct. 12, 2024, against Washington. Ferentz is currently tied with Ohio State’s Woody Hayes with 205 wins for the most victories in Big Ten Conference history.
• Ferentz has 128 Big Ten wins, which rank third all-time, trailing Hayes (153) and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler (143). 
• Ferentz won his 200th career game at Iowa State in 2023. He is the 27th coach at an FBS institution to reach the 200-career win milestone and the 99th coach across all divisions. Former Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry finished his career with 236 victories.
• Ferentz has 10 career bowl game victories, which tie Joe Paterno for the most bowl wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

NOTABLE FERENTZ WINS AT IOWA
1 - Northern Illinois (9/18/99) - 24-0
2 - Michigan State (10/7/00) - 21-16 - first career Big Ten victory
11 - vs. Texas Tech (12/29/01) - 19-16 - Alamo Bowl
22 - at Minnesota (11/16/02) - 42-21 - clinched share of Big Ten title
37 - at Penn State (10/23/04) - 6-4
41 - Wisconsin (11/20/04) - 30-7 - clinched share of Big Ten title
50 - Montana (9/2/06) - 41-7
81 - vs. Georgia Tech (1/5/10) - 24-14 - Orange Bowl
100 - at Michigan State (10/13/12) - 19-16 (2 OT)
144 - Northern Illinois (9/1/18) - passed Hayden Fry for most wins in school history
150 - at Illinois (11/17/18) - 63-0
175 - at Northwestern (11/6/21) - 17-12
195 - Illinois (11/18/23) - 15-13 - passed Bo Schembechler for No. 4 in Big Ten history
200 - Washington (10/12/25) - 40-16 - passed Amos Alonzo Stagg to move to No. 2 in Big Ten history