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Iowa Football: Numbers That Stood Out From UNI Win
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- Iowa Football: Numbers That Stood Out From UNI Win
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Winning a football game by 55 points usually results in a lot of positive numbers appearing on the stat sheet.
That's exactly the case for No. 18 Iowa , which is celebrating a 3-0 start for the first time in three years after decimating in-state foe Northern Iowa 55-0 at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
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Here are the top numbers that stood out from the Hawkeyes ' victory:
5: Slow offensive starts have defined the Hawkeyes for many years, but not in this one. Iowa scored a touchdown on its first five possessions of this game, the first time they've done that since the 2019 Holiday Bowl victory over USC.
20:Iowa's young defense continues to impress under longtime coordinator Phil Parker, recording two shutouts to open this season. Saturday marked the 20th shutout under Ferentz and the first time the Hawkeyes have tallied two or more shutouts in a season since 2022 ( Nevada and Kentucky in the Music City Bowl).
50:The Hawkeyes cracked the 50-point plateau for the first time since the 2018 season, when they defeated Illinois in Champaign by a score of 63-0.
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100%:While the main headline of this game will certainly be directed towards Iowa's running game, the passing attack was just as lethal. Quarterback Hank Brown completed all 12 of his passing attempts for 153 yards in this one, including a pair of touchdowns. He is the second quarterback in Iowa history to do so, joining Heisman Trophy runner-up Brad Banks in 2002. The last Hawkeye quarterback to complete his first 12 passes was C.J. Beathard in 2015.
111:Second-year running back Nathan McNeil had a career day, reaching the 100-yard plateau for the first time, while also scoring the first two touchdowns of his career.
125:If you haven't received the memo by this point, all of Iowa's main running backs had career days against Northern Iowa , but the best performance of the day may have come from second-year back Braeden Jackson . Jackson, the son of former NFL running back Fred Jackson , finished with 125 yards and one rushing touchdown, which happened to be a 62-yard rip in the fourth quarter. Not only that, Jackson tallied a receiving touchdown in the first half - a 24-yard catch on a wheel route from Brown . Oh, and Saturday marked his 20th birthday, too.
151: Xavier Williams now has the second 100-yard game of his career, and Saturday's was more special because the 151 yards he collected against the Panthers were a new career-high. His 48-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was a career-best and one of three touchdowns he tallied on the afternoon. What makes Williams' outing even wilder was that he only needed six carries to reach the mark (average of 25.2 yards per carry).
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422:Iowa rushing attack was unstoppable on this day, and that's putting it mildly. The Hawkeyes ended the day with 422 yards on the ground (the most since 1990) with three underclassmen backs - Braeden Jackson, Nathan McNeil, and Xavier Williams - tallying over 100 yards each. That's the first time that's happened since 1983, when Owen Gill (104), Norm Granger (128), and Eddie Phillips (172) carried Iowa to a 61-10 victory over Minnesota on Senior Day.
640:Iowa tallied 640 total yards in this one, the first time it has totaled that much in a game since collecting 644 against Middle Tennessee in 2019. It's also the most total yards the Hawkeyes have had in a game under offensive coordinator Tim Lester and the second time this year Iowa has tallied 500+ yards of total offense ( Week 1 against Northern Illinois) .
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io
