The Iowa Hawkeyes open November with four B1G games remaining, after an 8-0 start, 4-0 in B1G West

Iowa City, IA -- The #10 Iowa Hawkeyes are unbeaten, as they head to Bloomington to open another November game in the Iowa- Indiana series. The last two games played in Bloomington were both played in early November.

Since the days Kirk Ferentz was hired back in 1981, as an offensive line coach under Hayden Fry, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 18-9 against the Indiana Hoosiers. Iowa is 2-1 in games played in November @ Indiana, since 1981.

Iowa senior C #63 Austin Blythe started as a redshirt freshman back in 2012. He
anchors the Hawkeyes offensive line in 2015 and is playing very well, as a senior.

The lone loss was in 2012, the last time Iowa played in Bloomington against Indiana. Iowa started fast that day, but like many of the games from 2011 to 2014, the Hawkeyes didn't finish, with Indiana defeating Iowa 24-21. Both teams finished 4-8 in 2012.

Iowa senior RG #65 Jordan Walsh  was another young redshirt freshman in 2012.
One of the strengths during the 2015 season for the Hawkeyes is the play of the
interior offensive line. Iowa is 8-0 for the second time under Kirk Ferentz.

The Iowa Hawkeyes won the 2010 game, by the score of 18-13, another game that went down to the wire, during the first weekend in November. Overall, Iowa has won five of the last six games in the series, including last year's game 45-29 in Iowa City.

Iowa DB Devon Mitchell
1982-85

Ferentz's first trip to Indiana in 1982, as an OL assistant for Fry, went down to the wire, as well. Iowa won 24-20, as Iowa redshirt defensive back Devon Mitchell made a game saving tackle at the Iowa 2 against Indiana TE Scott McNabb to preserve the Hawkeye win. The 1981 team won in Iowa City 42-28 against the Hoosiers.

Indiana (4-4, 0-4 B1G East) is coming off a bye week. The Hoosiers opened the season with a 4-0 start in the non-conference, but conference play has been another story. There most recent lost in the Big Ten was @ Michigan State by the score of 52-26 ahead of the bye week.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0 B1G West) beat Maryland in Iowa City 31-15, coming off a bye week. Ferentz reflected on Sunday about the challenges coming out of the bye week for the Hawkeyes.

Indiana senior QB 7 Nate Sudfeld has struggled in starts against Iowa in the
past. Will his senior season be different? Sudfeld is having a very strong
senior season statistically, but the Hoosiers are 0-4 in conference play in 2015.

“I felt the first two games after our bye week would present unique challenges and (Saturday) playing a team with an interim coach and nothing to lose coming in here and taking some chances and they played hard and aggressively,” Ferentz said Sunday, after the Halloween win for the Hawks. “We anticipated that to be a tough challenge and no different than going down to Indiana. They have a quarterback (senior Nate Sudfeld) that is experienced and productive and an offensive team that scores a lot of points. They have played a lot of folks tough, they have four quality wins, and it will be a big challenge for us.”

Indiana junior WR #4 Ricky Jones and senior TE #88 Anthony Carsaro
are part of the Hoosiers passing game that QB Nate Sudfeld has at his disposal.

Indiana senior quarterback Sudfeld leads the conference in passing average per game (292.7 yards) and pass efficiency (155.9 points). Hoosiers wide receivers Ricky Jones and Simmie Cobbs, Jr., average 18.1 and 15.6 yards per reception.

"Good teams get better," Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said during the bye week. "If we're a good team, we keep getting better."

Indiana junior RB #8 Jordan Howard returned to action @ Michigan State,
after being knocked out of the game against Ohio State. Overall, Howard
is #2 in rushing on the season among Big Ten rushers in all games.

Three of Iowa's top four running backs have been slowed by ankle injuries this season. Indiana's top running back returned against Michigan State from a ankle injury. He finished the game with 78 yards, one touchdown, on 11 carries. At one point, Howard was close to leading the nation in rushing, during Indiana's non-conference success against Southern Illinois, FIU, WKU and @ Wake Forest.

Iowa junior DT #67 Jaleel Johnson is now a starter, but he played in last
year's game against the Hoosiers. He anchors the interior of the Iowa D-Line.

Iowa counters with a scoring defense that ranks sixth in the nation, allowing 15.3 points per game. Four of the top six scoring defenses in the country are from the Big Ten: Wisconsin (first, 11.0), Michigan (second, 11.4), Ohio State (fifth, 15.1) and Iowa. Indiana dropped a 34-27 decision to Ohio State on Oct. 3 and trailed Michigan State, 28-26, heading into the fourth quarter Oct. 24 in East Lansing, Michigan.

“When you’re giving up under 17 points, that’s kind of a target area for us and you have a good chance to win,” Ferentz said. “We’re going to have a big challenge coming up this week, but our defense has done a good job. They have been stingy that way and the offense has played off that.”

Aside from wining its eighth consecutive game to begin a season for just the second time in school history (Iowa started 9-0 in 2009), one of the biggest highlights for the Hawkeyes was the return of sophomore left tackle Boone Myers and junior running back LeShun Daniels, Jr. Ferentz said that after watching senior running back Jordan Canzeri and sophomore right tackle Ike Boettcher run Sunday, more good news could come soon.

Iowa senior C #63 Austin Blythe and senior RB #33 Jordan Canzeri in last
year's game against the Hoosiers. If Canzeri is able to go, the Hawkeyes
will have four different running backs to throw out against the Hoosiers.

“Maybe with a little luck we’ll get Jordan Canzeri back,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know if it will be this week, but we’re getting closer based on what I saw (Sunday). He is making significant progress and I can say the same about Ike Boettger. Those are two guys we’re hoping to get back in the mix of things. In the meantime, we’ll keep playing, but it would be good to fortify the lineup a bit with those guys rejoining us.”

Iowa junior CB #14 Desmond King has 7 interceptions in 2015, including an
88 yard pick 6 against Maryland. His first pick 6 was last year against IU's
Nate Sudfeld, in an early interception taken 35 yards to the end zone.

Iowa leads the Big Ten in ball protection and takeaways. The Hawkeyes were +3 against Maryland; they are tied with Michigan State on top of the Big Ten at +10 for the season. Iowa junior CB Desmond King is tied for first in the nation, with seven interceptions on the season, including two for a touchdown.

Indiana coach Kevin White and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz during pregame
of last year's game in Iowa City. Iowa won 45-29 in 2014.

“Our guys did a great job being aggressive to the football,” Ferentz said. “The defense did a nice job coming up with some takeaways. That was a big part of the game.”

Iowa and Indiana kick off at 2:30 p.m. CST on Nov. 7 from Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. The game will be televised to a national audience by ESPN. The last time Iowa and Indiana played on Nov. 7, the Hawkeyes beat the Hoosiers 14-0 in 1992.

Iowa junior QB #16 C.J. Beathard played against Indiana last year.
Dealing with injuries during the Big Ten season, Beathard may not pull
off a 20 yard run, as he did in last year's game, during the 3rd quarter.

#10 Iowa @ Indiana on Saturday, 2:30 p.m. on ESPN

Indiana's leading rusher in 2015 is a UAB transfer. Junior  RB #8 Jordan Howard was
strong during the Hoosiers 4-0 non-conference start. But, he has been injured much of
the Big Ten season, where IU has opened 0-4 in the B1G East division. 

Bloomington, IN -- Indiana's home contest with #10 Iowa this Saturday will air on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. CST. The 2:30 p.m. start will be the third straight for IU and the fourth in five games. This will be the sixth time the Hoosiers have appeared on the ESPN family of networks this season.
Prior to the bye week, Indiana came off a 52-26 loss to the #7 Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing. Senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld tied Indiana's career passing touchdowns record with 48 after his three-touchdown effort. The Modesto, Calif., native went 23-for-37 for 308 yards, his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season and the eighth of his career. Sudfeld has seven three-score games in his career and three this year.

Nate Sudfeld is 0-2, as a starter against Iowa. The Hawkeyes have won five of the past six games in the series, including last year's 45-29 game in Iowa City. Sudfeld started the 2010 game, as well, where Iowa defeated IU in Bloomington.

The game with Iowa (8-0, 4-0 B1G West) is the first of two cross-division games the Hoosiers will play this season. Indiana opened the 2015 season with a 4-0 non-conference record, but is 0-4 against B1G East opponents. The Hoosiers will close the Big Ten season @ Purdue (2-6, 1-3), who beat Nebraska at home 55-45 on Saturday.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Hoosiers junior linebacker T.J. Simmons picked up a tackle for loss and his first sack of the season on the defense's first two plays. The junior didn't stop there, closing the ballgame with career-highs in tackles (15), sacks (2.5) and tackles for loss (four). The four TFLs share fifth on IU's single-game list and are the most for a Hoosier since defensive lineman Adam Replogle had four at Penn State on Nov. 17, 2012.

Indiana will be facing Iowa for the 76th time this upcoming Saturday. The two teams will be squaring off in Bloomington for the first time since Nov. 3, 2012, when the Hoosiers earned a 24-21 victory. The Hawkeyes lead in the series 43-28-3 overall and are 19-18-1 at Indiana.

Indiana Keeping Practice Light During Bye

"There's a lot of good. It's not good enough," Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said during the Bye Week. "Most people in most things want to give in. That's not what I'm about, and that's not what we're going to be about. We're not going to make excuses. We need to win. We're here to win. We're going to win. And we're going to have a great opportunity with Iowa and the next four games. Let's get ready and go after it."