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