Preview of the Opponent- Iowa

Stat Leaders

Stat Leaders:

Cade McNamara (out for season)- 505 yards, 4 td, 3 int, qb rating of 28 (122nd overall)

Leshon Williams- 37 carries, 211 yards, avg. 5.7 yards a carry

Erick All- 14 receptions, 183 yards, 2 td, avg 13.1 yards per reception

Jay Higgins- 32 solo tackles, 1 forced fumble

Iowa athletics is always somewhat of an anomaly to me. In basketball, they are usually one of the best offensive teams and you have to go bucket for bucket to have a fighting chance. But football, they struggle to find the end zone and rely on their defense despite having good weapons.

It’s hard to fathom why good receivers even choose to go there and it’s no wonder we ended up with Charlie Jones. Right now the offense is ranked in the 100s in almost every offensive category with a total offense of 129th nationally.

They average 127 yards per game and are completing 50% of their passes, and that’s with their starting QB Cade McNamara. He is out for the season with a torn ACL so the Hawkeyes will have to rely on backup Deacon Hill to get the job done. He’s thrown for 164 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Iowa’s defense, though, is how they win games coming in at 33rd overall. Higgins and Jackson are a force to be reckoned with as they racked up 22 tackles against Michigan State. Our offensive line will have their work cut out from them if Purdue wants to win this game.

Even with their McNamara out the Hawkeyes are still favored. This is going to be a tough game on the road with a Purdue team that can look really good or really bad at moments. Maybe the Boilers figured some things out against Illinois or maybe Illinois is just really bad, either way a win Saturday would be the biggest one for first year head coach Ryan Walters.