Buckeyes Open Big Ten Season vs. Hawkeyes – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2005
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THE IOWA GAME
Ohio State opens its 93rd season of Big Ten play Saturday by hosting defending conference co-champion Iowa. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m. in sold out Ohio Stadium, where the Buckeyes have an all-time record of 357-102-20. ABC will televise the game to approximately 50 percent of the country and WBNS Radio will broadcast the contest around the state on the 73-station Ohio State network.
Both teams enter the game with 2-1 records and both bounced back last week to record wins following disappointing losses the week before.
Eighth-ranked Ohio State, a 25-22 victim of No. 2 Texas two weeks ago, got back on the winning track Saturday by shutting down visiting San Diego State, 27-6. The Aztecs scored on their first play of the game, going 80 yards to take a quick 6-0 lead, but did not score again against the stout OSU defense which surrendered just 99 yards the rest of the day. Other than the scoring play, SDSU had just one play inside Ohio State territory.
Iowa, felled 23-3 by in-state rival Iowa State two weeks ago on the Cyclones’ home turf, took out its angst on Northern Iowa this past week by rolling up 496 yards and coasting to a 45-21 victory.
The 21st-ranked Hawkeyes shared the Big Ten title with Michigan last year with a 7-1 league record and closed out the season by winning their last seven conference games.
The Buckeyes won four of their last five Big Ten encounters a year ago, including a 37-21 win over Michigan, the only conference team to beat Iowa in 2004.
Former Ohio State standout Jack Tatum will serve as the honorary captain this week.
BUCKEYES SEEK 30TH BIG TEN TITLE
Since beginning league play in 1913, Ohio State has compiled an all-time Big Ten record of 418-161-24 and captured 29 conference championships. The Buckeyes’ last title came in 2002, when they shared the mantle with Iowa. The Buckeyes were 4-4 in league play last year, opening the season with three-consecutive losses, but bouncing back to win four of their last five league games. Ohio State’s 29 championships include 15 outright and 14 shared crowns. Between 1972 and 1977, the Buckeyes shared the title six-consecutive times and went to a still unprecedented four straight Rose Bowls.
COACH Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel is now in his fifth season as head coach at Ohio State. His record with the Buckeyes is 42-12 and his career record is 177-69-2 (.718). He is in his 20th year as a head coach.
Tressel took over the Buckeyes in 2001, directing them to a 7-5 record that year. In 2002, he led Ohio State to a 14-0 record and the school’s first consensus national championship since 1968 and was nearly everyone’s choice as National Coach of the Year following the season. In 2003, the Buckeyes won their first five games to extend their winning streak to 19 and finished with an 11-2 record. The squad last year, which had to replace 14 NFL drafted players, won five of its last six games en route to an 8-4 finish.
Tressel’s teams have appeared in four Bowl games and are 3-1 in those contests, including back-to-back BCS wins in the Fiesta Bowl. They also are 3-1 against Michigan in one of the most intense and storied rivalries in all of sport.
Eight of Tressel’s players have won first-team All-America honors and three have won major awards, including kicker Mike Nugent, the recipient of the Lou Groza Award last year as the best place-kicker in college football.
Tressel is a master in close games. Since coming to Ohio State, he is 16-8 in games decided by a touchdown or less and 4-1 in overtime games.
He is at his best against the best with a 16-6 record against teams ranked in the Top 25 and a 5-2 mark against teams ranked in the Top 10.
The 52-year-old Tressel is a 1975 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College.
IOWA COMPARING THE TEAMS OSU 2-1 Records 2-1 34.7 Points Per Game 24.7 14.7 Opp. Points Per Game 15.0 215.0 Avg. Rushing Yards 150.0 213.0 Avg. Passing Yards 187.3 428.0 Avg. Total Offense 337.3 108.3 Opp. Avg. Rushing Yards 57.7 170.0 Opp. Avg. Passing Yards 228.7 278.3 Opp. Avg. Total Offense 286.3 9/67 Pen./Yards 15/149 26:48 Avg. Time of Poss. 32:42 8 Sacks By 11 7 Sacks Allowed 4
BUCKEYE NOTES
? This will be the 11th time Ohio State has opened Big Ten play against Iowa. The Buckeyes have won nine of the previous 10, the only loss in that span coming in 1983. The two teams last faced one another in their league opener in 1997.
? The Buckeyes are 3-1 in Big Ten openers under Coach Jim Tressel, the lone loss coming last year in overtime at Northwestern.
? The Buckeyes’ overall record in Big Ten openers stands at 60-29-3.
? Ohio State now has an all-time record of 767-299-53
? This week marks the sixth-consecutive Saturday ABC has televised the Buckeyes. The string started last year at Purdue and has continued with Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Texas, San Diego State and now Iowa.
? The Buckeyes are outscoring their opponents 33-3 in the second quarter and 23-3 in the third.
? In the four-plus years Jim Tressel has been at the Ohio State helm, the Buckeyes have compiled an overall record of 15-2 during the month of September.
? Ohio State has won 23 of its last 25 home games – the losses coming to Wisconsin in 2004 and Texas earlier this year.
? Under Tressel, the Buckeyes are 31-3 when leading at the half and 33-3 when ahead after three quarters.
? With the win over San Diego State, the Buckeyes are 10-2 under Tressel following a loss.
? Saturday’s crowd of 104,533 was the 22nd-consecutive Ohio Stadium sellout.
? The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in 104-consecutive games.
? The three rushing touchdowns Saturday are the most by the Buckeyes since 2003.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
After San Diego State registered a 6.0 on the Ohio Stadium Richter scale by scoring on an 80-yard pass on its first play from scrimmage, it was all Ohio State defense the rest of the way. Led by the brilliant linebacking corps of All-American A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel, the OSU defense completely shut down the Aztec offense for the next 59 minutes and 49 seconds. After their opening drive, the Aztecs could manage a meager 99 yards the rest of the day, including just 44 in the second half. Eleven of their 14 possessions ended with a punt – the other three were the lone score, the end of the half and a fumble. San Diego State managed just 13 yards rushing.
Hawk again led the team in tackles (as he has all three games this year) with eight, including a tackle-for-loss. Carpenter had two sacks and Schlegel was credited with half a sack and also recovered a fumble. It was Schlegel’s pressure that forced the Aztec fumble, which he recovered on the SDSU 1-yard line on the final play of the third quarter. Brandon Schnittker scored on the next play to put Ohio State on top 24-6.
Quarterback Troy Smith accounted for 235 yards in total offense and ran for a pair of touchdowns. Seven different receivers caught at least two passes, led by Santonio Holmes and Roy Hall with four catches each.
Kicker Josh Huston added a pair of field goals, connecting from 25 and 39 yards out to complete the scoring.
A number of young players saw their first extended playing time, including true freshmen Mo Wells, who carried the ball nine times for 32 yards, and Brian Robiskie, who deftly gathered in his first career reception and then spun his way up field for 13 yards. Redshirt freshman Erik Haw made his debut and responded with one carry for 6 yards and two receptions for another 6.
The Buckeyes rolled up 375 yards in total offense on 82 plays – both season highs.
TRESSEL ON THE SDSU GAME
“What you saw out there was total domination by the defense. After that first play, our defense was in complete control. Obviously, that pleases me. I am not as pleased with our offensive showing. We need to become much more consistent in order to be a good team. We made too many mistakes out there,” Tressel said.
MEASURING THE BUCKEYES
The Buckeyes are off to a 2-1 start and are ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll and No. 9 by the coaches. This will be Ohio State’s second shot at a ranked opponent this year. Texas was ranked No. 2 in both polls when the two teams played earlier this season. Iowa is No. 21 in both polls.
Junior Troy Smith has gotten the nod at quarterback and is slated to start against the Hawkeyes. In two games this year, Smith has thrown for 227 yards and one touchdown, while completing 51 percent of his passes. The agile signal caller also has rushed for 114 yards and a pair of scores and is the Buckeyes’ second leading rusher.
Nine different receivers have caught passes, led by Santonio Holmes with 13 receptions for 189 yards and two of the Buckeyes’ three receiving touchdowns. Roy Hall has 11 catches and Ted Ginn Jr., and Anthony Gonzalez each have 10. Tight end Ryan Hamby is next in line with six, three of which came this past week against San Diego State.
In addition to leading the team in receiving, Holmes, who also returns punts and kickoffs along with Ted Ginn Jr., is the pacesetter in all-purpose yards with an average of 121.3 yards per game.
In the rushing department, sophomore Antonio Pittman leads the way with 233 yards on 49 carries, an average of 4.8 yards per pop and 77.7 yards per game. Smith is second in the rushing department.
The Buckeyes are coming off their highest total yardage out put of the year against San Diego State, rolling up 375 yards in the victory. They are averaging 337 yards per game. The offense is also converting 45 percent of its third down attempts, making a nifty 20 of 44 when the chains need moving. Led by All-America center candidate Nick Mangold and guard Robbie Sims, the Buckeyes have allowed just three sacks.
The Buckeye defense continues to excel, allowing an average of 286 yards per game, including just 57.7 on the ground. In addition to already recording 11 sacks (compared to 24 all of last year), the defense has 21 tackles-for-loss and has limited its opponents to a 32 percent third-down efficiency rate.
All-American linebacker A.J. Hawk leads the team in tackles with 30. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter are tied for the team lead in tackles-for-loss (5) and sacks (3). Hawk, Nate Salley and Tyler Everett all have interceptions.
In the kicking department, A.J. Trapasso is averaging 40.4 yards per punt and has downed seven of his 12 punts inside the 20. Place-kicker Josh Huston is the Buckeye scoring leader with 35 points and has hit nine of 10 field goal attempts.
AWARDS CANDIDATES
Eight Ohio State players are listed on the various postseason awards watch lists: linebacker A.J. Hawk (Butkus, Lombardi, Lott, Bednarik, Walter Camp), center Nick Mangold (Rimington, Lombardi), split end Santonio Holmes (Biletnikoff, Walter Camp), linebacker Bobby Carpenter (Butkus), safety Nate Salley (Thorpe), cornerback Ashton Youboty (Thorpe), tight end Ryan Hamby (Mackey) and flanker Ted Ginn Jr. (Walter Camp, Biletnikoff).
SERIES INFORMATION
This will be the 60th meeting between Iowa and Ohio State dating back to 1922. Ohio State leads the overall series, 42-14-3, including a 26-8-1 edge in games played in Columbus. Iowa recorded a 33-7 victory last year in Iowa City, snapping Ohio State’s eight-game mastery over the Hawks. The Buckeyes have won four straight in Columbus, last losing at home to Iowa in 1991 by a score of 16-9. Last year’s Iowa win represents the largest margin of victory in the series for the Hawkeyes. The Buckeyes recorded an 83-21 victory in 1950 and more recently a 45-14 triumph in 1998.
RECAPPING LAST YEAR
Drew Tate threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Hawkeyes handed the Buckeyes their third straight defeat, 33-7. Troy Smith’s 23-yard pass to Rory Nicol with 2:19 left in the game accounted for the only OSU score. Smith entered the game in the third quarter when starter Justin Zwick went out with a shoulder injury. The host Hawkeyes, who led just 10-0 at the half, outgained the Buckeyes 448 to 177 in total yards. Smith would go on to start the remainder of the regular season and lead the Buckeyes to a 4-1 record down the stretch.
SMITH BACK AT THE HELM
Junior quarterback Troy Smith made his first start of the year against San Diego State and responded by leading the Buckeyes to a 27-6 victory and improving his record to 5-1 as a starter. Smith completed 14 of 26 passes for 149 yards against the Aztecs. He also ran for 87 yards and scored two of the Buckeyes’ three rushing touchdowns.
Smith’s first extended play at quarterback came last year at Iowa in relief of injured Justin Zwick. He then guided the Buckeyes to a 4-1 record during the remainder of the regular season before sitting out the Oklahoma State and Miami games. He played against Texas two weeks ago, but did not start.
“For his first time out, I thought Troy did some good things,” said OSU coach Jim Tressel. “I am sure there are some plays he would like to have back, but the only way to get better is to get in there and play as many snaps as possible.”
HAWK/CARPENTER LEAD BIG TEN
Ohio State linebackers A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter share the Big Ten lead in sacks with three each. They are also tied for second in tackle-for-loss with five.
On the year, Hawk has a team-high 30 tackles, while Carpenter is second with 17.
Hawk was the media pick as the Big Ten preseason defensive player of the year. Both Hawk and Carpenter are on the Butkus Award watch list.
SPLITTING THE UPRIGHTS
Senior kicker Josh Huston turned in another solid performance Saturday against San Diego State, converting both of his field goal tries and booming five of his six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. On the year, Huston has converted nine of his 10 field goals attempts and made all eight of his PATs. Twelve of his 20 kickoffs have been touchbacks. The eight that have been returned have been for an average of 19 yards per try.
HUSTON LEADS BIG TEN KICKERS
Ohio State’s Josh Huston leads the Big Ten in kick scoring and field goals made. The Buckeye senior is averaging 11.7 points a game and has made nine field goals. In addition to leading the Buckeyes in scoring with 35 points, he is sixth in the overall Big Ten scoring race.
JENKINS GETS NOD
Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins became the first true OSU freshman to start this year, getting the nod against San Diego State when the Buckeyes opened the game with five defensive backs. Jenkins, a native of Piscataway, N.J., is listed as a back-up cornerback in the two deep. He has played in all three games thus far and has eight tackles and a pass broken up. He had three tackles against San Diego State.
THE RETURN GAME
Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr., give the Buckeyes one of the most explosive return tandems in college football. Holmes is averaging 36.3 yards per kick return on three attempts with a long of 47 yards, while Ginn has a 46-yard return and is averaging 21 yards per try on six runbacks. Additionally, Holmes is averaging 13.2 yards per punt return on five attempts and Ginn has an average of 11.8 yards per return on his six chances.
BUCKEYES’ ULTRA BACK
Sophomore Ted Ginn is listed at flanker for the Buckeyes, but that only tells part of the story. Last year, as a true freshman, Ginn also lined up at tailback and quarterback in addition to returning punts. This year, he also returns kickoffs and could even play defensive back.
Ginn has 10 receptions on the year, including a 42-yard touchdown grab against Miami. He has caught at least one pass in 10-consecutive games and has two or more receptions in eight straight.
Ginn, who has 18 receptions in the Buckeyes’ last four games, also is averaging 21.0 yards per kick return and 11.8 yards per punt return.
TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE
Through the first three games, Ohio State’s average time of possession is 32:42. The Buckeyes had the ball for 38:14 in the win over San Diego State.
HAWK, HOLMES UPDATE
With eight tackles last week, senior linebacker A.J. Hawk now has 303 career tackles, a total that ranks him 13th on the all-time Ohio State list. He is the 13th Ohio State player to surpass the 300 plateau.
In the receiving department, junior Santonio Holmes has 100 career receptions, a total that puts him in 11th place on the all-time OSU list (He moved ahead of Jeff Graham (99 catches from 1988 to 1990) this past week. Doug Donley (1977-80) and Ken-Yon Rambo (1997-00) are tied for ninth at 106, two behind Billy Anders (1965-67) and Joey Galloway (1991-94).
Holmes also has 1,507 receiving yards to rank 12th on the all-time Ohio State list.
HOLMES’ STREAK NOW AT 21
Split end Santonio Holmes has caught two or more passes in 21-consecutive games. The fleet-footed junior had four receptions for 44 yards against San Diego State. Holmes has 13 catches in the Buckeyes’ first three games and is averaging 14.5 yards per reception and 63 yards per game.
SACK TOTAL INCREASES
The Ohio State defense has recorded 11 sacks through the first three games this year. The Buckeyes’ totaled 24 sacks all of last year.
SCHNITTKER SCORES
Fullback-turned-tailback Brandon Schnittker has scored two touchdowns this year – one against Miami and the other against San Diego State. They are the first two career tallies for the fifth-year senior from Sandusky. His score against San Diego State came at the beginning of the fourth quarter and gave the Buckeyes a comfortable 24-6 lead. “I am grateful to Coach Tressel for having enough faith in me to give me another opportunity down near the goal line,” said Schnittker, who earlier in the game fumbled on the 1-yard line as the Buckeyes were getting ready to score.
HUSTON IN THE RECORDS BOOK
Senior place-kicker Josh Huston tied the school records for most field goals in a game and most field goals in a game at Ohio Stadium by booting five treys against Texas. Huston converted from 45, 36, 25, 44, and 26 yards out against the Longhorns, staking OSU to a 22-16 lead. He also narrowly missed from 50 yards away. The five field goals in Ohio Stadium equals the record set by Bob Atha against Indiana in 1981 and matched last year by Mike Nugent, the school’s all-time leading scorer. Atha kicked his five in Ohio Stadium. Nugent’s five came at North Carolina State. Huston’s six field goal attempts against Texas is a school record.
BUCKEYES ENJOY ACADEMIC SUCCESS
A league best 22 Ohio State football players were named to the Big Ten’s All-Academic team last fall, marking the third year in a row the Buckeyes have led the conference in that area. Additionally, a record 44 Ohio State football players qualified for last spring’s annual OSU Scholar-Athlete Dinner, which requires a grade-point average of 3.00 or better for the past academic year. As a team, the Buckeyes have an overall GPA of 2.82.
THREE BUCKEYES PLACED ON SCHOLARSHIP
Seniors Steve Winner, John Conroy and Rob “Chic” Harley have been put on scholarship by Coach Jim Tressel.
“They have worked hard and deserve it,” said the Ohio State coach. “It is nice to be able to reward players for their work ethic. All three have a passion to be here, so I know this is special for them.”
Winner is from Dublin, Ohio, Conroy from Bay Village, Ohio and Harley from Elmhurst, Ill.
HAWK NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Linebacker A.J. Hawk was selected as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the Texas game. Hawk had 12 tackles against the Longhorns, including three tackles-for-loss and two sacks. He also had an interception return of 24 yards and recovered a fumble
POSITION CHANGES TO NOTE
Brandon Smith, a redshirt freshman from Euclid, Ohio, has moved from linebacker to tight end and has switched from No. 54 to No. 87. Smith’s move was necessitated by the loss of Rory Nicol, who is out with a foot injury. The 6-3, 240-pound Smith currently is listed behind starter Ryan Hamby. Additionally, a slimmer and trimmer Brandon Schnittker (250 down to 235) has moved from fullback to tailback, and redshirt-freshman Shaun Lane from cornerback to tailback. Senior Robbie Sims, the Buckeyes starting left tackle the past two years, has moved to left guard.
HUSTON GETS DEGREE
Kicker Josh Huston was one of 23 Ohio State student-athletes to receive an undergraduate degree Aug. 28. With a degree in real estate and urban development already completed, Huston will begin work on another undergrad degree in psychology when fall classes begin in late September.
THE BUCKEYES ALL-TIME
Ohio State enters the game against Iowa this week with an all-time record of 767-299-53 since first fielding a football team in 1890. That includes a Big Ten record of 418-161-24 since 1913, an Ohio Stadium slate of 357-102-20 since 1922 and a bowl mark of 17-19.
BUCKEYE CAPTAINS
Linebacker A.J. Hawk, center Nick Mangold, safety Nate Salley and offensive guard Robbie Sims are the 2005 captains. The four seniors were elected by a vote of their teammates. Hawk and Mangold are both from Centerville, Ohio (as is Mike Nugent who was one of last year’s co-captains and Kirk Herbstreit, who captained the 1992 team). Salley is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Sims from Macedonia, Ohio.
SEVEN ROOKIES SEE ACTION IN OPENER
Seven true freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Buckeyes against Miami. Offensive tackle Alex Boone, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, linebacker James Laurinaitis, safety Jamario O’Neal, flanker Brian Robiskie, tailback Maurice Wells and defensive end Lawrence Wilson all saw action in the season opener.
COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS
There are two new faces on the Ohio State coaching staff this year, both on the defensive side of the ball. Tim Beckman has taken over as the cornerbacks coach and Paul Haynes has assumed the role of safeties coach. Beckman comes to Ohio State from Bowling Green, where he spent the past seven seasons. Haynes, who grew up in Columbus and played at DeSales High School, was at Michigan State the past two years.
OTHER COACHING CHANGES
With the departures of defensive coordinator Mark Snyder for Marshall and Mel Tucker for the Cleveland Browns, veteran OSU assistant Jim Heacock has been elevated to defensive coordinator and Luke Fickell to co-defensive coordinator. Additionally, wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell will now serve as assistant head coach. This marks the second-consecutive year the Buckeyes have started the season with a new defensive coordinator, but Heacock is a former head coach who is in his 10th season at Ohio State and Fickell is in his fourth year on Tressel’s staff.
COACHING RESPONSIBILITIES
Offensive coordinator Jim Bollman and quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels will be in the press box for the Buckeyes during the game as will cornerbacks coach Tim Beckman and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell.
GAME 1–MIAMI (OHIO)
The Buckeyes opened the season with a 34-14 win over the RedHawks before an Ohio Stadium crowd of 104,695. The Buckeyes led 20-0 at the half and 34-0 after three quarters before giving up two late touchdowns.
Quarterback Justin Zwick completed 17 of 23 passes for 155 yards and one touchdown and Antonio Pittman rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries to pace a balanced OSU attack. Four different receivers caught five passes from Zwick and backup Todd Boeckman, including Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr., both of whom were on the receiving end of touchdown tosses.
The OSU defense, meanwhile, was its same aggressive and productive self, limiting Miami to just 159 yards through the first three periods, recording five sacks and scoring on a 26-yard interception return by Donte Whitner that put the Buckeyes ahead 20-0 with one minute, 21 seconds to play in the half and took most of the starch out of the visitors.
Linebacker A.J. Hawk led the defense with 10 tackles. The Buckeyes’ starting linebacker corps of Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel all had sacks. So did Whitner and defensive end Mike Kudla, who forced a fumble that led to OSU’s final touchdown – a 42-yard Boeckman-to-Ginn pass. The Buckeyes ended the afternoon with 382 yards (220 passing, 160 rushing) on offense. Miami finished with 298.
GAME 2 — TEXAS
The first meeting between the two football giants was everything it was supposed to be and then some. With a national television audience looking in and a record Ohio Stadium crowd on hand, the teams battled back-and-forth in an epic struggle that will go down in history as one of the classic games ever played in the Horseshoe.
After falling behind 10-0 at the end of the first period, the Buckeyes led 16-13 at the half and 22-16 after three quarters. But the Longhorns took a 23-22 lead with 2:37 to play and then added a safety with 19 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
Led by All-America linebacker A.J. Hawk, the Buckeye defense forced three turnovers, including a pair of interceptions. Hawk, who seemed to be everywhere, had one of those picks and also recovered a fumble. The Buckeyes’ starting linebacker trio of Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel combined for 31 tackles.
Josh Huston tied the school record with five field goals and narrowly missed on a sixth. The Buckeyes’ only touchdown came on a 36-yard pass from Troy Smith to Santonio Holmes, tying the score at 10-all with 8:11 to play in the first half. In addition to catching four passes for 73 yards, Holmes also returned three kickoffs for 109 yards.
Sophomore Antonio Pittman led the Buckeyes in rushing for the second-consecutive week, finishing with 75 yards on 17 carries and repeatedly picking up additional yards with extra effort.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa got back in the win column last Saturday with a 45-21 victory over Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes opened the season with a 56-0 home win over Ball State before dropping a 23-3 contest to in-state rival Iowa State.
In their first three games, Iowa is averaging 34.7 points and 428.0 yards of offense per game. The Hawkeyes have a balanced offense, averaging 215.0 yards on the ground and 213 yards through the air. Quarterback Drew Tate has played in all three games, but went down early against Iowa State after being sidelined with a concussion. He has completed 29-of-39 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns. He has been picked off once. Three receivers have at least 100 yards receiving. Clinton Solomon has eight catches for 154 yards and three scores, while Ed Hinkel has 10 catches for 104 yards and Scott Chandler has 10 catches for 102 yards. Albert Young has 36 carries for 298 yards and three scores.
Defensively, Iowa is limiting opponents to 14.7 points and 278.3 yards per game, limiting opponents to 108.3 yards rushing and 170.0 yards receiving. Opponents have scored just one rushing touchdown compared to four by the pass. Chad Greenway leads the team with 35 tackles, including 22 solo stops. He has two tackles-for-loss. Abdul Hodge is second on the team with 27 tackles and has two tackles-for-loss and one sack. Mitch King, third on the team with 16 tackles, has six tackles-for-loss, while Mike Follett paces the Hawkeyes with three of the team’s eight sacks. The unit has two interceptions and has recovered two fumbles in the first three games.
After opening the Big Ten slate this week vs. Ohio State, the Hawkeyes will host Illinois, go to Purdue, return home for games against Indiana and Michigan before road contests at Northwestern and Wisconsin. Iowa, which does not play Michigan State or Penn State this year, closes out the regular season at home vs. Minnesota.
IOWA’S LAST GAME
Quarterback Drew Tate returned from a concussion to throw two touchdown passes and running back Albert Young scored two of his own as Iowa ran its home win streak to 20 games with a 45-21 victory over Northern Iowa last Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes led 31-7 at the half as five of their first six drives ended in a score. They scored a touchdown in each of the third and fourth quarters. Iowa ran for 231 yards of its 496 total yards on offense, but allowed 368 yards by UNI though limited the Panthers to 105 rushing yards. Tate was 15-for-18 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
COACH KIRK FERENTZ
Kirk Ferentz (Connecticut, 1978) is in his seventh season at Iowa and carries a 44-32 record with the Hawkeyes. Now in his 10th season as a collegiate head coach, Ferentz is 56-53. He is 27-21 in Big Ten games. Under his direction, Iowa has compiled a 31-7 over the last three seasons, winning at least 10 games each year and sharing the Big Ten title in 2002 and 2004. The Hawkeyes were 11-2 in 2002, 10-3 in 2003 and 10-2 last season. The Hawkeyes have appeared in four straight bowl games winning three of the four. Ferentz joined the Iowa staff after a six-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens/Cleveland Browns. He coached three seasons at Maine from 1990-92 where he was 12-21. He was an assistant under longtime Iowa coach Hayden Fry at Iowa from 1981-89.
NEXT WEEK
The Buckeyes are off next week, returning to action the following Saturday at Penn State in their first road game of the year. The game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN 2 and will kickoff at 7 or 7:45 p.m. EDT.
