Iowa’s offense made national headlines last season for the team’s ineptitude on the offensive side of the ball, ranking 129th out of 130 FBS teams in scoring offense.
The Hawkyes looked like a different team in their season-opener on Saturday, totaling 492 yards of total offense in a dominant 40-0 win over Illinois State. Starting quarterback Cade McNamara had his best game since transferring to Iowa in 2023, throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
The 40 points the Hawkeyes scored were more than what they had in all but one game last season. Their 492 total yards of offense was more than double the amount the team averaged per game last year (234.6).
As Iowa’s offense might be finally catching up with the modern times, let’s take a look at the Hawkeyes’ performance by the numbers.
40: Iowa’s 40-point output was a strong way to start the season. It was also the first time that it scored that many points in a season-opener since 2016, when it defeated Miami (OH), 45-21.
46: Iowa was Ferentz-less on Saturday, with head coach Kirk Ferentz serving a one-game suspension due to a recruiting violation. So, interim coach Seth Wallace became the first coach other than Ferentz to lead Iowa to a win in the 21st century as Ferentz is in his 26th season coaching the Hawkeyes. When you include Ferentz’s predecessor, Hayden Fry, Wallace is just the third coach to win a game for Iowa in 46 years.
3: McNamara tossed three touchdowns on Saturday, marking the first time an Iowa quarterback has thrown that many touchdowns in a game since Spencer Petras threw three touchdowns against Maryland on Oct. 1, 2021.
250: McNamara also threw for 251 yards in Saturday’s game. It marked the first time that an Iowa quarterback crossed the 250-yard mark since Petras in that aforementioned game against Maryland in 2021. Petras threw for 258 yards that day.
2: Reece Vander Zee, a three-star freshman in the Class of 2024, had a strong college debut. The freshman receiver had five receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s game. With his two touchdown grabs, Vander Zee became the first Iowa player to have multiple touchdown receptions in a game since Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had two touchdown grabs against Wisconsin on Dec. 12, 2020.
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Illinois State Redbirds Highlights
3: In addition to Vander Zee, junior receiver Jacob Gill had a touchdown reception in Saturday’s game. The three touchdown grabs, which occurred in less than 12 minutes in Saturday’s game, matched the number of touchdowns that Iowa’s receivers had all of last season. Iowa’s receivers also had just three total receiving touchdowns in the 2022 season, too.
34: Iowa scored five touchdowns following halftime on Saturday, leading to 34 second-half points. That marked the most points it’s had in the second half of a game since it scored 42 second-half points in its 56-14 win over Nebraska in 2017.
492: Iowa’s 492 yards of total offense certainly wasn’t something Hawkeye fans have been used to the last few years. That’s the most offensive yards Iowa’s had in a game since 2019, when it had 644 yards of total offense against Middle Tennessee.
23: Iowa also had 23 first downs in Saturday’s game, the most it’s had in a game since its win over Northwestern in 2022. It only had more than 15 first downs in a game three times last season.
5: This is only Iowa’s fifth 40-point game since 2020 (last five seasons). Its 51-14 win at Maryland in 2021 was the most points Iowa has scored in a game over the last five seasons.
0: While Iowa’s offense has faltered in recent years, its defense has been stout. Still, Saturday marked the first time that it had shut out its opponent in a season-opener since 2005, when it beat Ball State, 56-0.
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