The Hawkeyes got out to a fast start against the Wildcats last week, scoring on 2 of their first 3 drives, but then things stalled a bit. There were some decent drives to be sure, but they were ended by turnovers and the offense could only muster another 3 points. Braeden Jackson’s 2nd KO return for a TD (in 5 total attempts on the season) helped salt the win away, but it’s hard to feel particularly great about the offense stalling out for more than half the game.
Thankfully, the defense played a full game
and shut down NW at nearly every turn. Yeah, they gave up a meaningless (ref-assisted) TD in garbage time, but still, they shut down the 20th total offense in the country (even if they were missing their starting QB) for a decisive win.
OMHR, on the other hand, had a pretty tough second half against Maryland which led to their DC being fired the following morning. Purdue has had a tough go of it in Barry Odom’s second year. They have a potent offense, but they just cannot seem to stop anyone that plays power conference football. They’ve put up some big numbers against good defenses – 36 on Wake Forest (#8 total, #13 scoring), 38 on UCLA (#12 total, #10 scoring) – and only Notre Dame’s defense (#3 total/scoring) was able to keep them under 15 points.
The records here would indicate that this should be a walk in the park for Iowa, but the numbers paint a slightly less rosey picture.
The Teams
- Iowa: 7-2 overall, 4-2 conference (No. 16 AP / No. 15 Coaches / No. 15 CFP)
- Purdue: 3-6 overall, 2-4 conference (unranked)
Series History
- All-time record: Purdue leads 50-41-3. Saturday is the 95th meeting; the series began with a 16-0 Iowa win in 1910.
- Most recent meeting: Iowa won 20-14 on Oct. 7, 2023, at Kinnick Stadium.
- Current streak: Iowa has won 2 straight (24-3 at West Lafayette in 2022, 20-14 in 2023).
- Notable:
- Iowa is 23-21-2 all-time against Purdue in Iowa City. Purdue’s last win there was 24-7 in 2021, when Iowa was ranked No. 2 (the loss ended Iowa’s 12-game win streak;
- The 1994 game in West Lafayette ended 21-21, Iowa’s last tie before overtime.
- Iowa has won 8 straight night games at Kinnick (since 2022) and 24 of its last 29 November games (since 2019).
- Military Appreciation Game; kickoff 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
Coaching Staff
- Iowa: Kirk Ferentz (28th season; 216-130 at Iowa; 13-8 vs. Purdue as Iowa’s head coach) / Tim Lester, OC (3rd season) / Phil Parker, DC (15th season) / Chris Polizzi, ST Coordinator (1st season)
- Purdue: Barry Odom, HC (2nd season; 5-16 at Purdue; first game vs. Iowa as a head coach — he was a Missouri assistant when Iowa beat Missouri in the 2010 Insight Bowl) / Josh Henson, OC (2nd season) / DC vacant — Kevin Kane was fired Nov. 8 after nine games, and Odom says he won’t reveal who is calling the defense until after Saturday (he has called defenses himself at previous stops) / James Shibest, ST Coordinator.
Offense
Purdue is averaging ~11 more yards and 1.6 more points per game, all through the air: Ryan Browne is second in the Big Ten in passing yards, and Purdue is 37-of-40 in the red zone (92.5%, 20th nationally), though only 22 of those trips ended in touchdowns. I imagine that the Boilermakers will try to get Fame Ijeboi going early on Saturday to force Iowa into accounting for both the pass and the run, and I won’t be surprised if they do it with some intermediate passing to both him and Xavier Townsend. Browne is probably the better QB with that name starting this game, and the short to mid-range passing will be needed to keep the Iowa DLine at bay, given that Purdue is allowing nearly 3 sacks per game.
Iowa’s edge is on the ground (56 more rushing yards per game) and in protection: 8 sacks allowed in nine games (8th in FBS). Purdue is on pace for its highest scoring average since 2018, but scored 10 against Notre Dame and 17 at Penn State. Iowa will again be without starting center Cael Winter, but Mike Myslinski played pretty well in his first start and I don’t see Purdue’s DLine being able to put Hank under too much pressure. They’ll need to get the ball into the hands of TD14, RVZ, and DJV early and often to open up the running lanes for LJ Smith, Xavier Williams, and Braeden Jackson.
ADVANTAGE: Purdue (narrowly)
Defense
Iowa’s defense is much better than Purdue’s, to the tune of ~139 yards and 20 points per game. Iowa is 3rd nationally in scoring defense, 5th against the run and 9th in total defense, averages 3.33 sacks per game (2nd in the Big Ten), holds opponents to a .291 third-down rate, and has allowed one touchdown in its last nine quarters, with three shutouts on the year so far (the most Iowa has recorded in the Kirk Ferentz era). At Northwestern it had six sacks and held the Wildcats to 1-of-11 on third down and 2.8 yards per carry.
Purdue is last in the Big Ten in total defense, 17th in scoring, rushing and passing defense, and 18th in yards allowed per play (6.8). Opponents convert 47.5% of third downs, the league’s worst mark. Maryland scored 27 second-half points last week, with five explosive plays leading to touchdowns. LB Charles Correa has six pass breakups, tied for the most by a linebacker nationally.
ADVANTAGE: Iowa
Special Teams
Purdue has the better kicker; Iowa has the better return game.
True freshman Jacobo Echeverria Lozano is 21-of-22 (his only miss was from 49 at Wake Forest), leads the Big Ten and ranks 2nd nationally in made field goals, went 5-of-5 vs. Maryland, and leads FBS in FG% (min. 15 attempts). Purdue is 19th nationally in net punting (42.7), has punted only 26 times, and has blocked two punts (both by Bisi Owens, tops nationally), one returned for a TD at Penn State.
Iowa’s kickoff-return unit is No. 1 nationally (47 yards per return), with Braeden Jackson’s two return TDs. Evan James is 14th in FBS in punt-return average. Caden Buhr has made 9 straight field goals, including a 52-yarder at Northwestern (3-of-5 from 50+), and Boston Everitt has 22 of 39 punts downed inside the 20.
I’d prefer that this game not come down to the leg of Caden Buhr or Jacobo Lozano, so let’s just score a whole mess of touchdowns.
ADVANTAGE: Push
Numbers to Watch
- 9 – Hank Brown, Iowa QB – 125-of-190 (65.8%) for 1,316 yards and 9 TD in eight games. 36-of-45 for 348 yards and 3 TD over his last two games. At Northwestern: 16-of-21 for 126 yards, a 24-yard TD to Tony Diaz and an INT, plus a 21-yard TD run on the opening drive. 11-of-13 in the first half, 5-of-8 for 24 yards after it.
- 33 – Cam Buffington, Iowa LB – Team-high 82 tackles (9.1 per game, 2nd in the Big Ten), Big Ten-leading 47 solo tackles, 9 TFL and 3 sacks. 12 tackles at Northwestern.
- 22 – Braeden Jackson, Iowa RB/KR – Two kickoff-return TDs this season (on 5 attempts): 99 yards at Michigan and 96 at Northwestern, the latter right after Northwestern’s first points. Averaging 50.4 yards on 5 returns. Hopefully they can get him more involved in the offense (that wheel route against UNI was a thing of beauty) starting this week.
- 15 – Ryan Browne, Purdue QB – 179-of-288 (62.2%) for 2,260 yards, 11 TD and 5 INT; 2nd in the Big Ten in passing yards and 19th nationally. 24-of-38 for 296 yards vs. Maryland, but lost a fumble and was sacked on the game’s final play. Became the 12th Boilermaker with 5,000 career passing yards.
- 2 – Fame Ijeboi, Purdue RB – 620 yards and 10 rushing TDs on 160 carries (11 total TDs). The first Boilermaker with double-digit rushing TDs since 2015. The Minnesota transfer ran for 195 yards and 3 TDs against his old team.
Injury Report
Iowa
- Cael Winter, OL #61 — DOUBTFUL. Ferentz said Tuesday that Winter is the only player in real doubt and he isn’t counting on him for Purdue. Michael Myslinski starts at center.
- Jacob Wallace, DB #11 — QUESTIONABLE. The only new Iowa name on the report.
- Cannon Leonard, OL #75 — OUT (season-ending; injured in practice last week). Ferentz said he’s “on a good path” and should be back next semester.
- Lucas Allgeyer, OL #60 — OUT. Third straight week on the report.
- Kamari Moulton, RB #28 — OUT for the season (shoulder; Hank Brown said he had surgery last week). L.J. Phillips Jr. (128 yards on 21 carries in his first career start at Northwestern) is listed as the starter, with an “OR” for Xavier Williams. Williams limped off in the second quarter at Northwestern, favoring his left leg, but returned and isn’t on the report.
- Tyler Brown, DB #2; Kyler Gerardy, DB #19; Burke Gautcher, LB #10; Brody Schaffer, WR #11 — OUT. All four were also out last week; Brown and Gerardy have missed most of the season.
- Off the report (available): OL Trent Wilson, who was out the last few weeks; S Zach Lutmer and CB Jaylen Watson, who were questionable before Northwestern and later upgraded to probable; and TE DJ Vonnahme, TE Zach Ortwerth and WR Dayton Howard.
Purdue
- Rodney Lora, DL #94 — OUT. A rotational defensive tackle missing his third straight game.
- Jaden Mangham, DB #2 — QUESTIONABLE. A regular starter at safety, he has missed the last two games. He was ruled out against Penn State after being listed questionable on Wednesday and Thursday and doubtful on Friday. Against Maryland he was a game-time decision but didn’t play a snap.
Lines
As of: Nov. 12, 2026
- Point spread: Iowa -17.5
- Over/Under: 47.5
- Moneyline: Iowa -950 / Purdue +640
[Insert Narrative]
