Purdue vs. Iowa Game Preview
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m.
TV: Peacock – Jac Collinsworth, Jason Garrett, and Zora Stephenson on the call.
Last Meeting: Iowa beat Purdue at West Lafayette, 24-3
The Weather: Partly cloudy skies with temps around 60. Winds 10-15 mph.
The Line: Iowa is a 2.5 point favorite.
History: This will be the 1,300th game in Iowa football history. Purdue holds a 50-40-3 advantage in the overall series. The Boilermakers have won four of the last six meetings and 11 of the last 17. Iowa is 22-21-2 in games played in Iowa City.
THE BREAKDOWN
Iowa rush offense vs. Purdue rush defense
The struggles for the Iowa ground game continued last week against Michigan State. Iowa had just 61 yards rushing and averaged 2.3 yards per carry. For the season, Iowa is averaging only 107 yards per game on the ground and they have five rushing touchdowns.
Leshon Williams is Iowa’s leading rusher with 211 yards on the ground. Kamari Moulton is listed as the backup. He has 93 yards rushing this year and has a pair of touchdown runs. There is a chance that Iowa gets Kaleb Johnson back. Last year, Johnson rushed for a career high 200 yards against Purdue.
The Boilermakers are allowing 148.0 yards per game on the ground. They have given up 4.1 yards per carry and 11 rushing touchdowns. Safety Dillion Thieneman is their leading tackler with 45 stops. Linebackers Sanoussi Kane and Kydan Jenkins have 23 tackles. Jenkins leads the team with six tackles for loss with fellow linebacker Nick Scourton has 5.5 tackles for loss.
Can Iowa get over 100 yards? They haven’t against a Big Ten team this season. If they can, then Iowa will be in good shape. ADVANTAGE: PUSH
Iowa pass offense vs. Purdue pass defense
The Hawkeye passing game is a bit different than it was a week ago. Cade McNamara was injured against Michigan State and tore his ACL. He will be out for the rest of the season. In his place, Deacon Hill completed 11 passes on 27 attempts for 115 yards and one touchdown. He did deal with six drops against the Spartans. Overall, Iowa is averaging only 133 yards in the air and five touchdowns.
Erick All is the leading receiver with 14 receptions for 183 yards and a pair of scores. Nico Ragaini has 8 catches for 70 yards. Diante Vines has 7 receptions for 63 yards, Seth Anderson, Steven Stillianos and Addison Ostenga are also going to be in the mix in the passing game.
The Purdue passing game is allowing 249.8 yards per game and they have allowed 7 touchdown passes. The Boilers have five interceptions this season with Thieneman picking off a pair while Cam Allan also has two. They also have 18 passes that they have broken up this season with Marquis Wilson leading Boilermakers with six.
From a pass rush perspective, the Purdue defense has 17 sacks of the quarterback this season. Jenkins is leading the team with 4 and Scourton has 3 sacks. Purdue is credited with 16 quarterback hurries this season and again, Jenkins is at the top with six this season. Given the change at quarterback and the limits to Iowa’s passing game, hard to see Iowa having success and the Purdue pass rush should be a huge concern. ADVANTAGE: PURDUE
Purdue rush offense vs. Iowa rush defense
Hello, old friend. That’s what will be happening with the Purdue ground game. The Boilermakers leading rusher so far this season is former Hawkeye wide receiver Tyrone Tracy. He moved from receiver to running back, the positon he played in high school, during spring ball. He has rushed for 288 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and he has five touchdowns.
Iowa will also see Devin Mockobee running the ball, but he has fumbled six times this year. He has 283 yards rushing this year. Another name to watch is Dylan Dowling with 104 yards on the ground. QB Hudson Card is also a capable rusher. Overall, the Boilers are rushing for 151 yards per game and averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
The Hawkeyes ground game has gotten gashed a bit in the last two weeks. Penn State rushed for over 250 yards two weeks ago and then Michigan State had a 100 yard rusher. Iowa is allowing 138 yards per game on the ground and that’s a higher than normal number. However, they have not allowed a rushing touchdown. Jay Higgins leads the team with 62 tackles. Nick Jackson is second with 46 stops. Cooper DeJean has 30 tackles. Jackson leads the team with 4.5 tackles for loss and Sebastian Castro is at three tackles for loss. Good battle here. Purdue has run the ball well, but I think Iowa will be motivated to stuff Tracy. ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO IOWA
Purdue pass offense vs. Iowa pass defense
For many years the Purdue offense has revolved around throwing the football. It still does to some extent, but not as much as you think. Hudson Card is 111-174 (63.8%) for 1244 yards and five touchdowns. He has thrown three interceptions this season.
The Boilers have three receivers who have caught 20 or more passes. They are led by Abdur Rahmaan- Yaseen with 24 receptions for 315 yards. Max Klare is at 22 receptions for 196 yards this season. Deion Burkes has 20 receptions for an impressive 377 yards and four touchdowns. Also TJ Sheffield has 18 receptions for 191 yards.
Iowa’s pass defense is coming off their best performance of the season. It included three interceptions and limiting Michigan State to under 200 yards passing. Overall, Iowa is giving up 182.6 yards per game and seven touchdowns this season.
The Hawkeyes have five interceptions on the season. Sebastian Castro has a team high two picks this year. Iowa is also credited with breaking up 18 passes this year. One of the crazy stats from this year is that the Hawkeyes have yet to register a sack against a power five school. They only have three on the season. They have put up 18 quarterback hurries. Joe Evans leads with 6 and Deontae Craig has 4.
ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO PURDUE
Special Teams
Tory Taylor remains one of the top punters in college football. He has 30 punts this year for an average of 48.2 yards. He has dropped 10 punts inside the 20 yard line. Drew Stevens has been great on field goals and kickoffs. He is 8-9 this year with a long of 53 yards. Cooper DeJean will handle punt returns and is averaging 14.2 yards per return. Last week he returned a punt for a 70 yard touchdown. Kaden Wetjen is expected to return kickoffs and is averaging 25.8 yards per return.
Jack Ansell handles the punting duties for the Boilermakers. He averages 40.3 yards per punt and has seven punts inside the 20 yard line. Purdue has used a pair of placekickers this year. Ben Freehill and Julio Macias handle the duties. Freehill is 1-3 on the year and Macias is 2-2. TJ Sheffield handles the punt returns and is averaging 8.4 yards per return. Tyrone Tracy is handling kickoff returns. He took one back for a score this year and is averaging 33.7 yards per return. ADVANTAGE: IOWA
THE LAST CALL
Until last year, Purdue has been a thorn in the side of the Iowa football program. Iowa finally got over on them to the tune of 24-3 last year and Kaleb Johnson rushed for 200 yards. Brohm is gone and Ryan Walters arrives to run the program.
Purdue is coming off their most impressive performance of the year, strong win over Illinois where they pulled away late. This will be a much tougher task on the road at Iowa. Purdue did win at Virginia Tech, who admittedly is not all that good this year.
One thing we will remember is that Walters was the defensive coordinator at Illinois and he throttled the Hawkeyes last year in Champaign. However, the talent at Illinois last year on defense was much better than the Boilers have this year.
However, one of the biggest concerns heading into this contest is protecting the Iowa quarterback, Deacon Hill. Iowa has been spotty in their protection lately and Purdue will get after it with their five man front. How well the Hawkeyes do at keeping Hill clean could determine the result. I do expect Hill to use his big arm and throw it deep a good amount on Saturday afternoon.
I think this one comes down to a key turnover and perhaps a field goal. Purdue is deficient in the kicking category and Iowa has a steady and impressive player in Drew Stevens. IOWA 17 PURDUE 14. My pick to click this week is Deacon Hill. He throws for 200 yards a pair of touchdowns.
The post Purdue vs. Iowa Game Preview appeared first on On3.
