2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by Kirk Ferentz in his 21st season as head coach.
Iowa began the year with four straight wins, including an 18–17 road victory over rival [2019 2019 Iowa State Cyclones football team|Iowa State Cyclones football team|Iowa State] with College GameDay present. After losing games to three ranked opponents - at No. 19 Michigan, No. 10 Penn State, and at No. 13 Wisconsin - by a total of 14 points, the Hawkeyes knocked off another rival, unbeaten No. 8 [2019 2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota], 23–19, to start a four-game win streak to close the season. After long-time athletic director Bump Elliott and head coach Hayden Fry died in December, Iowa capped the 2019 season with a resounding 49–24 win over No. 22 [2019 2019 USC Trojans football team|USC Trojans football team|USC] in the Holiday Bowl. The Hawkeyes finished with a record of 10–3, the sixth season with 10+ wins in the Ferentz era.
Junior kicker Keith Duncan was named Big Ten Kicker of the Year and was selected as a consensus First-team All-American. Junior offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, and later became the 10th Iowa player of the Ferentz era taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. After leading the Big Ten in sacks his sophomore season, junior defensive end A. J. Epenesa had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2019, and was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Michael Ojemudia and Geno Stone became the fourth and fifth Iowa defensive backs drafted between 2017 and 2020. Nate Stanley, a three-year starter at quarterback, was also selected.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Lott Trophy	A. J. Epenesa	DE	JR
Maxwell Award	Nate Stanley	QB	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award	A. J. Epenesa	DE	JR
Davey O'Brien Award	Nate Stanley	QB	SR
Doak Walker Award	Mekhi Sargent	RB	JR
John Mackey Award	Nate Wieting	TE	SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy	A. J. Epenesa	DE	JR
Outland Trophy	Alaric Jackson	OT	JR
Outland Trophy	Tristan Wirfs	OT	JR
Paul Hornung Award	Ihmir Smith-Marsette	WR & RS	JR
Walter Camp Award	Nate Stanley	QB	SR

Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Iowa was projected to finish in second in the West Division behind [2019 2019 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team|Nebraska Cornhuskers football team|Nebraska].

Schedule

Iowa's 2019 schedule began with a non-conference home game against the Miami RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference. Iowa's Big Ten Conference opener was the second week against [2019 2019 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team|Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team|Rutgers]. They finished off their non-conference slate with a road game against in-state rival Iowa State, a member of the Big 12 Conference, and then a home game against Middle Tennessee of Conference USA.
In Big Ten Conference play, Iowa played all members of the West Division and Rutgers, Michigan, and Penn State from the East Division.
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Game summaries

Miami (OH)

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Iowa played its first ever season-opening night game. Typical of first games under Ferentz, Iowa started out slow. The offense wasn't clicking for a great deal of the first half, but found a rhythm in the second as Iowa put up four touchdowns. The Hawkeyes had a balanced attack with 252 yards passing and 213 rushing with several running backs.

Statistics	M-OH	IOWA
First downs	11	26
Total yards	245	465
Rushing yards	59	213
Passing yards	186	252
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	24:03	35:57

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Miami	Passing	Brett Gabbert	17/27, 186 yards, 2 TD, INT
Miami	Rushing	Davion Johnson	6 carries, 22 yards
Miami	Receiving	Jack Sorenson	5 receptions, 44 yards, TD
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	21/30, 252 yards, 3 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Mekhi Sargent	14 carries, 91 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Mekhi Sargent	4 receptions, 65 yards

Rutgers

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Iowa went to the air early and often in their Big Ten opener. On his second touchdown pass, Nate Stanley passed Ricky Stanzi for third all-time on Iowa's career passing touchdown list. Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a career-high 113 yards receiving and two touchdowns. The Hawkeyes defense was smothering, shutting out the Scarlet Knights and forced three turnovers.

Statistics	RUT	IOWA
First downs	5	23
Total yards	125	438
Rushing yards	78	194
Passing yards	47	244
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	22:22	37:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Rutgers	Passing	McLane Carter	6/16, 28 yards, INT
Rutgers	Rushing	Isiah Pacheco	9 carries, 36 yards
Rutgers	Receiving	Isiah Pacheco	4 receptions, 31 yards
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	16/28, 236 yards, 3 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Mekhi Sargent Toren Young	13 carries, 59 yards 9 carries, 59 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Ihmir Smith-Marsette	4 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD

At Iowa State

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ESPN's College GameDay was in Ames for the rivalry game with Lee Corso picking Iowa State to win the match-up. There were two weather delays in the first half which effectively made it a night game. It ended up being a back-and-forth contest with Iowa kicker Keith Duncan hitting four crucial field goals to keep the Hawkeyes in the game. Iowa held the Cyclones on a critical fourth down, however Iowa State still had a chance with over a minute in regulation. An Iowa State player ran into his teammate attempting to field the punt and it resulted in a muffed ball that Iowa pounced on. With the Cyclones having spent all their timeouts already, the Hawkeyes were simply able to run out the clock and the Cy-Hawk trophy remained in Iowa City for a fifth year in a row.

Statistics	IOWA	IOWA ST
First downs	18	20
Total yards	313	418
Rushing yards	112	91
Passing yards	201	327
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	34:58	25:02

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	22/35, 201 yards
Iowa	Rushing	Mekhi Sargent	13 carries, 58 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Nico Ragaini	5 receptions, 43 yards
Iowa State	Passing	Brock Purdy	24/34, 276 yards, TD
Iowa State	Rushing	Kene Nwangwu	6 carries, 54 yards
Iowa State	Receiving	Tarique Milton	8 receptions, 144 yards, TD

Middle Tennessee

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The Hawkeyes put up 644 yards of total offense as the Blue Raiders were unable to stop them. Toren Young was the most outstanding of the several Iowa backs that were able to play with 131 yards rushing on the day, and Nate Stanley had 276 yards passing and two touchdown passes to Brandon Smith. Iowa dominated ball possession, with almost 12 more minutes and forced the Blue Raiders into several three-and-outs.

Statistics	MTSU	IOWA
First downs	12	30
Total yards	216	644
Rushing yards	80	351
Passing yards	136	293
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	24:03	35:57

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Middle Tennessee	Passing	Asher O'Hara	15/22, 110 yards
Middle Tennessee	Rushing	Asher O'Hara	10 carries, 43 yards
Middle Tennessee	Receiving	Jarrin Pierce	6 receptions, 31 yards
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	17/25, 276 yards, 2 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Toren Young	11 carries, 131 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Brandon Smith	6 receptions, 71 yards, 2 TD

At No. 19 Michigan

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Statistics	IOWA	MICH
First downs	18	13
Total yards	261	267
Rushing yards	1	120
Passing yards	260	147
Turnovers	4	1
Time of possession	33:57	26:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	23/42, 260 yards, 3 INT
Iowa	Rushing	Toren Young	8 carries, 40 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Nico Ragaini	6 receptions, 46 yards
Michigan	Passing	Shea Patterson	14/26, 147 yards, INT
Michigan	Rushing	Zach Charbonnet	13 carries, 42 yards, TD
Michigan	Receiving	Donovan Peoples-Jones	4 receptions, 26 yards

No. 10 Penn State

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The Hawkeyes wore alternate gold jerseys. Iowa entered the game not having defeated Penn State since 2010.

Statistics	PSU	IOWA
First downs	20	21
Total yards	294	356
Rushing yards	177	70
Passing yards	117	286
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	32:52	27:08

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Penn State	Passing	Sean Clifford	12/24, 117 yards, TD
Penn State	Rushing	Noah Cain	22 carries, 102 yards, TD
Penn State	Receiving	K. J. Hamler	7 receptions, 61 yards, TD
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	25/43, 286 yards, TD, INT
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	8 carries, 35 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Brandon Smith	7 receptions, 86 yards, TD

Purdue

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Purdue refused to go away in a wild second half. Iowa had to recover two onside kick attempts in order to seal this homecoming victory. The Hawkeyes made the Boilermakers one-dimensional as almost all of their offense came through the air. This marked the 300th combined win of the Fry-Ferentz era.

Statistics	PUR	IOWA
First downs	17	19
Total yards	360	362
Rushing yards	33	102
Passing yards	327	260
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	24:22	35:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Purdue	Passing	Jack Plummer	30/40, 327 yards, 2 TD, INT
Purdue	Rushing	King Doerue	10 carries, 26 yards
Purdue	Receiving	David Bell	13 receptions, 197 yards, TD
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	23/33, 260 yards, INT
Iowa	Rushing	Mekhi Sargent	13 carries, 68 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Brandon Smith	9 receptions, 106 yards

At Northwestern

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Iowa entered the game having lost three of the last four games at Ryan Field. The Hawkeyes were able to shut out the Wildcats for the first time since 1981 and spoil their homecoming. Iowa stopped Northwestern on several fourth down attempts to keep them off the board and did not turn the ball over. Nate Stanley also passed Drew Tate to move up to second on Iowa's career passing touchdown list with his 62nd touchdown.

Statistics	IOWA	NW
First downs	12	13
Total yards	302	202
Rushing yards	123	64
Passing yards	179	138
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	33:31	26:29

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	12/26, 179 yards, TD
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	11 carries, 58 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Tyrone Tracy Jr.	2 receptions, 88 yards, TD
Northwestern	Passing	Aidan Smith	18/32, 138 yards, INT
Northwestern	Rushing	Isaiah Bowser	14 carries, 36 yards
Northwestern	Receiving	Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman	4 receptions, 41 yards

At No. 13 Wisconsin

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Once down 21–6, Iowa battled back and, after a 75-yard pass from Nate Stanley to Tyrone Tracy, had a chance to tie the game on a two-point conversation with 3:12 remaining. It was not to be and Wisconsin won their seventh of eight in this series. This was the first top 20 match-up between the universities since 2010.

Statistics	IOWA	WIS
First downs	15	24
Total yards	295	473
Rushing yards	87	300
Passing yards	208	173
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	22:36	37:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	17/28, 208 yards, 2 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Toren Young	9 carries, 44 yards
Iowa	Receiving	Tyrone Tracy	5 receptions, 130 yards, TD
Wisconsin	Passing	Jack Coan	16/25, 173 yards, 2 TD, INT
Wisconsin	Rushing	Jonathan Tayler	31 carries, 250 yards
Wisconsin	Receiving	Quintez Cephus	5 receptions, 94 yards, TD

No. 8 Minnesota

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The unbeaten Golden Gophers entered the game ranked No. 8 and with CFP aspirations. Iowa was aggressive in the first half and put up three touchdowns. Minnesota was able to drive the ball but failed to score enough and left Iowa City having not defeated the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium since Kirk Ferentz's first year in 1999. The Hawkeye fans stormed the field, fairly reminiscent of a game three years prior when Iowa knocked off a 9–0 Michigan squad that was ranked No. 2.

Statistics	MINN	IOWA
First downs	23	17
Total yards	431	290
Rushing yards	63	117
Passing yards	368	173
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	32:20	27:40

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Minnesota	Passing	Tanner Morgan	25/36, 368 yards, TD
Minnesota	Rushing	Rodney Smith	14 carries, 46 yards, TD
Minnesota	Receiving	Tyler Johnson	9 receptions, 170 yards, TD
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	14/23, 173 yards, 2 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	13 carries, 94 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Tyrone Tracy Jr.	6 receptions, 77 yards

Illinois

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Iowa won its sixth straight in this series, and Illinois hasn't won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999. After a Tyler Goodson touchdown run capped the opening drive, junior kicker Keith Duncan contributed four field goals in a game for the third time this season. On his fourth made kick, Duncan established a new single-season Big Ten record with 27 made field goals. The win over the Illini marked the 96th Big Ten Conference win for head coach Kirk Ferentz, tying him with Hayden Fry.

Statistics	ILL	IOWA
First downs	20	16
Total yards	336	387
Rushing yards	192	79
Passing yards	144	308
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	28:11	31:49

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Brandon Peters	16/31, 125 yards, TD, 2 INT
Illinois	Rushing	Brandon Peters	10 carries, 76 yards
Illinois	Receiving	Josh Imatorbhebhe	4 receptions, 36 yards
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	18/35, 308 yards, INT
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	21 carries, 38 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Ihmir Smith-Marsette	4 receptions, 121 yards

At Nebraska

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After being named a Groza finalist earlier in the week, junior kicker Keith Duncan nailed a 48-yard field goal with one second remaining to clinch the victory. Junior defensive end A. J. Epenesa anchored the defense with 14 tackles, 4.5 TFL, and 2 sacks. Junior Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored two long touchdowns, and freshman Tyler Goodson ran for 116 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an injury. Epenesa earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks, and Duncan was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight week and third time this season. The Hawkeyes extended their winning streak in the series to five games overall, and it was Iowa's fourth consecutive road victory against the Cornhuskers.

Statistics	IOWA	NEB
First downs	13	18
Total yards	324	284
Rushing yards	225	184
Passing yards	99	100
Turnovers	2	2
Time of possession	26:09	33:51

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	11/24, 99 yards, INT
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	13 carries, 116 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Sam LaPorta	3 receptions, 37 yards
Nebraska	Passing	Adrian Martinez	10/18, 50 yards, INT
Nebraska	Rushing	Dedrick Mills	24 carries, 94 yards
Nebraska	Receiving	Dedrick Mills JD Spielman	4 receptions, 34 yards 3 receptions, 34 yards, TD

Vs. No. 22 USC (Holiday Bowl)

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Former head coach Hayden Fry died just ten days prior to the game and the Iowa helmets were without Tigerhawk decals to honor his legacy and impact on the program. Iowa's 49 points is the most in a bowl game under Ferentz, and the Hawkeyes handed USC its worst bowl loss since the 1948 Rose Bowl. Nate Stanley joined Ricky Stanzi as the second quarterback in Iowa history to win three bowl games, and also passed Drew Tate in career passing yards. Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored three touchdowns in the second quarter - a 6-yard run, 98-yard kickoff return, and 12-yard reception - to earn the game's offensive MVP. The Hawkeyes held USC to just seven points in the second half, led by the game's defensive MVP, A. J. Epenesa.

Statistics	USC	IOWA
First downs	20	20
Total yards	356	328
Rushing yards	22	115
Passing yards	334	213
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	26:36	33:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
USC	Passing	Kedon Slovis	22/30, 260 yards, 2 TD
USC	Rushing	Vavae Malepeai	8 carries, 37 yards
USC	Receiving	Amon-Ra St. Brown	9 receptions, 163 yards
Iowa	Passing	Nate Stanley	18/27, 213 yards, 2 TD
Iowa	Rushing	Tyler Goodson	18 carries, 48 yards, TD
Iowa	Receiving	Sam LaPorta	6 receptions, 44 yards

Players drafted into the NFL

1	13	Tristan Wirfs	OT	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2	54	A. J. Epenesa	DE	Buffalo Bills
3	77	Michael Ojemudia	CB	Denver Broncos
7	219	Geno Stone	S	Baltimore Ravens
7	244	Nate Stanley	QB	Minnesota Vikings