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One stat bodes very well for Iowa heading into Week 1 matchup against Purdue
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Set to travel to Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be gunning for their second-straight victory over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday.
As Tom Kakert, publisher of HawkeyeReport.com, pointed out on Twitter, Kirk Ferentz’ team has at least one fact working in their favor.
Fun fact, Iowa has faced a defense led by former Hawkeye Bob Diaco one time. Iowa rushed for 313 yards in that game. Diaco will lead the Purdue defense on Saturday.
— Tom Kakert (@HawkeyeReport) October 21, 2020
This previous meeting came in 2017, during Diaco’s lone season as the defensive coordinator for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Unsurprisingly, Iowa cruised to a 56-14 victory that day at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Fresh off a 10-3 (6-3 B1G) season that culminated in a San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl victory over the USC Trojans, the Hawkeyes return their leading rusher from 2019, sophomore Tyler Goodson. The program also welcomes back senior Mekhi Sargent, who finished as their second-leading ground-gainer last fall with 563 yards and four touchdowns on 119 carries.
With Iowa set to break in a new quarterback in redshirt sophomore Spencer Petras, it would not be surprising to see the team rely heavily on this running back duo, meaning Diaco’s Boilermakers will have their work cut out for them.
Saturday’s action will kick at 3:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.