By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Saturday’s game between Iowa and Iowa State will mark the 69th meeting in a series that dates back to 1894.

Iowa has a 46-22 advantage in the series and has won the last six games in a row, including a 27-17 victory in Ames last season when Iowa State was ranked ninth nationally.

Neither team is ranked heading into Saturday’s game.

Iowa has consistently won the turnover battle during its current winning streak over the Cyclones, including a 4-0 advantage last season.

Saturday’s game, which starts at 3:05 p.m., and will be televised by the Big Ten Network, will be the first time that Iowa and Iowa State have played at Kinnick Stadium since 2018. The 2020 game was cancelled due to the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has a 13-9 record against the Cyclones, while Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is 0-5 against Iowa.

Here is a look at which team has the advantage at each position heading into Saturday’s game.

 

Quarterback: This is body of work in the case of Spencer Petras versus one impressive performance in the case of new Iowa State starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers.

Body of work usually gets the edge, but Petras has thrown just one touchdown pass and eight interceptions over the last nine games, while Dekkers threw four touchdown passes in his first career start last Saturday, a 42-10 win over Southeast Missouri State.

The Iowa defense will obviously be a huge step up in competition for the left-handed Dekkers, who also is a threat to run. But Petras performed so woefully against South Dakota State that it’s hard to have much confidence in him.

Advantage: Iowa State

 

Running back: Both teams have a new starting running back, so this was a close call. Jirehl Brock has been at Iowa State since 2019, but he has had to wait for his turn while playing behind former All-America running back Breece Hall, who is now in the NFL. Brock finally got his chance as the featured running back in last Saturday’s season-opening win over Southeast Missouri State, and he seized the moment by rushing for 104 yards, including 99 in the second half. He also averaged 6.5 yards per carry in the season opener and had one catch for 13 yards.

Iowa hopes to counter with the one-two punch of Leshon Williams and Gavin Williams at running back. Gavin Williams has been listed as the starter since spring practice, but he missed the season opener due to an injury.

Kirk Ferentz said there is a chance Gavin Williams could play in Saturday’s game.

Leshon Williams carried the load against South Dakota State, rushing for 72 yards, but it took him 24 carries to reach that total. That’s an average of just 3.0 yards per attempt, which leaves much to be desired.

Advantage: Iowa State

 

Receiver: Iowa State senior receiver Xavier Hutchinson started the 2022 season in impressive fashion by catching three touchdown passes in last Saturday’s season opener. He finished the game with eight receptions for 128 receiving yards.

The 6-foot-3, 208-pound Hutchinson has at least one reception in each of his 26 games as a Cyclone. He will enter Saturday’s game with 155 career receptions, which ranks seventh at Iowa State, and with 1,886 receiving yards which ranks eighth at Iowa State. He also has 12 touchdown catches as a Cyclone.

Sophomore Jaylin Noel has 11 multi-catch games in 14 career appearances as a Cyclone, including six receptions in the season opener.

Iowa, on the other hand, only had two scholarship receivers that dressed for the season opener last Saturday. Sophomore Arland Bruce was the only Iowa receiver to have a catch in the season opener as he finished with five catches for 68 yards.

Iowa’s lack of depth at receiver is one of the biggest concerns for an offense that at times looked dysfunctional against FCS opponent South Dakota State.

Sophomore Keagan Johnson was expected to be one of Iowa’s top receivers this season, but he is out indefinitely for undisclosed reasons.

Advantage: Iowa State

 

Tight end: Iowa has one of best tight ends in the country in senior Sam LaPorta, who led the team last season with 53 catches for 670 yards. His backup, sophomore Luke Lachey, also excels as a blocker and is expected to help more as pass catcher this season.

Iowa State, on the other hand, had to replace two of the best tight ends in program history with Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen both having graduated.

Easton Dean and Jared Rus both have nice potential, but they’re still mostly untested.

LaPorta only had two receptions for nine yards in the season opener against South Dakota State, but there were at least two plays in which he was open, but Petras missed his target.

Advantage: Iowa

 

Offensive line: The Cyclones have experience across the board at these five positions, led by senior captain Trevor Downing, who now plays center. Downing has started 27 games as a Cyclone and he made first-team All-Big 12 last season, and in 2019.

Jake Remsburg, a 6-foot-6, 317-pound redshirt junior, starts at right tackle, while 6-9, 316-pound redshirt sophomore Tyler Miller starts at left tackle. Remsburg started seven games in 2020, but he missed the entire 2021 season due to an upper-body injury.

Miller played in four games last season and made his first start against Clemson in the Cheez-It-Bowl.

Reshirt junior Darrell Simmons started at right guard in the season opener and has started 25 consecutive games, which is the second longest streak on the team.

Redshirt junior Jarrod Hufford started at left guard in the season opener and has made nine career starts.

Iowa State’s five starting offensive linemen have combined to make 69 career starts.

Iowa also has multiple offensive linemen with starting experience, but the unit struggled with both run blocking and pass blocking in the season opener.

Advantage: Iowa State

 

Defensive line: Both teams are deep and talented at these positions.

Iowa State’s defensive line is led by redshirt senior Will McDonald IV, who is considered one of the top defensive ends in the country. McDonald was named first-team All-Big 12 in 2021 and 2020 and he is Iowa State’s all-time leader with 29 sacks. He tied for first in the Big 12 last season with 11.5 sacks and second in forced fumbles with five.

His supporting cast includes redshirt senior nose guard Isaiah Lee, who has made 12 career starts. Lee blocked a field goal against Southeast Missouri State last Saturday, Iowa State’s first blocked field goal since 2020.

Sophomore J.R. Singleton is expected to start at defensive tackle on Saturday for Iowa State, while junior Blake Peterson will start at the other defensive end position. Singleton has played in 15 games as a Cyclone, while Peterson has played in 20 games overall.

Iowa’s defensive line doesn’t have a star player at the level of Will McDonald, but Iowa’s four starting defensive linemen have combined to make 47 starts. Senior tackle Noah Shannon has started 16 games as a Hawkeye, while junior tackle Logan Lee and senior defensive end John Waggoner both have made 15 career starts.

Former walk-on Joe Evans, who grew up in Ames, made his first career start at defensive end last Saturday, but he has played extensively in 31 games. Evans tied for the team lead with seven sacks last season. He has 14 career sacks, which is the most on the team.

Advantage: Iowa

 

Linebacker: Iowa is led by one of the nation’s top linebackers in senior Jack Campbell, who has made 16 career starts and has appeared in 30 games overall. Campbell had 12 tackles in the season opener against South Dakota State, and he also had one of Iowa’s two safeties in the game. He has had at least 10 tackles in six games as a Hawkeye.

Senior Seth Benson gets overshadowed by Campbell’s greatness, but Benson has been a model of consistency at linebacker where he has made 22 career starts. He finished second on the team last season behind Campbell with 105 tackles.

Iowa will be without junior linebacker Jestin Jacobs on Saturday due to an injury that occurred that in the second opener.

Senior Logan Klemp has replaced Jacobs on the depth chart and has appeared in 18 games as a Hawkeye.

Iowa State, meanwhile, was hit hard by graduation at the linebacker positions.

Senior captain O’Rien Vance, who is from Cedar Rapids, is Iowa State’s most experienced linebacker, and one of the most experienced linebackers in the country, with 33 career starts.

Seniors Gerry Vaughn and Colby Reeder are expected to start at the other two linebacker positions. Vaughn started six games last season and has appeared in 41 games overall, while Reeder appeared in 35 games for Delaware before transferring to Iowa State. Reeder had a team-best five tackles in the season opener and three quarterback hurries.

Advantage: Iowa

 

Secondary: Both units had to replace key players from last season, but they both also have key players back this season.

Iowa fifth-year senior Riley Moss is considered one of the top cornerbacks in college football. The Ankeny native has made 27 career starts and was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year last season.

Iowa strong safety Kaevon Merriweather has started 13 games and played in 34 games overall, while free safety Quinn Schulte made his first career start last Saturday and had four pass breakups.

Sophomore Cooper DeJean also made his first career start against South Dakota State last Saturday and finished with four tackles. DeJean can both safety and cornerback and will be used as the Cash defender.

Iowa State’s secondary is led by redshirt senior safety Anthony Johnson, who switched from cornerback prior to this season. Johnson has started a team-high 43 games, including 42 in a row. His 25 pass breakups make him Iowa State’s active leader.

Junior cornerback T.J. Tampa started five games last season and has appeared in 23 games overall.

Advantage: Iowa

 

Special teams: Iowa State has a new starter at both kicker and punter, while Iowa has a new starter at kicker, but also has one of the nation’s top punters in 25-year old junior Tory Taylor.

A native of Melbourne, Australia, Taylor picked up last Saturday where he left off last season by punting 10 times for a 47.9 average. He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against South Dakota State.

Taylor’s ability to shift field position and pin opponents deep in their own territory is something Iowa State might not be able to match.

Freshman Jace Gilbert is listed as the starting kicker for Iowa State and as the co-starter at punter with freshman Tyler Perkins and senior Cameron Shook. Gilbert made all six of his point-after kicks in the season opener and had two touchbacks in five kickoffs. Perkins punted three times in the season opener for an impressive 46.7 average.

Advantage: Iowa

 

Prediction: Iowa 15, Iowa State 8