By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the 71st time in series history, Iowa and Iowa State will battle for state bragging in football on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa has a 47-23 advantage in the series, and has won seven of the last eight games against the Cyclones.

However, the last six games have been decided by 10 or fewer points, and three have been decided by three or fewer points.

Iowa defeated Iowa State 44-41 in overtime in 2017 in Ames, and 18-17 in 2019 in Ames, while Iowa State defeated Iowa 10-7 in 2022 at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa also defeated the Cyclones 20-13 in Ames last season.

So, home-field advantage hasn’t really been much of factor in recent games.

Iowa State has been hurt by turnovers over the past decade against Iowa, and if that trend continues on Saturday, Iowa’s recent dominance in the series will likely continue.

“This game, obviously, is a big game,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who will return to the sideline on Saturday after having served a one-game suspension against Illinois State because of recruiting violation. “It’s a rivalry game. Certainly it’s been intense for a long time. It’s my 34th experience, I’ve seen a lot of different things throughout the course of that time. But bottom line is it’s a good game for our state. It’s good for everybody if they’re involved in football and like football.

“On top of it, it’s probably a little bit underappreciated outside of our state in terms of the intensity of the rivalry and the way the players go after it each and every time.”

Both teams are 1-0 after recording double-digit wins over FCS opponents last Saturday, and Iowa also comes in ranked No. 21 in this week’s Associated Press poll.

But how do the two instate rivals really stack up?

This column helps to answer that question as it looks at which team has the advantage each of the nine position units.

Quarterback: This matches a sixth-year graduate student in Iowa’s Cade McNamara versus a third-year sophomore in Iowa State’s Rocco Becht.

And while McNamara has a more impressive body of work, based mostly on what he accomplished for Michigan where threw for 3,181 yards and 21 touchdowns, and led the Wolverines to the Big Ten title in 2021, he also has suffered season-ending knee injuries in each of the past two seasons and has only started six games as a Hawkeye.

His most recent start against Illinois State last Saturday was by far his best performance as a Hawkeye from a statistical standpoint as McNamara passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the second half.

He also showed little effects from his most recent knee injury, and he didn’t throw an interception.

For the time as a Hawkeye, McNamara has some positive momentum to build on.

Becht, on the other hand, has improved significantly since he last faced Iowa a year ago in what was just his second career start.

The Florida native completed 20-of-26 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns in last Saturday’s 21-3 victory over North Dakota.

Becht also threw for 3,120 yards and 23 touchdowns last season as a redshirt freshman. His passing yards last season were the fourth most in program history and third most in Big 12 history for a freshman.

Becht was a high school senior when McNamara led Michigan to the Big Ten title in 2021.

However, a lot has changed since then.

Advantage: Iowa State

**********

Running back: Iowa State has a terrific talent at running back in explosive sophomore Abu Sama, who rushed for 614 yards and averaged a whopping 7.3 yards per carry last season as a true freshman.

He only had five carries for 36 yards in last Saturday’s win over North Dakota, and he left the game with what was described as a minor injury.

But when healthy, Sama, a 2023 graduate of Southeast Polk High School, and a former high school long jump champion, is a breakaway threat who can score from anywhere on the field.

He scored five touchdowns of 50 or more yards last season, the most in a single season at ISU dating back to 1971, and he rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns against No. 19 Kansas State in his first career start.

He scored on touchdowns runs of 77, 71 and 60 yards against Kansas State, making him the second FBS player since 1996 with three or more touchdowns of 60-plus yards against a ranked opponent.

Carson Hansen, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore, gives Iowa State a change of pace at running back as he is more of a power runner compared to Sama.

Hansen is also a threat out of the backfield as he had 11 receptions for 115 yards last season.

He led Iowa State with a career-high six carries against North Dakota last Saturday, but he only gained 20 yards.

Iowa, meanwhile, is loaded at running back and could go four deep without suffering a significant drop in talent or production.

Senior Leshon Williams led Iowa in rushing last season with 821 yards, but he is currently listed third on the depth chart behind redshirt freshman Kamari Moulton and junior Kaleb Johnson.

In fairness to Williams, he was slowed by an injury in preseason practice, and that allowed Moulton to seize the opportunity.

Moulton rushed for 65 yards on 19 carries against Illinois State in his first career start last Saturday.

Johnson missed the entire first half against Illinois State for an undisclosed reason, but he made up for it in the second half by rushing for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. The Ohio native scored on a 64-yard run in the fourth quarter, the third longest touchdown run in his career.

And don’t forget about Jaziun Patterson, even though he was withheld from the Illinois State game for what Kirk Ferentz said was a coach’s decision.

Patterson’s best game as a Hawkeye came in last season’s 20-13 win at Iowa State as he rushed for a career-high 86 yards and scored one touchdown.

Patterson is expected to be available for Saturday’s game.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Wide receiver: This position has been a major concern for Iowa in recent seasons due to a lack of productivity, which has been caused mostly by a lack of depth.

However, there is cause for optimism with the additions of true freshman Reece Vander Zee and Northwester transfer Jacob Gill. They combined for all three of Iowa’s touchdown catches against Illinois State, including two by the 6-4, 207-pound Vander Zee.

Iowa should also benefit from the return of junior Kaleb Brown, who was suspended for the Illinois State game after being charged with drunken driving in late June.

A transfer from Ohio State, Brown came on strong in the second half of last season.

As for the Cyclones, they always seem to have talented wide receivers and this season is certainly no exception with seniors Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins forming yet another dynamic duo.

Noel had eight catches for 135 and one touchdown against North Dakota, while Higgins had five receptions for 75 yards and one score in the season opener.

Noel has at least one reception in 33 consecutive games, which is tied for the fourth longest active streak nationally, and the fourth longest in program history. He will enter Saturday’s game with 1,796 career receiving yards on 173 catches.

The 6-4, 215-pound Higgins led Iowa State with 983 receiving yards last season, and he has 2,209 career receiving yards on 145 catches. The Florida native also has 20 receiving touchdowns as a Cyclone.

Eli Green, a transfer from North Dakota State, had four catches for 44 yards in his Cyclone debut last Saturday.

Advantage: Iowa State

**********

Tight end: Iowa has a long and distinguished history of developing star tight ends and senior Luke Lachey is the latest to earn that distinction.

The Ohio native had a team-best six catches for 63 yards against Illinois State last Saturday.

It was his first game action in nearly a year as Lachey suffered a season-ending lower leg injury in the third game against Western Michigan last season.

Lachey has 52 receptions for 725 yards and four touchdowns in his Hawkeye career.

Junior Addison Ostrenga gives Iowa another threat at tight end as he has 35 career receptions for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore Zach Ortwerth gives Iowa yet another big-play threat at tight end as he is averaging 42.5 yards on his two career catches. His only catch against Illinois State last Saturday gained 31 yards on a broken play.

Iowa State also has a big-play threat at tight end in 6-5, 250-pound sophomore Ben Brahmer, who finished last season with 352 receiving yards and 28 catches. His 28 catches last season ranked third on the team.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Offensive line: After a shaky first half against Illinois State, Iowa’s veteran offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the second half, paving the way for 241 rushing yards.

Iowa’s offensive linemen have combined for 156 career starts, but none of them have performed at an All-Big Ten level to this point.

If this unit takes a significant step forward, the offense could do the same.

Senior Mason Richman has the rare distinction of being a four-year starter at left tackle for Iowa.

Iowa State also has a veteran offensive line where four of the five current starters made at least five starts last season.

Senior center Jarrod Hufford has made a team-high 34 straight starts and has started games at center, guard and tackle.

However, even with all the experience on the offensive line, North Dakota held Iowa State to just 86 rushing yards on 22 carries last Saturday.

Iowa State’s struggles on the ground last Saturday was a factor in picking which unit has the edge.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Defensive line: The fact that Iowa State’s defense struggled to get off the field against North Dakota doesn’t speak well about its defensive line where two starters return from last season, including senior J.R. Singleton, who has made 17 career starts.

Singleton recorded a sack and two quarterback hurries against North Dakota last Saturday.

Junior defensive end Tyler Onyedim started all 13 games last season, and he made honorable mention all-Big 12. He finished with a team high nine quarterback hurries last season.

Junior tackle Domonique Orange, who also made honorable mention All-Big 12 last season, saw action in all 13 games last season and made five starts.

Redshirt junior Kenard Snyder, who transferred to Iowa State after playing three seasons for Louisiana Monroe, registered a sack in his first action as a Cyclone last Saturday.

Iowa had to replace two starters on the defensive line from last season in tackle Logan Lee and defensive end Joe Evans, both of whom are now on NFL rosters.

But even without them, this unit has a chance to be rock solid again.

Senior defensive end Deontae Craig has started 15 games and played in 39 games overall, while senior tackle Yahya Black has also made 15 starts and played in 41 games overall.

The new starters on the defensive line are junior tackle Aaron Graves and senior end Ethan Hurkett, although, they both have played key as backups.

Graves had a career-high three sacks and three tackles for loss against Illinois State in his first career start.

He and Hurkett have played in 27 and 30 games, respectively, for Iowa.

Sophomore defensive end Brian Allen saw his first extensive action in last Saturday’s win over Illinois State and finished with four tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Linebacker: Iowa is led by arguably the best linebacker tandem in college football in fifth-year senior Jay Higgins and sixth-year graduate student Nick Jackson, who played his first four season for Virginia.

Higgins had a team best seven tackles against Illinois State, while Jackson had five tackles, and one pass break up against the Redbirds.

Higgins and Jackson combined for 281 tackles last season, the most by a Power Five tandem nationally.

Higgins, an Indianapolis native, tied Iowa’s single season record with 171 tackles last season. He also finished third in the NCAA with an average of 12.2 tackles per game.

Higgins made first-team All-Big Ten last season and has been named to multiple preseason All-America teams this season.

Iowa’s third linebacker is graduate student Kyler Fisher, who has played in 48 games with three starts.

Iowa State already has been decimated by injuries at the linebacker positions as starters Caleb Bacon and Will McLaughlin are both expected to miss extensive playing time.

Bacon, a former walk-on, finished second on the team with 60 tackles last season, while McLaughlin started all 13 games in 2023 and tied for fifth on the team with 46 tackles.

Both are listed as starters on the depth chart, but neither is expected to play on Saturday.

Sophomore Kooper Ebel is listed as the starter at weakside linebacker, while fellow sophomore Jack Sadowsky is listed as his backup. Sadowsky started all 13 games in 2023 as a true freshman and finished with 33 tackles.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Secondary: Even with the loss of 2023 consensus All-America cornerback Cooper DeJean to the NFL, Iowa still should have one of the best defensive backfields in the Big Ten, if not nationally.

Graduate student Sebastian Castro earned All-America honors last season while playing both strong safety and the cash position. He finished last season with 67 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one sack and three interceptions, including a pick six in the win over Iowa State.

He also had three tackles and forced a fumble against Illinois State last Saturday.

Fellow graduate student Quinn Schulte has made 28 career starts at free safety and has appeared in 42 games overall, while third-year junior Xavier Nwankpa, a former five-star recruit from Southeast Polk, has started 14 games at strong and played in 27 games overall.

You would be hard pressed to find three better safeties on the same team than Iowa’s triumvirate.

Iowa has yet another graduate student in the secondary in cornerback Jermari Harris, who has started 19 games and appeared in 33 games overall.

The Chicago native has six career interceptions, including one against Illinois State last Saturday.

Junior cornerback T.J. Hall made his first career last Saturday against Illinois State and has played in 20 games overall. The Fresno, California native saw action in 13 games as true freshman in 2022, and then played in the first six games last season before suffering an injury.

Sophomores John Nestor and Deshaun Lee also will be in the mix for playing time at cornerback. Lee has started six games as a Hawkeye.

Iowa State also has a talented and experienced secondary that is led by 6-2, 220-pound senior safety Beau Feyler, who plays more like a linebacker, and junior free safety Jeremiah Cooper, who had five interceptions last season and made first-team all-Big 12.

Senior cornerback Myles Purchase and junior safety Malik Verdon also have starting experience from last season.

Advantage: Iowa

**********

Special teams: Melbourne, Australia native Rhys Dakin has the daunting task of replacing fellow Melbourne native and 2023 Ray Guy Award winner Tory Taylor as Iowa’s starting punter.

Dakin punted five times against Illinois State for a 39.2 average.

And while Dakin’s statistics weren’t close to what Taylor averaged last season, for a first start, it wasn’t too bad.

Junior kicker Drew Stevens made both of his field-goal attempts against Illinois State, including a long from 41 yards.

That was a good sign, considering Stevens struggled down the stretch last season.

Stevens was a second-team Freshman All-American in 2022 as he made 16-of-18 field-goal attempts. He also converted on 18-of-26 field-goal attempts last season.

Stevens also had eight kickoffs against Illinois State with four resulting in touchbacks.

Iowa State has one of the nation’s top punters in junior Tyler Perkins, who averaged 44.3 yards on 61 punts last season. He only punted twice against North Dakota for a 38.5 average.

Dubuque native Kyle Konrardy is Iowa State’s new starting kicker after having been redshirted as true freshman last season. He made all three of his point-after kicks against North Dakota, but didn’t attempt a field goal.

Jaylin Noel gives Iowa State a dangerous kick and punt returner, while Kaleb Johnson and Kaden Wetjen give Iowa a dangerous kick returner and punt returner, respectively.

Advantage: Iowa