Iowa Squares Off Against North Dakota State University
The Iowa Hawkeyes return to action at Kinnick Stadium this Saturday, hosting the top-ranked and defending FCS National Champion North Dakota State University Bison.
The Hawkeyes are 2–0 having downed Miami Ohio in the opener and then dominating in-state rival Iowa State last Saturday — both games played in Iowa City.
Iowa has won nine straight home games which is tied with Michigan State for the third-longest streak in the Nation. The Hawkeyes have won 14 straight regular season games. Iowa also has a Big Ten best eight game regular season conference winning streak, going 4–0 at home plus 4–0 on the road last year. C.J. Beathard has been the starting quarterback in all of those games, and he is now 15–2 overall.
NDSU is also 2–0 — both wins coming in overtime against ranked FCS opponents Charleston Southern and Eastern Washington.
NDSU will be the toughest foe Iowa has faced so far this season. The Bison have won five consecutive FCS Championships, have won five away games over FBS teams, hold an all-time 8–3 record against FBS squads, and are 73–5 since 2011. NDSU plays a physical, power style of football on both offense and defense — not dissimilar from Iowa and several other Big Ten schools like Wisconsin and Michigan State.
Iowa leads the all-time series 2–0 with both games played in the 1940s in Iowa City.
Kirk Ferentz is in his 18th year as Iowa Head Coach. Kirk’s record at Iowa now stands at 129–87 and this will be his 250th game as a college head coach (Iowa and Maine).
Bison Head Coach Chris Klieman is in his 3rd year at NDSU; his record is 30–3. He previously served there as Defensive Coordinator and earlier as defensive backs coach. Prior to that he was an assistant at UNI, his alma mater, and he spent one season as Loras College Head Coach. Klieman is a Waterloo native and grew up an Iowa fan.
The game will be televised on ESPN 2 with announcers Beth Mowins and Anthony Becht. As always, it will be broadcast on the Hawkeyes Radio Network with Gary Dolphin and Ed Podolak. It will also be on satellite radio: XM channel 195 and Sirius channel 135.
After Saturday’s game, Iowa enters Big Ten play on the road at Rutgers. NDSU is idle before beginning Missouri Valley Football Conference play at home against Illinois State.
Tidbits & Nuggets
Saturday’s game is nearly sold out and the Bison travel well — expect to see somewhere between 7000 and 10,000 NDSU fans mixed in with the Black and Gold at Kinnick.
Seven FCS teams have already defeated FBS schools this season — those losing squads include Iowa State, Washington State, Virginia, and Northwestern, as well as a Georgia team last week that at the time was ranked in the top ten.
While Iowa has no players on its roster from North Dakota, the Bison have three from Iowa, including RB Lance Dunn from Waterloo and LB Jake Brinkman from North Liberty.
Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta is an alum and played quarterback for NDSU, helping the Bison win three NCAA Division II national championships from 1983 through 1986.
Iowa Deputy Athletics Director Gene Taylor served very successfully for 13 years as Director of Athletics at North Dakota State University — prior to joining Iowa two years ago. Taylor was largely responsible for getting the Bison on Iowa’s schedule. He also hired current NDSU Head Coach Chris Klieman.
The Kinnick Media Wall of Fame will grow by four members this weekend. The newly honored include Rick Brown and Ed Podolak plus the late Blean Calkins and Hal Lagerston — who covered Iowa Athletics over the past 40 years. The Wall of Fame is located in the media section of the press box and recognizes those individual who have covered the Hawkeyes over an extended period of time and done so with integrity, accuracy, and fairness.
Big Ten / NCAA Notes
It’s a very important week for Big Ten non-conference games. The league already has one big notch in its belt with the Wisconsin Badgers knocking off highly-ranked LSU from the SEC. This Saturday looms large with possibilities as Oregon travels to Nebraska, Michigan State plays at Notre Dame, and Ohio State will be in Norman to play Oklahoma. Wins in at least two of those games will significantly boost Big Ten bragging rights.
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