JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
The 2015 Iowa Hawkeyes have nine games in the books. They are 9-0 and are a difficult team to defend as they have to be one of the most balanced offenses in the nation.
Here are their totals in both rushing and passing, through nine games:
RUSHING: 1,845
PASSING: 1,863
17 yards is all that separates Iowa from having the exact same production in both phases of the offense. That is insane balance, but not as balanced as the 2002 Hawkeyes were through nine games.
This is a stat that has always stuck with me, now 13 years on from that amazing 2002 run. Here is where the 2002 Hawkeyes were through their ninth game, a win at Michigan:
RUSHING: 1,925
PASSING: 1,925
Dead on balanced.
Since I was looking at numbers like this I dug up Iowa’s cumulative statistics through nine games for the 2009 season as well, since that was the only other Iowa team to start a season 9-0. The 2002, 2009 and 2015 Iowa teams are the only Ferentz-era clubs to start Big Ten play 5-0. Both the 2002 and 2009 seasons ended in the Orange Bowl and the 2015 Iowa team appears headed for a lofty bowl destination, too. So let’s have some fun with numbers.
I shared the 2002 & 2015 balance with you. What about 2009 through nine games?
RUSHING: 1,127
PASSING: 2,090
That team got it done with some duct tape on offense, didn’t it? Here are more numbers through nine games, for these three seasons we have been comparing:
POINTS PER GAME
2002: 37.8
2009: 25.7
2015: 32.9
POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME
2002: 20.4
2009: 15.8
2015: 16.6
RUSHING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME
2002: 62.3
2009: 117.4
2015: 101.4
YARDS GAINED PER RUSH
2002: 5.0
2009: 3.4
2015: 4.7
TURNOVERS FORCED/COMMITTED
2002: 20 (13 INT/7 FUMBLE) forced to 13 lost (4 INT/13 FUMBLE)
2009: 25 (18 INT/5 FUMBLE) forced to 17 lost (13 INT/4 FUMBLE)
2015: 20 (13 INT/7 FUMBLE) forced to 9 lost (3 INT/6 FUMBLE)
*This category is a big part of why Iowa is 9-0 this season. They are +11 in turnover margin. I do find it interesting that the 2002 and 2015 Iowa defenses have the same number of takeaways in the same fashion; 13 INT’s and 7 fumble recoveries.
TIME OF POSSESSION
2002: 33:16
2009: 32:14
2015: 33:21
*Again, nearly identical to 2002
3rd DOWN CONVERSIONS
2002: 43% (55/122)
2009: 43% (57/133)
2015: 44% (57-129)
3rd DOWN CONVERSIONS DEFENSE
2002: 32% (44/136)
2009: 35% (46/132)
2015: 35% (48/136)
*Perhaps this is how things line up each year through nine games, pursuant to the number of opponent opportunities or perhaps it’s just that these three years saw real good Iowa defenses…but these coincidences with 2002 are pretty amazing to me.
SACKS BY IOWA
2002: 28
2009: 18
2015: 25
SACKS ALLOWED BY IOWA
2002: 8
2009: 20
2015: 16
TACKLES FOR LOSS BY/AGAINST
2002: 63/58
2009: 48/56
2015: 47/50
RED ZONE TOUCHDOWNS SCORED
2002: n/a
2009: 57% (16-28)
2015: 68% (27-40)
RED ZONE TOUCHDOWNS ALLOWED
2002: n/a
2009: 48% (11-23)
2015: 45% (9-20)
Iowa’s 2002 defense has allowed just 164 first downs compared to 199 in 2002. The 2002 Hawkeyes had gone for it on 14 4th downs, converting six. The 2015 Hawkeyes have gone for it on 10 4th downs, converting six.
QUARTERBACKS
Brad Banks: 119 of 201 (59.2%), 1,797 yards, 18 TD passes to 4 INT’s
Ricky Stanzi: 150 of 266 (56.4%), 2,052 yards, 14 TD passes to 13 INT’s
CJ Beathard: 145-241 (60.2%), 1,831 yards, 10 TD passes to 3 INT’s
MIDDLE LINEBACKERS: Since Josey Jewell looks a lot like Pat Angerer out there
Fred Barr: 74 tackles (38 unassisted) 7 TFL, 1 sack, 4PBU, 3FF
Pat Angerer: 89 tackles (31 unassisted) 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 4PBU, 2FF
Josey Jewell: 77 tackles (40 unassisted) 5.0 TFL, 2 sacks, 5PBU, 1FF
While none of the stats from years gone by has a lick to do with the 2015 season, I truly do enjoy looking back at numbers comparisons like this as a form of entertainment. 2002 was a different era of college football; teams were more run heavy then and there were fewer hurry up or quick release offenses. In 2009, times had begun to change but not nearly the way things are now. The fact that this year’s Iowa team has 25 sacks compared to 28 in 2002 is more of a feather in this year’s cap than I had anticipated seeing. I would have expected the 2009 team to have more.
Statistically, this year’s Iowa defense compares favorably with both the 2002 and 2009 Hawkeye squads, though both of those teams had more NFL talent than this year’s team will have. The 2009 Iowa defense had Angerer, Tyler Sash (who had six INT’s through nine games to 8 for Desmond King this year), AJ Edds, Brett Greenwood, Karl Klug, Amari Spievey, Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard and Shaun Prater with at least six starts. Prater had six and the rest mentioned had nine. That was an NFL starter kit right there.
The 2002 crew had Bob Sanders, Barr, Derek Pagel, Colin Cole, Jon Babineaux, Matt Roth and Jared Clauss as key figures, with Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway starring on special teams.
For this year, Jewell seems on an NFL track (though just a sophomore), as does Jaleel Johnson and Desmond King. Drew Ott will get a shot, but this year’s group is truly about the sum of its parts.
Here are their totals in both rushing and passing, through nine games:
RUSHING: 1,845
PASSING: 1,863
17 yards is all that separates Iowa from having the exact same production in both phases of the offense. That is insane balance, but not as balanced as the 2002 Hawkeyes were through nine games.
This is a stat that has always stuck with me, now 13 years on from that amazing 2002 run. Here is where the 2002 Hawkeyes were through their ninth game, a win at Michigan:
RUSHING: 1,925
PASSING: 1,925
Dead on balanced.
Since I was looking at numbers like this I dug up Iowa’s cumulative statistics through nine games for the 2009 season as well, since that was the only other Iowa team to start a season 9-0. The 2002, 2009 and 2015 Iowa teams are the only Ferentz-era clubs to start Big Ten play 5-0. Both the 2002 and 2009 seasons ended in the Orange Bowl and the 2015 Iowa team appears headed for a lofty bowl destination, too. So let’s have some fun with numbers.
I shared the 2002 & 2015 balance with you. What about 2009 through nine games?
RUSHING: 1,127
PASSING: 2,090
That team got it done with some duct tape on offense, didn’t it? Here are more numbers through nine games, for these three seasons we have been comparing:
POINTS PER GAME
2002: 37.8
2009: 25.7
2015: 32.9
POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME
2002: 20.4
2009: 15.8
2015: 16.6
RUSHING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME
2002: 62.3
2009: 117.4
2015: 101.4
YARDS GAINED PER RUSH
2002: 5.0
2009: 3.4
2015: 4.7
TURNOVERS FORCED/COMMITTED
2002: 20 (13 INT/7 FUMBLE) forced to 13 lost (4 INT/13 FUMBLE)
2009: 25 (18 INT/5 FUMBLE) forced to 17 lost (13 INT/4 FUMBLE)
2015: 20 (13 INT/7 FUMBLE) forced to 9 lost (3 INT/6 FUMBLE)
*This category is a big part of why Iowa is 9-0 this season. They are +11 in turnover margin. I do find it interesting that the 2002 and 2015 Iowa defenses have the same number of takeaways in the same fashion; 13 INT’s and 7 fumble recoveries.
TIME OF POSSESSION
2002: 33:16
2009: 32:14
2015: 33:21
*Again, nearly identical to 2002
3rd DOWN CONVERSIONS
2002: 43% (55/122)
2009: 43% (57/133)
2015: 44% (57-129)
3rd DOWN CONVERSIONS DEFENSE
2002: 32% (44/136)
2009: 35% (46/132)
2015: 35% (48/136)
*Perhaps this is how things line up each year through nine games, pursuant to the number of opponent opportunities or perhaps it’s just that these three years saw real good Iowa defenses…but these coincidences with 2002 are pretty amazing to me.
SACKS BY IOWA
2002: 28
2009: 18
2015: 25
SACKS ALLOWED BY IOWA
2002: 8
2009: 20
2015: 16
TACKLES FOR LOSS BY/AGAINST
2002: 63/58
2009: 48/56
2015: 47/50
RED ZONE TOUCHDOWNS SCORED
2002: n/a
2009: 57% (16-28)
2015: 68% (27-40)
RED ZONE TOUCHDOWNS ALLOWED
2002: n/a
2009: 48% (11-23)
2015: 45% (9-20)
Iowa’s 2002 defense has allowed just 164 first downs compared to 199 in 2002. The 2002 Hawkeyes had gone for it on 14 4th downs, converting six. The 2015 Hawkeyes have gone for it on 10 4th downs, converting six.
QUARTERBACKS
Brad Banks: 119 of 201 (59.2%), 1,797 yards, 18 TD passes to 4 INT’s
Ricky Stanzi: 150 of 266 (56.4%), 2,052 yards, 14 TD passes to 13 INT’s
CJ Beathard: 145-241 (60.2%), 1,831 yards, 10 TD passes to 3 INT’s
MIDDLE LINEBACKERS: Since Josey Jewell looks a lot like Pat Angerer out there
Fred Barr: 74 tackles (38 unassisted) 7 TFL, 1 sack, 4PBU, 3FF
Pat Angerer: 89 tackles (31 unassisted) 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 4PBU, 2FF
Josey Jewell: 77 tackles (40 unassisted) 5.0 TFL, 2 sacks, 5PBU, 1FF
While none of the stats from years gone by has a lick to do with the 2015 season, I truly do enjoy looking back at numbers comparisons like this as a form of entertainment. 2002 was a different era of college football; teams were more run heavy then and there were fewer hurry up or quick release offenses. In 2009, times had begun to change but not nearly the way things are now. The fact that this year’s Iowa team has 25 sacks compared to 28 in 2002 is more of a feather in this year’s cap than I had anticipated seeing. I would have expected the 2009 team to have more.
Statistically, this year’s Iowa defense compares favorably with both the 2002 and 2009 Hawkeye squads, though both of those teams had more NFL talent than this year’s team will have. The 2009 Iowa defense had Angerer, Tyler Sash (who had six INT’s through nine games to 8 for Desmond King this year), AJ Edds, Brett Greenwood, Karl Klug, Amari Spievey, Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard and Shaun Prater with at least six starts. Prater had six and the rest mentioned had nine. That was an NFL starter kit right there.
The 2002 crew had Bob Sanders, Barr, Derek Pagel, Colin Cole, Jon Babineaux, Matt Roth and Jared Clauss as key figures, with Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway starring on special teams.
For this year, Jewell seems on an NFL track (though just a sophomore), as does Jaleel Johnson and Desmond King. Drew Ott will get a shot, but this year’s group is truly about the sum of its parts.
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