It's been a while since the Hawkeyes have dropped four straight home games. It's also been a while since the Iowa Football team has lost four straight Big Ten games. Both of those things happened on Saturday. Dive into our News and Notes from the loss to Purdue and we give Micah Hyde a game ball for his contributions.


GAME BALLS

OFFENSE: None - Hard to pick one from the group this week because nothing stood out. Damon Bullock was very quiet this week and was limited to just 43 rushing yards. None of the receivers really stood out from the group either and James Vandenberg's numbers were, at best, decent to average.

DEFENSE: Micah Hyde - Let's give something to Hyde, who seems to have a nose for the ball and showed a good amount of heart against Purdue. Hyde finished with a team high 11 tackles and also picked up a fumble and ran it 9 yards for a touchdown. Without that play, Iowa doesn't even have a shot at beating the Boilers. Hyde now has three career touchdowns with the other two being interceptions. This was Iowa's first fumble returned for a score since Bob Sanders did it back in 2003.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Jordan Cotton - Certainly could consider giving it to Mike Meyer for a 24 yard field goal and three touchbacks on five kicks, but the overall performance of the special teams wasn't much above average. The only exception was Jordan Cotton who was solid once again in the return game and he made two big hits in coverage that limited Purdue's ability to make plays in the return game.

NEWS AND NOTES

INJURY REPORT

James Morris is banged up. He's been banged up for several weeks and this week he had to come out towards the end of the game and was replaced by Quinton Alston. He had ice on his upper quad area when he left the field.

Anthony Hitchens came out and while we never received any specifics, he was either sick or dinged up today. Travis Perry took his spot in the lineup.

As expected, Mark Weisman and Brad Rogers did not dress today. Weisman is still nursing a groin injury and Rogers has a leg injury.

NEW STARTER

The revolving door at left guard continued this week as Conor Boffeli took over the position. He is the third different starter in three weeks at the position, following Jordan Walsh and Nolan MacMillan. Boffeli said he missed two weeks this season due to a sprained MCL, but he says he is fine now.

H-BACK LOOK

Iowa moved to more of an H-Back look against Purdue with Zach Derby filling that role. In recent weeks, Derby had seem more of a diminished role at tight end, but the senior from Iowa City started this week. He ended the day with four catches for 38 yards, including a long of 26.

RETURN TEAMS

Kickoff Return: Cotton, Smith, Gimm, Reisen, Derby, Lowdermilk, Hillyer, Donatell, Perry, Staggs, Kreiger-Coble.

Kickoff coverage: Meyer, Shumpert, Fisher, Nielsen, Hillyer, Swanson, Kirksey, Lowdermilk, Buford, Law, and Sleeper.

4th HOME LOSS

The Hawkeyes dropped their fourth home game of the season at home. Previously Iowa had lost to Iowa State, Central Michigan, and Penn State. The last time the Hawkeyes dropped four home games in a season was back in 2000. Iowa has also lost four straight Big Ten games. The last time that happened was the end of the 2006 season and the beginning of the 2007 campaign.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES

Iowa recovered three fumbles today, which is a season high. They turned those mistakes into 14 points on Saturday. The Hawkeyes have now forced 15 fumbles this year, recovering 11 of them.

LARGE YARDS

The Hawkeye defense continues to struggle. Iowa has given up more than 400 yards of total offense in four straight games. They allowed 504 against Penn State, 433 against Northwestern, 473 last week when they faced Indiana, and 490 on Saturday against Purdue. During this stretch, their opponents are averaging 10 more plays per game. During this stretch, Iowa is being outgained by an average of 475 yards to 288 yards, which is a difference of 187 yards per game.

MEYER EXTENDS HIS STREAK

Mike Meyer extended his point after streak to 78 straight today, which is a school record. Meyer hit on one field goal and is now 16-19 on the season. He is now 5th all time in scoring at Iowa with 229 points.

TACKLE LEADERS

Micah Hyde and James Morris led the way with 11 tackles each. Christian Kirksey also reached double figures with ten stops and also had a fumble recovery. Darian Cooper had three tackles, including one for loss, and a fumble recovery.

NEXT UP

The Hawkeyes will travel to Ann Arbor next Saturday to face Michigan. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. (central time) and the game will air on ESPN.


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