The Iowa defense pitched their second shutout of the season in conference play with a 63-0 win over Illinois.
The Hawkeyes held an Illinois rushing attack that was averaging over 250 yards per game to just 149 yards on the ground on cold and gloomy Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The Illini passing attack lived up their less than impressive billing with Iowa holding their two quarterback to a 12-30 for 82 yard performance. The Hawkeyes also intercepted three passes.
The star of the day was sophomore defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who had the best game of his young career in front of over 100 family members and friends who made the relatively short trip to watch the game.
How did the Iowa defense grade out in the 75 snaps run by the Illini? We take a look.
D-LINE GRADE THOUGHTS
It's kind of surprising that Epenesa didn't earn the highest grade among the defensive linemen. Once again, the tackling grade kept him down this week, which was the case in previous grades. Chauncey Golston also had a very strong game and his tackling grade kept him down lower than he should be. There's no question that the two young defensive ends are coming on strong.
Anthony Nelson graded fairly low again this week and Iowa is a better defense when he's making plays, especially rushing the passer. It was good to see Tyler Linderbaum get a few snaps on Saturday. He's going to be knocking up on the four game limit now, but even seven snaps will help him moving forward.
LINEBACKER GRADE THOUGHTS
While PFF still lists Hooker as a safety, we are including him at linebacker, since that's the position he's playing in Iowa's defensive alignment. He had another terrific week on the grade front and now is tied with Geno Stone for the lead in interceptions with four.
Nick Niemann finally got back out there for more extensive work and basically split time with Colbert. Both played well, especially in the tackle department.
DEF BACK GRADE THOUGHTS
After moving back into the starting lineup again last week, Michael Ojemudia earned the highest defensive grade of any Iowa player. His day included an interception late in the first half.
Jake Gervase has another strong day, particularly in the tackle department and he continues to be one of the best tacklers on the Iowa team. Geno Stone played well, but he had his worst tackle grade of the year.
The Hawkeyes were able to get D.J. Johnson some work in the secondary. The true freshmen will still end up redshirting, but 10 snaps help build for the future. Also, Devonte Young played defense for the first time and looked pretty good. He transition from wide receiver to safety earlier this season.
