IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nate Stanley enjoyed a historic outing in No. 22 Iowa’s 42-16 thrashing of Indiana last week as the Hawkeyes piled up over 400 yards of total offense for a fourth consecutive week. Coach Kirk Ferentz likes the club's maturation over a season ago when they averaged only 329 yards, but the Hawkeyes will have to be sharp when they host an opportunistic Maryland team this Saturday.
TV: Noon ET, ESPN2. LINE: Iowa -10.
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“I just think we're a little bit more experienced than we were. We were really inexperienced last year at the receiver position, tight end position, quarterback position,” Ferentz said during his weekly press conference. Stanley threw for 320 yards and six touchdowns against the Hoosiers - tying for the second most TD passes in school history - and has 14 touchdowns over the past four games to tie Chuck Long (1985) for the most ever over a four-game stretch. Tight ends Noah Fant (four catches, 102 yards, one TD) and T.J. Hokenson (4-107-2) combined for eight receptions, 209 yards and three TDs, while Toren Young added 96 yards rushing on 19 carries. Maryland picked off five passes, yielded only 179 yards of total offense and was just 43 seconds shy of its first shutout since 2013 in last week's 34-7 rout over Rutgers.
ABOUT MARYLAND (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten)
Kasim Hill (8-for-17, 76 yards) threw three touchdown passes against the Scarlet Knights and senior Ty Johnson ran for 121 of his 132 yards in the first half to improve his career total to 2,564 yards - fourth most in school history. The Terrapins are currently fifth in the country and lead the Big Ten in turnover margin, at plus-1.5 per game, and safety Darnell Savage Jr., who had two interceptions last week, is tied for the FBS lead with four. “I’m like a cheerleader for our defense,” interim coach Matt Canada said after the win. “They're around the football and when you're around the football, good things happen.”
ABOUT IOWA (5-1, 2-1)
Hockenson and Fant rank first and second, respectively, on the team in receptions and have combined for 692 receiving yards on 45 catches, including nine receiving touchdowns. Maryland relies heavily on the running game (245.2 yards per game), but Iowa's defense allows 2.7 yards per carry - fifth in the country - and is one of four defenses to have allowed only four rushing touchdowns (Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina State). Wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette is averaging 37.4 yards on his five kick returns, which would lead the nation if he had enough returns to qualify.
EXTRA POINTS
1. The teams split their first two meetings all-time with the Hawkeyes coming out on top the last time, 31-15 at home in 2015.
2. The five interceptions last week were Maryland's most since a seven-pick performance against Duke in 1998.
3. Iowa is one win from becoming bowl-eligible for the 17th time in the last 18 seasons.
PREDICTION: Iowa 41, Maryland 17