Hawkeyes Down Redbirds in Season Opener (2024)

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The 25th ranked University of Iowa football team defeated Illinois State, 40-0, on Saturday afternoon on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes led 6-0 at the half, before an explosion of offense in the second half saw Iowa score on five of seven drives.

Cade McNamara connected on 21-of-31 pass attempts for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Reece Vander Zee led the way for Iowa receivers hauling in five receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Lachey caught six passes for 63 yards and Jacob Gill pulled down a touchdown.

“We played team ball,” said Vander Zee. “We stayed patient. It was a good overall fight. We just had to stay patient, we knew something was going to open up. We just had to trust the game plan, and we went out there and executed and it ended up well.”

Kaleb Johnson rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts that all came in the second half. Kamari Moulton had 65 yards on 19 attempts.

Defensively, Jay Higgins led the team with seven tackles (three solo). Nick Jackson had five tackles (two solo), and Aaron Graves had four solo tackles with three sacks.

“We knew they were going to want to run the ball first,” said Graves. “So once we took that away and made them one dimensional they would have to start taking some shots and we would have more opportunities to have sacks. That’s what happened today.”

Jermari Harris pulled in an interception and Sebastian Castro forced a fumble that TJ Hall recovered.

“I’m very proud of our staff. I’m very proud of our team, our players specifically. What they did today under the circ*mstances was really pretty cool, and we’re excited to get the win. First game of the season, obviously, first opportunity to be in Kinnick. We told the guys beforehand that it’s special anytime we get a chance to walk into this stadium, and they certainly took advantage of that, specifically in the second half. In regards to the first half, we had some missed opportunities. We had some of what you would call the norms in the first game, and just some things that I think we probably could have handled better a little bit.

However, I think the second half is probably a better indicator as to what type of team we are. I give a lot of credit to Illinois State, specifically to what they do defensively. Brock Spack knows who we are. He knows kind of our DNA from his time at Purdue. Him as a head coach, him as a defensive coordinator, I wasn’t surprised to see what unfolded there in the first half and how they had a pretty good game plan. Tony Petersen and Travis Niekamp, the two coordinators, are both good coaches, they’re both veteran coaches, and they’ve seen a lot of football. I think a lot of the first half was just the norms and in the first game, and we have some new guys out there in different positions, and I think what you saw was an example of that. But certainly a well-coached team out of Illinois State, and we wish them the best. They’ve got a good football team. Hopefully both of their quarterbacks stay healthy, and that will give them a chance.

The second half as it related to the game, just from a messaging standpoint, the big deal was just clean up our executions and some things that shot us in the foot, there early on with some penalties and some things that ended up taking a little bit of momentum away from us. Anytime you take the momentum away, you really start draining a little bit of the confidence as well. That took place in the first half. But the second half is a better indicator of the kind of the team that we are and what we’re capable of. We have a lot to clean up. We certainly do. I’ll end before I take questions with just how unbelievably proud I am of our team, our staff, the way our players responded in the second half, and this isn’t normal day to day around here, obviously, and our players handled it with unbelievable class to go in at halftime up a score but still in a one-possession game. The way that they responded was pretty special to see. With that I’d open it up for questions.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jermari Harris recorded Iowa’s first interception of the season with 9:47 in the first quarter.
• After Sebastian Castro forced a fumble which was recovered by TJ Hall at the Illinois State 29, the Hawkeyes converted a field goal with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter. Drew Stevens connected from 41-yards out to cap a four play six-yard drive.
• Stevens connected on his second field goal of the day from 28 yards out with one minute remaining in the first half to end a 10 play 49-yard drive that elapsed 2:48.
• The Hawkeyes opened the second half with a seven play 75-yard drive that lasted 3:28 and ended with a seven-yard completion from Cade McNamara to Reese Vander Zee. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
• After the Iowa defense forced a three and out the Iowa offense struck again with 7:46 in the third quarter. McNamara connected with Jacob Gill on a 31-yard pass to cap a five play 66-yard drive that lasted 2:27.
• McNamara connected with Vander Zee for six again on the first play of the fourth quarter. The touchdown ended a four play 62-yard drive that lasted 1:39.
• Kaleb Johnson broke loose for a 62-yard touchdown run with 11:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was a four play 77-yard drive that lasted 2:04.
• Johnson found the endzone again with 5:48 left in the game with an 18-yard rush. It capped a five play 34-yard drive that lasted 3:11.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Senior QB Cade McNamara completed 21-of-31 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns.
  • McNamara’s passing yardage is his high as a Hawkeye.
  • He is now 18-4 in his career as a starter.
• Junior Kaleb Johnson paced the team with 11 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns – a 64-yarder and 18-yarder in the fourth quarter.
  • It is Johnson’s fifth career 100-yard game and he tied a career-best with two rushing touchdowns.
  • The 64-yard rush is the third-longest rush of Johnson’s career (75 at Purdue in 2022; 67 vs. Purdue in 2023).
  • It was Johnson’s 10th and 11th career rushing touchdowns.
• Freshman WR Reece Vander Zee finished with five receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns — a 7-yarder — the first of his career – in the third quarter and a 19-yarder early in the fourth.
  • Vander Zee is the first Hawkeye true freshman with a receiving touchdown in the season opener since Dominique Douglas vs. Montana in 2006.
  • He is the first Hawkeye freshman wideout to have two receiving touchdowns in a game since Ihmir Smith-Marsette at Iowa State in 2017.
• Junior WR Jacob Gill had a 31-yard touchdown in the third quarter. It was his first touchdown as a Hawkeye and the third of his career.
  • Gill finished with three receptions for 46 yards.
• Senior TE Luke Lachey led the team with six receptions for 63 yards.
  • Iowa’s tight ends combined for 10 catches and 119 yards in the game.
• Sophom*ore DL Caden Crawford forced his first career fumble in the fourth quarter.
• Senior DB Sebastian Castro had a forced fumble – the fifth of his career – in the first quarter and T.J. Hall recovered, giving Iowa its second forced turnover of the game.
• Junior DL Aaron Graves finished with X tackles, including a career-high three sacks and XX tackles for loss.
• Senior DB Jermari Harris had a first-quarter interception – the sixth pick of his Hawkeye career.
• Junior K Drew Stevens went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts in the first half. He connected from 41 yards for Iowa’s first points of the 2024 season in the first quarter before making a 28-yarder just before half.
• WR Reece Vander Zee made his first career start. He is the first true freshman to start since 2022, the first true freshman wide receiver to start since 2021 and the seventh true freshman wide receiver to start in the Kirk Ferentz era.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• The Hawkeyes’ offense finished with 492 yards of total offense, including 345 in the second half.
  • The total offense is the most in a season opener since finishing with 593 (2002).
  • It was the most yards by a Hawkeye offense since 2019 against Middle Tennessee. (644)
• UI’s offensive coordinator, Tim Lester coached the best offensive output in an OC debut since 1979.
• Iowa notched the 17th shutout of the Ferentz era.
  • It is the program’s fourth shutout since the start of the 2022 season.
• The Hawkeyes’ defense forced three turnovers, turning the three miscues into three points.
• It is the 29th consecutive game Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards — the longest active streak nationally.
• Iowa’s defense has held seven opponents to 200 yards or less since 2022.
• Iowa won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Hawkeyes have played 316 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 232 times (149-83). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 84 times (48-36).

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes will return to action Sept. 8, hosting an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup against Iowa State. The game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. (CT) and is sold out.