Surging No. 15 Iowa hosts reeling Purdue in Big Ten matchup

Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz remains candid about his lack of interest in watching the College Football Selection Show each week.

But the Hawkeyes keep climbing.

Iowa rose four spots to No. 15 ahead of Saturday's visit from Purdue Boilermakers. An aggressive defense and jelling attack continue to lift the Hawkeyes (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten), whose focus is tuned to a challenge from the struggling Boilermakers (3-6, 2-4) more than what Ferentz calls the "entertainment" of a rankings reveal.

"You can't skip steps," Ferentz said. "You just can't do it. The better everybody understands that, the better chances we'll have at being successful. I do know this: If you start thinking about things that aren't pertinent to what's in front of you, you reduce the chances of being successful."

While the Hawkeyes didn't necessarily overlook Northwestern in a 24-10 road win last week, a reflection from quarterback Hank Brown suggests that players are heeding their coach's words.

Iowa mounted a 21-point lead, with Brown passing for one touchdown and throwing for another. L.J. Phillips Jr. rushed for 128 yards, Cam Buffington recorded 12 tackles and six different players had sacks.

Still, Northwestern pushed Iowa to the end, even with its backup quarterback at the helm.

"It's always encouraging when you get a win and there's a lot that you can work on and a lot of areas that you can grow," Brown said. "And I felt like that's how we were as an offense. It was exciting to get that win but we've got to learn from something like that and be able to continue to put our foot on the gas."

Purdue stopped a 19-game Big Ten losing streak by edging host Illinois on the first Saturday in October, then thumped Minnesota the following week.

Three successive losses followed, with the Boilermakers surrendering at least 31 points in each. Coach Barry Odom dismissed defensive coordinator Kevin Kane on Sunday on the heels of the latest defeat, Saturday's 34-29 home loss to Maryland, which stopped a 13-game conference skid for the Terrapins.

Odom didn't disclose who will call the defense. He merely challenged a unit and staff responsible for surrendering 32.3 points and 415.4 yards per game, good for second-to-last and last, respectively, in the 18-team league. Defensive lineman Curt Neal leads the Boilermakers with 2 1/2 sacks while linebacker Jojo Hayden is tops with two interceptions.

"We all have to do better. We have to coach better. We have to, schematically, make sure our players understand within each call what their job is and what they need to do," Odom said. "We need to simplify it so they can go play fast, and then we have to go execute.

"It's all of us together, coaches, players, all the above. Not one time am I going to sit there and point at our players. If they didn't play well, that means I didn't get them ready to go play."

Purdue averages 29.4 points per game, eighth in the conference and three slots ahead of Iowa (27.8). Still, the team realizes that missed opportunities compounded in the Maryland game.

Ryan Browne passed for 296 yards, but the attack consistently stalled in the red zone. Four of freshman kicker Jacobo Echeverria Lozano's five field goals ranged between 22 and 36 yards.

Iowa has won two straight against Purdue. Saturday marks the schools' first meeting since October 2023.

--Field Level Media