Iowa Earning Nation's Respect After Bye Week

The Iowa Hawkeyes (3-2) (1-1) are fresh off a bye week, which. For Iowa fans, hopefully means some of the running back and quarterback injuries are almost fully healed, meaning when the Hawkeyes travel to Camp Randall Stadium to take on the Wisconsin Badgers (2-3) (0-2), Kirk Ferentz’s squad will be close enough back to full health as the second half of the season begins.

With a majority of teams having played five games this season, a proper barometer can be set as the season nears, and the Hawkeyes' offense shows a lot of room for improvement.

As it stands, Iowa hosts the 114th-best offense in the nation in terms of yards per game, with just 327.4.

The Hawkeyes' offense ranks 47th in the nation with 178.8 yards on the ground, and the passing attack falls all the way down to 123rd in the land with 148.6 passing yards per game.

Yet, fans of the program know Iowa’s bread and butter comes on the defense.

Through five games, Ferentz’s defense has allowed the nation’s 12th-lowest yards per game, with just 254.2 yards per game.

Iowa’s passing defense allows the nation’s 37th-best pass defense with 184.8 yards allowed through the air. The Hawkeyes’ 69.4 rushing yards allowed sit fourth-best in the nation.

What do peers think of Iow — Iowa State Cyclones' wide receiver Chase Sowell (0) gets tack by Iowa Hawkeyes running back Terrell Washington Jr. (8) and Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Koen Entringer (4) during the fourth quarter in the Cy-Hawk football at Jack Trice Stadium on Sept. 6, 2025, in Ames, Iowa | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The biggest stat of them all revolves around the three wins and two losses the Big 10 side has accumulated. Two of Iowa’s three wins have come against UAlbany and UMass; the other win came in their first conference game of the season, a 38-28 win over Rutgers.

Yet both of the Hawkeyes’ losses came in heartbreaking fashion, the first against Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk Series a 16-13 loss, the second, two weeks ago, against the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers, in what was a 20-15 Hoosier win.

In Sunday afternoon’s latest USA Today US LBM coaching poll, Iowa earned five votes. Why? In all honesty, it could be because a week away from the sport allowed coaches to see some of the nation’s biggest teams go down and open up a spot for Ferentz’s team to come in.

The next chance to see Iowa is this Saturday at 7 PM ET against Luke Fickell Badgers.

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