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2024 Iowa

8–⁠5 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Kirk Ferentz.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 2024, game by game: won vs. Illinois State 40–0; lost vs. Iowa State 19–20; won vs. Troy 38–21; won at Minnesota 31–14; lost at No. 3 Ohio State 7–35; won vs. Washington 40–16; lost at Michigan State 20–32; won vs. Northwestern 40–14; won vs. Wisconsin 42–10; lost at UCLA 17–20; won at Maryland 29–13; won vs. Nebraska 13–10; lost vs. No. 23 Missouri 24–27+40−28Won 40–0 vs. Illinois State+40Illinois StateLost 19–20 vs. Iowa State-1Iowa StateWon 38–21 vs. Troy+17TroyWon 31–14 at Minnesota+17MinnesotaLost 7–35 at No. 3 Ohio State-28No. 3 Ohio StateWon 40–16 vs. Washington+24WashingtonLost 20–32 at Michigan State-12Michigan StateWon 40–14 vs. Northwestern+26NorthwesternWon 42–10 vs. Wisconsin+32WisconsinLost 17–20 at UCLA-3UCLAWon 29–13 at Maryland+16MarylandWon 13–10 vs. Nebraska+3NebraskaLost 24–27 vs. No. 23 Missouri-3No. 23 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsIllinois StateW 40–⁠085%
Sep 7vsIowa StateL 19–⁠2061%
Sep 14vsTroyW 38–⁠2158%
Sep 21atMinnesotaW 31–⁠1453%
Oct 5at3Ohio StateL 7–⁠3530%
Oct 12vsWashingtonW 40–⁠1647%
Oct 19atMichigan StateL 20–⁠3267%
Oct 26vsNorthwesternW 40–⁠1471%
Nov 2vsWisconsinW 42–⁠1064%
Nov 8atUCLAL 17–⁠2063%
Nov 23atMarylandW 29–⁠1367%
Nov 29vsNebraskaW 13–⁠1076%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs23MissouriMusic City BowlL 24–⁠2752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 27–⁠24 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 2: 21

Led the nationKaden Wetjen: kickoff return yards (727 yds)

2 consensus All-AmericansKaleb Johnson, RB; Jay Higgins, LB

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
360–⁠232
Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Elo
1647 +65 this season
SP+ rating
15.8 No. 16 of 134; offense No. 69, defense No. 5, special teams No. 3
SRS
12.4 No. 20 of 134 in FBS
Returning
55% of last season’s EPA, No. 54 of 133
Recruiting class
No. 32 roster talent No. 39 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Tim Lester
Defensive coordinator
Phil Parker
Captains
Cade McNamara, Luke Lachey, Jay Higgins and Quinn Schulte
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense77th of 134
  • Defense38th of 134
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted57th of 134
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 134
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1041%1.2477th of 134
Defense0.0543%1.0938th of 134
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
0.05 def		43% off
42% def		—57th off
32nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.8own 3413% allowed
Defense3.4own 2517% caused

CORE rating 8.4, 39th of 134 (offense 2.5, defense -6.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsCade McNamara QB1,017 yds
Passing touchdownsCade McNamara QB6 TD
Rushing yardsKaleb Johnson RB1,537 yds
Rushing touchdownsKaleb Johnson RB21 TD
Receiving yardsJacob Gill WR411 yds
Receiving touchdownsReece Vander Zee WR3 TD
TacklesJay Higgins LB124 tkl
SacksEthan Hurkett DL6.5 sacks
InterceptionsJay Higgins LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2024 class

Will Nolan OT★★★★No. 248
Gavin Hoffman TE★★★★No. 277
Cam Buffington LB★★★★No. 398
Derek Weisskopf LB★★★★No. 399
Cody Fox OL★★★★No. 409
Joseph Anderson DE★★★★No. 466

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2024 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.740
Running backs23.00.871
Receivers33.30.882
Offensive line43.50.888
Defensive line63.00.848
Linebackers33.30.854
Defensive backs23.00.836
Athletes and specialists72.70.837
Whole class283.00.852

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2025

The 2025 draft
Rd 3Kaleb Johnson RBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 5Yahya Black DTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Mason Richman OTSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Connor Colby OGSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Luke Lachey TEHouston Texans

Roster 130

The 2024 roster

130 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2024 line; 56 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 4

The 2024 portal
Cade Borud OL★★★from North Dakota
Brendan Sullivan QB★★★from Northwestern
Jacob Gill WR★★★from Northwestern
Jackson Stratton QB★★★from Colorado State

Transfers out 12

Kadyn Proctor OT★★★★★to Alabama
Jacob Bostick WR★★★to Texas A&M
Anterio Thompson DL★★★to Western Michigan
Joey Labas QB★★★to Central Michigan
Spencer Petras QB★★★to Utah State
Diante Vines WR★★★to Old Dominion
Deacon Hill QB★★★to Utah Tech
Brenden Deasfernandes CB★★★to Central Michigan
A.J. Lawson CB★★★no new school on file
Cael Vanderbush TE★★★to Indiana State
Johnny Pascuzzi TE★★returned to Iowa
Jackson Filer DEto Des Moines

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2024 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2024 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon9–⁠013–⁠13
Indiana8–⁠111–⁠210
Penn State8–⁠113–⁠35
Ohio State7–⁠214–⁠21
Illinois6–⁠310–⁠316
Iowa6–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan5–⁠48–⁠5
Minnesota5–⁠48–⁠5
USC4–⁠57–⁠6
Rutgers4–⁠57–⁠6
Washington4–⁠56–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠67–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠65–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠65–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠65–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠74–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠84–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠91–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.