Iowa vs. Kent State Fun Facts: Colin Farrell edition

1. This is the third meeting between the two teams. Iowa won the first two by a combined score of 90-7, outgaining Kent State, 1,004 yards to 313. Kent State’s lone score in those two meetings was a 99-yard interception return of a Drew Tate pass.

2. Current Iowa running backs coach Ladell Betts had 134 yards from scrimmage for the Hawkeyes in their 51-0 win over the Golden Flashes in 2001.

3. The MAC is 0-5 against the Big Ten this season, 54-298-2 all-time, and 4-24 against Iowa.

4. Kent State has been nationally ranked in only two different seasons, 1973 and 2012.

5. The Hawkeyes have a defensive back named Xavior Williams. The Golden Flashes have a running back named Xavier Williams.

6. It seems to be a recurring Fun Fact, but the punters of both teams are Australians. Iowa’s Tory Taylor is a Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week, dropping five punts inside the Iowa State 20 and four inside the 10 last week. Kent State’s Josh Smith was the MAC’s Special Teams Player of the Week the week before, dropping four punts inside the Texas A&M 20 and two inside the 10.

7. Kent State linebacker Jack Loew also is an Aussie. He played for the Brisbane Rhinos American football team.

8. Iowa hasn’t lost a non-conference game since the Outback Bowl at the end of the 2016 season. That covers 13 contests. Only Minnesota has a longer such current streak, at 20 games.

9. All 12 MAC teams have at least one loss after two games.

10. Kent State’s Elvis Hines and Montre Miller have three interceptions apiece. The only FBS player with more is Boise State true freshman Seyi Oladipo, who has four.

11. Colin Ferrell is Kent State’s defensive line coach. Actor Colin Farrell wanted to be a football player. His father, Eamon Farrell, played for Shamrock Rovers FC. Colin Farrell will play the Penguin in the 2022 film “The Batman.”

13. Four Kent State players transferred from Syracuse. Others transferred from Penn State, Kansas State, South Dakota State, Youngstown State, Jackson State, Texas State and Dixie State.

14. Iowa is playing for its 300th victory in Kinnick Stadium.

15. Sean Lewis is in his fourth season as Kent State’s head coach. He is 35, younger than any member of Iowa’s coaching staff.

16. Kent State played just four games last season. It won three, and averaged 49.8 points per game. It averaged 12.8 points in 2017, the year before Lewis took over.

17. The last time Kent State went to the Elite Eight of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was 2002. The last time Iowa did it was 1987. Antonio Gates, who went on to catch 955 passes as an NFL tight end, played basketball but not football for the Golden Flashes that season. He averaged 20.3 points in the 2002-03 season.

18. Kent State is a cradle of comedians, with Drew Carey, Arsenio Hall and Steve Harvey among its former students.

19. Former Iowa defensive lineman Anthony Herron will be BTN’s analyst for this game. Herron spoke to Bret Bielema’s Illinois team two weeks ago, the day before it played UTSA. Herron was a Hawkeye player when Bielema was an assistant coach to Hayden Fry, and then Kirk Ferentz.

20. There is a town in Nebraska called Ohiowa, population 115. A group of settlers who came from Ohio wished to named the town Ohio while those from Iowa preferred the name Iowa. The dispute was settled by compromise.

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