Fun Facts: Indiana-Iowa, the Caitlin Clark edition

Is including Caitlin Clark in the Indiana-Iowa Fun Facts a lazy way to try to attract eyeballs? That seems cynical.

But the answer is yes. Now, on with the Fun Facts!

1. Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen is the only player in FBS with a kickoff return and a punt return for a touchdown. He had the same distinction last year.

2. The Hoosiers lead the nation in punt returns of 20-plus yards with six. The Hawkeyes lead the nation in punt returns of 30-plus yards with five.

3. Indiana is third in the nation in rushing offense. Iowa is seventh in the nation in rushing defense.

4. The Hawkeyes have won their last four games against Indiana and eight of the last nine. The Hoosiers haven’t won in Iowa City since 2007.

5. Iowa’s Max Llewellyn shares the Big Ten lead in sacks with Maryland’s Sidney Stewart, with four.

6. Indiana has 17 touchdown passes in four games. Iowa hasn’t had that many in a full season since 2018.

7. With 46 carries, Iowa quarterback Matt Gronowski has a dozen more rushes than any other Hawkeye. He is the first Iowa QB to run for a touchdown in a season’s first four games since Larry Lawrence in 1968.

8. Iowa has yet to allow a point in a third-quarter. Indiana is averaging 16.5 points in third-quarters.

9. Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza has the lowest odds of winning the Heisman at FanDuel at +850. At DraftKings, Indiana is 45-1 and Iowa 250-1 to win the national championship.

10. Before last Saturday’s 63-10 win over Illinois, it had been 1,750 days since Indiana had beaten a ranked opponent. On Saturday morning, it will be 1,450 days since Iowa last defeated a ranked foe.

11. Curt Cignetti is 15-2 as Indiana’s coach. The Hoosiers’ previous 14 head coaches had losing records there.

12. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz was a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh in 1980. Cignetti was a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1983 and 1984.

13. Iowa has had 11 consensus All-Americans since Indiana’s last one, Tevin Coleman in 2014.

14. Hoosier running back Solomon Vanhorse is an eighth-year senior. He redshirted his first year at James Madison in 2018 and was granted medical redshirts in 2022 and 2023.

15. Iowa has had nothing but winning seasons since the College Football Playoff debuted in 2014. Indiana has had just two. Yet, the Hoosiers are the only one of the two that has played in a CFP.

16. There is a town in Indiana called Santa Claus. It has a restaurant called Fat Santa’s Pizza, which claims every slice is a sleigh ride to flavor wonderland.

17. Elvis Presley’s final concert was in Indianapolis. He was 42.

18. The first professional baseball game was played in Indiana, the Cleveland Forest Citys against the Fort Wayne Kekiongas in 1871. However, Iowa has had two Major League Baseball games in the last 100 years, and Indiana has had none.

19. Though it hasn’t been documented, it’s widely believed Caitlin Clark has a higher percentage of fans in Indiana and Iowa than any other states. By the way, remember when Clark had 49 points and 13 assists in a 2024 game against Michigan and those totals weren’t what she was remembered for doing that night?

20. Indiana University's official mascot – Hoosier The Bison - has returned after a hiatus of nearly 60 years. The bison first appeared on official court documents signed by then-Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison in 1801, 15 years before Indiana became a state.