John Steppe

Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins leads Power Five players with 50 total tackles through four weeks, but teammates know the team leader is “not satisfied.”

It's a two-part episode of the Hawk Off The Press podcast with The Gazette's John Steppe ahead of Saturday's game against Michigan State.

Iowa-Michigan State has historically been one of the more competitive Big Ten matchups, but the Hawkeyes are strong favorites this weekend.

Iowa’s 4.5 yards per play through four games are an improvement from the 4.24 yards per play last year, but it still is among the worst in college football.

Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson are expected to miss Saturday’s game against Michigan State. After that, it’s unclear. Quarterback Cade McNamara “hit my hand on a helmet pretty good” in the 31-0 loss to Penn State, but it was “extremely minor.”

“All of our goals are still out there,” Iowa defensive end Joe Evans said on Tuesday.

Iowa defensive lineman Joe Evans talked about watching the Hawkeyes’ battles with Michigan State as a fan growing up and how the Hawkeyes will try to bounce back against the Spartans this week after last Saturday’s loss at Penn State.

The Spartans are coming off back-to-back losses of 20-plus points.

Iowa’s defense did not give up any 20-plus-yard plays on Saturday, but Penn State’s chunk-by-chunk gains added up quickly in the 31-0 loss.

Iowa running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson have not returned to the depth chart ahead of the Hawkeyes’ Week 5 game against Michigan State.

Iowa’s Oct. 7 game against Purdue will air exclusively on NBC’s Peacock streaming service.

Quarterback Cade McNamara believes the Hawkeyes “will be better because of” Saturday’s shutout loss against Penn State.

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara answered questions about what went wrong for the Iowa offense in the Hawkeyes’ 31-0 loss Saturday at Penn State.

Costly turnovers and an overall nonexistent offense promptly removed any chance Iowa had of pulling off the upset. The 24th-ranked Hawkeyes fell 31-0 at No. 7 Penn State.

Running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson highlight the list of players who will miss Iowa’s game against No. 7 Penn State this week.