Iowa is off to its first 3-0 start since 2009. How does this year’s team stack up with the last great Hawkeye group?

By Ryan Rodriguez
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Don’t look now, but the Hawkeye football team is one of four unbeaten teams left in the Big Ten, joining No. 1 ranked Ohio State, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 17 Northwestern, and Indiana as the only 3-0 teams in the conference.

That’s pretty good company to be in, and considering the Hawks’ last nonconference opponent is North Texas, there’s no reason to think the they won’t start 4-0 for the first time since 2009.

That team finished 11-2 and went on to win the Orange Bowl. How do this year’s Hawks stack up against that famous squad?

Scoring offense: 2015, 29.7 PPG; 2009, 23.2 PPG

So far, this season’s Hawks have scored at an average rate of close to 30 points per game, an increase of nearly 7 points over the team’s offensive average from the Ricky Stanzi-led Hawks in 2009.

That season featured a narrow 1-point win over Northern Iowa as well as a 24-21 victory over Arkansas State. They broke 30 points against conference opponents only twice, against Michigan and against lowly Indiana.

In 2015, Iowa put up back-to-back 31-point performances against Northern Illinois and Iowa State.

These Hawks play in a much more offensively dynamic conference than previous seasons; 23.2 points per game was the second-lowest total of any team in the Big Ten in 2009, with Wisconsin leading the way with 31.8 points per game.

To put that in perspective, 31.8 points per game would put Wisconsin at No. 8 overall in terms of total offense in 2015. Three weeks into the season, yes, but good signs nonetheless if you’re a Hawkeye fan.

Total defense: 2015, 274.3 yards/game; 2009, 276.5 yards/game

Again, the sample sizes on these two teams are much different, but Iowa’s defense in 2015 is almost identical to the one that anchored the team in 2009.

A difference of slightly more than 2 yards of total defense is all that separates the two teams in total defense, but let’s go a little bit deeper. This season, Iowa has given up 6 touchdowns in three games.

Six years ago, the Hawks allowed 18 in 13 games, approximately 1.38 touchdowns per game, significantly fewer over the course of a full season.

All things considered, it shouldn’t come as too much a surprise. This year’s team is on pace to give up about 10 more touchdowns than the one that boasted the likes of Tyler Sash and Adrian Clayborn in 2009.

Third-down conversions: 2015, 48.8 percent; 2009, 38.3 percent

In 2009, Iowa was one of the worst teams in the conference at converting third-down opportunities into a fresh set of downs that kept the drive alive.

This year, the Hawkeyes are one of the best.

Iowa’s third-down conversion rate of 48.8 percent is tied with Michigan State for best in the Big Ten. These two schools made up the bottom of the rankings in 2009.

If the Hawks of 2009 won with a stingy defense and an offense that stepped up to make a big play when it had to, the 2015 Hawkeyes have been a more consistent team on the offensive side of the ball in terms of playing a full 60 minutes.

So far, they’ve needed every bit of it.

Follow @ryanarod on Twitter for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa football team.

Note: An earlier version of this story did not list Indiana as one of the Big Ten’s 3-0 teams. The DI regrets the error.