Iowa Football: 3 things we learned in Hawkeyes win over Iowa State

Iowa has a championship-caliber defense

Through two weeks of the 2021 season, Iowa football has back-to-back wins over teams ranked in the top 20 and allowed a grand total of 23 points along the way.

In today’s era of wide-open football, that’s almost unheard of. And it’s not like the Hawkeyes are just a solid defensive team, although they are, they are making game-changing plays.

Last week against Indiana, Iowa’s defense intercepted Michael Penx Jr. three times and returned two of those for touchdowns.

In Ames on Saturday, Iowa intercepted Heisman candidate Brock Purdy three times and forced four total turnovers which led to 20 of Iowa’s 27 points.

Iowa also managed two sacks and also contained Breece Hall, one of the nation’s best running back as he finished with just 69 yards on 16 carries.

Certainly, it will be hard to keep up the defensive touchdowns, but this Iowa defense could easily be the best in the Big Ten.