WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Notes, Quotes

The Sports Xchange

November 21, 2018 at 1:28 am.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

–QB Nate Stanley hasn’t been great, but he has played pretty well most of the season. His 21 touchdown passes rank third in the Big Ten and he’s 15 passing yards from reaching 5,000 in his career with a game to go. The junior hasn’t been able to produce wins against the toughest opponents on the schedule this season. His 47 career touchdown passes put him fourth on Iowa’s all-time list. He helped engineer Iowa’s 56-14 rout of Nebraska in last year’s game with 192 yards passing and two touchdowns.

–TE T.J. Hockenson hasn’t received as much national attention as fellow TE Noah Fant, but the sophomore has been more productive this season. His 663 receiving yards on 41 catches lead the team and his seven touchdowns are tied with Fant for second best. Hockenson is averaging 16.1 yards per catch, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten, and he has made 23 career starts. This week, he was named one of three finalists for the Mackey Award that goes to the top tight end in the country.

–C Keegan Render will make his 32nd career start and play in his 51st game for Iowa on Friday against Nebraska. He started at guard the past two years when the Hawkeyes handled the Cornhuskers, and he has been one of the anchors of an offensive line this season that has allowed a Big Ten-low 13 sacks. The durable and consistent Render, who was on the preseason Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List for the top center in the country, has played in every Iowa game since the 2015 opener.

–DE A.J. Epenesa is the reigning Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week based on his performance in the 63-0 win at Illinois last week. Epenesa’s big day included 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, eight total tackles, one pass breakup, one forced fumble, a recovered one fumble and a quarterback pressure. And there’s more: he blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. Epenesa’s 8.5 sacks rank second in the Big Ten and are the most by an Iowa player since Mike Daniels had nine sacks in 2011. The sophomore also leads the Hawkeyes and is fifth in the Big Ten with 13.5 tackles for loss.

SERIES HISTORY: Nebraska leads Iowa 29-16-3 but the Hawkeyes have won three straight and four of the last five. Nebraska has a 10-7 record in Iowa City, with its last win there coming in overtime in 2014.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “Unless they could have gotten Dr. (Tom) Osborne to come back and do it again, I don’t know what would have made more sense to really embrace what Nebraska is all about.” — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz on Nebraska first-year coach Scott Frost

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