By Courtney Baumann
Perhaps one of the most telling things about a team is its ability to perform when it comes down to the wire — specifically on third downs and in the red zone — on both sides of the ball.
Here are Iowa’s statistics in those categories so far this season.
Offensive third-down conversion percentage: 37.38
Third downs haven’t been very nice to Iowa so far this season. They are something head coach Kirk Ferentz and the rest of the team have continually stressed the need to improve, and for good reason. Of the team’s 107 attempts to convert on third down, the Hawkeyes have only been successful 40 times.
It’s not a completely horrific number, Iowa sits at No. 87 nationally with 41 teams with a worse number, but only four Big Ten teams are below Iowa: Michigan State, Rutgers, Illinois, and Penn State.
However, it is the worst the Hawkeyes have done since they converted only 36.36 percent of their third downs in 2012.
Opponents’ third-down conversion percentage: 34.19
On the other side of the ball, though, Iowa has been pretty good on third downs, allowing its opponents to convert on just 40 of 117 attempts.
The only four teams in the Big Ten better than the Hawkeyes in this area are all ranked in the top-10 nationally: No. 2 Michigan, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 6 Ohio State, and No. 9 Nebraska.
It is also the best that number has been in Iowa’s past nine seasons. There have been just four seasons during that span of time in which the Hawkeyes’ opponents’ third-down conversion percentage was below 36 percent.
Offensive red zone conversion percentage: 92.86
Put the Hawkeyes inside their opponent’s 20-yard line, and a positive outcome is almost guaranteed. Of Iowa’s 28 trips there this season, it has scored 20 touchdowns and kicked six field goals.
The only Big Ten team better than Iowa in the red zone is Maryland, which gets the job done 93.33 percent of the time.
Here’s a somewhat surprising fact that’s only a little bit off-topic: seven Big Ten teams — Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Rutgers, Indiana, and Purdue — round out the very bottom of all Football Bowl Subdivision when it comes to red-zone conversions. The Big Ten makes up more than one-fourth of the 26 worst teams when it comes to that statistic.
Opponents’ red-zone conversion percentage: 69.57
This is one area where Iowa’s defense has been particularly strong. To allow opponents to score under 70 percent of the time when they are within 20 yards of the goal line is impressive.
In fact, Iowa is in fifth place nationally for opponents’ red-zone conversion percentage. The only teams better than the Hawkeyes in the category are Michigan, Wake Forest, Troy, and Florida — two of which are ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll.
Iowa’s opponents have only scored touchdowns 12 of the 23 times they have made it into the red zone, which also puts them toward the top nationally. For that statistic, the Hawkeyes sit at No. 27.
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