Big Ten West action is back today, Saturday, Oct. 7 on Peacock: It’s the Purdue Boilermakers heading into a harsh Kinnick Stadium environment to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Riding high off a big win over Illinois in Week 5, Purdue takes some momentum into a huge showdown against the 4-1 overall Hawkeyes as both teams fight for the top spot in the division. Keep reading for how to watch and key storylines for the game.
Purdue Boilermakers
The 2-3 Boilermakers’ struggles this year have been led by their defense, which saw a healthy amount of offseason turnover in the coaching staff that hasn’t quite translated to on-field results. Purdue ranks second-to-last in the Big Ten in both yards and points allowed per game.
Its best defensive performance of the season came last week, when it yielded 19 points and 375 yards to Illinois after Boilermakers head coach Ryan Walters took over play-calling duties. The Illini don’t exactly boast one of the conference’s upper-tier (or even upper-half) offenses, but especially considering the Boilermakers’ five sacks, the performance was a marked improvement from a 38-point showing against Wisconsin the week prior.
“I saw us fighting and fighting together,” Walters said of the defense after Purdue’s 44-19 victory, per the Indianapolis Star‘s Akeem Glaspie. “We have seen it in spurts. We haven’t really played complementary football yet. I thought today was a great example of what happens when we play complementary football. Guys go out there and really give it their all for four quarters.”
Purdue is also coming off its highest point-scoring game of the season — again, Illinois’ Big-Ten-worst defense should be noted here. Redshirt junior quarterback Hudson Card improved his touchdown-to-interception ratio to 5-3; he’s completed 63.8% of his passes this year for just under 250 yards per game.
Look for a couple different tandems to make an impact on Saturday against the Hawkeyes: Deion Burks and Abdur Rahmaan-Yaseen have combined for 138.4 receiving yards per game, while Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Mockobee together lead the ground attack.
Iowa Hawkeyes
There was no slow start defensively this year for the Hawkeyes, whose 31-0 loss to now-AP No. 6 Penn State was the only time they’ve allowed more than 16 points in a game all year. That effort has led Iowa to a 4-1 record through five games.
The Hawkeyes are a good bet to keep up that stout defensive play on Saturday, especially with preseason All-American and potential 2024 first round NFL draft pick Cooper DeJean offering his strongest outing yet with an interception and punt return touchdown against Michigan State last week.
What’s more of an unknown, however, is what head coach Kirk Ferentz and Iowa will get from the quarterback position.
Senior Cade McNamara went down with a season-ending ACL injury early in last week’s matchup with Michigan State, and in his place Saturday will be sophomore Deacon Hill. Hill went 11-for-27 with 115 yards, a touchdown and an interception off the bench in the 26-16 win over the Spartans.
Saturday will be Hill’s first collegiate start.
“He has been working hard,” Ferentz said of Hill, per Sports Illustrated‘s John Bohnenkamp. “He’s improved a great deal. I thought he played with a lot of poise out there, first and foremost, on Saturday, made some good decisions and played with a lot of poise. Now the trick is to keep building on that.”
Purdue - Iowa history
Saturday will be the 94th all-time matchup between the two schools, with Purdue leading the series 50-40-3. It was the Hawkeyes, though, who took last year’s contest in West Lafayette.
Iowa is 22-21-2 all-time against the Boilermakers at home; Purdue will look to even that tally on Saturday.
How to watch the Purdue Boilermakers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
- When: Today, Saturday, October 7
- Where: Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Watch: Peacock
How can I watch Big Ten on Peacock?
The Purdue Boilermakers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes game will stream on Peacock. Sign up for Peacock here.
What devices support Peacock?
You can enjoy Peacock on a variety of devices.
View the full list of supported devices here.
NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football and primetime games announced to date:
*All times EST
| Sat. Sept. 2 | Noon | East Carolina at Michigan | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 2 | 7:30 p.m. | West Virginia at Penn State | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 9 | Noon | Delaware at Penn State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Charlotte at Maryland | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 5:00 p.m. | Washington at Michigan State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Syracuse at Purdue | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 3:30 p.m. | Maryland at Michigan State | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Ohio State at Notre Dame | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 30 | 3:30 p.m. | Illinois at Purdue | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 30 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan State at Iowa | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 7 | 12:00 p.m. | Rutgers at Wisconsin | Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 7 | 3:30 p.m. | Purdue at Iowa | Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan at Minnesota | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 14 | 7:30 p.m. | USC at Notre Dame | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Nov. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan State at Ohio State | NBC,Peacock |
| Fri., Nov. 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Penn State at Michigan State (Ford Field) | NBC,Peacock |
The remaining NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football games will be announced during the season.