Criminal charges

On August 20, 2007, two Hawkeye wide receivers were arrested and charged with the unauthorized use of a credit card. Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman, both sophomores, were suspended indefinitely by Ferentz following allegations that they bought more than $2,000 in merchandise with stolen credit cards. The crime is a felony, and if convicted, the two players can face up to five years in prison along with a $7,500 fine.^[12] Another player, Arvell Nelson, also experienced trouble with the law. Nelson posted a $545 bond for failure to appear in court after being charged with driving with a suspended license. He also paid a $390 fine for not having insurance. 1 in every 10 Iowa football players during the 2007 season had off-field arrests, the highest among any year in Kirk Ferentz's tenure at Iowa.^[13]

Recruiting class

The Hawkeyes received 22 letters of intent on National Signing Day, February 7, 2007.

Awards

Schedule notes

Due to the Big Ten's rotating schedule, Iowa did not play either Michigan or Ohio State in 2007. Instead, Iowa played Michigan State and Penn State, two teams that the Hawkeyes had not played since 2004.

Iowa's schedule was ranked as the 9th toughest (or 3rd easiest) in the Big Ten by SI.com.^[21]

Northern Illinois

Playing in Soldier Field in Chicago, the Hawkeyes defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 16–3. Albert Young ran for 144 yards and a touchdown as Iowa's defense kept the Huskies from scoring a touchdown. Damian Sims also made his mark by running for 110 yards. The Hawkeyes held Northern Illinois to 21 yards rushing, and Charles Godfrey intercepted two Dan Nicholson passes. Sophomore quarterback Jake Christensen opened the season with 133 yards and one touchdown.

Syracuse

Behind a strong defensive performance, the Hawkeyes shut out the Syracuse Orange at Kinnick Stadium. Rebounding from a shaky performance against Northern Illinois, Christensen threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to tight end Tony Moeaki. On special teams, Kenny Iwebema blocked two field goals to help preserve the worst loss for Syracuse coach Greg Robinson in his tenure with the Orange. After the game, Syracuse running back Curtis Brinkley said:

We need to be a lot more fundamentally sound, there were a lot of missed assignments and there were a lot of people not hitting their targets. There's a little bit of everything we need to fix up.

The 35-point loss was Syracuse's most-lopsided since a 51–14 loss to Georgia Tech in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl.

Iowa State

Iowa State kicked its way to a 15–13 victory in Ames.

Wisconsin

Iowa's defense forced three Wisconsin turnovers, but could not hold off the Badgers' 4th quarter rally, losing 17–13.

Indiana

Iowa was unable to contain a scoring explosion from Indiana, including three early touchdowns by Hoosier quarterback Kellen Lewis. Iowa added to its difficulties with penalties and breakdowns in pass protection. Although quarterback Jake Christensen passed for 308 yards and three touchdowns, he was sacked nine times, including four by Jammie Kirlew. The Hawkeyes also missed two field goals and an extra point.

Penn State

Quarterback Jake Christensen was sacked twice, and the Hawkeyes were held scoreless until an interception near the Penn State end zone set up Trey Stross' 4th-quarter touchdown reception in a 27–7 blowout loss on the road at Penn State. Iowa was held to eight first downs while Penn State had 26.^[22]

Illinois

Entering the game, Iowa had lost eight straight Big Ten games, with their last win a 47–17 decision over Purdue on October 7, 2006.^[23] Illinois, however, entered the game ranked 18th in the country, and was looking to become bowl eligible with a win over the Hawkeyes.^[23]

From the very beginning, the game was a defensive one. The Hawkeyes held Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall to 67 yards, and slowed the nation's fifth-best rushing offense to 137 yards total.^[24] But the Illinois defense remained strong against the run, and held the Hawkeyes to a three yards per rush average.^[25]

Illinois did not trail until late in the third quarter, when Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen found tight end Brandon Myers down the middle for the touchdown.^[24][25] With the score at 10–6 in favor of the Hawkeyes, the Illini made a switch to Eddie McGee at quarterback, after starter Isiah Williams had a fumble recovered by Iowa. With McGee in, the Illini appeared to have stunned the Kinnick Stadium crowd with an 83-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back due to an Illinois penalty.^[24]

Despite the penalty, Illinois was not done. On Illinois' final drive, McGee drove the Illini down to the Iowa 12 with passes of 28 and 24 yards to Arrelious Benn. But with 1:12 left in the game, a McGee pass was intercepted at the goal line by Iowa's Brett Greenwood. The win was Iowa's first over a ranked team since 2005.^[24]

Purdue

Michigan State

Iowa escaped with an overtime win.

Northwestern

The Hawkeyes were largely outplayed in the first half but benefited from an Adrian Clayborn field goal block that kept it a one possession game going into the locker room. A motivational halftime speech by Kirk Ferentz propelled them to dominate the second in which they forced four turnovers and outscored the Wildcats 21-3.

Minnesota

iowa recaptured the bronze pig in Iowa City.

Western Michigan

Mid-American Conference member Western Michigan surprised the Hawkeyes, 28–19, in Iowa City.