5 key numbers from Iowa football's 24-10 win over Northwestern

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Iowa football moved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten after getting a 24-10 win at Northwestern on Nov. 7, keeping the Hawkeyes' College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Iowa set the tone early in the game, getting a touchdown on its first drive of the game. The defense stuffed a Wildcats offense that was without its starting quarterback, Aiden Chiles.

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It was the first loss for Northwestern in brand-new Ryan Field, and Iowa's fifth straight win over the Wildcats.

Here are five numbers that tell the story of the win for the Hawkeyes.

21: yards on Hank Brown's rushing touchdown

Hank Brown scored Iowa's first touchdown on the opening drive, taking off on a quarterback draw from 21 yards out.

This was Brown's second rushing touchdown of the season, the first coming against Iowa State in Week 2.

His final stat line: 16 completions on 21 attempts, 126 yards, one rushing touchdown, one passing touchdown and an interception. He threw the ball over the top of two defenders to Tony Diaz for a second-quarter touchdown.

96: yards on Braeden Jackson's house call

Jackson returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the second time this season. He caught the ball at the 4-yard line, found his blockers and picked up speed as he beat out Northwestern defenders to score. Jackson was untouched during the entire run.

Jackson had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Michigan, helping the Hawkeyes earn a 20-19 victory in Ann Arbor.

128: LJ Phillips' rushing yards

Phillips had a strong game on the ground as he took on a bulk of the carries for the Hawkeyes.

After starting the season slowly due to injury, he stepped up for the team with Kamari Moulton out for the season. Phillips picked up 128 yards on 21 carries (6.1 average), including a 45-yard run that moved the ball from Iowa's 7-yard line to midfield. That was the key play on a 97-yard scoring drive.

Iowa ball-carriers racked up 170 rushing yards on 33 carries (5.2 average).

6: Number of sacks made by the Iowa defense

Iowa's defense played another great game and has been sharp since the Oct. 16 bye week. Phil Parker's group held opponents without a point for 100 minutes 46 seconds of game clock before Northwestern's field goal in the third quarter on Saturday.

A big part of the unit's success in Evanston was getting to Northwestern's Nicco Marchiol six times.

Jayden Montgomery, Bryce Hawthorne, Drew Campbell, Luke Gaffney, Kenneth Merriweather and Iose Espenesa each brought down the Wildcats quarterback.

Cam Buffington led the defense with 12 tackles.

1: Third-down conversions for Northwestern

The Wildcats went 1-for-11 on third down in the loss. They punted the ball away five times.

Iowa was 7-of-13 on third down. The Hawkeye defense held Northwestern to 286 yards and 4.1 yards per play.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 5 key numbers from Iowa football's 24-10 win over Northwestern

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