Iowa Ranked First in Key Statistic

Sitting at 3-2, Iowa, on average, commits just 2.2 penalties per game. There are currently three teams tied for second place: Army, Oregon and Wisconsin. All of those teams have committed 18 penalties in five games, which comes out to an average of 3.6 per game.

Not too far behind Iowa is Penn State who has 19 penalties in five games. The main team to watch is Kansas State as the Wildcats have committed 18 penalties in six games. Their three penalty per game average is below that of the Black Knights, Ducks and Badgers.

Regardless, Iowa is in exclusive company. They're opponents in the next two weeks are Wisconsin and Penn State. Each team has played five games thus far as neither of the three has committed more than 20 penalties.

To put things into perspective, Iowa's 118 penalty yards are the fewest in the nation. According to the NCAA's website, Ohio, South Alabama and Syracuse have committed 290 penalty yards. Those three teams are tied for last place, though all have played six games. Still, that's an average of 48.33 penalty yards per game. In contrast, Iowa averages the fewest (23.6).

Looking at their first five games, Iowa committed two penalties in Week 1 against Albany. They picked up the win, 34-7, and lost just 20 yards due to the pair of penalties. In Week 2, they were penalized four times for 38 yards. To no surprise, this is one of the two games they lost. That said, it was against No. 16 Iowa State, and they only lost by three points.

Iowa's Week 3 abomination over UMass saw each team penalized just once for five yards. In the end, neither team was held back as the Hawkeyes ran through the Minutemen, 47-7.

From there, Iowa shifted gears to Big 10 play. In each of their next two games, they were only penalized twice. Iowa's 38-28 win over Rutgers saw them penalized twice for 30 yards. In both the Rutgers and Indiana game, Iowa had one penalty that was more than ten yards. Against No. 11 Indiana, the Hawkeyes were penalized twice for 25 yards. Looking at their next game against Wisconsin, it will be crucial for each team to take advantage of the other's mistakes.