Fun Facts: Michigan State-Iowa. Finally, the Hawkeyes have returned to NBC

Name the Kim that won’t be at Kinnick Saturday. Is it Noah, Jonathan, or Kardashian?

1. Iowa is 14-7 all-time in home night games.

2. This is Michigan State’s first road game of the season.

3. The Hawkeyes lead the nation in fewest penalty yards per game with 20.8.

4. Michigan State acting head coach Harlon Barnett was a defensive back for MSU’s 1988 Rose Bowl champions before his 7-year NFL career

5. Iowa hasn’t let an opponent gain 400 yards in its last 18 games, the longest current streak in FBS. Iowa State had been the leader at 18 until it allowed 409 in its win against Oklahoma State last Saturday.

6. Michigan State has averaged 8 points in its two games against Power Five conference teams.

7. Iowa hasn’t scored a first-quarter touchdown in its last three games.

8. MSU’s starting quarterback is Noah Kim. Its starting kicker is Jonathan Kim. Both are from Virginia. They are unrelated.

9. Iowa leads the Big Ten in number of punts (23) and punting average (47.3 yards).

10. Iowa’s shot at its first unbeaten season since 1922 ended last week at Penn State.

11. The Spartans have won three of their last four games against Iowa, but were outscored in them, 88-68.

12. MSU offensive coordinator Jay Johnson was the starting quarterback at Northern Iowa from 1990 to 1992. The Panthers were 31-8 in that time.

13. Iowa has a 3-game losing streak on Sept. 30s. It’s last Sept. 30 win was 59-21 over New Mexico State in 1995.

14. On Sept. 10, Mark Dantonio was appointed Michigan State’s associate head coach. He was head coach at MSU from 2017-2019 and is the winningest coach in the program’s history. He won three Big Ten titles.

15. Dantonio was 5-4 against Iowa. More importantly, he was 8-5 against Michigan.

16. The fewest points Utah State has allowed in its four games (Iowa, Idaho State, Air Force, James Madison) was the 24 it surrendered to the Hawkeyes on Sept. 2.

17. Michigan State has an interim president (Theresa Woodruff) to go with its acting head coach. Iowa has an interim athletic director (Beth Goetz).

18. This is Iowa’s first appearance on NBC since the 1986 Rose Bowl. The Hawkeyes are 10-4-1 on that network. It’s Michigan State’s first NBC appearance since last Saturday.

19. Lansing, Iowa was named by its first settler, William Garrison, who was from Lansing, Mich.

20. Lansing, Mich., was named after John Lansing Jr., mayor of Albany, N.Y., from 1786-1790. He disappeared in 1829 after leaving his Manhattan hotel to mail a letter, and was never seen again. It has been suggested he was murdered by political opponents.