The Iowa Hawkeyes entered the Music City Bowl against the Missouri Tigers not knowing where their scoring would come from without running back Kaleb Johnson.

Yet, somehow, Iowa has managed to put together one of it most impressive offensive halves of the 2024 season.

The Hawkeyes are leading Missouri 21-14 at halftime thanks to some rather stellar play from quarterback Brendan Sullivan, who has gone 8-for-9 with 88 yards and a touchdown while also carrying the ball five times for 31 yards.

Of course, the biggest highlight of the afternoon thus far is Kaden Wetjen’s 100-yard kick return touchdown, which gave Iowa a 14-7 lead early on.

The Hawkeyes have also been getting an impressive showing from halfback Kamari Moulton, who has toted the rock seven times for 60 yards and a score.

With Johnson skipping the bowl game to prep for the NFL Draft, Iowa needed some unsung heroes to step up, and Wetjen and Moulton have absolutely done that for Iowa thus far.

Plus, wide receiver Jarriett Blue—who caught six passes during the regular season—is leading the way with three grabs for 30 yards for the Hawkeyes.

That being said, Iowa’s defense has struggled throughout the affair, as Tigers quarterback Brady Cook went 10-for-17 with 140 yards and a couple of scores against the Hawkeyes’ secondary.

And that was with Missouri’s top weapon, wide receiver Luther Burden III, missing the contest for the same reason as Johnson.

We’ll see if Iowa can hold serve in the second half and preserve the win.

Monday’s Music City Bowl between Iowa football and Missouri represents an interesting entry among the teams’ all-time series history.

The Hawkeyes (8-4) will play No. 20 Missouri (9-3) in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday at 1:30 p.m. CT. It marks the 14th matchup between the programs — and just the second time in over 100 years. The Tigers lead the all-time series 7-6 over the Hawkeyes.

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Despite the campus being about 200 miles apart, the teams have squared off once since 1910, a 27-24 Iowa victory in the 2010 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. Despite the teams meeting regularly between 1894 and 1910, they have not scheduled one another for over a century.

Here’s what you need to know about Iowa football’s history vs. Missouri:

Iowa vs Missouri football history

Monday’s matchup will be the 14th-ever meeting between Iowa and Missouri on the gridiron. The Hawkeyes are 6-7 vs. the Tigers. The teams faced off annually between 1892 and 1896 and then again from 1902 to 1910. However, they have played just once since, in the 2010 Insight Bowl.

Since the 2010 Insight Bowl was held on Dec. 28, Monday’s meeting will be the latest in the calendar year the Hawkeyes and Tigers have played.

• Series record: Missouri leads series 7-6
• Iowa’s last win: 2010 (27-24, Insight Bowl)
• Missouri’s last win: 1910 (5-0)

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Iowa vs Missouri game-by-game results

Here’s a look at the football games played between the Hawkeyes and the Tigers:

• Nov. 9, 1892: Missouri 22, Iowa 0
• Nov. 18, 1893: Iowa 34, Missouri 12
• Nov. 19, 1894: Missouri 32, Iowa 6
• Nov. 18, 1895: Missouri 34, Iowa 0
• Nov. 9, 1896: Iowa 12, Missouri 0
• Nov. 20, 1902: Missouri 6, Iowa 0
• Nov. 14, 1903: Iowa 16, Missouri 0
• Oct. 27, 1906: Iowa 24, Missouri 4
• Oct. 19, 1907: Iowa 21, Missouri 6
• Oct. 17, 1908: Missouri 10, Iowa 5
• Oct. 30, 1909: Missouri 13, Iowa 12
• Oct. 15, 1910: Missouri 5, Iowa 0
• Dec. 28, 2010: Iowa 27, Missouri 24

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Iowa-Missouri 2020 Music City Bowl canceled

The Tigers and Hawkeyes were scheduled to play in 2020, but Missouri was forced to postpone the Wednesday game on Sunday due to a rise in COVID-19 cases within the program. The new cases were traced back to the Tigers’ matchup vs. Mississippi State on Dec. 19, 2020.

“Since concluding our regular season and conducting four rounds of tests over the last eight days, we have seen a significant increase in positive COVID-19 tests among our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” athletic director Jim Sterk said in a statement. “This eight-day uptick within our program is significant and has made it impossible for us to play in the bowl game.”

Why did Iowa stop playing Missouri after 1910 game?

In the last matchup between the two programs on Oct. 15, 1910, Iowa coach Jess Hawley took 19 varsity players for the team’s matchup in Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers had already announced that Iowa tackle Archie Alexander, a Black player, would not be allowed to play, due to pressure from Missouri

Along with the hostility toward the Iowa players, excessive heat near reported 100-degree temperatures made the game ugly, which the Tigers won 5-0. Due to circumstances that were deemed unsportsmanlike by Iowa, Hawley declared after the game he would never play Missouri again while head coach at Iowa.

This remained true after he left following the 1915 season.

According to a report from the History News Network, Iowa president George MacLean attempted a compromise of playing an integrated game in Iowa City, if not in the state of Missouri. In correspondence dated for November 1910, Missouri president Ross Hill reportedly dismissed MacLean’s suggestion, saying Missouri would not play a team with a Black player on it anywhere.

The teams did not meet again until the 2010 Insight Bowl — over 100 years since the Tigers refused to play an integrated Iowa team.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Cameron Haffner scored 13 points as Evansville beat Missouri State 57-40 on Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.

Haffner went 5 of 12 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) for the Purple Aces (4-9, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference). Joshua Hughes added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Tayshawn Comer scored 11.

Dez White finished with 12 points, four assists, and six steals for the Bears (7-6, 0-2). Missouri State also got 10 points, 12 rebounds, and two steals from Michael Osei-Bonsu. Zaxton King had eight points.

Evansville carried a slim three-point lead into halftime, as Haffner led the way with seven points. Evansville took the lead for what would be the final time on Haffner’s 3-pointer with 18:44 remaining in the second half. His team would outscore Missouri State by 14 points in the second half.

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