(Iowa City, IA) – The Iowa Hawkeyes earned the Big Ten West Division Championship on Saturday after beating Illinois 15-13. Iowa had a total of 281 yards on offense and outgained the Fighting Illini by just a yard.
Quarterback Deacon Hill went 19-29 for 167 yards and a touchdown. After the game, Hill said, “We couldn’t take our foot off the gas. You know, no matter the outcome of what that drive was, we knew that we had to keep pushing forward on every play.” Hill also earned a career-long 12-yard rush in the second quarter. Leshon Williams rushed for 54 yards while Kaleb Johnson had a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and rushed for 53 yards. Kaleb Brown had her career-high in receptions with seven and receiving yards with 71. Nico Ragaini also helped push the ball downfield with five catches for 46 yards as he now has the seventh-most receptions in Iowa history.
Defensively, Jay Higgins had his eighth game with 10 or more tackles with 12 in the game as he now has the 17th most tackles in Iowa history. Joe Evans also added on a sack with 5.5 sacks this season with 24 overall which are tied for the sixth-most in Iowa history.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will play once again in less than a week on Friday against Nebraska with the kickoff at 11:00 a.m.
