FACTS & STATS: Site: Kinnick Stadium (70,397) -- Iowa City, Iowa. Television: Big Ten Network. Home Record: Purdue 3-3, Iowa 5-1. Away Record: Purdue 0-4, Iowa 1-3. Neutral Record: Purdue 0-0, Iowa 0-0. Conference Record: Purdue 1-5, Iowa 3-3. Series Record: Purdue leads, 45-32-3.

GAME NOTES: Coming off one of their biggest wins in the last 20 years, the Iowa Hawkeyes now focus their energy on the Purdue Boilermakers and a Big Ten Conference showdown at Kinnick Stadium. Last Saturday, the Iowa faithful came out to support their Hawkeyes and cheered them on to a shocking 24-23 victory against third-ranked Penn State. The win was the third in the last four outings for an Iowa program that is now bowl eligible after dashing the national championship hopes of the Nittany Lions. The triumph marked the first for the Hawkeyes over a top-five opponent since they upended fifth-ranked Illinois on the road by a score of 54-28 way back in 1990. As for the Boilermakers, they've gone from winning two of their first three games of the season to falling in six of the last seven, including a 21-7 decision versus 18th-ranked Michigan State last weekend. The lone victory for Purdue since the third week of September came on the first of November in a 48-42 win against a miserable Michigan crew. With respect to the all-time series between these two programs, Purdue owns a 45-32-3 mark since the series began back in 1910. The Boilermakers defeated Iowa in a lopsided 31-6 decision a season ago, tying for the fewest points allowed by Purdue the entire campaign.

The 21-7 loss to Michigan State wasn't even that close last Saturday, seeing as how Purdue didn't score until the final minute of regulation. Were it not for the one-yard TD run by Justin Siller the outcome would have been even worse for the Boilermakers, a team that generated a meager 83 yards passing and only 108 yards on the ground. Of those rushing yards, Kory Sheets accounted for 93 on 22 carries. Ranked fourth in the conference entering the week, Sheets is averaging 101.7 ypg on the ground, but even his efforts are not enough to keep the Purdue running game from ranking 10th in the league and 80th in the nation with 129.5 ypg. In terms of pass efficiency, the Boilermakers are 10th in the Big Ten and 102nd on the country this week with a ranking of 105.39. Since Curtis Painter is on the shelf with a separated shoulder, Siller has been anointed the signal-caller of the week for the team and if he's smart he'll continue to make Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy the top outlets in the passing attack, with the duo having combined for 100 receptions for more than 1,200 yards and six touchdowns.

The Purdue defense did a good job slowing down the passing game of the Spartans, limiting Brian Hoyer to only 154 yards and intercepting him twice, but as every MSU opponent has known this season, it is the running game of the Spartans that needs to be focused upon. Keeping Javon Ringer under four yards per carry was important, yet he still came up with 121 yards and two touchdowns on the day nonetheless. Anthony Heygood notched a game-high 14 tackles for the Boilermakers, one of which came behind the line of scrimmage. At the moment, not only does Heygood rank second in the conference with his 10.2 tackles per game, he's also 12th in the nation. Much further down the tackles list is Ryan Kerrigan with his 45 stops, of which six have come against opposing quarterbacks. Mike Neal (26 stops) leads the unit with nine tackles for loss and is second with 5.5 sacks as well. Purdue has managed to hold Ohio State, Minnesota and MSU to a combined 54 points, but even with such efforts the program is still ninth in the Big Ten with 26.9 ppg allowed.

The most popular guy in Iowa City until further notice is Daniel Murray who nailed a 31-yard field goal with one second remaining on Saturday to lift the Hawkeyes to an improbable 24-23 win against Penn State at Kinnick Stadium. Murray's boot was the culmination of a 15-play, 57-yard drive that ate up yardage and clock for the victors. Shonn Greene rolled up a game-high 117 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and Ricky Stanzi chipped in 171 yards and a TD through the air. Greene continues to be one of the most productive ball carriers in the Big Ten this season with his 1,374 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging better than six yards per carry. Greene, who has gained at least 100 yards in every game this season, is now second in the conference and third in the nation with an average of 137.4 ypg. As a team, Iowa is third in the conference and 32nd nationally with 180.2 ypg, with a lot of that coming from the first two games of the season when the team posted a combined 486 yards versus Maine and Florida International. Stanzi has been adequate with his 10 TDs and 59.4 percent accuracy, but he doesn't put up huge numbers that help take the pressure off Greene.

While Murray was and is the hero of the offense for the Hawkeyes, his ascension to greatness would not have been possible without the efforts of Tyler Sash who locked onto a badly thrown ball by Darryl Clark in the final minutes to get Iowa heading in the right direction. Because the elements were working in favor of the Hawkeyes, Penn State managed a mere 109 yards passing and finished with less than 300 yards of total offense as four players logged double-digit stops for the home team. More than anything else, the pass efficiency defense for the Hawkeyes is what has gotten them to six wins this season, limiting opponents with a rating of 98.46 which is second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation this week. Add to that a run defense that is allowing a mere 108.6 ypg and it is easy to see how this squad ranks third in the league and eighth in the country in points allowed at 14.2 ppg. Not only is Pat Angerer the top tackler on the team with his 83 stops through 10 games and eight starts, he is also first with his four interceptions, while Mitch King leads the way with 11.5 TFLs and three sacks.

Catching lightning in a bottle, as far as the Penn State fans were concerned, the Hawkeyes have already hit their high water mark for the season. Luckily for them they won't have to have such huge plays in crunch time in order to dismiss Purdue.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Iowa 21, Purdue 10

Saturday, November 15th, 12:00 p.m. (et).