Why Kinnick Stadium is a top home field advantage in the Big Ten, nationally

Kinnick Stadium.  The home of the Iowa Hawkeyes. One of the hardest places in college football to play. Not my words. It has been said by others.

Penn State defensive lineman Shaka Toney echoed those sentiments back in 2019.

“That noise and that environment, that’s probably the toughest place to play on the road. You can feel the intensity in the air. I think Iowa is probably one of the toughest stadiums to play at in America. It is always going to be a challenge for anybody who goes in there. You know the history of them beating top teams there,” Toney said.

Iowa is not afraid of anyone stepping onto the turf at Kinnick Stadium. That can be said because it isn’t coming from them. Once it comes from another source, that proves the sentiment true.

That holds true based on statistics and evidence. Over the last five seasons, the Iowa Hawkeyes pride themselves on a 25-7 record on their home field. That comes out to a 0.781 winning percentage. Winning nearly 80% of home kickoffs is the definition of home-field advantage.

The year-over-year records for the last five seasons are:

• 2021: 6-1

• 2020: 3-1 (Pandemic shortened season)

• 2019: 6-1

• 2018: 5-2

• 2017: 5-2

For those who are more invested in what has happened lately, if shrunk down to the last three seasons, the record moves to 15-3 and balloons to an 0.833 winning percentage.

The Hawkeyes have also taken down four top-20 opponents during this five-year run of domination in Kinnick Stadium. The wins have been rather convincing as well, further proving that they can play with anyone when they have to come to Iowa.

Starting in 2017, the nation saw a 55-24 Iowa rout over No. 6 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes began the day with a pick-six on the first play of the game and never looked back on their way to a resounding win.

In 2019, Iowa welcomed in undefeated Minnesota for a night kickoff at Kinnick that featured alternate blackout uniforms and encouraged fans to do the same in black Hawkeye gear.

The Golden Gophers were ranked No. 9 in the country. Iowa came out of the gates and rapidly scored on their first three drives. This propelled them to a lead that was enough to hold off Minnesota’s attempt at a comeback.

Iowa was able to not just put water in the boat, but take away P.J. Fleck’s oars and stop the Minnesota boat from any more rowing in 2019 with a 23-19 victory followed by a field storming.

The 2021 season saw two additional ranked foes fall at the hands of Iowa. The season started with an absolute dismantling of No. 17 Indiana. This game saw two pick-sixes by Riley Moss as Iowa discarded of the Hoosiers in a dominant 34-6 win.

The most memorable game of the 2021 season was Iowa welcoming in No. 4 Penn State. If there was ever a moment to describe the Kinnick Stadium crowd, it can be summed up by causing three consecutive false start penalties by the Nittany Lions. The crowd was deafening to the point Penn State couldn’t get the ball snapped.

This performance by Iowa that took guts to come back from a first-half deficit drew praise from national media. It put Kinnick on the map nationally and is giving Iowa the applause it deserves. Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN’s College Gameday spoke about the environment being one of the hardest to play in and how it changed the outcome of the game.

Iowa will welcome seven opponents to Kinnick Stadium this fall and should get another chance at one or two ranked opponents with Michigan and Wisconsin coming to town. Kinnick Stadium is loud. It is intimidating. It is where teams better be ready for a 12-round fist fight.

List

Gauging the Iowa Hawkeyes, every Big Ten team's home records since 2017

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Story originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire