2026 Northwestern Football Know Your Opponent: Iowa Hawkeyes
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Sandwiched between road trips against two of the conference’s best, Iowa visits the New Ryan Field on Nov. 7. The Hawkeyes are coming off a very impressive 8-4 regular season, but there are still questions surrounding their starting quarterback for 2026. Nonetheless, it will be a challenge for Northwestern.
The Basics
Returning Production: 44% overall (48% offense, 40% defense); 104th in FBS
2025 Record: 9-4 (6-3 B1G)
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz (28th season)
The Stats
2026 SP+ Overall: 22nd
2026 SP+ Offense: 38th
2026 SP+ Defense: 17th
2026 SP+ Special Teams: 10th
2025 Capsule
Iowa’s 8-4 regular season record is fairly misleading. Of the Hawkeyes’ four losses, three of those came against teams that finished the season ranked: Indiana, Oregon and USC. The other game they lost was to Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk rivalry. The total margin of defeat? 15 points. The most points Iowa lost by in a single game was five. FIVE! The Hawkeyes finished the season with a bowl game victory over Vanderbilt to finish with nine wins, with Kirk Ferentz continuing to show the rest of the country why he’s been Iowa’s coach for almost 30 years. 2025 was the Hawkeyes’ 11th consecutive winning season. The only other teams with streaks that long currently are Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, all of which have won at least one national championship in that timeframe. Iowa is the model of consistency, and 2025 was no different.
Offensive Overview
The biggest question for Iowa is at quarterback. The Hawkeyes are still hosting a competition between Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown. It’s hard to know which one of these guys will win the job, but there’s a very good chance that both of them play early in the season. Hecklinski has never seen meaningful playing time, while Brown has played very sparingly throughout his time in college. Whichever way the Hawkeyes go, their QB will be lucky to have talented running backs to back them up. Kamari Moulton rushed for 878 yards and five touchdowns last season. He did this while QB Mark Gronowski had 16 rushing touchdowns and 545 rushing yards of his own. Joining Moulton in the RB room is FCS South Dakota transfer L.J. Phillips Jr., who led the FCS in rushing with 1,921 yards, while adding 19 rushing touchdowns.
Also helping out the quarterback for Iowa is an offensive line that could very well be among the best in the country after winning the Joe Moore Award in 2025. In a CBS Sports article released in mid-July, the Hawkeyes were ranked as having the ninth-best O-line in college football. This is even after three offensive linemen left Iowa for the NFL. The two returning starters for the Hawkeyes on the O-line are Kade Pieper and Trevor Lauck, both of whom are generating first-round buzz. Pieper is set to kick inside to play center, while Lauck will continue to protect the blind side at left tackle. Leighton Jones played over 100 snaps last year and will likely start at guard, with James Madison transfer Trent Wilson projecting to take the other guard spot. Jack Dotzler at right tackle rounds out the likely starting group for this run-blocking machine of an O-line.
Since Sam LaPorta was drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, Iowa’s tight end room has been plagued with injuries. That bad luck might be changing for the better, though, with DJ Vonnahme back. In 2025, he led the Hawkeyes across the board with 29 receptions for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Behind him, there are a few promising but unproven guys; mainly Thomas Meyer, a redshirt-freshman (if that still exists), who could potentially see an increased role.
For wide receivers, the main returning player is the 6-foot-4 Reece Vander Zee, who had 15 receptions for 219 yards and two touchdowns in eight games in 2025. His best game of the season came in Iowa’s bowl game against Vanderbilt, so there’s a good chance that momentum carries into 2026. Among the other returners, Dayton Howard is the name that stands out most, in part because he’s a massive 6-foot-5. The Hawkeyes also brought in two exciting FCS transfers in UTRGV’s Tony Diaz and Furman’s Evan James. Diaz was the Southland Freshman of the Year and was an All-Southland First-Team selection after going for 875 yards and 11 touchdowns on 68 receptions. James led Furman last year with 65 receptions for 796 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns, plus another score and 72 yards on the ground. Both guys were featured in the slot at their previous schools (and were actually banged up in the spring by Iowa’s defense), but it would be surprising if they aren’t featured more often than not (at least for an Iowa team).
Defensive Overview
Iowa teams are built on the defensive side of the ball. The Hawkeyes have allowed fewer than 20 points-per-game over the last 10 years, which is the longest active streak in college football. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker has been one of the country’s best and is now entering his 15th season as Iowa’s DC.
Starting with defensive tackle: just one of Iowa’s top-four DTs from 2025 is returning, and that player is Bryce Hawthorne. Outside of him, it’s a bit murky, but Iowa football is always great at reloading across its defense, so there shouldn’t be too much to worry about. That being said, if this is the weakest position group on the Hawkeyes’ defense, I wouldn’t be surprised. The Hawkeyes did bring in a couple of FCS transfers, including Brice Stevenson from Holy Cross, to help in the defensive trenches.
Similarly to DTs, Iowa lost three of its top-four edge rushers from 2025. The only returner is Kenneth Merrieweather, who almost certainly slots in as a day-one starter. Behind him, one of the highest-rated recruits in Iowa’s history, Iose Epenesa (younger brother of A.J. Epenesa), could be in for a massive year. Furthermore, FCS Elon transfer Kahmari Brown was the first player in Elon history to have a double-digit sack season. Between these three, there are going to be two starters and one backup.
Linebacker is another similar story to both DT and EDGE. Of the four main guys who played meaningful snaps at LB in 2025, only one returns. Jayden Montgomery had 44 tackles last season and really impressed when he was thrust into a starting role due to injury. Normally, Iowa sticks with three main linebackers, but Montgomery was rotated in even after the injured player returned. The two other projected starters at LB for Iowa are Cam Buffington and Landyn Van Kekerix, both of whom played very sparingly last season but are in line to be the next starters.
For the secondary, the two likely starters on the outside are Deshaun Lee and Jaylen Watson. Lee was a starter for the Hawkeyes last season, while Watson was a backup. Behind them, there are three true first-years and a junior who has never seen the field. Like DT, this position group could turn out to be a problem for Iowa if there is an injury to one of the two starters. Coming back to play the CASH position is Zach Lutmer, who finished the 2025 season with 71 tackles (4th on team), three interceptions (led team) and 5.5 TFLs. Lutmer might also need to play at safety, though, with the Hawkeyes losing both starters from last season.
To combat this, Iowa may be moving backup CB from 2025 Rashad Godfrey Jr. over to play the CASH position, but he could end up simply being a backup (or starter) at outside CB. At safety (if Lutmer isn’t one of the starters and stays at CASH), it will likely be James Madison transfer Tyler Brown and FCS Villanova transfer Anthony Hawkins. Brown had 80 tackles last year with the Dukes while Hawkins had 59 with the Wildcats. Whoever it is, Parker has been coaching the defensive backs for Iowa since the 1990s, so it’s hard to bet against this group. However, the depth is a bit concerning, especially at CB.
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