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The 2025 season marked a rare year where Iowa and Northwestern didn't meet on the football field. 

Aside from a two-year break in 2003 and 2004, the Hawkeyes and Wildcats played annual contests from 1971 through 2024. The elimination of the Big Ten West ended the yearly matchups and resulted in no meeting last year, but these two longtime Big Ten foes have each other back on the schedule in 2026. 

Iowa leads the overall series by a comfortable 56-28-3 margin, but Northwestern closed the competitive gap when Pat Fitzgerald was on the sidelines. Fitzgerald was fired three years ago, but the Wildcats have been slowly building themselves to respectability with some shiny new additions. 

This will be Iowa's first trip to Northwestern since the 2023 season, but that game took place at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago. The 2026 edition will be back in Evanston for the first time in five years. 

It's far too early to write up a full preview of this Nov. 7 contest in Evanston, but what we can do in late August is give you an early look at this Northwestern team. 

Here it is. 

The Coach 

Head coach David Braun enters his fourth season as Northwestern's head coach after taking over as the interim head coach weeks before the 2023 season. The Wildcats weren't expected to do much because of the off and on field issues (they went 1-11 in 2022), but Braun performed a miracle and led Northwestern to eight wins that year. 

That 8-5 season earned Braun the full-time job, and though he went 4-8 in 2024, the 'Cats rebounded to finish 7-6 in 2025. Two bowl games in three years is an impressive achievement for a lower-tier program like Northwestern, and there's tons of optimism in Evanston right now. 

Another thing to note here is that this is Braun's first FBS coaching job. He was a position coach and defensive coordinator at the FCS level before arriving in Evanston as Northwestern's defensive coordinator. 

Key Returners 

The Wildcats have a lot of nice pieces on offense (more on some of them in the next section), and it starts with a loaded running back room. Leading rusher Caleb Komolafe is back after tallying 941 rushing yards and 11 scores last year, and right behind him is second-leading back Joseph Himon III, who collected 486 yards as a junior in 2025. 

There's more good news. Leading wide receiver Griffin Wilde is also back in the purple and white after recording 880 yards and eight scores last season, and leading tackler Robert Fitzgerald is back to lead a defense that held opponents to 19.8 points per game in 2025. 

Key Newcomers 

Northwestern is pretty excited about its newcomers in 2026, but the first two items here aren't even about players. The old Ryan Field was arguably one of the worst Power Four stadiums in the country, but the Wildcats are moving to the new 35,000-seat, $862 million Ryan Field this season. 

The stadium is set to open ahead of the conference opener against Penn State on Oct. 2, and Iowa will be just the fourth game in the stadium's history. The new project should be a major lift for the program as it attempts to compete with the rest of the Big Ten, but it's far from the only new thing Northwestern fans are excited about. 

Chip Kelly, who's best known for his head coaching stints with Oregon and the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, enters year one as the offensive coordinator. He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders for half of the 2025 season, but did win a national title with Ohio State in 2024 and is still regarded as a brilliant offensive mind. 

The aforementioned returners will help Kelly rebuild this mediocre offense, but the prized possession in the transfer portal class was quarterback Aidan Chiles. Chiles failed to live up to the hype at Michigan State, but Northwestern is hoping a change in scenery will help. 

Chiles' best game of his career may have came against Iowa in 2024, where he completed 22 of his 30 passing attempts for 256 yards, while also adding 51 on the ground. The Spartans never punted in that game and secured a 32-20 upset win. 

Season Outlook 

Though things are looking up for Northwestern football, getting to six wins may be a chore this season. Beating the Hawkeyes won't be easy, and there's also trips to Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State on the schedule. 

The Wildcats' win total is around 5.5 from most major sports books, so it seems like Northwestern may have to steal a few games to go bowling in 2026. 

You Can Win FREE Tickets To Iowa's Season Opener! 

HawkeyeRoundtable is giving away TWO tickets to Iowa's season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5! 

This is easily the biggest giveaway we've ever done on this site, and it's a great opportunity for two lucky fans to experience the joy of attending a Hawkeye football game at Kinnick Stadium. 

Click here to automatically become a member to enter the contest! Additional contest details can be found in our community section, too! 

HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io

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