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There's only five days until Iowa football returns to the gridiron. 

While that may still feel like an eternity for eager Hawkeye fans, it might as well be 24 hours for Kirk Ferentz and Co. as they try to finalize their starting lineup for Saturday's season opener against the Northern Illinois Huskies. 

Iowa enters the contest (3:15 CT, Big Ten Network) as a heavy 31.5-point favorite, but like every opener, there's a lot of storylines to follow. Hawkeye Nation is probably diverting most of its attention to the ongoing quarterback battle instead of worrying about losing to Northern Illinois, but the Hawkeyes will still need to take care business at home. 

There's going to be plenty of analysis on the Huskies released in the coming days, but in the meantime, here are five interesting nuggets to know about Northern Illinois. 

No More MAC 

The Huskies were members of the Mid-American Conference for nearly three decades, but it's a new era of Northern Illinois football now. 

With most of its powers (Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State) departing for the new Pac-12, the Mountain West soon became desperate to maintain its reputation as a strong Group of Six league. Convincing longtime FCS powerhouse North Dakota State to become a football-only member was a good step in the right direction, but most were confused when the league extended a football-only invitation to Northern Illinois. 

Most of those criticisms were directed toward NIU's poor geographic fit with the rest of the conference (the closest school is North Dakota State, which is 600 miles away), but nevertheless, Husky leadership was ecstatic about the financial benefit the move will provide. 

Whether NIU will succeed on the field in its new league remains a mystery at this point, but it's certainly going to take time to get used to it. The Huskies' closest road trip this year will be their 165-mile trek west to Iowa City. 

From The Broadcast Booth To The Field 

Not only is Northern Illinois entering a new season in the Mountain West, it's also undergoing a complete overhaul on the field. Longtime head coach Thomas Hammock became the running backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks in February, leaving the job to interim man Rob Harley. 

Harley's background was discussed in our early opponent preview a few weeks ago, but there's something interesting to note when looking at his history in the sport.

While most coaches venture from the field to the broadcast booth after they retire from coaching, Harley did the opposite. According to The Daily Herald, Harley began his career as a TV sportscaster in Columbus after graduating from Ohio State, and he eventually rose through the ranks and became a game analyst for Big Ten Network. 

Harley soon discovered a passion for coaching during this TV run, and it's worked well for him so far. 

No Quarterback Decision Yet 

Like Iowa, Northern Illinois hasn't officially named a starting quarterback yet. Western Carolina transfer Taron Dickens is the favorite to land the job after throwing for over 3,500 yards in the FCS last year, but Charleston transfer Ean Hamric and returning signal-callers Brady Davidson and Jalen Macon are also competing for the job as well. 

Both Davidson and Macon stand at 6-foot-5 inches tall and threw a combined four touchdown passes last season, but Dickens is the dual threat option, having rushed for 321 yards and one score in 2025. Hamric was also a prolific passer at the FCS level last year, throwing for nearly 3,000 yards and 31 touchdowns. 

There's Some History Between These Two Teams 

Iowa leads the all-time series 9-1, but Northern Illinois has been far from a cupcake game when it plays the Hawkeyes.

This will be the seventh time the Hawkeyes and Huskies have played each other in the Kirk Ferentz era, and the last four meetings have been anything but kind to Iowa. The Hawkeyes struggled to close victories at Soldier Field in 2007 and 2012 before losing in stunning fashion at Kinnick Stadium in the 2013 season opener. 

The only matchup since was the 2018 opener. Iowa's 33-7 win was lopsided on the scoreboard, but a closer inspection would reveal that Northern Illinois trailed by just three (3-0) at halftime before the Hawkeyes pulled away in the second half. 

A Castle Dons NIU's Campus 

All five of the public universities in the state of Illinois have a castle on their campuses, which according to most sources was because then-Governor John Peter Altgeld wanted the flagship universities in the state to have more character. 

NIU's most historic (and oldest) building is Altgeld Hall. Built in 1899, the castle actually hosted Northern Illinois' entire university for a few years, with dormitories, laboratories, classrooms, and other university functions located inside. 

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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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