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Football is America's most popular sport. 

Few sports fans will deny that, and though the sport is always going to maintain that extreme popularity until the end of time, there's another statement about the game that fans may also agree with: the season goes by very quickly. 

Some may say it's ridiculous to make such a claim, but some felt Iowa football's offseason would never end – now Week 1 has already over for the Hawkeyes. 

No. 22 Iowa made quick work of Northern Illinois inside a scorching Kinnick Stadium on Saturday afternoon, rolling to a 40-0 shutout victory. The Hawkeyes scored three touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game, which probably made it feel over before it even had a chance to began. 

A brief film session will follow tomorrow morning, and after that, it's on to the Cy-Hawk game for the Iowa players and coaching staff. 

While the Hawkeyes' focus will turn to Iowa State in no time, the media still has a day or so to break everything down. What better way to do so than combine the most intense contact sports in the world – football and hockey? 

There's probably a lot of Iowans that don't follow hockey, but if you do, you'll recall that the attending media votes on the three stars of the game. The third star is the third-best player, and it ends with the first star – the most outstanding performer from the game. 

That doesn't exist across any level of football, but we're bringing to Iowa football this season. 

Here are the three stars of the Hawkeyes' triumph over Northern Illinois: 

Third Star: Bryce Hawthorne 

The other two players on this list are both from the offense, so we're almost forced to choose someone from the defense to round this out. Iowa's entire defense was dominant on this day, but since entire units aren't selected for a star, the star of the defense has to go to defensive lineman Bryce Hawthorne. 

Hawthorne wasn't the leading tackler (that honor went to Cam Buffington, who had six), but he still finished tied for second with four tackles and 0.5 sacks. He gets the nod here because of his leadership. The Hawkeyes have a lot of youth up front this year, but Hawthorne is one of the few veterans in the room and helped engineer a consistent pass rush. Northern Illinois had no chance. 

Second Star: Kamari Moulton 

Had it not been for the No. 1 player on this list, Moulton would've been the best player on the field. The fourth-year was so close to breaking off numerous touchdown runs last season, but that wasn't the case on Saturday. Having a talented offensive line helps, but when the holes opened up, Moulton flew through them, tallying a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were long sprints (50 and 37 yards). 

The explosiveness was on full display, and the Hawkeyes are going to need that if L.J. Phillips is forced to miss time due to his injury that he suffered in the first half. 

First Star: Tony Diaz 

You can't throw anyone else in the top spot here. Moulton was dominant, but Diaz's Iowa debut couldn't have gone any better. His playmaking abilities were on full display at the FCS level, but elevating to Big Ten play is a difficult adjustment. 

Tougher competition is on the way, but Diaz proved to Hawkeye fans that he can be the No. 1 receiver they've lacked for years. Whenever Iowa dropped back to pass on Saturday, Diaz was wide open on nearly every play – a testament to Tim Lester trying to get him the football every play, but also to Diaz's route-running skills. He finished with 84 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, which were the most by an Iowa receiver since Jacob Gill had 138 in 2024. 

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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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