NOTES: Gold Out vs. Northern Illinois

1ST & 10
• Saturday’s season opener is a “Gold Out” inside Kinnick Stadium with fans encouraged to wear gold clothing.
• The Hawkeyes are ranked 22nd in both the preseason coaches and AP polls.
• Iowa returns eight starters (five on offense and three on defense) for the 2026 season. The team has a total of 31 letterwinners returning.
• The Deans… Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is the longest-tenured head coach in the nation; defensive coordinator Phil Parker is the longest-tenured DC in college football.
• Retention… the Hawkeyes had eight transfers following the 2025 season – fewest among Power Four teams.
• The Hawkeyes have had 14 consensus All-Americans in the College Football Playoff era – the fourth-most in the country. Iowa is the only school in the nation to have a unanimous consensus All-American every year since 2021.
• Iowa’s defense has ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense in each of the last 11 seasons.  
• The Hawkeyes have allowed fewer than 20 points per game in nine consecutive seasons. Alabama has the second-longest streak nationally, allowing 20 or fewer points in four straight seasons.
• Since Phil Parker took over as Iowa’s defensive coordinator in 2012, Iowa is 75-5 (.938) when winning the turnover battle.
• Iowa’s offense averaged 29.3 points last season under OC Tim Lester – the most for the program since 2018. The unit averaged 27.7 points in 2024 during Lester’s first season.
• Iowa is one of four teams in FBS to have won at least eight games in each of the last 10 completed seasons (Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State). The Hawkeyes have won nine or more games 11 times under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• The Hawkeyes are one of seven programs nationally to have posted 12 straight winning seasons, along with Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Georgia, Memphis and Ohio State.
• Iowa has sold out 28 consecutive games in Kinnick Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s game is the 11th all-time meeting between Iowa and Northern Illinois. The Hawkeyes lead the series, 9-1.  
• Iowa won the most recent contest, 33-7, in 2018. The Huskies’ lone victory came in 2013, winning 30-27 inside Kinnick Stadium.
• Iowa assistant defensive line coach Jay Niemann was the defensive coordinator at NIU from 2011-15.  Defensive lineman Lance Ingold played for the Huskies for two seasons in 2024 and 2025.
• The Huskies are in their first season as a member of the Mountain West Conference.

IOWA IN SEASON OPENERS
Iowa is 101-33-2 all-time in season openers, including 22-4 under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• The Hawkeyes have won 10 of their last 12 season openers dating back to the 2014 season (Iowa’s 2023 season-opening win over Utah State was vacated by the NCAA).  

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Tony Diaz – 2026 Hispanic College Football Player of the Year Award Watch List
Jack Dotzler - The Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List
Iose Epenesa – Polynesian College football Player of the Year Award candidate
Kirk Ferentz – Dodd Trophy Watch List
Bryce Hawthorne - Athlon preseason fourth-team All-Big Ten
Trevor Lauck – Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List, Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List, The Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List, Athlon preseason second-team All-America, Athlon preseason first-team All-Big Ten, Phil Steele preseason second-team All-Big Ten
Deshaun Lee - The Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List, Athlon preseason fourth-team All-Big Ten
Zach Lutmer – Bronco Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List, Bednarik Award Watch List, Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, The Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List, Sporting News preseason second-team All-America, Phil Steele preseason third-team All-America, Athlon preseason fourth-team All-America, Athlon preseason first-team All-Big Ten, Phil Steele preseason second-team All-Big Ten
Jayden Montgomery – Butkus Award Watch List, 2026 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy and All-State AFCA Good Works Team
Kamari Moulton – Doak Walker Award Watch List, Athlon preseason fourth-team All-Big Ten
Eli Ozick – Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Watch List, Phil Steele preseason third-team All-Big Ten
Kade Pieper – Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List, Rimington Trophy Watch List, Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List, The Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List, Walter Camp preseason first-team All-America (center), AP preseason first-team All-America, Sporting News preseason first-team All-America, Athlon preseason first-team All-America, ESPN preseason first-team All-America, Phil Steele preseason first-team All-America, Big Ten Preseason Honors List, Athlon preseason first-team All-Big Ten, Phil Steele preseason first-team All-Big Ten
DJ Vonnahme – John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List, Sporting News preseason second-team All-America, Athlon preseason second-team All-Big Ten, Phil Steele preseason fourth-team All-Big Ten

MORE NOTABLES
• Iowa lost 27 seniors and a school-record seven NFL Draft picks from last year’s team that finished with a 9-4 overall record and No. 17 in the final rankings.
• The Hawkeyes have more wins in the playoff era (104) than any other Power 4 team that hasn’t made the playoff.
• Iowa’s four losses during the 2025 season came by a combined 15 points. The Hawkeyes were one of five teams that didn’t lose a game by more than seven points last season.
• CBS Sports ranks the Hawkeyes’ defensive secondary as the sixth-best unit nationally.
• Iowa’s offense has just 8,843 career snaps of experience – the fewest of any Power Four team.
• The Hawkeye defense returns just three starters and enters the 2026 season with the fewest combined career FBS snaps (4,995) of any Power Four roster.
• The Hawkeyes are 37-2 when scoring 21+ points since 2020. Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 81-6 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.
• Since 2015, Iowa has won nine games on a field goal in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, three more than any other FBS team over that period.
• Iowa is 64-2 when leading by 14+ points since 2015. The two losses came against Michigan State (2020) and USC (2025).
• Since 2020, the Hawkeyes are 18-9 in road games and the team has posted a winning road record dating back to the start of the 2018 season (24-13 record).
• Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards in 50 of the last 54 games and 15 or fewer points in 29 of their last 53 games. The Hawkeyes have held 13 teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.
• The Hawkeyes are 163-8-1 when allowing 10 points or less since 1970 and 396-59-19 when allowing 10 points or less all-time.

HECK & HANK
The battle to replace Mark Gronowski as Iowa’s starting center has been neck-and-neck since January between fourth-year Hank Brown and third-year Jeremy Hecklinski. Brown is an Auburn transfer, while Hecklinski came to Iowa City from Wake Forest.
• Brown played in three games in 2025, completing 11-of-21 passes for 107 yards with one touchdown. In two years at Auburn, the Tennessee native went 38-of-64 for 510 yards with seven touchdowns.  
• Hecklinski played in two games as a Hawkeye last season, completing the only pass he attempted and rushing for a touchdown. During Iowa’s 2026 Kids’ Day on Aug. 15, Hecklinski stole the show, completing 17-of-25 attempts for 205 yards and five touchdowns.

NO. 6 -- THE UNQUESTIONED LEADER
The face and most indispensable player on the Iowa defense – fourth-year Zach Lutmer -- will make the move to safety in 2026. The Rock Rapids, Iowa, native started all 13 games at CASH a season ago.
•  Lutmer was Iowa’s Team MVP in 2025 after collecting 71 tackles (44 solo), including 5.5 TFL, one sack, three interceptions, seven break-ups and one touchdown – a pick six in Iowa’s dominant home win over Minnesota.
• Lutmer, who is expected to return punts in 2026, is a preseason All-American and is on the Nagurski, Bednarik and Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch Lists.

LUT, LEE & CO.
Two of Iowa’s three total starters on defense return via the secondary in safety Zach Lutmer and defensive back Deshaun Lee. Lutmer is moving to the free safety position that was occupied by Xavier Nwankpa, while Lee has played in 35 games over the past three seasons with 25 starts.
• Lee has 108 tackles, two TFL and three interceptions during his Hawkeye career.
• Transfers Tyler Brown and Anthony Hawkins are vying for the strong safety position. Brown was an honorable mention All-Sun Belt selection after making 80 tackles at James Madison, while Hawkins was an FCS second-team freshman All-American by Phil Steele after making 59 tackles and tallying two interceptions at Villanova.  
• Jaylen Watson, Rashad Godfrey, Jr. and Jacob Wallace are in the thick of the other DB/CASH battles. Watson played in all 13 games with two starts, making 15 tackles, Godfrey played in 12 games, making 15 tackles in 2025 and Wallace played in three games as a first year.

NEW FACES ON DL
Iowa’s defensive line room was hit the hardest by graduation with the departures of a combined 77 starts by Aaron Graves, Ethan Hurkett, Max Llewellyn and Jonah Pace.  
• Fourth-year Bryce Hawthorne returns at tackle after playing in all 13 games in 2025 – his first season as a Hawkeye.  He made 15 tackles and had three TFL.  
• Fifth-years Luke Gaffney, Will Hubert and Kenneth Merriweather return after seeing limited action. 
• Iowa went to the portal to sign four defensive linemen, including defensive end Kahmari Brown (Elon) and tackles Lance Ingold (NIU), Emmanuel Olagbaju (North Dakota) and Brice Stevenson (Holy Cross).
• Brown was the most decorated, earning second-team All-America honors by the AP at Elon. He finished with 66 tackles, 16 TFL, 12 sacks and eight quarterback hurries.
• The Hawkeyes will have young, talented options with Iowa lineages in their DNA in second-year Iose Epenesa (the younger brother of former Hawkeye and current Eagles’ defensive end A.J. Epenesa) and Drew Campbell (the younger brother of former Hawkeye and current Lions’ linebacker Jack Campbell).  

A NEW LOOK LB ROOM
• Fifth-year Jayden Montgomery is the veteran in the linebacker room after playing in all 13 games and starting seven contests in 2025. The Wisconsin native had 44 tackles, one TFL and two pressures a season ago in his first extended action at linebacker.
• Third-year Cam Buffington has played only 28 career linebacker snaps in college. The former 8-man football player for Winfield-Mount Union, played in six games in 2025. He is one of two third-year players on Iowa’s Leadership Council.

HELLO MY NAME IS...
The Hawkeyes special teams room is brand new. Led by first-year special teams coordinator, Chris Polizzi, the unit will break in new players across the board in 2026. Kicker Drew Stevens and return specialist Kaden Wetjen are in the NFL following record-breaking Iowa careers, while punter Rhys Dakin transferring to Michigan State.
• Long snapper Ike Speltz is the only returnee in the room that saw action a season ago.

THE KICKERS
• North Dakota State transfer Eli Ozick and second-year Caden Buhr are competing for the placekicking duties.  Ozick was a second-team AP FCS All-American and a first-team All-Missouri Valley kicker in 2025. He converted 16-of-18 field goals with a long of 54 during the season. In two seasons, Ozick has made 19-of-23 attempts, including 3-of-6 from 50+ yards.
• Buhr, a Bettendorf, Iowa, native, didn’t attempt a field goal last season and had one kickoff attempt.  He connected on a 57-yarder during his prep career at Bettendorf High School.

PUNTER U. NEEDS A PUNTER
Simpson College transfer Tanner Philpott is the most experienced punter on the Iowa roster, after earning AFCA second-team All-America and AP third-team All-America honors in 2025. The Waukee, Iowa, native averaged 43.9 yards on 40 punts, ranking third in Division III. He had 16 punts downed inside the 20 during the season.
• Boston Everitt continues Iowa’s Australia pipeline, joining the program from Hope Island. Everitt is in his first season playing American football.

ALONE AT THE TOP
Kirk Ferentz is in his 28th season as Iowa’s head football coach, where he is the longest tenured active head coach in college football and all-time winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history. Ferentz broke the record during the 2025 season, passing Ohio State’s Woody Hayes atop the prestigious list. He currently has 209 career victories.
• Ferentz has 133 Big Ten wins, which rank third all-time, trailing Hayes (153) and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler (143). 
• Ferentz won his 200th career game at Iowa State in 2023. He is the 27th coach at an FBS institution to reach the 200-career win milestone and the 99th coach across all divisions. Former Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry finished his career with 236 victories.
• Ferentz has 11 career bowl game victories -- the most as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

STAFF CHANGE
The Hawkeyes have three new coaches on the 2026 coaching staff in special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi, running backs coach Jay Norvell and quarterbacks coach Billy VandeMerkt (Polizzi and VandeMerkt were analysts in 2025).
• Polizzi is in his fifth year on the Hawkeye staff, as he was a graduate assistant with the program from 2012-14.  He has two decades of collegiate coaching experience, most recently serving as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa from 2023-24. 
• Norvell, a former Hawkeye defensive back and captain of the 1985 Rose Bowl team, joins the staff as running backs coach. Norvell, who has four decades of coaching experience, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Hayden Fry (when Kirk Ferentz was the offensive line coach). He coached in the NFL for six seasons and was a head coach at Nevada (2017-22) and Colorado State (2022-25).  
• VandeMerkt was elevated to quarterbacks coach in the offseason following the 2025 season.