NOTES: Saturday Night at RV/#23 Northwestern

1ST & 10
• The Hawkeyes have won four straight and five of the last six meetings in the series over Northwestern.  
• November is for the Hawkeyes… Iowa has won 23 of its last 28 games in the month of November dating back to 2019. 
• Iowa tallied its third shutout of the season in its 30-0 victory over Wisconsin on Halloween. The three shutouts are the most for the program since 1997.
• Iowa has 12 shutouts since 2018 – the most in the nation during that span.
• The Hawkeyes’ 30-0 shutout win over Wisconsin was the first over an AP-ranked team in 66 years -- since a 42-0 win at No. 6 Northwestern in 1960.
• Iowa has outscored the Badgers, 67-0, over the past two seasons and 155-26 during the five-game winning streak.
• The Hawkeyes have two victories over ranked opponents this season (at Michigan, Wisconsin) – a first since 2021.
• QB Hank Brown completed 20-of-24 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Wisconsin, earning himself Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Manning Award Stars of the Week honors on Nov. 2. He is 109-of-169 for 1,190 yards and eight touchdowns in 2026.
• Iowa is bowl eligible for the 14th consecutive season and for the 24th time in the last 26 seasons.
• The Hawkeye defense, which has allowed one touchdown over its last eight quarters, is fourth in FBS in scoring defense (12.5) and rushing defense (79.0) and 12th in total defense (275.5).
• Iowa’s defense limited Washington to (-3) rushing yards in Week 6 – the second-fewest yards allowed under Kirk Ferentz and the fewest since 2004.  Iowa has held five opponents under 100 yards this season.
• Iowa’s offense finished with 465 yards of total offense against at Washington – the most in a Big Ten game under OC Tim Lester.  
• Iowa’s offensive line has allowed seven sacks in its first eight games (10th in FBS), while the rushing attack averages 174.3 yards per contest, ranking 47th nationally. The Hawkeyes have three new starting offensive linemen.
• WR Reece Vander Zee had a 16-yard reception as time expired to give Iowa a 20-19 road win at Michigan in Week 4. It was the Hawkeyes’ first walk-off touchdown since 2009 (Marvin McNutt, Jr., at Michigan State).
• Third-year linebacker Cam Buffington – a Butkus Award semifinalist -- has a team-high 70 tackles and has led the team in tackles in four games. He has three 10+ tackle games, including a career-high 15 stops against Iowa State – the most in a game by a Hawkeye since Jay Higgins in 2024. He is second in the Big Ten (29th nationally), averaging 8.8 tackles per game.

HANK UNDER CENTER
Fourth-year quarterback Hank Brown has started six of the Hawkeyes’ first eight games during the 2026 season. In seven games played, the Tennessee native is 109-of-169 for 1,190 yards with eight touchdowns. He is completing 64.5 percent of his attempts.
• Brown has 10 explosive passes during the season, including three apiece in wins over Michigan and Wisconsin.
• Over the last month, Brown has twice engineered 90-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drives while trailing. At Michigan, the Hawkeyes went 91 yards on 11 plays in 1:46 to score a game-winning touchdown as time expired. In Week 8 at Minnesota, Brown directed a 98-yard, four-play drive in 1:58 for a game-tying touchdown. 
• Brown also drove the Hawkeyes 98 yards in seven plays in the second quarter against Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes had zero 98-yard drives 2018-2025 and have posted 98-yard touchdown drives in consecutive weeks against Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• In Week 9 vs. Wisconsin, Brown completed 20-of-24 attempts for 222 yards and two touchdowns to garner Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Manning Award Stars of the Week honors on Nov. 2. He started the game 7-of-8 for 90 yards with a touchdown and was 16-of-18 for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the first half – the most in a first half by a Hawkeye since Nate Stanley (212 vs. Illinois) in 2019.
• Brown’s 83.3 completion percentage against the Badgers was the highest by any Iowa QB in a Big Ten game (min. 20 attempts) since at least 1995.
• In Week 4, Brown completed 21-of-35 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He was 13-of-19 for 142 yards and two touchdowns (4-of-6 on third down) in the fourth quarter in leading the Hawkeyes to a come-from-behind victory. He hit Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard score as time expired to send the team to the walk-off win.
• Brown went the distance for the first time this season in Iowa’s Week 2 victory over Iowa State. He completed 21-of-30 attempts for 191 yards, while also rushing eight times for 22 yards with one touchdown.  
• In seven drives spanning Week 2 and Week 3, Brown guided the offense on seven consecutive scoring drives – two fourth-quarter field goals vs. Iowa State and five touchdowns in the first half against UNI. 

HAWKEYE SHUTOUTS
• Iowa’s defense has posted three shutouts in 2026 – the 19th, 20th and 21st shutouts of the Kirk Ferentz era.
• The three shutouts are the most for the program since 1997 and the most in a single season under Ferentz.
• The Hawkeyes have 12 shutouts since 2018, the most in the nation in that span.
• In Week 1 with eight new starters, Iowa limited Northern Illinois to 120 yards and seven total first downs en route to a season-opening shutout. Iowa held the Huskies to 22 yards in the first quarter and 24 in the first half. NIU didn’t pick up its initial first down until the 4:10 mark in the third quarter (which came via penalty).  
• The 120 yards are tied for the sixth fewest allowed under Ferentz, while the seven first downs are tied for the seventh fewest.
• In Week 3 against UNI, Iowa allowed 155 yards of total offense (53 on ground, 102 through air) and nine first downs.
• In Week 9 vs. Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes forced three turnovers and limited the Badgers to 235 yards of total offense. Wisconsin had just 52 yards on the ground as it was shutout for the second straight year – a first by either team in the 100-game history in the series.

BUILDING BLOCKS
• Iowa has allowed 255 or fewer yards in five games this season and under 200 yards in a pair of contests. 
• Through eight games, Iowa’s defense is third in first down defense (115), fourth in the nation in scoring defense (12.5) and rushing defense (79.0), 11th in sacks (3.00), 12th in total defense (275.5), 13th in third-down defense (.310) and 16th in red zone defense (.750).
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in first down defense and is second in scoring, red zone, rushing defense and sacks.

STOPPING THE RUN
Iowa’s rush defense in Week 6 was stout and that might be an understatement. The Hawkeyes limited Washington to (-3) rushing yards in the 41-24 victory – the second-fewest yards allowed in a game in head coach Kirk Ferentz’s tenure.  
• Washington’s running backs had 12 carries for 19 yards in the game and that total was wiped out and then some thanks to six Hawkeye sacks for 22 yards.  
• Iowa’s rush defense is allowing 79 yards in eight games – fourth fewest in the nation -- and the defense has allowed just two rushing touchdowns on the season.

EVERYWHERE CAM
Third-year linebacker Cam Buffington has a team-high 70 tackles in eight games, averaging 8.8 stops per game to rank second in the Big Ten (and rank 29th nationally). He has 39 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, three sacks and four QB hurries.
• Buffington, who has led the team in tackles in four games, has three double-digit tackle games this season. He had a career-high 15 tackles, including nine solo stops, in Iowa’s Week 2 victory over Iowa State, 11 stops in Week 4 at Michigan and 10 in Week 8 at Minnesota. He was named the Lott IMPACT Trophy Player of the Week on Sept. 16.  
• His 15 tackles are the most by a Hawkeye since Jay Higgins in 2024.

SACK-R-US
Iowa tied a season-high with six sacks in Week 6 at Washington with four different players registering a sack. Linebackers Cam Buffington and Preston Ries each had two sacks apiece, while LB Jayden Montgomery and DL Bryce Hawthorne also registered sacks.
• Fourteen different Hawkeyes have tallied a sack in 2026 with Joseph Anderson leading the way with four sacks, while Montgomery, Hawthorne and Ries have 2.5 sacks apiece.
• Iowa is second in the Big Ten (and 11th nationally), averaging three sacks per game.

BRAEDEN TO THE CRIB
Second-year RB Braeden Jackson went untouched for 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter of Iowa’s Week 4 road win at Michigan.
• The 99-yard touchdown return ties for the seventh longest in program history.
• Iowa has had a kick return for a touchdown in three consecutive seasons. The team has returned both a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in three straight seasons. 
• The return was the first kickoff return for a touchdown allowed by Michigan since 2019.
•  Jackson was the first player in the Big Ten to record a kickoff return for a touchdown in 2026. He is one of 21 players nationally to return a kick for a touchdown.
•  Jackson is averaging 39 yards on four returns this year.  

NO COOP, NO WEJ... ENTER EJ
Second-year wide receiver Evan James showed off his lightning speed in his Hawkeye debut in Week 1, returning a punt 77-yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was the 15th longest punt return for a touchdown in Iowa history.
• James had three punt returns for 108 yards in Week 1 against Northern Illinois, averaging 36 yards per return. 
• The Florida native has 21 returns for 272 yards, averaging 13 yards, which ranks 14th in FBS (third in the Big Ten).
• James, who is on the Jet Award Midseason List, is one of 41 players nationally to return a punt for a touchdown this year.
• Iowa has had at least one punt return for a touchdown in each of the past four seasons.

CLUTCH BUHR
Second-year kicker Caden Buhr was clutch in Iowa’s Week 2 victory over Iowa State, connecting on a career-best three field goals, including a 42-yard game-winner with 15 seconds remaining to give the Hawkeyes the 16-13 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series win. He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 14 and a Lou Groza Award Star of the Week on Sept. 15.
• It was Buhr’s first career game-winner, and it was the 10th Iowa game since 2015 that the Hawkeyes have won on a field goal in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter.
• Buhr was a perfect 2-for-2 in Week 5 against Ohio State, connecting from 43 and 48 yards and he made two field goals in the Week 6 road win at Washington, including a career-long 51-yarder. It was his first career make from 50+.
• In Week 9, Buhr had his second career three field goal game, connecting from 24, 28 and 54 yards.  The 54-yarder was a career long and his second consecutive make from 50+ yards.
• Buhr has made 13-of-15 field goals this season, including 11 straight from under 50 yards. He is 3-of-3 from 20-29 yards, 3-for-3 from 30-39, 5-for-5 from 40-49 and 2-for-4 from 50+. He is 13th nationally, averaging 1.63 field goals per game through the first eight games and he is 27th in field goal percentage (.867).

AUSSIE HAWKEYE
Second-year punter Boston Everitt is averaging 43.7 yards on 36 punts in his first eight games as a Hawkeye. He ranks 37th in the NCAA and sixth in the Big Ten in punting average.
• The Aussie has 21 punts downed inside the 20, including four in Week 2 against Iowa State. He has had 13 punts fair caught and seven travel 50+ yards, including a career-long 60-yarder in Week 8 at Minnesota.  
• Everitt, a native of Hope Island, Australia, continues Iowa’s Australian pipeline, following Tory Taylor and Rhys Dakin.

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 215 career victories.
• Ferentz has 136 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.