Iowa left Husky Stadium with a clean, convincing 41-24 win over Washington on Friday night, and the Hawkeyes did it by hitting all three phases at once. Tim Lester’s offense found its groove, Phil Parker’s defense smothered the Huskies, and Chris Polizzi’s special teams group gave Iowa steady production in the kicking game. With a loud traveling crowd behind them, the Hawkeyes turned in the kind of complete performance that snapped the West Coast Curse and sent them into the bye week with real momentum.
The foundation was Iowa’s defense, which made life miserable for Washington’s quarterbacks from the start. Cam Buffington, Jayden Montgomery and Preston Reis repeatedly worked to contain Demond Williams Jr and Elijah Brown in the pocket, while Bryce Hawthorne at right tackle powered Washington’s line backward. The result was six sacks for Iowa, with the pressure spread among those four defenders.
Williams finished with a 17.6 QBR and was held to minus-8 rushing yards. Brown was even worse on the ground at minus-14, and Washington as a team ended with minus-3 rushing yards.
Brown did move the ball more effectively as the game wore on, especially in the third quarter, when he sped up his process and leaned on quick throws to the sidelines. But Washington’s comeback hopes never truly materialized.
The Huskies threw it 51 times, averaged 6.3 yards per pass, and spent too much of the night chasing.
Iowa’s offense looked like a different unit from the one that had struggled to establish the run against its previous three Power 4 opponents. The Hawkeyes opened with four straight rushing plays, the first time they had started a game that way in 2026, and Tim Lester’s message was obvious. The offensive line and running backs took it from there, setting up Kamari Moulton for a career night: 208 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Moulton powered through arm tackles and kept churning when the lane disappeared. On multiple carries, when the edge closed over tackle, he cut back to his right and drove up the middle, helping Iowa pile up 263 rushing yards as a team.
That ground success opened the door for the passing game, and Lester used it well. When Washington crowded the box, Iowa leaned on play-action and caught the secondary off balance. In his first career start, Jeremy Hecklinski was sharp and efficient, going 14-of-19 for 202 yards and three touchdowns.
Two of those scores went to tight end DJ Vonnahme in the first half, and Reece Vander Zee added a third-quarter touchdown. One of Vonnahme’s scores summed up the night for Washington’s coverage: Vander Zee was open enough to wave at Hecklinski and point toward the end zone, directing the ball to an even more uncovered teammate.
Iowa also avoided the kind of mistakes that can hand an opponent a foothold. The Hawkeyes didn’t give the ball away once, and their offensive line didn’t allow a sack. Washington, meanwhile, kept getting hit from all angles.
Special teams kept the pressure on too. Caden Buhr made both of his field-goal tries, including a 51-yarder, after Iowa’s first two drives stalled.
Those early points mattered because they immediately pushed Washington into catch-up mode. Boston Everitt added another layer with his punting, placing three of four kicks inside the 20 and downing them at the 15, 26, 1 and 16-yard lines.
The one issue Iowa still can’t shake is punt return security. Evan James fumbled while fielding a punt for the second straight week, and the Hawkeyes recovered it again. That escape shouldn’t hide the larger problem: if they keep living that dangerously, the next bounce could go the other way.
In Other News...
Iowas Playoff Push Comes Down To A Brutal Second Half
Iowas 5-1 start has put the Hawkeyes in a promising spot, but the road to a serious playoff push now runs straight through a six-game Big Ten West stretch that looks anything but forgiving. The back half of the schedule brings a mix of rivalry pressure, road trips and matchups against teams that have shown enough quality to make every week feel like a test, even for a team that has handled the first part of the season well.
The slate includes road games at Minnesota, Northwestern and Illinois, along with home dates against Wisconsin, Purdue and Nebraska, and the order alone tells the story of how much can change in a hurry. Some of those opponents have been steadier than expected, some have flashed enough recent form to demand attention, and all of them give Iowa little room for error if the Hawkeyes want the second half to keep the playoff conversation alive. [Read more 🡒]
Iowas Playoff Push Is Starting To Reveal What This Team Really Has
Iowas 5-1 start has put the Hawkeyes squarely in the top 20 and kept them in the College Football Playoff conversation, but the bigger story is what that record is beginning to reveal. Through six games, this team has not leaned on the same type of star power every week so much as a different set of contributors rising to the moment, whether it has been Tony Diaz as a leading receiver, Cam Buffington making his presence felt on defense or Braeden Jackson helping drive the run game.
The picture gets even more interesting when the opponent and the stage change. Tim Lesters play-calling helped shape the road win at Michigan, while specialists Caden Buhr and Boston Everitt still found ways to matter even in the loss to Ohio State, which is the kind of detail that speaks to a team with more layers than a simple ranking suggests. With Iowa still in the hunt, the real question is not just where the Hawkeyes are headed, but which version of this team will show up when the path gets even tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Just Reopened A Quarterback Debate Fans Werent Expecting
An injury to the starter pushed Jeremy Hecklinski into the lineup, and Iowa got a steadier-than-expected answer in a 41-24 win over Washington. The backup settled in well enough to earn Manning Award Star of the Week recognition, while the Hawkeyes leaned on a defense that squeezed Washington into negative rushing yards and a ground game sparked by Kamari Moultons 208 yards.
The result did more than just add another win to the ledger. It gave Iowa a fresh look at a position battle most fans thought was settled, and it came at a time when the program could use some clarity with conference play moving along. Even with the offense finding a rhythm behind a backup, the bigger question now is whether the performance changes how Iowa approaches the quarterback spot going forward. [Read more 🡒]