Iowa walks into Week 1 with a few edges that are hard to ignore, and the biggest one starts up front. However Northern Illinois lines up, the Hawkeyes should have the kind of size advantage that can shape the game as it goes on.
Iowa’s offensive line brings serious bulk no matter which five start. The group averages roughly 300 pounds across the board, and that kind of mass can add up fast in a game like this.
On top of that, the talent level at the top end looks better than what Northern Illinois usually sees. Kade Pieper enters as a preseason All-American, and Trevor Lauck is already drawing first-round NFL buzz.
That matters even more in Week 1, with the heat in play and Iowa committed to the run. The longer the Hawkeyes keep hammering away, the more wear and tear Northern Illinois has to absorb. If Iowa keeps leaning on the Huskies snap after snap, the lanes in the run game should start to open wider.
The same kind of edge shows up on defense, where Iowa has reason to feel good about its linebacker duo of Jayden Montgomery and Cam Buffington. Montgomery fits the classic middle linebacker mold: a steady tackler who can clean up the run game and pile up stops. Buffington brings a different flavor, the long and athletic type who can move sideline to sideline and erase mistakes when the line gets out of position or a back tries to bounce outside.
Northern Illinois does have a back who can make life interesting. Telly Johnson Jr. is expected to carry the load, and there’s a reason for that.
He ran for 712 yards and four touchdowns on 124 carries last season, good for 5.7 yards per carry. He has shown some breakaway speed, though mostly against MAC opponents.
Iowa’s defensive line should be able to create enough disruption early to throw off timing and blocking, which would leave Montgomery and Buffington to clean up whatever gets through.
The coaching gap is another major storyline here, and it’s a wide one. Northern Illinois is still listing Rob Harley as interim head coach for the 2026 season, which the source framed as a sign of limited buy-in from the school. Harley has never been a head coach before, and his background has come on the defensive side at Michigan State, Florida International, Pitt, and Arkansas State.
Iowa, by contrast, has Kirk Ferentz. He’s been with the Hawkeyes longer than Harley’s entire playing and coaching career combined, and his 209-128 record at Iowa says plenty. If this game turns on sideline decisions, the advantage clearly tilts to Ferentz.
In Other News...
Iowas Week 1 Opponent Just Became A Much Tougher Opener
Northern Illinois is heading into the 2026 season with a new face at the top, and the timing matters for Iowa fans watching the opener. Rob Harley was elevated to interim head coach after Thomas Hammock left for a coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks, giving the Huskies a new leader at the moment when roster stability can easily crack.
Harley has already spent extensive time meeting with players in an effort to keep most of the roster together after the transfer portal reopened, which makes the matchup feel a little sturdier than it looked a few days ago. His first game in charge will come against Iowa, turning a routine Week 1 assignment into one that now carries a bit more uncertainty than the Hawkeyes probably expected. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Still Has One Big Offensive Decision Before Northern Illinois
The work going into Iowas week of practice has not been limited to polishing the usual early-season details. Kirk Ferentz spent part of his conversation with Gary Dolphin on the Hawkeye Radio Network touching on the teams progress, the leadership being shown in the room and the way some of the younger pieces are settling in. He also offered thoughts on veteran linebackers, gave Northern Illinois its due ahead of the matchup and praised Mason Woods and Ryan Fitzgerald for choosing to stay with the program.
The biggest football question still hanging over the Hawkeyes is at quarterback, where Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski remain part of the discussion before Northern Illinois. Ferentz did not settle the issue in his remarks, which leaves Iowa with one of its more important decisions still to sort through as game week moves on. Outside the lines, the program also announced that Kinnick Stadiums broadcast booth will be named after Gary Dolphin, another sign of how deeply tied he has become to Hawkeye football. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Laucks Mindset Should Fire Up Iowa Fans
Trevor Lauck already carved out a starting role last season, and now the Iowa offensive lineman is heading into the new year with even more attention on him. The preseason honors have followed, with Lauck landing on the First-Team All-Big Ten list and the Outland Trophy watch list, a sign that the Hawkeyes are expecting him to be one of the anchors up front as he continues to grow into the job.
What makes his outlook stand out, though, is the way he is approaching it. Lauck has paired the recognition with an NIL deal through Casey's, while keeping the focus on the basics that matter most for an Iowa lineman: fundamentals and consistency. For a program that has long built its identity in the trenches, that kind of mindset is exactly the sort of thing fans like to see heading into the season. [Read more 🡒]