Iowa is done with the warm-up act. The non-conference schedule is over, and the Hawkeyes are headed straight into the kind of stretch that tells you who a team really is.
They leave September unbeaten, ranked No. 17, and carrying momentum from a 47-7 win over Northern Iowa that did a little of everything Iowa wanted. The Hawkeyes got the run game rolling, got answers at quarterback, and came out of the game with enough good health to at least survive the month intact.
That win against UNI was a showcase for the ground game. With DJ Vonnahme, Kamari Moulton and LF Phillips Jr. sitting out, Iowa still piled up 422 rushing yards.
Xavier Williams was the headliner, ripping off 151 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries. Braeden Jackson added 125 yards and a score on 11 carries and also caught a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Nathan McNeil rounded out the trio with 11 yards on 12 carries, but he reached the end zone twice. It was the first time in 40 years Iowa had three backs all go over 100 yards in the same game.
The bigger question entering the day was quarterback, and Hank Brown answered it again. He entered with Jeremy Hecklinski in an OR situation on the depth chart, but Brown got the start and looked comfortable for the third straight week. After completing 70% of his throws in the Cy-Hawk win over Iowa State, he followed that up with a perfect afternoon against Northern Iowa, going 12-for-12 for 153 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers.
Through three games, Brown has completed 72.6% of his passes for 473 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He has also added 34 rushing yards and one rushing score.
The numbers may not scream for attention, but in Iowa’s system, that kind of steady, efficient play is exactly the point. He can keep the offense on schedule, and he can push the ball when the shot is there.
That was enough to put him at the top of Iowa’s week four depth chart, where the “OR” next to his name is gone. Brown appears to be the starter when the Hawkeyes open Big Ten play Saturday at No. 18 Michigan.
And that’s where the real test begins.
Iowa’s next three games are brutal: Michigan on the road, No. 7 Ohio State at home next Saturday, and then a short-week trip to Washington. The Wolverines, Buckeyes and Huskies are lined up in a row, and the Hawkeyes are going to find out quickly how much their early-season success travels.
Saturday’s matchup in Ann Arbor comes with Michigan favored by 4.5 points, and the over/under sits at 38.5. That number makes sense. Both defenses are elite, with each ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense and the top 10 in total defense.
Iowa’s offense has improved enough to climb into the top 60 in scoring and sits 49th in total offense through three games, but this will be the toughest defense it has seen so far. The closest comparison was Iowa State, which ranks ninth nationally in total defense and 12th in scoring defense. Iowa managed only 16 points and 284 total yards in that game.
Michigan has had its own issues on offense. Despite spending heavily on quarterback Bryce Underwood, the Wolverines are only 62nd nationally in scoring offense at 27.3 points per game and 98th in total offense.
Underwood has completed 62.5% of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception. He also leads Michigan in rushing with 156 yards, which is five more than third-stringer Xavier Williams ran for last week.
This will be the 65th meeting between the programs, and Michigan owns the edge in the series at 45-15-4. The Wolverines have won four straight against Iowa, including a 27-14 regular-season win in Iowa City in 2022 and a 26-0 rout in the Big Ten Championship Game the following year in Indianapolis.
Iowa’s last win over Michigan came a decade ago, when Keith Duncan kicked the Hawkeyes to a 14-13 victory in Kinnick. The Hawkeyes have not won in Ann Arbor since 2010, when they beat the Wolverines 38-28.
Under Kirk Ferentz, Iowa is 7-9 against Michigan overall and 2-4 in Ann Arbor. The Hawkeyes are also 0-2 in the two biggest postseason meetings between the teams, falling in the 2021 and 2023 Big Ten Championship Games.
In Other News...
Dowling Catholic Just Got Dragged Back Into Iowa 5A Chaos
Southeast Polks 31-28 win over Dowling Catholic in Week 4 jolted the top of Iowa Class 5A and left the rest of the states high school football power structure looking a little less settled. The result pushed Southeast Polk into the No. 1 spot, sent Dowling Catholic sliding from first to third, and kept Sioux City East at No. 2, a reminder that the margin at the top of 5A can disappear in a single Friday night.
For Iowa fans watching the broader picture, the ripple effects went beyond one scoreboard. Other classes also had their own top teams holding position after key recent wins, and the next round of matchups is already lined up to test whether this is a one-week shakeup or the start of a longer reshuffling. Dowling Catholic now has to regroup quickly, because in a race this tight, every ranking change feels like the beginning of another scramble. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa's Contender Talk Faces A Real Test At Michigan
Iowas early season contender chatter is about to get a lot louder or a lot quieter in Ann Arbor, where the Hawkeyes walk into a Big Ten measuring stick game against Michigan. The matchup has the feel of a classic strength-on-strength test: Iowa wants to lean on a rushing offense that has powered its rise, while Michigan brings a pass defense that has been among the nations best and can make every snap feel like a chore.
The individual battles should tell plenty of the story, from Cam Buffington trying to help slow Michigans Bryce Underwood on the ground to Tony Diaz giving Iowa a needed edge if the Hawkeyes are going to loosen things up through the air. With conference positioning and the College Football Playoff picture both in play, this is the kind of game that can validate a teams place in the conversation or expose just how far it still has to go. [Read more 🡒]
Iowas Ground Game Just Reignited A Huge Hawkeyes Debate
For a program built on line play and field position, Iowas 422 rushing yards against Northern Iowa landed like more than just a season-opening stat line. It was the most in the Kirk Ferentz era, a reminder of what the Hawkeyes can look like when the ground game is functioning at full force. Xavier Williams pointed to the offensive line afterward, and with good reason, because the group carried over continuity from last years Joe Moore Award-winning unit and helped set a tone that looked old-school even by Iowa standards.
What makes the afternoon even more intriguing is how it unfolded without the Hawkeyes top two running backs, both sidelined by injury. Iowa still produced three rushers over 100 yards, something the program had not done since 1983, which naturally brings the conversation back to how much of this rushing surge is sustainable and how much depends on the health of the backfield. For a team that lives in the trenches, it was the kind of performance that can reshape expectations quickly, even if the bigger answer still has to wait. [Read more 🡒]