Cam Buffington has gone from promising name to real force for Iowa, and the Cy-Hawk game made that impossible to ignore.
The Hawkeyes linebacker piled up 15 tackles against Iowa State, leading the charge in shutting down the Cyclones’ offense in a home in-state rivalry win. For a player who came into the program with a smaller-school background and a lot of upside, it was the kind of performance that announces a breakout.
Buffington’s path makes the rise even more interesting. He came out of Winfield-Mt.
Union High School as a class of 2024 four-star recruit, bringing the size, frame and athletic traits Iowa targets at linebacker. He also arrived from 8-man football, and the adjustment has clearly not slowed him down.
Kirk Ferentz pointed to that combination of quick processing and movement as a big reason Buffington has already started turning heads.
"We thought we saw that during the recruiting process, tremendous kid, tremendous family, and he's an impressive young guy. I guess maybe I didn't say it last Tuesday, but I think it was on the radio show on Wednesday and I was talking about a play Wednesday in practice that he made, and there's certain guys that see things a little easier and quicker, and then he has the ability to accelerate on top of it. "It starts with seeing things and recognition, thinking about Abdul out there -- these fields used to be out there 25 years ago, and the first time you saw him on the field in person, like boy, he gets where he's got to get real quickly," Ferentz said of Buffington flashing already this season.
The production has come faster than expected. Buffington is in his third year, but his game reps have lagged behind that timeline: he did not play in 2024 and appeared in only six games in 2025. Even so, the tools have been obvious, and this season he has started to put everything together.
At 6-foot-3 and nearly 240 pounds, Buffington has the kind of build Iowa wants in the middle of its defense. Add in the speed and instincts Ferentz described, and the picture starts to look like a linebacker the Hawkeyes can build around.
"I'm not saying guys are born with that, but some people do it a little quicker than others. Then when he gets here, he knows what to do, too.
He's a good young prospect and a great young person. I think he's going to be a really good football player for us.
He's off to a good start for sure," Ferentz added about Cam Buffington.
In Other News...
Iowas Big Ten Slate Sets Up An Early Test Fans Will Obsess Over
Ben McCollums first Iowa team will not have much time to settle in before the Big Ten starts asking hard questions. After last seasons deep NCAA Tournament run, the Hawkeyes are heading into a league schedule that gives fans plenty to circle, starting early with games against Purdue and Indiana and stretching into a February grind that will tell a lot about where this group stands.
The middle of the slate looks especially demanding, with a back-to-back against Michigan State and Michigan that could shape the league race, and the regular season closes with a rematch against Illinois. For Iowa, that mix of early stress, midseason pressure and a meaningful finale gives this schedule the feel of a proving ground, the kind of setup that can build momentum or expose how far there still is to go. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Suddenly Has A Shot At A Rare GameDay Showcase
ESPNs College GameDay is already mapped out for an SEC-heavy start to the 2026 season, with confirmed stops at LSU, Texas and Ole Miss over the first three weeks. For Iowa, the early takeaway is less about what the show is doing now and more about what could be waiting in September, when the Hawkeyes open Big Ten play at home against Ohio State.
Kirk Herbstreit floated Iowa City as a possible Week 5 destination if Iowa handles its next two games, which would put a rare GameDay showcase within reach for the first time since 2006. There are still other contenders in play, including SEC matchups involving Georgia or Mississippi State, but the Hawkeyes have given themselves a real opening to enter the conversation if the results break their way. [Read more 🡒]
Iowas NIL Reality Says A Lot About How This Program Keeps Winning
Iowas place in the NIL era has become one of the more revealing stories in the Big Ten. While plenty of Power Four programs have leaned hard into roster-building with bigger budgets, the Hawkeyes have operated much closer to the bottom of the conference in NIL spending and still managed to keep winning at a high rate since NIL arrived in 2021.
That contrast says plenty about how Iowa has stayed relevant in a money-driven landscape. The Hawkeyes are among the top 15 teams nationally in wins over that span, and the result points to a program that has made development and efficient use of resources a real competitive edge. In a conference where spending often dominates the conversation, Iowa keeps finding a way to make less go further. [Read more 🡒]