Iowa didn’t just beat Northern Iowa in Week 3. It got the kind of result that nudges the rest of college football to pay attention.
After a 55-0 blowout of UNI, the Hawkeyes climbed again in the AP Top 25, moving from No. 18 to No. 17. That comes on the heels of a season-opening run that has Iowa looking every bit like a team that belonged in the preseason conversation and maybe even a little more.
The Hawkeyes are 3-0, and the resume keeps getting cleaner. They opened with a 33-0 win over Northern Illinois, survived the Cy-Hawk Trophy game against Iowa State with a 16-13 victory, then flattened Northern Iowa.
Outside of that rivalry test, Iowa has barely been pushed. The offense has been posting numbers the program doesn’t usually put up, the defense is sitting at No. 1 overall, and the special teams group has held steady without missing a beat.
A big part of the early story has been the offense under Hank Brown. With Brown locked in as the starter, Iowa heads into Big Ten play without the uncertainty that sometimes hangs over a team in September. The defense has done its part too, holding opponents to 176.7 yards per game.
That steady rise in the polls sets up a major Week 4 trip to Ann Arbor, where Iowa and Michigan will meet in a top-20 matchup at the Big House. Michigan has also climbed after a 3-0 start, and the matchup brings plenty of intrigue even if the Wolverines’ opening weeks haven’t exactly settled every question around the program.
The Hawkeyes haven’t played in Ann Arbor since 2019, and this will be only the third time they’ve traveled there since 2012. Michigan owns the all-time series 45-14-4, and the Wolverines also beat Iowa the last time the teams met, in the 2023 Big Ten Championship game.
For Iowa, the timing makes this one feel especially sharp. It’s the first conference game of the season, but with Ohio State waiting in Week 5, the margin for error already looks thin.
The history isn’t on Iowa’s side either. The Hawkeyes haven’t beaten a ranked team on the road since Iowa State in 2021, and they haven’t taken down a ranked Big Ten opponent on the road since Northwestern in 2015.
Still, this matchup gives Iowa a real shot to change the conversation. Michigan is still trying to sort out its identity under new head coach Kyle Wittingham, and while the Wolverines have flashed - including a strong defensive showing against Oklahoma and a comfortable win over UTEP - they haven’t looked fully settled. Iowa, meanwhile, has coasted through its first three games and may be better positioned to handle a close, physical game.
That’s the shape of this Week 4 showdown: Iowa gets its first true test, and if it can break through in Ann Arbor, it won’t just keep climbing the rankings. It’ll send a message that the Hawkeyes are for real.
In Other News...
Braeden Jackson Just Added To Iowas Walk-On Tradition
Braeden Jacksons name already carries some football weight in Iowa circles, and now the walk-on running back has given Hawkeye fans another reminder of why that tradition still resonates. In a notable game, he flashed the kind of burst and versatility that can turn a roster afterthought into a real storyline, piling up 125 rushing yards, adding 24 more as a receiver and finding the end zone twice.
It fits the family history, too. Jackson is the son of Fred Jackson, the former Coe College standout who went from unrecruited long shot to a nine-season NFL career with the Buffalo Bills, and Braeden followed a similarly determined path after a strong high school career as both a football player and track star. He chose to walk on at Iowa in part because of his fathers connection to the coaching staff, and performances like this only deepen the sense that the Hawkeyes may have found another name worth remembering. [Read more 🡒]
Braeden Jackson Just Made Iowas Backfield Picture A Lot Tougher
Braeden Jackson turned a lopsided afternoon into something worth watching for Iowa. In the Hawkeyes 55-0 win over Northern Iowa, the second-year running back piled up 125 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns, continuing the kind of steady rise that has made him easy to notice in a crowded backfield. A preferred walk-on who arrived in December 2024, Jackson has been one of the quieter development stories on the roster, but his progress has been hard to miss.
What stands out most is how much cleaner and more complete his game looks now. Iowa quarterback Hank Brown and head coach Kirk Ferentz have both pointed to Jacksons improved awareness and physical development, and his background helps explain why he keeps trending up. As the son of former NFL running back Fred Jackson, he has had the benefit of football knowledge at home, and it is starting to show on the field in a way that could make the Hawkeyes backfield even harder to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Ferentz Sends Iowa Fans A Promising Message Before Michigan Test
Iowa is heading into its first Big Ten game of the season with a familiar kind of test waiting on the other side, and Kirk Ferentz spent part of the buildup offering a reassuring look at his roster. The Hawkeyes are set to face No. 18 Michigan on Sept. 26, and Ferentz said the recovery process is moving in the right direction for several key players, including Kamari Moulton and Bryce Hawthorne, as the team tries to get healthier at an important point on the schedule.
The matchup itself brings the bigger challenge, of course, and Ferentz made clear that Iowa will need its defense locked in against a Michigan offense led by quarterback Bryce Underwood. For a Hawkeyes team trying to open conference play on solid footing, the combination of improved health and a stern test against a ranked opponent gives this week a little extra weight, even before the game kicks off. [Read more 🡒]