This Friday, the 4-1 Iowa Hawkeyes head to Seattle to face the University of Washington Huskies with both teams looking to rebound following losses.
Two weeks ago, against Michigan, it was hard to know what to expect because it felt like we had no idea who Iowa was. Now, two weeks and two games later, it feels like a lot of what we knew was wrong, and we still don’t know much about this team. Or maybe, it would be more accurate to say we don’t want to admit some things that are becoming more and more evident.
We do know that Iowa’s special teams still, by and large, provide an advantage over most opponents. We also know that Iowa’s defense is stout against the run, even against a mobile quarterback. And we know that Iowa has a deep and talented pool of tight ends.
I would also argue, controversially, that Iowa’s receiving room is the second strongest position group on the offense right now, after the tight ends, at least based on tangible, in-game evidence.
On the bright side, Washington is also enigmatic. Coming into this season, the Huskies looked like a dark-horse contender within the Big Ten. Now, they are 3-2, and they haven’t looked very pretty getting to 3-2. They are currently riding a two-game losing streak though both of those losses have come by four points or fewer.
So this feels very much like a game of potential. Will the best version of Iowa or Washington step forward? What if both best versions step forward? Or neither?
3 Questions
Can Kirk Ferentz Win In-Season West of the Rockies?
Kirk Ferentz’s all-time regular-season, away-game record against teams that were in the PAC Ten/12 stands at 0-4.
That includes his two trips out west against UCLA and USC after they joined the Big Ten. It also includes a 2004 matchup against Arizona State and a 2010 matchup against Arizona.
In fact, you have to go back to 1987 and former Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry to find the last time Iowa traveled west of the Rockies, in season, and won. At that point, the losing streak is 10 games old.
But focusing just on Ferentz, it’s not as if his Iowa program has only played good western teams. The 2024 UCLA Bruins went 5-7. The other three opponents were bowl eligible, but none of them won more than nine games in the year they faced the Hawkeyes.
Before the 2010 game against Arizona, Ferentz made his preferences very clear: “Maybe I was in a stupor when we [scheduled the Arizona game]. That’s the only reason I can see for traveling to Arizona.” And following that game, the Hawkeyes didn’t schedule another trip west of the Rockies again. Until the Big Ten forced Iowa’s, and the rest of the conference’s, hand and expanded its blueprint to include USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.
Well, streaks eventually have to end. But that doesn’t mean they have to end against Washington.
Can Iowa Run the Ball vs a Team With a Pulse?
Iowa is 13th in the country and third in the Big Ten in rushing with 5.89 yards-per-carry. “What?” you might be saying. I mean we all saw the Hawkeyes’ moribund rushing offense against Ohio State and Michigan, not to mention its lackluster results against Iowa State. But we also saw the Hawkeyes do what they wanted against Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.
There was a lot of hype coming into the year concerning Iowa’s rushing offense. It had Phil Steele’s No. 15 preseason offensive line. It had an experienced and deep backfield. And it ran over NIU in the first game.
Then it was so-so against Iowa State and the “buts” started pouring in. But ISU’s defense is built to stop a zone-rushing team. But ISU was selling out to stop the run. But ISU had nothing to fear in the passing game. Then the Hawkeyes put up three 100-yard rushers against UNI, all of them backups. Okay, the rushing game is fine.
Move forward a week and the rushing game against Michigan was awful. But Michigan has an elite defense and especially defensive line (they do). But the Wolverines were selling out to stop the run. But if Iowa had only started with the pass, it would have opened up the run.
Then against Ohio State, another rushing game no-show. The thing is OSU has a good, but not elite, rush defense. And Iowa did come out passing first. And the Buckeyes didn’t specifically sell out to stop the run, at least not to the degree of Iowa State.
In fact, the week before, Illinois ran for 199 yards against the Buckeyes. Three weeks ago, Kent-frigging-State ran for 71 yards against Ohio State. Compare that with Iowa’s paltry 39 yards rushing.
Iowa’s longest rush of the year against Power 4 competition: LJ Phillips’ late-game 11-yard run against the Buckeyes.
I don’t know what the problem is. Is it the offensive line? Is it play calling? Is it the running backs? Is it the running back rotation? Is the wrong running back getting the majority of the carries? Is it a failure of self-scouting? Is it a combination of these things?
I do know that it might be time to admit what we have all been finding ways to excuse; maybe it’s time to say that the 2026 Iowa Hawkeyes have a weak rushing offense. And if the Hawkeyes are going to disprove that then they had best start this weekend because, believe it or not, the Washington game is the midpoint of the Iowa football season.
Can Hank Brown, or Jeremy Hecklinski, Find Consistency?
According to Kirk Ferentz, starting quarterback Hank Brown, who left the OSU game with a shoulder injury, has been “very limited” in practice, but Ferentz has expressed absolute confidence in backup Jeremy Hecklinski should he get the start.
Brown has had moments of brilliance, such as the end of the Michigan game, and he has looked consistently good against weak competition. However, against strong—i.e. Power-four—competition, he has yet to put together anything approaching a complete game. His performance against Ohio State was his worst outing to date: inaccuracy, bad timing, holding on to the ball too long. And he looked nervous and rattled. To be fair, it was the Ohio State, but you’d like to see your guy get up for those games, not get rattled, especially at home.
Enter Jeremy Hecklinski. From what we have seen of Hecklinski, he is more creative than Brown when things break down, and he gets the ball out much more quickly. Also, he seems to have the stronger arm. On the other hand, in those limited views of him in real game time, the offense looked more disjointed when he was out there, and he has looked more prone to making the backbreaking mistakes than Brown.
Either way, someone will be playing quarterback for Iowa, and what we’d like to see is someone play a complete game as signal caller. He doesn’t have to be Tom Brady. He doesn’t have to have a perfect game. He just needs to play a complete game and not go missing for the first half or on third downs or in any number of other situations. This would be the game to do it because while the Huskies have reasonably stout against the run—tied for 36th in the country—the passing defense has been middling sitting at 45th in the country which is weaker than ISU, Michigan or OSU.
Oh, and here’s a question: what if Hecklinski is lights out against Washington? Does that mean he is the starting quarterback going forward?
2 Things to Watch
Sloppy Hawkeyes
I have noted, multiple times, that a key to the Hawkeyes’ success is winning outside the margins. And against Michigan, that’s exactly what they did, and it did lead to a win.
But boy howdy, did they fail to do that against OSU.
The special teams were generally solid, but the penalties were almost even—i,e. no advantage for Iowa—the Hawkeyes had a net -2 turnover margin. The time of possession was dreadful—OSU held on to the ball for almost 16 more minutes—third-down conversions: nope.
Looking at it from a macro view, the Hawkeyes are 37th in the country, and seventh in the Big Ten, in fewest penalty-yards-per-game. Which isn’t bad but compare it to 2025 when they were seventh in the country. You don’t win outside the margins by being 37th.
And then think about it anecdotally. Iowa was sloppy in the game against OSU. Kirk Ferentz even pointed that out in his post-game press conference. He noted the illegal formation penalty at the end of the half, and he was right. That one sloppy penalty was probably a 10-point swing and maybe a 14-point swing.
Would Iowa have won if it had played a clean game against OSU? Probably not, but it definitely had no chance of winning by playing a sloppy game.
Washington is not Ohio State. Iowa can probably live with a sloppy mistake and survive. But too many sloppy mistakes against Washington or a surging Northwestern or Wisconsin will add up.
The Hawkeyes under Kirk Ferentz have found success by winning outside the margins. They have to get back to that if they want to find success this season.
Safety Play
The Iowa safeties have, at best, been inconsistent, and, at worst, been bad.
Zach Lutmer, the only returning safety and a preseason All-Big Ten pick, began the season dinged up and was on a snap count. He had a bad game against Iowa State; he missed tackles, took bad angles, blew at least one coverage and dropped what should have been an easy interception at the end of the game. He has considerably improved since the ISU game though I wouldn’t say he’s played at an all-Big Ten level.
James Madison-transfer Tyler Brown was supposed to be the other safety, but he has missed most of the games with a soft tissue sprain. The one game he did play was against Michigan, and he was clearly hobbled which led to a 49-yard touchdown pass right over him. He is listed as out against Washington.
The majority of what would have been Brown’s playing time has gone to Villanova-transfer Anthony Hawkins. He hadn’t played badly. Until Ohio State that is. Against the Buckeyes he allowed Jeremiah Smith–arguably the greatest receiver ever to play in the Big Ten–to run right past him for an easy 57-yard touchdown reception. Hawkins is still listed atop the depth chart, but Robert Morris-transfer Xavier Styles and Purdue-transfer Ty Hudkins are the next in line for playing time.
Missed tackles, bad angles, dropped picks, and especially letting receivers get behind them are not marks of Iowa safety play. In fact, so far, this might be the worst Iowa safeties have looked, as a whole, for as long as I can remember.
I don’t know about you, but when Koen Entringer opted to transfer to Louisville, I saw it as a loss for Iowa, but I wasn’t terribly worried. Maybe I should have been.
1 Wild Prediction
Iowa pass catchers have been good this year, but there has yet to be a 100-yard receiving game. I’m predicting there is one against Washington, most likely via Tony Diaz or DJ Vonnahme.
Go Hawks!
