Now that. Was exhilarating! And in the brush of an eye, the painful scars from last year’s season opener were wiped away, as Iowa took NIU by storm. You could say the offense & defense were a one-two punch, but it was more like a TKO. By halftime Victor E. Huskie was dizzy from chasing his tail.
In last year’s season opener versus Albany, Mark Gronowski threw 15 passes for 44 yards. And Hank Brown tossed one more 4-yard pass for good measure, making for a whopping total of 48 yards passing. In today’s
opening game versus NIU, it took about 7 minutes and 50 seconds to pass that number. But that was only the beginning, as Iowa ended the first half alone with 189 yards passing, and eclipsed 218 yards for the day.
Diaz dazzled, with 84 yards on 7 completions. But it was the cuts and hesitation moves he made that make him scary good and an absolute joy to watch, and a terror to defend.
Not to be outdone, Kamari Moulton put on a show himself. Kamari ended the day at 183 yards on 11 carries, and 2 touchdowns. In the first quarter alone, Kamari had TD runs of 50 and 37 yards, and 132 total yards in less than ten minutes into the game. To put that into perspective, in 2025 Kamari’s longest run was 34 yards, and his most total rushing yards in a game were 95. All told, Iowa had 289 yards rushing, and 11 different players carried the ball.
When the dust finally settled, Iowa ended the day with 507 total yards. Previously, the most total yards that Iowa had in a single game during the Tim Lester era was 492 back in 2024 against Illinois State.
As the saying goes, you’ve come a long way, Hawkeyes!
The defense was more suffocating than the oppressive heat. NIU had ZERO first downs in the first half, and a paltry 24 total yards. The Huskies ended the day with 7 first downs and 120 total yards. Questions and concerns will linger for the D Line, but today they allowed a salty 7 total yards rushing.
The kicking game looked shaky during the earlier parts of the game, with Caden Buhr missing an extra point attempt and a field goal. But he seemed to settle down as the game progressed, and ended up with 2 of 3 on field goal attempts, with a long of 45 yards. The special teams punt and kick coverage looked solid. Surprisingly solid. But given the three positions with the most depth are tight ends, linebackers, and running backs, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising. Reece Vander Zee fielded punts earlier in the game.
By the fourth quarter it was nearing time to ditch the two-deep depth chart and pull out the full roster as many of the reserves got some much-deserved playing time and game experience. Great to build for the future, great for the morale of the players, and great for all the family and friends who persevered through the heat in hopes of seeing them play.
Savor this one for a few days, fellow Hawk fans. I’ll be back early AM on Monday morning with a new weekly series I’ll be starting, titled “Wound Up and Rewind.” After I have time to calm down and go back to rewatch the game, I’ll write a more in-depth analysis of what went well, where work still needs to be done, and a few of the highlights that stand out upon further inspection.
