Depth Dossier: Iowa Hawkeyes (Week 10)

Show Notes

Hawkeyes Win a Game They Barely Held the Ball For, and Still Make It Look Easy The Depth Dossier breaks down what Iowa's Week 10 game against Northwestern changed on the depth chart: injuries, snap shares and who is moving up or down.

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This is the Depth Dossier: the Iowa Hawkeyes, Week 10.

Iowa didn't need the ball much, and that's exactly the point. The Hawkeyes beat Northwestern 24 to 10, and the defense made Northwestern a one for eleven team on third down, which mattered more than anything Iowa did on offense.

Iowa controlled this one from the jump, scoring on a seven play, 75 yard touchdown drive to open the game and never letting Northwestern breathe. Quarterback Hank Brown threw for 126 yards and a touchdown and ran one in himself from 21 yards out. Running back L.J. Phillips Junior carried 21 times for 128 yards. But the real story was the defense, which sacked Northwestern quarterback Nicco Marchiol six times and held the Wildcats to one for eleven on third down and one for four on fourth down. Special teams delivered the dagger, too. Seconds after Northwestern finally got on the board, Braeden Jackson took the kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown, and Northwestern never recovered.

Here's the wild part. Iowa actually lost the time of possession battle, holding the ball for under 28 minutes to Northwestern's nearly 32, and Northwestern ran 15 more plays. Northwestern even won the first down battle. None of it mattered, because the Wildcats couldn't finish drives.

That third and fourth down number is the real headline. Northwestern came in converting nearly half its third downs and had been automatic on fourth and one with its starting quarterback in the game. Iowa shut all of that down, including two stops on third and one and two more on fourth and one. Linebacker Cam Buffington's fourth down stop in the second quarter, a one yard loss with Iowa already up 14 to nothing, was the kind of play that keeps a blowout from turning into a sweat.

Iowa's offense has a streak going too. This was the first time in nine regular season tries that Iowa opened a game with a touchdown drive against a Power Conference opponent. And the Hawkeyes have now put together a touchdown drive of at least 97 yards in three straight games, something no team in the country has done since at least 2015.

Jackson's return was perfectly timed. It was his second kickoff touchdown of the season, following a 99 yarder against Michigan, and it came right after Northwestern had scored to cut into Iowa's lead. It took about 15 seconds to wipe that momentum out.

Worth noting, Iowa actually turned the ball over twice, including a Brown interception, while Northwestern didn't turn it over at all. Didn't matter. Iowa still won by two scores.

Now to the depth chart. There were no in-game injuries, but one absence carried real weight. Starting center Cael Winter was unavailable, forcing Iowa's first offensive line change since the 2024 season. Michael Myslinski stepped in at center, and the line didn't miss a beat. Iowa ran for 170 yards at better than five yards a carry. Worth watching whether Myslinski holds onto that job once Winter is healthy again.

Phillips keeps building. This was his first 100 yard game as a Hawkeye and his best since transferring in from South Dakota, highlighted by a season long 45 yard run in the first quarter. He's not a complementary back anymore.

And Jackson's special teams work is becoming its own storyline. Two returns of 90-plus yards in one season is rare, and it raises a real question. Does Iowa start finding ways to get him more involved on offense?

Defensively, Buffington keeps making the signature plays, logging his fourth double digit tackle game of the season. And that six sack performance came from six different players, which tells you this pass rush is a group identity, not a one man show.

As for what's next, the dossier doesn't name Iowa's upcoming opponent. But whoever it is will be walking into a defense playing as well as any unit in the country right now.

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.