It was a gloomy day in Iowa City, but there were nonstop fireworks at Kinnick Stadium. The Iowa offense ripped apart the Northern Iowa Panthers in week three of the season in one of the most impressive offensive showings we’ve seen from the Hawkeyes in recent memory, posting a 55-0 shutout win.
Quarterback Hank Brown had a perfect day — or more accurately, had a perfect five drives. Brown capped off every possession with a touchdown, going a spotless 12/12 through the air for 153 yards and two touchdowns. By halftime, Iowa led 42-0, accumulated 418 total offensive yards, and picked up 24 first downs. Three games into the season, the offense has looked impressive under Brown. His backup, Jeremy Hecklinski, may have a flashier skill set and play style than Brown, but still seems to be held back by shaky accuracy, like we saw when he entered midway through the second quarter. Whatever was left in the quarterback competition is settled now, if it wasn’t before. Brown is the guy as Iowa stares down the barrel of a three-game gauntlet coming up.
Last week, the Iowa State Cyclones bottled up the Hawkeye run game, which didn’t see much success in their 16-13 win. This game was the polar opposite. Their backfield was missing Kamari Moulton due to a shoulder stinger. Holding him out was a precautionary move to not risk anything worse to Iowa’s lead back. And with L.J. Phillips Jr. still sidelined from his week one injury, offensive coordinator Tim Lester had the opportunity to consistently rotate the ball carriers.
We didn’t see one or two, but rather a three-headed monster take over. The leader of the rushing attack was Xavier Williams, who on just six carries, ran for a whopping 151 yards and a team-best three touchdowns. He also added up another two catches for 16 yards. Williams made his debut as a freshman last season, running for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns in 10 games, and rightfully deserves to see an uptick in touches going forward.
The second back was Nathan McNeil, who had 12 carries for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also proved himself as a threat in the receiving game, as he led Iowa’s receivers with three catches for 37 yards. The third back was redshirt freshman Braeden Jackson. The former high school track athlete and son of NFL running back Fred Jackson. Braeden had his first big game as a Hawkeye, running for 125 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while also hauling in a 24-yard touchdown on a beautiful pass thrown by Hank Brown on the second drive. It’s the first time three different players for Iowa ran for 100+ yards each in a game since 1983.
Assisted by dominant blocking from the offensive line, Iowa accumulated an eye-popping 418 total yards on the ground with six touchdowns. It’s the most rushing yards they’ve had in a game as a team since 1990. As a whole, the offense racked up 640 yards, just four shy of the school record 644 achieved against Middle Tennessee in 2019. While you may point a finger at the caliber of the opponent they did this against, this is still a very good sign that the offense is capable of being competitive all season long.
Defensively? It was more of the same. The Panthers knew they couldn’t win this game on the ground, so they weren’t afraid to let quarterback Jaxon Dailey sling it. While a few impressive plays were made, Dailey was boxed up all afternoon, going 11/27 for 91 yards and throwing two interceptions. They totaled just 155 total yards of offense and went just 3/15 on third downs. UNI never got past the Iowa 40-yard line the entire game, effectively meaning the Hawkeye defense didn’t allow the Panthers any opportunity to come close to scoring.
If there was any way to cap off the opening three-game stretch of the season, this would be the way to do that. Iowa has a point differential of 111-13, having shut out two of their opponents, and is on the come-up as the #18-ranked team in the country. But now comes their true challenge. Next week, for their first road game of the season, they play ranked Michigan at the Big House in Ann Arbor. It’s Iowa’s first ranked opponent of the season, and will be a big measuring stick for how this season could play out. Currently, the nation is fed up with the Wolverines, thanks to their infamous 13-12 Hail Mary win over Western Michigan two weeks prior. This is the biggest opportunity for the Hawkeyes to become the nation’s beloved heroes and send a message that they could truly be a College Football Playoff competitor.
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