Iowa — Big Ten
HC
Kirk Ferentz · Kinnick Stadium · Iowa City, IA · 69,250 cap
PPA off / def
0.15 / 0.05
2025
Class rank
#26
class of 2026
Returning PPA
34%
returning production
vs Ohio State — OSU leads 49–15
| 2024 |
OSU W 35–7 | Columbus |
| 2022 |
OSU W 54–10 | Columbus |
| 2017 |
OSU L 24–55 | away |
| 2013 |
OSU W 34–24 | Columbus |
| 2010 |
OSU W 20–17 | away |
| 2009 |
OSU W 27–24 | Columbus |
| 2006 |
OSU W 38–17 | away |
| 2005 |
OSU W 31–6 | Columbus |
| 2004 |
OSU L 7–33 | away |
| 2003 |
OSU W 19–10 | Columbus |
| + 57 earlier meetings in archive |
2026 schedule
2025 results (9–4)
Statistical comps — 2025 Iowa's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (15 in / 8 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Lance Ingold | EDGE | ← Northern Illinois | ★★★ |
| Emmanuel Olagbaju | DL | ← North Dakota | ★★★ |
| Anthony Hawkins | S | ← Villanova | ★★★ |
| Cody Haddad | S | ← Ohio State | ★★★ |
| Kahmari Brown | EDGE | ← Elon | ★★★ |
| Tyler Brown | S | ← James Madison | ★★★ |
| Tony Diaz | WR | ← Texas-Rio Grande Valley | ★★★ |
| Xavier Styles | S | ← Robert Morris | ★★★ |
| + 7 more |
Origins
The 1939 Ironmen played nearly every snap of every game and their Heisman winner gave an acceptance speech about preferring a football field to a battlefield, then died as a Navy pilot in 1943. The stadium carries his name.
Founded 1847 · First public university in the state, chartered 59 days after statehood · first football 1889 · defined by Nile Kinnick
All-time record
All-time
681–561–35
1894–2025
Win %
54.7%
132 seasons played
Winning seasons
72
55% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2015 | 12 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2009 | 11 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2002 | 11 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 1991 | 10 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 2004 | 10 | 2 | Big Ten |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1894 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 306 | 71% |
45% | 62 of 136 | 5.1 | 9% |
| 2nd down | 234 | 63% |
44% | 43 of 136 | 6.3 | 15% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 44 | 64% |
73% | — | 7.2 | 16% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 58 | 24% |
40% | — | 5.7 | 12% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 35 | 17% |
11% | — | 2.9 | 0% |
| 4th down | 14 | 43% |
64% | — | 2.2 | 0% |
134 drives · 43% ended in points · 7.3 plays and 41.5 yards per drive · 0.95 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| CFP | Vanderbilt |
(04:48) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short middle to #81 D.Vonnahme caught at Iow… |
51 | 4.23 |
| CFP | Vanderbilt |
(14:12) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski rush middle for 44 yards gain to the Vandy25 (#8 C.Heard),… |
44 | 4.13 |
| 8 | Penn State |
Mark Gronowski run for 67 yds to the PSU 8 for a 1ST down |
67 | 3.76 |
| 12 | USC |
(07:56) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short right to #81 D.Vonnahme caught at IOWA… |
32 | 3.64 |
| 8 | Penn State |
Mark Gronowski run for 38 yds to the PSU 29 for a 1ST down |
38 | 3.63 |
| 3 | Massachusetts |
Hank Brown pass complete to Nathan McNeil for 32 yds to the MASS 30 for a 1ST down |
32 | 3.61 |
| 14 | Nebraska |
(02:30) No Huddle-Shotgun #28 K.Moulton rush left for 34 yards gain to the NEB40 (#37 D.Jo… |
34 | 3.48 |
| 11 | Oregon |
(07:11) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete deep middle to #81 D.Vonnahme caught at IOWA… |
40 | 3.47 |