Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz says P.J. Fleck has built a consistent winner at Minnesota. A pair of 5-2 teams collide in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday in the 119th meeting in the series.

Fleck is in his ninth season at Minnesota and Ferentz says the Gophers have succeeded with a physical, fundamentally sound style of football.

Ferentz says the Iowa defense will be challenged by a Minnesota offense led by redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey.

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski has been a big part of Iowa’s run game. The South Dakota State transfer rushed for 130 yard in last weeks win over Penn State and his power running style has given the Hawkeye offense an added dimension.

Ferentz says with an understated level of confidence, Gronowski has become the leader of the team.

Gronowski’s 67-yard run set up Iowa’s game winning touchdown against the Nittany Lions.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is counting on leadership to get things turned around. The Cyclones return from a bye week and will be out to stop a two game losing skid on Saturday when they host 11th ranked BYU.

The Cyclones need to string together several wins to climb back into the Big 12 title chase.

Campbell has been impressed with how his team handled the bye week.

BYU is 7-0 and Campbell says the Cougars are excelling in all phases.

Campbell believes kicker Kyle Konrardy will return for Saturday’s game. He has been sidelined since getting injured during a September 13th win at Arkansas State.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Long-time friend and University of Iowa supporter Marilyn Howard passed away Oct. 19. She was 93.

Marilyn, along with her late husband, Dale, were proud supporters of the University of Iowa, Ellsworth Community College and Northern Iowa.

The Howards provided leadership support to the Carver-Hawkeye Arena Enhancement Campaign and the Iowa Football Legacy Campaign. The Dale and Marilyn Howard Family Pavilion serves as the main entrance into Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is the primary home to the Iowa Athletics Department.

Dale and Marilyn were named the National I-Club Hawk of the Year in 2009, recognized as honorary Iowa letterwinners, and received the Football Appreciation Award in 2014.  The Dale Howard dealership in Iowa Falls has participated in the UI Athletics Department courtesy car program for several decades.

The Howard family was also involved in the leadership in Coaches vs. Cancer.

Visitation will be held Thursday from 4-7 p.m. (CT) at First United Methodist Church in Iowa Falls, Iowa.  The funeral will be held Friday at 1:30 p.m. followed by the burial at Union Cemetery.  A reception will be held following the burial at Highland Country Club.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the First United Methodist Church or to the Ellsworth College Foundation, both in Iowa Falls.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller released details of the Hawkeyes’ 54-game regular season on Tuesday. The 2026 slate features 23 games at Duane Banks Field. Iowa will begin its season at the MLB Desert Classic in Phoenix, Arizona, from Feb. 13-15. The Hawkeyes open their home portion of the schedule on Feb. 24, hosting Wartburg.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• Iowa will play a three-game series at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida, on Feb. 20-22 and at the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas, on Feb. 27-March 1.
• The Hawkeyes return to Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa, for the third straight season, playing Purdue in a three-game series May 14-16.
• The Hawkeyes host UCLA (March 27-29), Minnesota (April 3-5), Maryland (April 17-19), Illinois (May 1-3) and Purdue (May 14-16) in league play at Duane Banks Field and Iowa travels to Penn State (March 13-15), Michigan State (March 20-22), USC (April 10-12), Indiana (April 24-26) and Nebraska (May 8-10).
• The Hawkeyes will host Lindenwood in a three-game series on March 6-8 and play midweek contests against Wartburg, St. Thomas, Bradley, Western Illinois, Illinois State and UIC. The team hits the road for midweek games at UIC, Illinois State, Bradley and Milwaukee.
• The Big Ten Tournament will be held at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, from May 19-24.

The Hawkeyes closed the 2025 season with a 33-22-1 overall record. Iowa finished third in the Big Ten regular season standings and made its 10th straight Big Ten Tournament appearance.

1A Region 6 

Exira-EHK – 3 vs CAM – 0

Audubon – 3 vs Heartland Christian – 0

Woodbine – 3 vs Griswold – 1

Stanton – 3 vs Diagonal – 0

Mormon Trail – 3 vs Lenox – 2

Murray – 3 vs East Union – 0

 1A Region 1 

Coon Rapids-Bayard – 3 vs Ar-We-Va – 0

Glidden-Ralston – 3 vs Storm Lake St. Mary’s – 0

Newell-Fonda – 3 vs Paton-Churdan – 0

1A Region 3 

North Mahaska – 3 vs Twin Cedars – 0

1A Region 4

Bedford – 3 vs Lamoni – 0

Fremont-Mills – 3 vs Hamburg – 0

Mount Ayr – 3 vs Essex – 0

1A Region 5 

IKM-Manning – 3 vs Boyer Valley – 0

1A Region 8 

Ankeny Christian – 3 vs Melcher-Dallas – 0

Martensdale-St. Marys – 3 vs Seymour – 0

Southeast Warren – 3 vs Moulton-Udell – 0

Moravia – 3 vs Wayne – 1

2A Region 7 

Underwood – 3 vs Southwest Valley – 2

2A Region 4 

Nodaway Valley – 3 vs West Central Valley – 0

Colfax-Mingo – 3 vs Madrid – 0

2A Region 2  

MVAOCOU – 3 vs Logan-Magnolia – 0

 2A Region 6 

Pleasantville – 3 vs Central Decatur – 0

West Point, Miss. — The University of Iowa women’s golf team ended the first day of The Ally in 10th place at Old Waverly Golf Club. The Hawkeyes shot a 299 (+11) over 18 holes.

Junior Maura Peters led the team and is currently tied for first place. Peters carded a career-best round, recording eight birdies and seven pars to finish with a 68 (-4).

Senior Riley Lewis opened with a 75, tallying 13 pars and one birdie, and is tied for 42nd place.

Freshman Sunny Wang shot a 77 in the opening round, highlighted by nine pars and two birdies, to finish at five over par.

Arkansas leads the team standings at 8-under par after the first day, while Iowa’s Maura Peters is tied for the top spot on the individual leaderboard at 4-under.

IOWA LEADERBOARD

UP NEXT

Iowa continues play at The Ally on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with action beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT.

The Exira-EHK Volleyball team has beaten the CAM Cougars in straight sets to advance in the Class 1A Region 6 Postseason Tournament. Senior Jaelynn Petersen led the way for the Spartans with 22 kills and four service aces as well. Exira-EHK came out and won the first set 25-18 followed by a thrilling 27-25 set victory. In the third set, Exira-EHK jumped out to a 10-0 lead highlighted by Junior Taryn Petersen completing three service aces in the stretch. Exira-EHK ended CAM’s season for a second consecutive season and set them up with a matchup at St. Albert Wednesday night.

The night began with both teams swinging back in forth in the first set. CAM ahead 8-6 early. A major run in the middle in the second set with Jaelynn Petersen serving gave the Spartans a 12-8 lead forcing a CAM timeout. Exira-EHK picked up right where they left off after the break and extended their lead to 15-8. CAM gained momentum later in the opening set behind Junior Ada Hansen’s five kill performance but fell 25-18.

In the second set, Junior Ruthie Rich came out strong for the Cougars as she had four kills in the second frame and two service aces. Both teams exchanging blows until Exira-EHK goes ahead 14-11 forcing another Cougar timeout. CAM not going away lightly, cut the Spartan lead to one at 19-18. Later in the set, CAM burned another timeout with their backs against the wall down 24-22. The resilience of CAM was visible after they tied the match at 24. Eventually, the power of Taryn Petersen pushed Exira-EHK to the 27-25 victory in the second set.

As the third set began, Exira-EHK carried all the momentum with the exhilarating 27-25 win. The Spartans got out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back winning the set 25-14 convincingly.

Head Coach Derek Reischauer said CAM came in with a heck of an effort.

Taryn Petersen hit 500 career kills in the third set and has been a terrific person for the program.

Jaelynn Petersen’s work ethic is visible in the coaches’ eyes.

The Spartans are up for the challenge of St. Albert Wednesday.

With the victory, Exira-EHK improves to 13-12 while CAM finishes 2025 with an 11-20 record.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior safety Xavier Nwankpa has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following his effort in the Hawkeyes’ 25-24 comeback win over Penn State, the announcement was made Monday by the league office.

Nwankpa, who earned his first Big Ten weekly honor, tied a career high with 10 total tackles, while leading the team with seven solo stops against the Nittany Lions.

Not only did Nwankpa reach double digits in tackles, but he forced his first career fumble in the fourth quarter and returned his first interception of the season 28 yards to the 1-yard line in the second quarter. The takeaway and return ultimately resulted in seven points two plays later.

Nwankpa was also involved in Penn State’s final offensive play. With Iowa leading 25-24 and 1:20 on the game clock, the Nittany Lions had fourth-and-4 at midfield. Nwankpa came on a delayed blitz — flushing the quarterback from the pocket toward other Hawkeye defenders — forcing an incomplete pass to secure the victory.

Nwankpa is the first Hawkeye defender to earn Big Ten weekly honors since Aaron Graves a year ago on Oct. 14, 2024.

Iowa (5-2, 3-1) remains home on Saturday, hosting Minnesota (5-2, 3-1) in the Floyd of Rosedale trophy game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Northern Iowa football coach Todd Stepsis is trying to fix an offense that ranks at the bottom of the Missouri Valley Football Conference as the Panthers get set to visit 18th ranked Southern Illinois. The Panthers are 0-3 in the Valley and the offense is averaging less than 14 points per game after a 17-14 loss to South Dakota.

On the bright side the Panthers rank fourth in the Valley in total defense.

Stepsis believes the potential is still there for improvement on offense.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Kaden Wetjen has been named to the Jet Award Midseason Watch List, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. The announcement was made Monday by the Jet Award Foundation.

Wetjen, who was the recipient of the 2024 Jet Award, leads the nation in combined return yards (by 86 yards) for a second straight season. He has 573 combined return yards (262 kickoff, 311 punt) through seven games. Wetjen is No. 1 in the NCAA in punt returns (25.9), and third in kickoff return touchdowns (1) and punt return touchdowns (1).

Wetjen made history in Week 3 when he returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Hawkeyes’ dominant victory over UMass. The return tied a Big Ten and Iowa record (Michigan State’s Al Brenner at Illinois, 1966 and Iowa’s Bill Happel vs. Minnesota, 1984) and was the longest punt return in Kinnick Stadium history. Wetjen finished the contest against the Minutemen with a career-high 216 return yards (182 punt and 34 kickoff) and a career-best 236 all-purpose yards. The 182 punt return yards are the fourth-most in a single game in Big Ten history.

The following week, Wetjen returned the opening kickoff 100 yards against Rutgers to tie an Iowa and Big Ten record. Wetjen earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors following the performances against UMass and Rutgers.

Wetjen, who was recognized as a midseason All-American by The Sporting News last week, is believed to be the first player to score a rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return touchdown as a Hawkeye. Both the rushing and receiving scores occurred this season.

The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, is the only player in the nation to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown this season and he was the only player to accomplish the same feat in 2024.

The award is named in honor of Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers. The winner of the 2025 Jet Award will be selected by a panel of voters, including media members from the Football Writers Association of America, former recipients of the Jet Award, and two of our founders, Johnny Rodgers and William Reed.

Iowa (5-2, 3-1) returns to action Saturday against Minnesota (5-2, 3-1)for the rivalry trophy Floyd of Rosedale. Kickoff is slated for 2:40 p.m. (CT) inside Kinnick Stadium and the game will be televised on CBS.