After opening with a win over Valparaiso the Northern Iowa Panthers face their first road test at St. Thomas of Minnesota. UNI coach Mark Farley says under coach coach Glenn Caruso the Tommies have been a consistent winner at different levels.

In his first start quarterback Aidan Dunne completed 12 of 16 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Valparaiso.

Farley says going on the road is a new challenge.

AC/GC Tournament

ACGC 2, Nodaway Valley 0

Exira EHK 2, West Central Valley 0

Exira EHK 2, Nodaway Valley 0

ACGC 2, Exira-EHK 0

ACGC 2, West Central Valley 0

CBTJ Triangular

Underwood 2, CBTJ 0

Underwood 2, Woodbine 0

CBTJ 2, Woodbine 0

Duals

Fremont Mills 3, Griswold 2

Southwest Valley 3, CAM 0

Harlan 3, Denison Schleswig 1

Bedford 3, Essex 0

#14 Sidney 3, #15 Stanton 2

#5 Lewis Central 3, Clarinda 0

Coon Rapids Bayard 3, Earlham 3-0

Shenandoah 3, Creston 0

#12 East Mills 3, Lenox 0

Iowa’s defense says there are areas to improve heading into the game against Iowa State despite a shutout in the opener. The 21st ranked Hawkeyes are coming off a 40-0 win over Illinois State. Linebacker Nick Jackson.

Safety Xavier Nwankpa says growing up in central Iowa he knows all about the rivalry.

Fellow safety Quinn Schulte grew up cheering for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa State defensive tackle J.R. Singleton says Saturday’s showdown with 21st ranked Iowa is a big oppportunity for the Cyclones. ISU opened the season with a 21-3 victory over North Dakota and will be in search of a second straight win in Kinnick Stadium.

The Cyclone defense has smothered the Iowa offense in recent meetings, but Singleton says they expect a tougher challenge on Saturday.

North Dakota rushed for 174 yards last week, but Singleton is confident the issues against the run will be fixed.

Drake visits Eastern Washington on Saturday in what is now the Bulldog’s official season opener. A week ago, Drake led Quincy 10-0 at halftime, but the game was unable to resume due to thunderstorms and later was cancelled. Bulldog coach Todd Stepsis is looking at the bright side.

Stepsis says the first goal is to stay in the game. The Bulldogs have played several Missouri Valley and Big Sky foes the past few years and none of them have been competitive.

Stepsis says it is a huge opportunity for the Bulldogs.

Drake’s outstanding defense faces a big challenge. Eastern Washington quarterback Kekoa Visperas was 25 of 28 for 275 yards and five touchdowns in a season opening win over Monmouth University.

The Glenwood Rams football team had a choppy start to the year losing their season opener 41-14 against the Sioux City East Black Raiders. When reflecting back on their loss to the Black Raiders, Rams head football coach Cory Faust noted how that game was a learning opportunity for his young squad.

When looking at positive takeaways from last Friday, Coach Faust liked the effort he saw from defensive leader senior Brodie Schafer who led the team in tackles in 2023 with 59. Last week against Sioux City East he got off to another hot start with 6.5 recorded tackles.

On the offensive side of the ball junior Scott Reed ran well picking up 81 yards on 20 carries. Senior quarterback Cole Staudt went 7/21, with 91 yards, and one rushing touchdown. Coach Faust was appreciative with Staudt’s performance considering the lack of reps he’s been given.

Now Glenwood is focused on Friday’s matchup against the 2-0 Trojans who have been looking to a powerful run game to give them wins against T.J. and Clarke. Coach Faust knows that Atlantic has no issues with playing physical football, it’s a mentality that he respects.

Atlantic has been seeing success from their back field with the bruising rushing from junior fullback Gavin McLaren with 5 TD’s and the quick acceleration by senior running back Tyson O’Brien who has amassed 350 yards on the ground. In order to keep the game close and to help the Rams stop the run game, coach Faust has been preaching to his team the idea of unity. That if every player does their part and trust’s one another, they have a good shot against the Trojans.

Kickoff for Atlantic at Glenwood is set for 7:00 PM, but the pregame show on KJAN begins at 6:30 PM.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa standout offensive lineman Austin Blythe will serve as honorary captain when the Hawkeyes host Iowa State in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series contest on Saturday on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:40 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised on CBS.

Blythe was a four-year starter for the Hawkeyes from 2012-15, helping lead Iowa to 31 victories, including 12 wins and a Big Ten West Division title as a senior. In his final year, he was a finalist for the Rimington Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top center. Blythe also was a second-team All-Big Ten honoree and named a permanent team captain in 2015.

Blythe appeared in 50 contests during his career, starting at right guard as a redshirt freshman in 2012 before moving to center for his final three seasons. The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, helped lead the Hawkeyes to three January bowl games as the starting center (2014 Outback Bowl; 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl; 2016 Rose Bowl). He earned second-team all-conference laurels as a junior and was tabbed honorable mention all-league his sophomore campaign.

Blythe played seven seasons in the National Football League after being drafted in the seventh round by Indianapolis in 2016. He played four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams (2017-20), and one year each with the Colts (2016), Kansas City Chiefs (2021) and Seattle Seahawks (2022). Blythe started at right guard in Super Bowl LIII for the Rams.

Blythe will accompany the Iowa captains to midfield for Saturday’s pregame coin toss. He will also be with the Hawkeyes in the locker room before and after the game.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s golf team is set to compete in the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minnesota, on Sunday at the Windsong Farm Golf Club hosted by the University of Minnesota.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The 54-hole tournament tees off on Sunday and finishes on Monday with the final 18 holes. The start time for the tournament is 7:15 am (CT) on Sunday and the final round on Monday will tee off at 7:15 am on hole No. 1 and 10.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

You can follow this week’s action by visiting scoreboard.clippd.com for live scoring. Links can be found on the men’s golf schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

THE FIELD

15 schools will be competing in the Gopher Invitational and will square off at Windsong Farm Golf Club. The field includes Baylor, Furman, Georgia Southern, Iowa State, Kent State, Marquette, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, Rutgers, St. Thomas, UNC Wilmington, and West Virginia.

THE COURSE

Windsong Farm is consistently rated among Minnesota’s top golf courses, and also nationally recognized as one of the top modern courses in the nation. Built in 2002 by course architect’s John Fought and Minnesota’s own Tom Lehman, and major course improvements completed in 2015, Windsong’s South course will offer ample challenges and enjoyment to golfers of all skill levels. While the John Fought designed North Course at Windsong offers breathtaking views, and classical inspired signature holes creating a fun yet challenging golf experience.

The Gopher Invitational has called Windsong Farm Golf Club home for the past 10 years. Windsong Farm is consistently rated among Minnesota’s top golf courses, with additional national recognition as one of the top modern courses in the nation. Opened in 2003, Windsong measures 7,380 yards and has a par 71 layout.

NOAH KENT EARNS RUNNER-UP AT 124TH US AMATEUR

Sophomore Noah Kent, competed in his first USGA championship, but fell in the finals of the U.S. Amateur to Jose Luis Ballester after 36 holes of match play on August 18. Kent finished the tournament as runner-up and earned invites to The Masters and the U.S. Open. Kent was looking to become the first Hawkeye to win the U.S. Amateur. Ballester came into the tournament as the world’s No. 10 ranked Amateur while Noah came in as the No. 560th ranked amateur.

STEVEN IHM NAMED ASSISTANT COACH

Ihm, a former student-athlete at Iowa competed on the men’s golf team from 2011-14. Ihm started his playing career at Indian Hills Community College where he led them to a Junior College National Championship and won the 2011 Phil Mickelson Award as the top freshman player in the NJCAA.

HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS

The Hawkeyes welcomed in four fresh faces to their program this fall. They brought in three freshmen and a transfer.

• Gage Messingham, from Northern Colorado, was named the Big Sky Player of the Year in 2024 as well as first team all-conference and the all-tournament team. He had a scoring average of 72.03 with 10 rounds played in the 60s.

• Jack McCarty, a true freshman from Solon, Iowa led his team to three top-five finishes at the State Tournament. As a senior in high school, McCarty finished third in Class 3A State. His father, Sean McCarty, was a member of the Iowa men’s golf team from 1992-95.

• Chance Rinkol, a freshman from Leawood, Kansas was the 2021 Kansas 6A Individual Medalist. Rinkol posted a scoring average of 70.8 in 2023 and was ranked No. 46 in the Rolex Class in 2024. He was also the 2023 AJGA Joplin Junior Championship and Midwest PGA Junior Championship.

• Ryan Shellberg, a freshman from Prosper, Texas was tabbed No. 71 in the 2024 Rolex Class rankings. Shellberg placed second at the AJGA Mizuno Junior Championship and was a two-time all-region selection.

THE ROSTER

Hogan Hansen, Noah Kent, Josh Lundmark, Jack McCarty, Gage Messingham, Ian Meyer, Chance Rinkol, Ryan Shellberg, and Max Tjoa.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Hawkeyes will compete in the Purdue Fall Invite on Sept. 22-23, at Kampen-Coaler Course.

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht says the Cyclones have been working on handling the noise inside Kinnick Stadium. Iowa and Iowa State collide for the 71st time on Saturday.

The defenses have dominated in this series in recent years and Becht says the Cyclones need to find a way to sustain drives.

Becht had 203 yards of passing in Ames a year ago in a 20-13 Hawkeye victory.

Becht says Iowa always has a solid defense.

Becht says emotions will be running high on Saturday.