Lolol.. this stuff never ends. Fry didn't ALWAYS play those games either AND he played in a MUCH weaker B1G then currently. Hell in Frys best season we played fricken Drake and beat them 58-0. Why were they on the schedule? ISU was a crap show, for most of Fry's tenure. And do tell us how Kirk would have ANY control over1) scheduling ISU, 2) knowledge of what's happened the last two years that have made ISU a rebuilding program. Crystal ball I guess?
Press conference at 1:45
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False. That only happens if the QB is playing poorly.
This year, he appears to be staying open-minded, at least into the first game. And fans are labeling it "absurd."
False again. They're tired of seeing the most important position on the team be a huge question mark...again.
We also have NO idea that they can't, and yet much of the "fans" are already on melt down.
I mean Brown hung 4TDs on a ****** New Mexico team.
I'm just having some fun with the number of people on here acting like WE have some need to know. Unless it impacts your betting on different aspects then I don't know why that's the case. Honestly they have a couple more days to decide who starts and both guys and the players will know before game time.
Like I said, "most years." A claim you more or less supported with the rest of your post.
Sorry for the length.....scouting info on Northern Illinois. If have an issue with these guys......well I don't think we will. Unsettled at QB......basically new o-line....new d-line.....VERY young squad.
Quarterback — Unsettled: No starter named as of late August. The competition features:
Offensive Line: Mostly new starters — a significant concern for a run-first scheme.
Biggest Concern: Scoring. NIU scored 21 or fewer points in 10 of 12 games in 2025. The offense must become reliable against a tougher MW schedule.
Pass Rush — The Sharpest Weakness: Only 14 sacks all of last season with no individual above 2.5. The front asks Kole Sneed (DT), Jay'shon Thomas (DE), and portal addition James Bradley (DE, from Mississippi Valley State) to fix it. Harley coordinates the defense himself (no separate DC hire).
Secondary — More Experienced Half: Dev'ion Reynolds (CB), Marshall Washington, and portal CB Liam Lindo anchor a unit that was the relative strength of the defense.
Front Seven: Lacks experience, size, and production, especially at linebacker.
Offense
Identity: 58/42 run-leaning attack under new OC Tony Petersen (hired from Illinois State). The ground game and perimeter are the known quantities; the passing attack remains a work in progress.Quarterback — Unsettled: No starter named as of late August. The competition features:
- Jalen Macon (R-Sr, 6'5"/230) — veteran, mobile, led spring
- Brady Davidson (So, 6'5"/224) — developmental arm with upside
- Ean Hamric (R-Sr, 6'1"/200) — transfer from University of Charleston
- Taron Dickens (R-Jr, 5'11"/180) — July transfer from Western Carolina/UNC
- Bryshawn Brown (Fr, 6'6"/200) — 3-star freshman signee
| Player | Pos | 2025 Line | Notes |
| Telly Johnson Jr. | RB | 712 yds, 5.74/carry | Closing on 1,000 career; breakout potential |
| DeAree Rogers | WR | 46 catches, 506 yds | Back for a third year |
| Jason Fowler | TE | — | Drew a camp-week turn; hints at a job |
Offensive Line: Mostly new starters — a significant concern for a run-first scheme.
Biggest Concern: Scoring. NIU scored 21 or fewer points in 10 of 12 games in 2025. The offense must become reliable against a tougher MW schedule.
Defense
Identity: Physicality, takeaways, field position, and stopping the run — Harley's stated emphasis. Returns zero starters at the front.Pass Rush — The Sharpest Weakness: Only 14 sacks all of last season with no individual above 2.5. The front asks Kole Sneed (DT), Jay'shon Thomas (DE), and portal addition James Bradley (DE, from Mississippi Valley State) to fix it. Harley coordinates the defense himself (no separate DC hire).
Secondary — More Experienced Half: Dev'ion Reynolds (CB), Marshall Washington, and portal CB Liam Lindo anchor a unit that was the relative strength of the defense.
Front Seven: Lacks experience, size, and production, especially at linebacker.
Roster Context
- Average age: 19.85 — among the youngest in all of FBS
Duke, ya forgot the meds. Again.
Hayden stopped opening with that level of non-conference schedule the first chance he got. Not that the 1981 schedule doesn't equate with schedules a mere, oh, 45 years later
You know what doing that over the last decade has gotten us?
Everyone predicting that we go 8-4 again, if not worse, in 2026...............
Not sure I'd agree with this. Now we are at an entirely different period in time with the CFP, but Hayden's out of conference games were way more difficult. I mean we haven't scheduled another P4 school out of conference since 2015.Duke, ya forgot the meds. Again.
Hayden stopped opening with that level of non-conference schedule the first chance he got. Not that the 1981 schedule doesn't equate with schedules a mere, oh, 45 years later
1990: Cincinnati, @ Miami
1991: Hawaii, Norther Illinois
1992: NC state followed by #1 miami
1993: Tulsa, Norther Illinois
1994: Central Michigan, @ oregon
1995: UNI, New Mexico State
1996: Arizona, Tulsa
1997: UNI, Tulsa
1998: Central Michigan, #16 Arizona
It’s a good way to lose to Iowa State again. God, I hope not.
We've had no idea since the last snap of the Reliaquest bowl last season. Two guys with very little experience and it's been no secret.
There's another factor involved in scheduling as well. When Fry took over Iowa we were in the dark ages of Iowa football history, having not had a winning season in 20 years. I'd imagine all the big boys were only to happy to have Iowa on their schedule. Then Fry mad Iowa relevant again and that started to change. After a couple of rough years Kirk got things in high gear, and playing Iowa at Kinnick in a home and home became an entirely different game to schedule. Iowa went on a run of upsetting 5 out of 6 top 5 teams in Kinnick , mostly in night games. Add to that schedules for these P$ matchups are usually made years in advance. Your not always sure just what your getting from some of these teams from year to year, but Iowa's been pretty solid consistently, and a game at Kinnick is still no picnic. Kirk was asked about this a couple of years ago, about playing another P4 team in the non con, and he said its darn near impossible to get someone to sign up for a home and home anymore.
New to the human race?
BTW, half of the fans DON'T want him to be open-minded regarding position battles.
The other half do.
Would you like the fanbase to think and act in lockstep as a hive-mind organism?
That 1981 schedule was not of Hayden's choosing. It existed before he arrived and he was clear about wanting one cupcake and not two heavyweights along with the contracted game with ISU. The OOC schedule got lighter after that.
surprised at how everybody’s posting about the qb spot and tip-toeing around the nasty shaving cut on kirk’s chin.
Donate to NIL Iowa is in the bottom tier of the bigten. Cignetti has a 32 million dollar roster more than double iowas. I know you give very little.You know what doing that over the last decade has gotten us?
Everyone predicting that we go 8-4 again, if not worse, in 2026...............
Lol. Donate to NIL? No. I'll complain the same without throwing money away on college kids playing sports. A million better things to waste money on than that.
No only Monkey has to donate because he constantly complains about it.
Hey, if you could read, my original post says "usually." And if you looked it up, you'd find that Fry played more than 20 Top Twenty teams in the nonconference in 20 years while KF has played, I believe it's three Top Twenty teams in 27 years. You do the math, if you can do it better than you can read. Wow. Is that you, Brian? Or maybe it's Mary . . . In any event, LOL
Hey, dude, facts are facts. Fry played those schedules. KF was on the sidelines for many of those games. KF has built a significant portion of his winning record on playing nobodies in the nonconference. This season is yet another example. You could look it up and you'd find Fry played more than twenty Top Twenty nonconference teams in his 20-year career. KF has played about three. What the hell does the timeframe have to do with it? Playing Top Twenty teams 50 years ago was just as challenging as doing so today. Calm down, pal. If you really wanna get all worked up, remember who's running this country into the ground. That should keep ya busy for a while.Duke, ya forgot the meds. Again.
Hayden stopped opening with that level of non-conference schedule the first chance he got. Not that the 1981 schedule doesn't equate with schedules a mere, oh, 45 years later
The reasons don't matter. Playing Top Twenty teams is a lot tougher than playing the likes of Arkansas State, UNI, NIU, Ball State, North Texas, Albany, UMass . . . Hell, that's ridiculously poor competition. Sorry if the truth doesn't fit your narrative. LOL
What the hell difference does that make? His teams had to play those games anyway. Sorry if the facts don't fit your narrative. How do you think KF would do if this Iowa team opened with Alabama, ISU, and Oregon, for example. LOL
Just a thought: maybe hold off on freaking out about the QB position until after the game Saturday. If the Hawks score less than 21 OFFENSIVE points, we will have legit cause to be concerned.
It’s not the experience. It’s the lack of a guy. Louisville named their starter and her had a great fall camp. Clear winner.
Nothing like what Iowa is experiencing.
Iowa is actually in a much better position. Iowa has not 1, but 2 guys that have looked so good that Lester and Kirk can't decide which one should start.
Prove me wrong!!
I can’t prove you wrong. Only actual evidence or reports of performance suggests otherwise.
Although I suppose the evidence from the scrimmage makes me optimistic about Heck.
Whole thing is just weird to me lol
Although I suppose the evidence from the scrimmage makes me optimistic about Heck.
Whole thing is just weird to me lol
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Yeah. I'm not buying it either, but we survived Deacon Hill and Cade McNamara soo..... This situation is most likely a step up.
What narrative is that, exactly? There are lots of facts and more than one things can be true. Hayden played those tough schedules during his early years in Iowa City because it was the hand he was dealt. And Hayden took control of the scheduling and made sure he never faced anything that difficult again.
Regarding your second question, it depends on the particular teams fielded by Iowa and those opponents. Some of KFs teams would acquit themselves well and others would not. The same thing would be true about Hayden's teams. His 1992 and 1998 teams, for example, would have been thumped.
As you can see, schedule wasn't exactly littered with P5 teams...excepting ISU
Hayden took most "top" teams off non-con schedule as soon as he could. As he said, "Those games leave us battered and bruised for the Big 10 games". Did he still have some tough teams on the non-con schedule? Sure. So has KF. Ranked or P5 teams in KF era, not even counting ISU
1999: #5 Nebraska
2000: #8 Kansas State, #1 Nebraska
2003: #16 Arizona State
2004: Arizona State
2006: Syracuse
2007: Syracuse
2008: Pitt
2009: Arizona
2010: Arizona
2011: Pitt
2014: Pitt
2015: Pitt
Since then, no ranked teams, and only ISU for P4/P5.
It's really an insight into how a person is wired.
No starter = 2 underperfoming QBs
or
No starter = 2 guys showing well and each bringing something useful
I'm in the latter category. But as others have mentioned, we won't know the answer to the above until after the game Saturday.
Exactly. Miami/FL flat-out backed out in 1985, giving us Drake. They tried to back out of the subsequent 1990-1992 series, but were about to join the Big East, so backing out endangered other potential relationships among various schools.
Missouri backed out, and both Bama and Oklahoma were willing to play two games on THEIR turf, with Iowa's "home" game NOT being in Kinnick. Go figure. Texas? Can't even get them on the phone for less than $20 million. And good luck EVER getting a Florida P4/5 ever again. We already go to the West Coast now, and you can bet Deion wouldn't bring Colorado to Iowa City without a little extra financial "incentive".
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