2021 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Big Ten West Division champion
Big Ten Championship Game, L 3–42 vs. Michigan
Citrus Bowl, L 17–20 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 23
AP	No. 23
Record	10–4 (7–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Kirk Ferentz (23rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Ferentz (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Phil Parker (10th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by 23rd-year head coach Kirk Ferentz.

With a victory over rival Nebraska on November 26 coupled with a Wisconsin loss to Minnesota the following day, Iowa won its first Big Ten West title since 2015. They competed in the Big Ten Championship Game against East Division co-champion Michigan, where they lost by a 39-point margin. Iowa capped the 2021 season with a frustrating 20–17 loss to No. 22 Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. The Hawkeyes finished with a record of 10–4 (7–2 B1G), the seventh season with 10+ wins in the Ferentz era.

Junior center Tyler Linderbaum was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, unanimous First-team All-American, and was awarded the Rimington Trophy. He later became the 11th Iowa player of the Ferentz era taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	2:30 p.m.	No. 17 Indiana	No. 18	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	BTN	W 34–6	68,166
September 11	3:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Iowa State*	No. 10	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	W 27–17	61,500
September 18	2:30 p.m.	Kent State*	No. 5	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	BTN	W 30–7	61,932
September 25	2:30 p.m.	Colorado State*	No. 5	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	FS1	W 24–14	65,456
October 1	7:00 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 5	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD	FS1	W 51–14	45,527
October 9	3:00 p.m.	No. 4 Penn State	No. 3	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Big Noon Kickoff)	FOX	W 23–20	69,250
October 16	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 2	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ABC	L 7–24	69,250
October 30	11:00 a.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–27	74,209
November 6	6:00 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 22	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 17–12	38,141
November 13	2:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 20	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	BTN	W 27–22	69,250
November 20	1:00 p.m.	Illinois	No. 17	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	FS1	W 33–23	64,132
November 26	12:30 p.m.	at Nebraska	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	BTN	W 28–21	86,541
December 4	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Michigan*	No. 13	Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN (Big Ten Championship Game, Big Noon Kickoff)	FOX	L 3–42	67,183
January 1, 2022	12:00 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Kentucky*	No. 15	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL (Citrus Bowl)	ABC	L 17–20	50,769
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after November 2) - Released prior to game All times are in Central time

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Roster

2021 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Deuce Hogan  Fr QB 5 Joey Labas Fr QB 8 Alex Padilla So QB 7 Spencer Petras Jr RB 34 Zach Brand Fr RB 15 Tyler Goodson Jr RB 20 Deavin Hilson Fr RB 21 Ivory Kelly-Martin Sr RB 17 Max White Fr RB 25 Gavin Williams  Fr RB 4 Leshon Williams  Fr FB 40 Turner Pallissard Jr FB 32 Johnny Plewa So FB 38 Monte Pottebaum Jr WR 14 Brody Brecht Fr WR 10 Arland Bruce IV Fr WR 19 Max Cooper Sr WR 1 Nolan Donald So WR 26 Jamison Heinz  Fr WR 81 Desmond Hutson So WR 27 Jack Johnson  Fr WR 6 Keagan Johnson Fr WR 16 Charlie Jones Sr WR 83 Alec Kritta So WR 14 Quavon Matthews  Fr WR 89 Nico Ragaini Jr WR 29 Jackson Ritter So WR 3 Tyrone Tracy Jr WR 0 Diante Vines  Fr WR 28 Isaiah Wagner Fr WR 18 Alec Wick Fr TE 88 Jackson Frericks So TE 46 Tommy Kujawa Sr TE 85 Luke Lachey  Fr TE 84 Sam LaPorta Jr TE 49 Andrew Lentsch Fr TE/FB 42 Denin Limouris Fr TE 80 Josiah Miamen So TE 82 Johnny Pascuzzi Fr TE 48 Bryce Schulte Sr TE 87 Elijah Yelverton  Fr OL 63 Justin Britt So OL 66 Jeremy Chaplin Fr OL 77 Connor Colby Fr OL 74 David Davidkov Fr OL 56 Nick DeJong So OL 67 Gennings Dunker Fr OL 76 Tyler Elsbury  Fr OL 55 Luke Empen Jr OL 69 Tyler Endres So OL 54 Matt Fagan Jr OL 52 Asher Fahey  Fr DL 58 Taylor Fox So OL 73 Cody Ince Jr OL 65 Tyler Linderbaum Jr OL 53 Michael Myslinski Fr OL 79 Jack Plumb Jr OL 78 Mason Richman  Fr OL 64 Kyler Schott Sr OL 70 Beau Stephens Fr OL 57 Clayton Thurm So OL 75 Josh Volk  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 94 Yahya Black  Fr DL 86 Jeff Bowie Fr DL 88 Isaiah Bruce  Fr DL 45 Deontae Craig  Fr DL 13 Joe Evans Jr DL 48 Ethan Hurkett   Fr DL 95 Logan Jones  Fr DL 85 Logan Lee So DL 59 Griffin Liddle Fr DL 48 Max Llewellyn Fr DL 51 Jeremiah Pittman Fr DL 98 Chris Reames So DL 99 Noah Shannon Jr DL 50 Louie Stec So DL 80 Brennan Sweeney Fr DL 91 Lukas Van Ness  Fr DL 97 Zach VanValkenburg Sr DL 92 John Waggoner Jr DL 86 Jameson Witte  Fr LB 44 Seth Benson Jr LB 31 Jack Campbell Jr LB 39 Eric Epenesa Fr LB 41 Jaden Harrell Fr LB 34 Jay Higgins So LB 5 Jestin Jacobs So LB 46 Logan Klemp Jr LB 32 Eli Miller Fr LB 43 Karson Sharar Fr LB 40 Josef Smith  Fr LB 35 Justice Sullivan Fr LB 25 Kelby Telander Fr LB 36 Mike Timm Jr LB 42 Zach Twedt Fr LB 17 Wyatt Wegener  Fr DB 4 Dane Belton Jr DB 7 Reggie Bracy So DB 29 Sebastian Castro So DB 15 Dallas Craddieth Jr DB 19 Gaven Cooke Fr DB 17 Brenden Deasfernandes  Fr DB 3 Cooper DeJean Fr DB 37 Kyler Fisher So DB 8 Matt Hankins Sr DB 27 Jermari Harris So DB 21 Thomas Hartlieb So DB 28 Jack Koerner Sr DB 11 AJ Lawson  Fr DB 13 Henry Marchese Sr DB 26 Kaevon Merriweather Jr DB 33 Riley Moss Sr DB 12 Jaxon Rexroth Fr DB 22 Terry Roberts Jr DB 30 Quinn Schulte So DB 23 Xavior Williams Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 96 Lucas Amaya So K 1 Aaron Blom  Fr K 94 Caleb Shudak Sr P 2 Ryan Gersonde Sr P 9 Tory Taylor So P 45 Nick Phelps Jr LS 44 Luke Elkin Fr LS 50 Zach Kluver So LS 18 Austin Spiewak Sr LS 97 Liam Reardon  Fr	Head coach Kirk Ferentz Coordinators/assistant coaches Brian Ferentz – Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends Phil Parker – Defensive Coordinator/Secondary LeVar Woods – Special Teams Coordinator George Barnett – Offensive Line Kelvin Bell – Defensive Line Ladell Betts – Running Backs Kelton Copeland – Wide Receivers Jay Niemann – Assistant Defensive Line/Defensive Recruiting Coordinator Ken O'Keefe – Quarterbacks Seth Wallace – Assistant Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Raimond Braithwaite – Director, Strength and Conditioning Kohle Helle – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Drew Heitland – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Ben Morse – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Cody Myers – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning John Engelbrecht – Nutrition & Performance Analytics Paul Federici – Director, Football Operations Ben Hansen – Assistant Director, Football Operations Jason Manson – Director of Player Development Sam Brincks – Interim Director, Player Development Scott Southmayd – Director, Player Personnel Tyler Barnes – Director, Recruiting Krisanne Ryther – Recruiting Operations and Special Events Coordinator Caleb Saunders – Director, Football Creative Media Justin Elsner – Football Graphic Designer Eric Copeland – Graduate Assistant Adam Cox – Graduate Assistant Justin Flood – Graduate Assistant Austin Showalter – Director, Football Analytics Shane Viilo – Football Analyst Tyler Parker – Football Analyst Bob Rahfeldt – Director, Football Video Operations Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 10/12/21

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Rankings

Game summaries

No. 17 Indiana

Iowa jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The Hawkeyes defense came out in full force, getting three interceptions – including two pick sixes by senior Riley Moss – and kept Indiana out of the end zone. Equally impressive for an opening game, Iowa limited itself to a mere two penalties.

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At No. 9 Iowa State

This season's Cy-Hawk matchup was a showdown of top 10 teams in the AP poll, making this the first time the schools have faced off as ranked opponents. ESPN's College GameDay was on hand for the second straight time in the series as the annual contest was cancelled the previous year due to COVID-19. Iowa extended its win streak in the series to six games, and has now won five consecutive games against ranked opponents – its longest such streak since 1960.

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Kent State

The Hawkeyes, playing as an AP top 5 team at home for the first time since 1985, won for the 300th time at Kinnick Stadium since its opening in 1929. Tyler Goodson had his best game to date, rushing for 153 yards. This was the first meeting of the programs since 2004.

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Colorado State

This was the first meeting between the two schools. After a sluggish start, the Hawkeyes shut out Colorado State in the second half to extend its streak of holding opponents under 25 points.

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At Maryland

In the first match-up of the teams since 2018, Iowa tied the school record with six interceptions in this lopsided road win. It is the first 5–0 start for the program since 2015. The Hawkeyes also scored the most points in a quarter since 2002.

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No. 4 Penn State

Iowa was seeking its first home win over Penn State since 2010 with Fox's Big Noon Kickoff on hand. This match-up of top five teams in the AP poll was the first such game at Kinnick Stadium since No. 2 Michigan visited the No. 1 Hawkeyes in 1985. Iowa fell behind 17–3 to PSU, but after an injury to Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford, the Hawkeyes slowly clawed back, outscoring Penn State 20–3 the rest of the way to earn the 23–20 win. With this victory, Iowa improved to 6–0, became bowl eligible, extended their overall win streak to 12 games, and ascended to No. 2 in both major polls the following day.

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Purdue

The unranked Boilermakers dominated this matchup with the Hawkeyes, and won for the fourth time in the last five meetings with Iowa.

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At Wisconsin

The unranked Badgers dominated this matchup with the Hawkeyes, and became the first Iowa opponent to score more than 24 points since the 2018 regular season finale.

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At Northwestern

Backup quarterback Alex Padilla led two first-half touchdown drives, and the Iowa defense forced three interceptions as the Hawkeyes snapped a two-game skid.

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Minnesota

In Alex Padilla's first start at quarterback, Iowa won for the seventh straight time in this trophy series. Padilla threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the victory. The Golden Gophers haven't won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999.

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Illinois

Iowa won for the eighth straight time in the series. Illinois hasn't won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999.

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At Nebraska

After facing a 21–6 third quarter deficit, the Hawkeyes rallied to earn a win over the Cornhuskers as they outscored the home team 22–0 to end the game. It was Iowa's fifth straight victory in Lincoln and seventh straight victory overall in this trophy series.

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Vs. No. 2 Michigan (Big Ten Championship game)

This game marked Iowa's second appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game (2015). Ferentz is now 1–2 against Michigan in the Harbaugh era.

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Vs. No. 22 Kentucky (Citrus Bowl)

The Wildcats and Hawkeyes faced off for the first time, and Iowa returned to the Citrus Bowl for the first time since the 2005 Capital One Bowl. The loss kept the Hawkeyes from winning four consecutive bowl games for the first time in program history.

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Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NFL