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2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 49–24 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 15
Record	10–3 (6–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Kirk Ferentz (21st season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Ferentz (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Phil Parker (8th season)
Base defense	4-2-5
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Uniform
Seasons← 20182020 →

The 2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2019 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 Kirk Ferentz in his 21st season as head coach.

Iowa began the year with four straight wins, including an 18–17 road victory over rival Iowa State with College GameDay present. After losing games to three ranked opponents – at No. 19 Michigan (3–10), No. 10 Penn State (12–17), and at No. 13 Wisconsin (22–24) – by a total of 14 points, the Hawkeyes knocked off another rival, unbeaten No. 8 Minnesota, 23–19, to start a four-game win streak to close the season. After long-time athletic director Bump Elliott and head coach Hayden Fry died in December, Iowa capped the 2019 season with a resounding 49–24 win over No. 22 USC in the Holiday Bowl. The Hawkeyes finished with a record of 10–3 (6–3 B1G), the sixth season with 10+ wins in the Ferentz era.

Junior kicker Keith Duncan was named Big Ten Kicker of the Year and was selected as a consensus First-team All-American. Junior offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, and later became the 10th Iowa player of the Ferentz era taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. After leading the Big Ten in sacks his sophomore season, junior defensive end A. J. Epenesa had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2019, and was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Michael Ojemudia and Geno Stone became the fourth and fifth Iowa defensive backs drafted between 2017 and 2020. Nate Stanley, a three-year starter at quarterback, was also selected.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Iowa was projected to finish in second in the West Division behind Nebraska.

Schedule

Iowa's 2019 schedule began with a non-conference home game against the Miami RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference. Iowa's Big Ten Conference opener was the second week against Rutgers. They finished off their non-conference slate with a road game against in-state rival Iowa State, a member of the Big 12 Conference, and then a home game against Middle Tennessee of Conference USA.

In Big Ten Conference play, Iowa played all members of the West Division and Rutgers, Michigan, and Penn State from the East Division.

Source:

Roster

2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 11 Connor Kapisak  Fr QB 2 Peyton Mansell So QB 8 Alex Padilla Fr QB 7 Spencer Petras  Fr QB 17 Ryan Schmidt Sr QB 4 Nate Stanley Sr RB 23 Shadrick Byrd Fr RB 1 Nolan Donald Fr RB 22 Samson Evans  Fr RB 15 Tyler Goodson Fr RB 21 Ivory Kelly-Martin Jr RB 20 Keontae Luckett Fr RB 10 Mekhi Sargent Jr RB 28 Toren Young Jr FB 45 Joe Ludwig So FB 40 Turner Pallissard  Fr FB 41 Johnny Plewa Fr FB 36 Brady Ross Sr WR 9 Jack Combs So WR 19 Max Cooper Jr WR 87 Javon Foy Fr WR 81 Desmond Hutson Fr WR 16 Charlie Jones So WR 83 Alec Kritta Fr WR 82 Calvin Lockett  Fr WR 13 Henry Marchese So WR 5 Oliver Martin So WR 89 Nico Ragaini  Fr WR 29 Jackson Ritter Fr WR 12 Brandon Smith Jr WR 6 Ihmir Smith-Marsette Jr WR 3 Tyrone Tracy  Fr TE 42 Shaun Beyer Jr TE 18 Drew Cook Sr TE 86 Noah Feldman So TE 88 Jackson Frericks Fr TE 46 Tommy Kujawa So TE 84 Sam LaPorta Fr TE 48 Bryce Schulte So TE 39 Nate Wieting Sr OL 61 Cole Banwart Jr OL 63 Justin Britt Fr OL 56 Nick DeJong Fr OL 55 Luke Empen  Fr OL 69 Tyler Endres Fr OL 54 Matt Fagan  Fr OL 60 Noah Fenske Fr OL 58 Taylor Fox Fr OL 73 Cody Ince  Fr OL 77 Alaric Jackson Jr OL 75 Jeff Jenkins  Fr OL 71 Mark Kallenberger So OL 72 Coy Kirkpatrick So OL 65 Tyler Linderbaum  Fr OL 76 Ezra Miller Fr OL 68 Landan Paulsen Sr OL 66 Levi Paulsen Sr OL 79 Jack Plumb  Fr OL 64 Kyler Schott So OL 70 Kyle Sorensen  Fr OL 57 Clayton Thurm Fr OL 74 Tristan Wirfs Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 94 A. J. Epenesa Jr DE 57 Chauncey Golston Jr DE 59 Nathan Nelson  Fr DE 85 Logan Lee Fr DL 53 Spencer Daufeldt Fr DL 66 Dalles Jacobus Jr DL 93 Jake Karchinski Fr DL 95 Cedrick Lattimore Sr DL 90 Taajhir McCall Fr DL 98 Chris Reames Fr DL 91 Brady Reiff Sr DL 74 Austin Schulte Jr DL 99 Noah Shannon  Fr DL 81 Ben Subbert  Fr DL 92 John Waggoner  Fr DL 97 Zach VanValkenburg Jr DT 54 Daviyon Nixon So DT 50 Louie Stec Fr LB 47 Nick Anderson Sr LB 44 Seth Benson  Fr LB 31 Jack Campbell Fr LB 32 Djimon Colbert So LB 43 Dillon Doyle  Fr LB 13 Joe Evans  Fr LB 5 Jestin Jacobs Fr LB 55 Yahweh Jeudy Fr LB 52 Amani Jones Sr LB 46 Logan Klemp  Fr LB 25 Jayden McDonald  Fr LB 49 Nick Niemann Jr LB 38 Monte Pottebaum  Fr LB 36 Mitch Riggs  Fr LB 19 Mike Timm  Fr LB 35 Barrington Wade Jr LB 34 Kristian Welch Sr DB 4 Dane Belton Fr DB 20 JuJu Brents So DB 29 Sebastian Castro Fr DB 15 Dallas Craddieth  Fr DB 41 Colton Dinsdale Sr DB 1 Wes Dvorak Sr DB 37 Kyler Fisher Fr DB 8 Matt Hankins Jr DB 27 Jermari Harris Fr DB 21 Thomas Hartlieb Fr DB 12 D. J. Johnson  Fr DB 28 Jack Koerner So DB 14 Daraun McKinney Fr DB 26 Kaevon Merriweather So DB 18 John Milani Sr DB 33 Riley Moss So DB 11 Michael Ojemudia Sr DB 16 Terry Roberts  Fr DB 30 Quinn Schulte Fr DB 9 Geno Stone Jr DB 17 Devonte Young Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 96 Lucas Amaya Fr K 3 Keith Duncan Jr K 94 Caleb Shudak Jr P 2 Ryan Gersonde So P 7 Colten Rastetter Sr P 22 Michael Sleep-Dalton Sr LS 84 Austin Spiewak Jr LS 50 Jackson Subbert Sr LS 85 Nate Vejvoda Sr	Head coach Kirk Ferentz Coordinators/assistant coaches Brian Ferentz – Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends Phil Parker – Defensive Coordinator/Secondary LeVar Woods – Special Teams Coordinator Kelvin Bell – Defensive Line Kelton Copeland – Wide Receivers Derrick Foster – Running Backs/Offensive Recruiting Coordinator Jay Niemann – Assistant Defensive Line/Defensive Recruiting Coordinator Ken O'Keefe – Quarterbacks Tim Polasek– Offensive Line Seth Wallace – Linebackers Chris Doyle – Strength and Conditioning Raimond Braithwaite – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Cody Myers – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Peter Remmes – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Mark Weisman – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Kohle Helle – Nutrition & Performance Analytics Paul Federici – Director, Football Operations Ben Hansen – Assistant Director, Football Operations Broderick Binns – Director, Player Development Scott Southmayd – Director, Player Personnel Max Allen – Director, Football New Media Tyler Barnes – Director, Recruiting Dylan Chmura – Graduate Assistant Miles Taylor – Graduate Assistant Keeston Terry – Graduate Assistant Shane Viilo – Graduate Assistant Martin Hopkins – Football Analyst Tyler Parker – Football Analyst Austin Showalter – Director of Football Analytics Bob Rahfeldt – Video Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 8/11/19

Rankings

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

Iowa played its first ever season-opening night game. Typical of first games under Ferentz, Iowa started out slow. The offense wasn't clicking for a great deal of the first half, but found a rhythm in the second as Iowa put up four touchdowns. The Hawkeyes had a balanced attack with 252 yards passing and 213 rushing with several running backs.

Rutgers

Iowa went to the air early and often in their Big Ten opener. On his second touchdown pass, Nate Stanley passed Ricky Stanzi for third all-time on Iowa's career passing touchdown list. Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a career-high 113 yards receiving and two touchdowns. The Hawkeyes defense was smothering, shutting out the Scarlet Knights and forced three turnovers.

At Iowa State

ESPN's College GameDay was in Ames for the rivalry game with Lee Corso picking Iowa State to win the match-up. There were two weather delays in the first half which effectively made it a night game. It ended up being a back-and-forth contest with Iowa kicker Keith Duncan hitting four crucial field goals to keep the Hawkeyes in the game. Iowa held the Cyclones on a critical fourth down, however Iowa State still had a chance with over a minute in regulation. An Iowa State player ran into his teammate attempting to field the punt and it resulted in a muffed ball that Iowa pounced on. With the Cyclones having spent all their timeouts already, the Hawkeyes were simply able to run out the clock and the Cy-Hawk trophy remained in Iowa City for a fifth year in a row.

Middle Tennessee

The Hawkeyes put up 644 yards of total offense (tops in the Ferentz era) as the Blue Raiders were unable to stop them. Toren Young was the most outstanding of the several Iowa backs that were able to play with 131 yards rushing on the day, and Nate Stanley had 276 yards passing and two touchdown passes to Brandon Smith. Iowa dominated ball possession, with almost 12 more minutes and forced the Blue Raiders into several three-and-outs.

At No. 19 Michigan

No. 10 Penn State

The Hawkeyes wore alternate gold jerseys. Iowa entered the game not having defeated Penn State since 2010.

Purdue

Purdue refused to go away in a wild second half. Iowa had to recover two onside kick attempts in order to seal this homecoming victory. The Hawkeyes made the Boilermakers one-dimensional as almost all of their offense came through the air. This marked the 300th combined win of the Fry-Ferentz era.

At Northwestern

Iowa entered the game having lost three of the last four games at Ryan Field. The Hawkeyes were able to shut out the Wildcats for the first time since 1981 and spoil their homecoming. Iowa stopped Northwestern on several fourth down attempts to keep them off the board and did not turn the ball over. Nate Stanley also passed Drew Tate to move up to second on Iowa's career passing touchdown list with his 62nd touchdown.

At No. 13 Wisconsin

Once down 21–6, Iowa battled back and, after a 75-yard pass from Nate Stanley to Tyrone Tracy, had a chance to tie the game on a two-point conversation with 3:12 remaining. It was not to be and Wisconsin won their seventh of eight in this series. This was the first top 20 match-up between the universities since 2010.

No. 8 Minnesota

The unbeaten Golden Gophers entered the game ranked No. 8 and with CFP aspirations. Iowa was aggressive in the first half and put up three touchdowns. Minnesota was able to drive the ball but failed to score enough and left Iowa City having not defeated the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium since Kirk Ferentz's first year in 1999. The Hawkeye fans stormed the field, fairly reminiscent of a game three years prior when Iowa knocked off a 9–0 Michigan squad that was ranked No. 2.

Illinois

Iowa won its sixth straight in this series, and Illinois hasn't won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999. After a Tyler Goodson touchdown run capped the opening drive, junior kicker Keith Duncan contributed four field goals in a game for the third time this season. On his fourth made kick, Duncan established a new single-season Big Ten record with 27 made field goals. The win over the Illini marked the 96th Big Ten Conference win for head coach Kirk Ferentz, tying him with Hayden Fry.

At Nebraska

After being named a Groza finalist earlier in the week, junior kicker Keith Duncan nailed a 48-yard field goal with one second remaining to clinch the victory (and proceeded to blow kisses towards the Nebraska bench). Junior defensive end A. J. Epenesa anchored the defense with 14 tackles, 4.5 TFL, and 2 sacks. Junior Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored two long touchdowns, and freshman Tyler Goodson ran for 116 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an injury. Epenesa earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks, and Duncan was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight week and third time this season. The Hawkeyes extended their winning streak in the series to five games overall, and it was Iowa's fourth consecutive road victory against the Cornhuskers.

Vs. No. 22 USC (Holiday Bowl)

Former head coach Hayden Fry passed away just ten days prior to the game and the Iowa helmets were without Tigerhawk decals to honor his legacy and impact on the program. Iowa's 49 points is the most in a bowl game under Ferentz, and the Hawkeyes handed USC its worst bowl loss since the 1948 Rose Bowl. Nate Stanley joined Ricky Stanzi as the second quarterback in Iowa history to win three bowl games, and also passed Drew Tate in career passing yards. Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored three touchdowns in the second quarter – a 6-yard run, 98-yard kickoff return, and 12-yard reception – to earn the game's offensive MVP. The Hawkeyes held USC to just seven points in the second half, led by the game's defensive MVP, A. J. Epenesa.

Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NFL

References

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• 2019 Big Ten Conference football season
• Iowa Hawkeyes football seasons
• Holiday Bowl champion seasons
• 2019 in sports in Iowa