2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Music City Bowl, No Contest vs. Missouri
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 16
Record	6–2 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Kirk Ferentz (22nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Ferentz (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Phil Parker (9th season)
Base defense	4–2-5
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2020 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 22nd-year head coach Kirk Ferentz.

On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.^[2] The Hawkeyes compiled a 6–2 record, all in conference games. The team was set to face Missouri in the Music City Bowl, but the game was canceled after Missouri had to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues.^[3]

Junior defensive lineman Daviyon Nixon was named Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and was a unanimous First-team All-American.

Iowa had games scheduled against Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and Northern Illinois, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 24	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	BTN	L 20–24	900
October 31	2:30 p.m.	Northwestern		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN	L 20–21	1,432
November 7	11:00 a.m.	Michigan State		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN	W 49–7	1,441
November 13	6:00 p.m.	at Minnesota		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)	FS1	W 35–7	771
November 21	2:30 p.m.	at Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	BTN	W 41–21	1,500
November 27	12:00 p.m.	Nebraska	No. 24	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (The Heroes Game)	FOX	W 26–20	1,469
December 5	2:30 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	FS1	W 35–21	875
December 12	2:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 16	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	FS1	W 28–7	1,445
December 19	6:00 p.m.	Michigan	No. 16	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Champions Week)	ESPN	No Contest	–
December 30	3:00 p.m.	vs. Missouri*	No. 15	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	No Contest	–
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

| Michigan and Missouri were canceled due to COVID-19.|

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2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Deuce Hogan Fr QB 11 Connor Kapisak So QB 8 Alex Padilla  So QB 7 Spencer Petras So RB 23 Shadrick Byrd  Fr RB 15 Tyler Goodson So RB 21 Ivory Kelly-Martin Jr RB 20 Keontae Luckett  Fr RB 10 Mekhi Sargent Sr RB 25 Gavin Williams Fr RB 4 Leshon Williams Fr FB 41 Colton Dinsdale Sr FB 40 Turner Pallissard So FB 32 Johnny Plewa  Fr FB 38 Monte Pottebaum So WR 9 Jack Combs Jr WR 19 Max Cooper Sr WR 1 Nolan Donald  Fr WR 26 Jamison Heinz Fr WR 81 Desmond Hutson  Fr WR 27 Jack Johnson Fr WR 16 Charlie Jones Jr WR 83 Alec Kritta  Fr WR 82 Calvin Lockett So WR 14 Quavon Matthews Fr WR 89 Nico Ragaini So WR 29 Jackson Ritter  Fr WR 12 Brandon Smith Sr WR 6 Ihmir Smith-Marsette Sr WR 3 Tyrone Tracy So WR 18 Diante Vines Fr WR 28 Isaiah Wagner Fr WR 17 Wyatt Wegener Fr TE 42 Shaun Beyer Sr TE 88 Jackson Frericks  Fr TE 46 Tommy Kujawa Jr TE 85 Luke Lachey Fr TE 84 Sam LaPorta So TE 80 Josiah Miamen  Fr TE 48 Bryce Schulte Jr TE 47 Andrew Wilson Fr TE 87 Elijah Yelverton Fr OL 61 Cole Banwart Sr OL 63 Justin Britt  Fr OL 51 Coy Cronk Sr OL 56 Nick DeJong  Fr OL 76 Tyler Elsbury Fr OL 55 Luke Empen So OL 69 Tyler Endres  Fr OL 54 Matt Fagan So OL 52 Asher Fahey Fr OL 60 Noah Fenske  Fr OL 73 Cody Ince So OL 77 Alaric Jackson Sr OL 71 Mark Kallenberger Jr OL 72 Coy Kirkpatrick Jr OL 65 Tyler Linderbaum So OL 79 Jack Plumb So OL 78 Mason Richman Fr OL 64 Kyler Schott Jr OL 57 Clayton Thurm  Fr OL 75 Josh Volk Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 13 Joe Evans So DL 94 Yahya Black Fr DL 88 Isaiah Bruce Fr DL 45 Deontae Craig Fr DL 53 Spencer Daufeldt  Fr DL 58 Taylor Fox  Fr DL 57 Chauncey Golston Sr DL 96 Jack Heflin Sr DL 48 Ethan Hurkett Fr DL 66 Dalles Jacobus Sr DL 95 Logan Jones Fr DL 93 Jake Karchinski  Fr DL 85 Logan Lee  Fr DL   Michael Lois Fr DL 43 Matt Lorbeck Sr DL 90 Taajhir McCall  Fr DL 98 Chris Reames  Fr DL 74 Austin Schulte Sr DL 99 Noah Shannon So DL 92 John Waggoner So DL 86 Jameson Witte Fr DL 91 Lukas Van Ness Fr DL 97 Zach VanValkenburg Sr DT 54 Daviyon Nixon Jr DT 50 Louie Stec  Fr LB 47 Nick Anderson Sr LB 44 Seth Benson So LB 31 Jack Campbell So LB 34 Jay Higgins Fr LB 5 Jestin Jacobs  Fr LB 55 Yahweh Jeudy  Fr LB 46 Logan Klemp So LB 49 Nick Niemann Sr LB 40 Josef Smith Fr LB 36 Mike Timm So LB 35 Barrington Wade Sr DB 4 Dane Belton So DB 7 Reggie Bracy Fr DB 20 JuJu Brents So DB 29 Sebastian Castro  Fr DB 15 Dallas Craddieth So DB 17 Brenden Deasfernandes Fr DB 37 Kyler Fisher  Fr DB 8 Matt Hankins Sr DB 27 Jermari Harris  Fr DB 21 Thomas Hartlieb  Fr DB 28 Jack Koerner Jr DB 11 AJ Lawson Fr DB 13 Henry Marchese Jr DB 14 Daraun McKinney  Fr DB 26 Kaevon Merriweather So DB 33 Riley Moss Jr DB 16 Terry Roberts So DB 30 Quinn Schulte  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 96 Lucas Amaya  Fr K 1 Aaron Blom Fr K 3 Keith Duncan Sr K 94 Caleb Shudak Sr P 2 Ryan Gersonde Jr P 9 Tory Taylor Fr P 45 Nick Phelps So LS 50 Zach Kluver  Fr LS 84 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 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 – Assistant Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Raimond Braithwaite – Interim Director, Strength and Conditioning Kohle Helle – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Ben Morse – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Cody Myers – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning Drew Heitland – Nutrition & Performance Analytics Paul Federici – Director, Football Operations Ben Hansen – Assistant Director, Football Operations Sam Brincks – Interim Director, Player Development Scott Southmayd – Director, Player Personnel Tyler Barnes – Director, Recruiting Justin Floyd – Graduate Assistant Dylan Chmura – Graduate Assistant Keeston Terry – Graduate Assistant Shane Viilo – Graduate Assistant Austin Showalter – Director of Football Analytics Martin Hopkins – Football Analyst Tyler Parker – Football Analyst Bob Rahfeldt – Video Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 10/11/20

(*) Big Ten Conference members were not eligible for the Week 2 of the AP and Coaches Polls and Week 3 of the AP due to not having a scheduled season at the time.

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Iowa's first win over Michigan State since 2012, and the Hawkeyes' largest in the 48-game series, gave Kirk Ferentz his 163rd win as coach, passing Joe Paterno in total wins as a Big Ten head coach. The Hawkeyes dominated in all three phases of the game and gave Spartan quarterback Rocky Lombardi a long day, intercepting him three times.^[9]

Iowa has won eight of the last nine meetings in this series. The Hawkeyes dominated the Golden Gophers, winning for the third straight time in Minneapolis, to keep Floyd of Rosedale in Iowa City for a sixth straight year.^[10]

Iowa earned their first win over Penn State since 2010, forcing four turnovers in the process. The victory gave Kirk Ferentz his 100th Big Ten win – just the 4th coach in conference history to achieve the feat – and Penn State their first-ever 0–5 start in the program's 134-year history.^[11]

Iowa was victorious for the sixth straight time – and seventh in eight meetings – against Nebraska. In this back-and-forth game, turnovers in the fourth quarter hurt the Cornhuskers, as they fumbled twice in the last 10:17. The second of which was forced by Chauncey Golston to keep the Heroes Trophy in Iowa City. Senior Keith Duncan kicked four field goals in a game for the fourth time in his career, joining Nate Kaeding as the only Hawkeye kickers to achieve the feat.^[12]

Iowa hasn't lost to Illinois since 2008. This was their seventh straight victory in the series and have won 12 of the last 13 overall. Illinois jumped out to a 14–0 lead early but the Hawkeyes put up 35 unanswered points and controlled the line of scrimmage from that point on having the ability to both run and pass the ball effectively.^[13]

Iowa won at home over Wisconsin for the first time since 2008 to recapture the bull. After a slow start on the snow-covered field in the first half, the Hawkeyes put up three touchdowns in the second, and were able to stop the Badgers on several fourth down attempts.^[14]

Iowa was looking to avenge a loss in Ann Arbor from previous season, but it was announced on December 15 the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Wolverines program.^[15] Michigan hasn't won at Kinnick Stadium since 2005.

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Due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Tigers' football program, the Music City Bowl was canceled, ending the season for both the Hawkeyes and the Tigers.^[17]

Had the game been played, it would have been the first meeting between Iowa and Missouri in a decade. If Iowa had won the game, it would have given Kirk Ferentz his 10th bowl win, which would have tied Joe Paterno for first all-time in Big 10 history.