New starters at No. 22 Iowa must get up to speed in a hurry with challenging start to Big Ten play

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — 2025 record: 9-4

Kirk Ferentz heads into his 28th season as head coach at Iowa and there’s no sign he’s letting up. Ferentz, who became the Big Ten’s winningest coach last season, will find out how good his team is in a hurry. The Hawkeyes' first three conference games are at Michigan, at home against Ohio State and at Washington. No. 22 Iowa has big holes to fill after seven players were selected in the NFL draft. Ferentz certainly has enough talent on the roster to win eight or nine games and go to a 13th straight bowl (not counting 2020 pandemic season).

The running back group is deep. Kamari Moulton rushed for a team-leading 878 yards last season and has a shot to give the Hawkeyes a 1,000-yard rusher for the second time in three years. The workload should increase for Xavier Williams, who had 285 yards last season.

It wouldn’t be a typical Ferentz team without tight ends in the spotlight. DJ Vonnahme led the Hawkeyes in receiving with 29 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. He ended last season on a high note with seven catches for 146 yards against Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Addison Ostrenga missed almost all of last season with an injury, but he is expected to be healthy to give the Hawkeyes the bookend tight ends they always seem to have.

The Hawkeyes are starting over on the defensive line. All four starters and two key backups are gone. The departures of Ethan Hurkett (8 sacks), Max Llewellyn (6 1/2) and Aaron Graves (5) put a big dent in the pass rush.

The quarterback situation is dicey. Returning backups Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski are competing for the starter's job. Brown played 55 snaps and never appeared after the fifth game; Hecklinski got a total of nine snaps over two games.

Special teams, always a strength, will be a work in progress. Iowa must replace its kicker, punter and top return man.

WR Tony Diaz (transfer from UTRGV) was sixth in the FCS with 11 receiving touchdowns and drew good reviews from Ferentz in the early days of camp.

RB LJ Phillips (transfer from South Dakota) was the leading rusher in FCS last season with 1,921 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on 294 attempts.

K Eli Ozick (transfer from North Dakota State) was an FCS second-team All-American last season after converting 16 of 18 field-goal attempts, including hitting his last 11.

C Logan Jones was a consensus All-American and winner of the Rimington Trophy. The Chicago Bears' second-round draft pick started 51 games for Iowa.

OT Gennings Dunke started every game last season and was an AP second-team All-Big Ten selection.

WR Kaden Wetjen was a consensus All-American after being one of the nation’s best kick and punt returners. Wetjen led the nation with 1,039 combined kick return yards.

At Michigan (Sept. 26), vs. Ohio State (Oct. 3), at Washington (Oct. 9).

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football