116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Hawkeye football will face all sorts of Big Ten toughness in Kinnick this year
Penn State is a popular pick to win the conference. Oregon won it last year and says it wants to “Double down.” Indiana, so good last year, has plenty of talent in 2025.
Jul. 23, 2025 4:37 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
LAS VEGAS — Iowa has a very salty home football schedule this season.
It’s downright dynamic if you remove the Albany (Aug. 30) and Massachusetts (Sept. 13) games from the equation. Going from UAlbany and UMass in the nonconference to Indiana, Penn State and Oregon between Sept. 27 and Nov. 8 is like traveling 58 miles from unincorporated Searchlight, Nev., to the corporation-dominated Las Vegas Strip.
A 2024 review: Indiana went 11-2 and reached the College Football Playoff. Penn State advanced to the CFP semifinals. Oregon went 9-0 in its first Big Ten season, then won the league’s championship game, against Penn State.
Oregon was third, Penn State fifth and Indiana 10th in the final Associated Press rankings. None will be chopped liver this year.
Indiana comes to Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 27. The Hoosiers were hit hard by graduation after Curt Cignetti brought in a host of transfers in his first season at Indiana following great success at James Madison. Going 8-1 in the Big Ten again seems quite a reach, but the Hoosiers should again have a strong passing game and are without an apparent weak unit on defense.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza transferred from California, where he threw 30 touchdown passes and was a three-time ACC Quarterback of the Week last season. Kurtis Rourke threw 29 touchdown passes to just five interceptions last year for the Hoosiers. Cignetti is a quarterback-whisperer.
Here at the Big Ten’s media days, Cignetti said Mendoza “Has size. Has mobility, quick release, good arm. Can extend plays. Smart guy.”
Cignetti’s winning percentage at Indiana is .843. Dan Lanning’s winning percentage in three years at Oregon is .854 (35-6). The Ducks play at Iowa on Nov. 8.
"Since we’re in Vegas,“ Lanning said Wednesday, ”it seems the right time to say that our theme for this team is 'Double down.'
“You look at our success, season to season. Our process works. We've been able to accomplish a lot.”
The 39-year-old Lanning lost a lot of talent from last year’s Ducks. Reloading is no great obstacle at Oregon, however. The program has money, and is a magnet to high school players and potential transfers. Lanning feeds off the NCAA transfer portal, and he quickly filled holes in his depth chart.
His top question mark may be quarterback. Dillon Gabriel passed for 3,857 yards and 30 touchdowns last season before going off to the NFL. Gabriel’s heir is sophomore Dante Moore, who transferred from UCLA after the 2023 season and was Gabriel’s understudy for a year.
Moore will be surrounded by skill-position studs and a first-rate offensive line. His defense appears solid all the way around.
In between Indiana and Oregon at Kinnick Stadium is Penn State, on Oct. 18. The Nittany Lions are pegged as the Big Ten favorite by many, and senior Drew Allar (53 career touchdown passes, 10 interceptions) probably is the conference’s best quarterback.
“He’s now 6-foot-5, he’s now 235 pounds, he can make every throw on the field,” Penn State Coach James Franklin said here. “He has shown he can hurt people with his feet, and has really made tremendous strides as a leader.holding himself to a really high standard.
“So I’m a big Drew fan.”
Allar threw four touchdown passes in Penn State’s 31-0 home win over the Hawkeyes two years ago.
Oh, Penn State likely has the best 1-2 running back combo in the country in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. They have a total of 5,789 rushing yards and 69 touchdowns. It helps that the Lions’ offensive line may be college football’s best in 2025.
Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters