Iowa football seniors prepare for final game in Hawkeye uniform

TAMPA, Fla. — One more practice. One more walk-through. One more game with everything on the line.

There’s a reason the Hawkeyes are so determined to win the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa over No. 14 Vanderbilt — it’s one final chance to be together.

“It's gonna be an emotional game,“ Center Logan Jones said. ”I'm just trying to just appreciate every second I get out here.“

No. 23 Iowa football’s 2025 finale in Tampa is one of the most interesting non-College Football Playoff matchups in bowl season. With both teams playing with their starters in the bowl game, the competition level naturally heightened the moment both head coaches said their rosters were playing.

Now, with change on the horizon for Iowa, the Hawkeyes have a chance to give their team the ending they want.

“It's another opportunity to go out there with the guys and kind of show we've done this entire year,” quarterback Mark Gronowski said. “This is a kid's game at the end of the day, and all of us dream to be in this opportunity. All of us are playing in this game, which, I'm really proud of all of us showing up, being here and wanting to play.”

This will be Iowa’s fifth game against a ranked opponent this year — the most in a season that defensive back Koen Entringer can remember. The Hawkeyes learned quickly how slim the margin for error can be against those ranked opponents, falling to all four in the regular season by loss than a possession in each.

But beyond the ranked win on the table, there’s the pure desire to play.

Iowa’s offensive line won the Joe Moore Award last week, given to the nation’s best collegiate front five. The Hawkeyes were one of just eight teams in the country to keep the same starting five all season, and found out about the award as a surprise following practice.

“It gives me just chills, even just talking about it,“ Gronowski said. ”They set the standard for the offense, really, for this entire team, and how much they work. And it was really cool to just give them a little bit of shine.“

It’s also an award that puts a target right on their back against Vanderbilt. The Commodores have only allowed 21 points per game, and have found ways to pick off seven passes this season.

Granted, the offensive line loves a challenge.

“It's gonna be fun anytime you get to play an SEC school,” Jones said. “You live for games like these, right?”

Despite cornerback TJ Hall being left off Iowa’s depth chart, he practiced with the team on Saturday. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker said Hall is good to go, after the senior missed the Hawkeyes’ games against Michigan State and Nebraska.

Then there’s the send-off for special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, who coaches his final game with Iowa against Vanderbilt. He’s spent nearly his entire football life with the Hawkeyes, and will leave for Michigan State as its new assistant head coach and special teams coordinator.

Woods coached players like Kaden Wetjen, who’s a finalist for the Jet Award this year after winning it last season. Woods said it’s been “overwhelming” seeing the response from fans, family and friends to his news, but has been focused on making sure he ends this year right.

“The mindset is trying to win this football game,” Woods said. “Close this season out the right way and get another win this week.”

The goal to beat Vanderbilt is the bulletin board material — a ranked win, a bowl win and ending the season the way Iowa wants to. That’s a given.

It’s enjoying the lessons Iowa’s learned this year, time together and playing the game itself, that the senior class is enjoying in its final days wearing the black and gold.

“For this team, their grit, their tenacity, the way they bounce back,” Woods said of this year’s team. “To me that is quintessential Iowa football. That's a quintessential team football, and that's the stuff that you like most about these guys.”

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