Wk 1 · 2026

Northern Illinois Huskies at Iowa Hawkeyes — Sat, Sep 5

Sat, Sep 5 · Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA · BTN

Weather at kickoff

86°F clear

6% chance of precipitation · wind 14 mph

Forecast from Open-Meteo

Northern Illinois Huskies

Mountain West · no games yet

4:15pET

IOWA -31.5 · total 45.5 DraftKings

Ratings differential IOWA by 23.9

#22 Iowa Hawkeyes

Big Ten · no games yet

What is at stake

A non-conference game. It moves both overall records but neither conference race. Iowa is ranked #22 (AP Top 25 · 2026-08-17).

What the ratings imply

The differential above is arithmetic on two published numbers: The CFB King’s 2026 final efficiency ratings, plus 2.4 points of home field. It is not a projection, a value, an edge or a lean, and nothing on this site compares it with the betting line to tell you one is better. Until 2026 games are played it is last season’s measurement of two teams that have changed.

Efficiency · 2026 ratings

N Illinois: -9.1#117

Efficiency margin

Iowa: +12.4#10

N Illinois: 18.4

Offense (pts/100)

Iowa: 29.7

N Illinois: 27.5

Defense (pts/100)

Iowa: 17.3

N Illinois: 65.5

Pace (plays/g)

Iowa: 65.5

N Illinois: no data

Yards / play

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Yards / play allowed

Iowa: no data

Opponent-adjusted ratings from The College King's 2026 final numbers. Bars share a scale within each row, so the two lengths are comparable; the brighter side is the better of the two, and a longer bar is the better number — including the rows where a lower figure is the good one. Pace is the exception: it is how fast a team plays, not how well, so neither side is lit and a longer bar there means only more plays.

Team stats · 2026 per game

N Illinois: no data

Points / game

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Points allowed

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Yards / game

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Yards allowed

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Pass yds allowed

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Rush yds allowed

Iowa: no data

N Illinois: no data

Turnovers / game

Iowa: no data

From completed 2026 box scores; defensive yardage covers the regular season and conference championships.

N Illinois form

No completed games on record.

Iowa form

No completed games on record.

N Illinois this season

No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.

Iowa this season

No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.

Lines are captured from ESPN's board before kickoff and locked at kickoff, so an in-play price cannot overwrite the number a game is graded against.

Common opponents · 0

These teams share no opponents on the 2026 schedule.

Open these two in the comparison tool for every shared and unshared opponent.

Series history · 2006–2026

Since 2006, Iowa leads 4–1 · Iowa won the last one

5 meetings in 2006–2026 · average margin 9.4 points toward Iowa

Yr	Date	Result	Site	Won
2018	2018-09-01	N Illinois 7 — 33 Iowa	at IOWA	Iowa
2013	2013-08-31	N Illinois 30 — 27 Iowa	at IOWA	N Illinois
2012	2012-09-01	Iowa 18 — 17 N Illinois	neutral	Iowa
2007	2007-09-01	Iowa 16 — 3 N Illinois	at NIU	Iowa
2006	2006-10-28	N Illinois 14 — 24 Iowa	at IOWA	Iowa

N Illinois leaders 2025 regular season

Passing	Josh Holst QB #15	78/130, 689 YDS, 4 TD, 3 INT
	Brady Davidson QB #2	40/87, 384 YDS, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Chavon Wright RB #10	196 CAR, 875 YDS, 5 TD
	Telly Johnson Jr. RB #45	124 CAR, 712 YDS, 4 TD
	Jalen Macon QB #14	45 CAR, 216 YDS, 5 TD
Receiving	DeAree Rogers WR #1	46 REC, 506 YDS, 3 TD
	Gary Givens III WR #7	12 REC, 145 YDS, 1 TD
	Rickey Taylor Jr. WR #3	9 REC, 134 YDS, 1 TD
	Telly Johnson Jr. RB #45	16 REC, 97 YDS

Defense

Tackles	Quinn Urwiler LB #32	141
	Filip Maciorowski LB #12	87
	Jasper Beeler S #18	77
Sacks	Filip Maciorowski LB #12	2.5
	Roy Williams EDGE #97	2
	Jay'shon Thomas DE #18	2
Interceptions	Jasper Beeler S #18	3
	Muhammad Jammeh S #4	2
	James Finley DB #29	2

full roster and per-player history

Iowa leaders 2025 regular season

Passing	Mark Gronowski QB #11	150/240, 1529 YDS, 8 TD, 6 INT
	Hank Brown QB #9	11/21, 107 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Kamari Moulton RB #28	156 CAR, 783 YDS, 4 TD
	Mark Gronowski QB #11	120 CAR, 491 YDS, 15 TD
	Jaziun Patterson RB #4	57 CAR, 299 YDS
Receiving	DJ Vonnahme TE #81	22 REC, 288 YDS, 2 TD
	Sam Phillips WR #2	16 REC, 261 YDS
	Jacob Gill WR #5	22 REC, 260 YDS, 1 TD
	Reece Vander Zee WR #2	11 REC, 186 YDS, 1 TD

Defense

Tackles	Karson Sharar LB #43	78
	Xavier Nwankpa S #1	69
	Koen Entringer DB #5	69
Sacks	Ethan Hurkett DL #49	6
	Max Llewellyn EDGE #48	6
	Aaron Graves DT #95	5
Interceptions	Zach Lutmer DB #6	3
	Deshaun Lee DB #8	2
	Aaron Graves DT #95	1

full roster and per-player history

These are regular-season totals for the season named on each card — the players who led that team that year, taken from ESPN's team leaders. That list is keyed to the season, not to today's roster, so a leader who has since transferred or run out of eligibility still appears against the year he earned it; the roster pages and the depth chart on each team page are where the current squad is. A team switches to this season's numbers once it has played a game. The roster pages count bowl games too, so a player's two lines can differ by a game.