W     40 - 0 

The Iowa defense forced three turnovers (2 in the first quarter), and a sack and fumble recovery was also called back for holding in the first half. Aaron Graves had 3 sacks, and the defense only allowed 189 total yards.

The Iowa offense continued to struggle under 1st year offensive coordinator Tim Lester in the first half, only scoring 2 field goals. But the 2nd half was a complete turnaround, scoring 34 points, and ended with 402 total yards. They were able to score a TD in the 3rd quarter when Cade McNamara connected with true freshman Reece Vander Zee for his 1st TD as a Hawkeye (7-yard TD pass). The 2-point conversion failed. He later connected with Northwestern transfer Jacob Gill on a 31-yard TD pass. He also later had a 19-yard TD pass to Vander Zee, who ended with 5 catches for 66 yards and 2 TDs. The 3 TD catches by wide receivers tied the number caught in 2022, and surpassed the 2 caught in 2023. TE Luke Lachey caught 6 passes for 66 yards. McNamara finished 21 of 31 for 251 yards and 3 TDs.

The running game picked up in the 2nd half. scored 2 TDs in the 2nd half, including a 64-yard TD run, ending with 119 yards on 11 carries (10.8 yards per carry). He sat out the first half due to a team violation. The Hawks finished with 241 yards rushing on 40 carries (6 yard average).

Special teams continued to excel, with Kaden Wetjen returning a punt for a TD (but was called back), and punter Rhys Dakin doing well in his first college game, averaging 39.2 yards on 5 punts with 3 inside the 20. Drew Stevens added 2 field goals in the first half (41 and 28 yards) to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead at halftime.

Kirk Ferentz was not on the sidelines due to a self-imposed recruiting violation. Seth Wallace was the interim head coach, but the victory will go towards Ferentz' coaching record. It was the first game since 1978 that Hayden Fry or Kirk Ferentz wasn't on the sidelines as head coach.

	1	2	3	4	F
Iowa	3	3	13	21	40
Illinois State	0	0	0	0	0