Wildcats to Host No. 21 Iowa in Saturday Night Showdown

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern football will host No. 21 Iowa in its fifth night game of the season and fourth at home on Saturday, Nov. 9. Kickoff from Ryan Field is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

“We will be challenged. We have our hands full, and we understand that," Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun said. "We’re also excited for the opportunity that’s right in front of us — an opportunity for us to come back home in front of our crowd, create one heck of a home-field advantage, and go execute for four quarters with an expectation that we’re going to find a way to win a Big Ten football game.”

The game will be broadcast on FOX, with Connor Onion doing play-by-play, Robert Griffin III as analyst and Alexa Landestoy reporting on the sidelines. It can also be heard on WGN Extra, with The Voice of the Wildcats, Dave Eanet, in his 37th season calling Northwestern football, and 33-year analyst Ted Albrecht.

Stay tuned to Northwestern football's X and Instagram channels for live highlights, photos, and reactions throughout the Homecoming game.

The Wildcats (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) are coming off a 34-26 loss at Oregon on Oct. 31. Northwestern totaled 456 yards of offense, its fourth game this season with 450+ yards.

Fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for 281 yards and one touchdown while rushing for a career-high 93 yards and a touchdown. His 374 total yards are the most by a Wildcat in a game since Ben Bryant in 2023. Chiles’ favorite target on the day was fourth-year wide receiver Griffin Wilde, who notched five receptions, 146 receiving yards — the most by a Northwestern player since Bryce Kirtz in 2023 — and one receiving touchdown. Third-year wide receiver Drew Wagner tabbed a career-high seven receptions, tallying 43 receiving yards. Fourth-year running back Caleb Komolafe recorded 16 carries for 67 yards, alongside four receptions for 30 yards.

For the fifth consecutive game, the Wildcats won the turnover margin, as fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus forced a fumble that fourth-year defensive back Damon Walters recovered. Northwestern totaled six tackles for loss, its most against a Big Ten team since 2024, with Brus and fourth-year defensive lineman Michael Kilbane each recording 2.0 tackles for loss. Fifth-year defensive back Montae Pate also secured his first tackle for loss as a Wildcat. Second-year defensive back Alijah Jones had the best performance of his career, posting a game-high eight tackles.

1. Griffin Wilde: In each of the past two games, Wilde has exceeded 100 receiving yards, becoming the first Wildcat to notch 130+ receiving yards and 1+ receiving touchdown in consecutive games since Brian Musso in 1997. The fourth-year wide receiver has 44 receptions (T-8th in Big Ten), 761 receiving yards (5th) and five receiving touchdowns (T-9th) this season. In addition, his 13 career touchdowns at Northwestern are tied for the eighth most in program history.
2. Braydon Brus: The fifth-year linebacker ranks tied for fifth nationally with 12.5 tackles for loss, which are the most tackles for loss across the first eight games of a season by any Wildcat since 1995. This season, Brus has also posted 68 tackles, the third-most in the Big Ten. Brus is just the third Northwestern player to post 65+ tackles and 12+ tackles for loss in a season since 2005, joining Nate Hall in 2017 and Anthony Walker and 2015, and the second Big Ten player since 2005 to reach those numbers within the first eight games of a season, joining Illinois’ Brit Miller (2008).
3. Luke Dehnicke: Dehnicke returned to action this past week and immediately made an impact, securing three catches for 43 yards — his second-best marks this season. Before suffering his injury earlier this season, the third-year tight end had seven catches for 140 receiving yards at Indiana, which marked the most receiving yards by a Wildcat tight end since 2017 and the most by a Northwestern tight end against a Power Four conference team since at least 1995.
4. Damon Walters: So far during the 2026 campaign, Walters has logged 37 tackles (5th on team), alongside two pass breakups and one interception. While the fourth-year defensive back has been targeted in pass coverage seven times this season, he has allowed just one reception for 11 yards. He and fourth-year defensive back Robert Fitzgerald are two of the three Big Ten defensive backs to have at least as many interceptions as receptions allowed this season (min. five targets).
5. Caleb Komolafe: Komolafe has already had an incredibly productive season to date, recording 104 carries for 618 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, alongside 15 receptions and 162 receiving yards. Komolafe’s 618 rushing yards rank seventh in the Big Ten, while his 5.9 yards per carry are the sixth-best mark in the conference. The fourth-year running back has had two games with 150+ rushing yards this season, making him the first Northwestern player to have multiple such games in a single season since Isaiah Bowser in 2018.

On the team’s ability to respond following a loss…

• “This group has certainly proven that it can respond and is built for those opportunities. There’s this acknowledgement our next opportunity is against, I would argue, one of the best teams in college football right now. All you got to do is turn on that Wisconsin tape. We got an incredible challenge in front of us. We’re going to be tested in so many different ways, but there’s no doubt that this football program and this team has proven that it can respond, and we’re going to need to lean into that this week.”

On the team’s success in the pass game…

• “I think it’s a credit to the weapons that we have within this offense. I think it’s a credit to our offensive staff and Chip [Kelly]’s ability to just understand how to utilize those weapons. It’s a credit to Aidan [Chiles] and just being able to not get locked in on one guy, finding ways to distribute the ball and take what the defense’s giving us. Again, I know I’ve said this a few times, but if you talk to Aidan, there’s probably eight plays from Saturday that he wants back as well. There’s a hunger to just continue to improve and seek out the best version of not only us as individuals but his collective team. The lesson that we learned Saturday was we got work to do. We have not reached our receiving. There is a lot of improvement to be had, and we’re excited to get back to work.”

On Drew Wagner’s development…

• “It’s so hard to even talk about the growth because it literally is daily because it’s just the way he operates. It’s full speed ahead, all in. You want to talk about a dude that lays it all on the line and truly has courage, is going to put it all out there — that’s who Drew Wagner is. Coming back to Coach Kelly, the way he approaches things, I think he sees Drew for who Drew is and says, ‘How can we utilize him best?’ Drew, just naturally, by his stature, some offensive coordinators, I think, would say, ‘Well, he’s not a big target, or this is an issue.’ I think Chip sees it as, ‘No, what can he do? How can we put this guy in situations to have a bigger impact in our offense?’ To see that partnership between those two has been really neat to see.”

The Hawkeyes (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) are the second ranked team the Wildcats take on this season. Iowa has won two of its last three games, most recently defeating then-No. 25 Wisconsin, 30-0. The squad is led by Head Coach Kirk Ferentz, the Big Ten’s winningest football coach.

“You take a look at the tape against Wisconsin last week, I think it’s one of the more impressive wins in all of college football this year,” Braun said. “It was a dominant win [in] all three phases. It’s a credit to Coach Ferentz. He is the gold standard in the Big Ten as a head coach, in terms of what he has built and the sustained success he has had.”

Quarterback Hank Brown is the Big Ten’s reigning Offensive Big Ten Player of the Week after completing 82.2 percent of his passes while throwing for 222 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. The Hawkeye offensive line has allowed just 0.88 sacks per game this season, the 11th-best mark nationally.

Iowa’s defense has been one of the top units in the country this season, allowing just 12.5 points per game (4th nationally) and 275.5 yards per game (12th). The Hawkeyes are tallying 3.0 sacks per game (11th) while holding opponents to just 79.0 yards per game (4th). Linebacker Cam Buffington ranks second in the Big Ten in tackles with 70.

SERIES HISTORY
Northwestern, which has won four of its last 10 games against Iowa, is seeking its first victory over the Hawkeyes since Oct. 31, 2020 (21-20). The Wildcats’ last home win against Iowa came on Oct. 21, 2017 (17-10). Northwestern last faced a ranked Iowa team in 2021 and is seeking its first win over a ranked Hawkeyes squad since defeating No. 13 Iowa, 21-17, on Nov. 13, 2010. Iowa leads the all-time series 55-28-3.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats begin a two-game roadstand next week, traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to take on No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 14. Kickoff from Ohio Stadium is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on FOX.