Five numbers that stood out in Iowa's dominant win over NIU
· Yahoo Sports
IOWA CITY — The Iowa football team kicked off its 2026 campaign with a dominant 40-0 shutout victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Starting quarterback Hank Brown and the offense got to work early, scoring the first touchdown of the game in the first six minutes. Kamari Moulton had a career day, and the defense held the Huskies scoreless.
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There are lots of numbers to pick from in the season opener, but here are few that stood out.
183: Kamari Moulton's rushing yards, a career high
Moulton rushed 11 times for 183 yards, setting a career high before the end of the first quarter. He scored two touchdowns, running to the house for 50-yard and 37-yard scores in the first quarter. He had a 23-yard run on the first drive of the game.
Moulton had a total of 878 yards on the ground last season, doubling his output from 2024.
218: Combined passing yards for Brown, Jeremy Hecklinski and Jimmy Sullivan
The biggest storyline going into the game was who would be under center to start the contest. Brown made his first starting appearance for Iowa after playing in two games off the bench last season. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 129 yards, including a 6-yard pass to receiver Tony Diaz for the first score of the game.
Hecklinski entered the game near the end of the first quarter and threw for 76 yards on 7-of-16 passing. He threw an 8-yard TD pass to Xavier Williams to make it 27-0.
Sullivan, who redshirted last year, made his first appearance for the Hawkeyes near the end of the third quarter and played the remainder of the game. He completed 2-for-4 passes for 13 yards.
507: total yards for the Hawkeye offense
You can't talk about a 40-0 shutout without acknowledging all the yards the Hawkeyes put up. 289 of those yards came on the ground. In addition to Moulton's performance, Iowa had plenty of rushers in the double digits.
You also can't talk about a shutout without highlighting the defense, who held NIU to ZERO first downs in the entire first half. The Huskies only recorded seven rushing yards, and 121 yards of offense through the air.
The offense played well, but that doesn't understate the defensive effort by the Hawkeyes.
77: Evan James' punt return to the house
James scored the final touchdown of the game, returning a 77-yard punt.
The Hawkeyes are looking to replace All-American returner Kaden Wetjen, who scored six touchdowns on special teams throughout his career. Wetjen recorded 563 yards on punt returns alone last season. James' return to the end zone could be an indicator that Wetjen's replacement has been found.
92: The temperature at Kinnick today
It was a hot one today.
The heatwave continued today in Iowa City with the temperature hitting 92 degrees at kickoff. Combined with the humidity, the real feel in the air was 103 degrees around 3 p.m.
There were fans that misted water on the sidelines and announcements on the video board encouraging fans to drink water, find shade when they can and to take care of themselves.
The Hawkeye staff moved lots of players on and off the field, combined with the high score, lots of different players got reps all over the field.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Five numbers that stood out in Iowa's dominant win over NIU