Hawkeyes Mic

The game story from Tuesday: It was the one public look at the Hawkeyes heading into the season, and coach Ben McCollum thought his team has looked better behind the scenes. iowacollegehoops.com/2026/10/28/i...

Ah, Monday Night Football. Can’t wait for my favorite officiating crew to call six special teams penalties, miss 150 holding calls and then call pass interference with two completely nonsensical rationales that make it look as though they couldn’t explain it if they had all the time in the world.

The #Hawkeyes Depth Chart for this Saturday's Homecoming Game vs. Wisconsin: still an alphabetical "or" at QB (based on what we saw last week that's kind of a Tweedledee Tweedledumb sort of choice). Also, importantly, no Kamari Moulton at RB.

Thank goodness we're having some of these discussions on Bluesky - where it seems we can have reasonable discussions and respectful disagreements - without dealing with the megalomaniacal Musk cesspool that is X with all of its Russian & MAGA bots and the hate-filled crap that fills up every thread.

No. We all aren't going to agree 100% of the time. But we can have some disagreements and respectful conversations. In today's world, I'm comfortable with supporting someone whose positions are 95%+ in agreement with mine. One-issue litmus tests at the expense of the big picture are self-defeating.

Apologies in advance to my Packers friends and fans - but I couldn't resist...

This crew has been horrible - for both teams. Couple of calls had me wondering how much the official might have been betting on this game or the spread. This is a burgeoning problem in both the NFL and CFB this season - as bad as I've ever seen it.

Get what you're saying - don't like that ad either. But there are literally dozens of MAJOR issues facing us - including actually preserving our democracy. Staking everything on just a single one of those when the only alternative is this, the choice should be obvious...

Updated FBS Stats Rankings reflect the #Hawkeyes inexorable descent into mediocrity after their largely self-inflicted disturbing loss to Minnesota yesterday (and loss of Floyd). The old saying "when you have 2 QBs you don't have a starting QB" seems pretty accurate. D however continues to excel...

The wishful (fanciful?) thinking about making the playoffs is gone. Floyd is exiled to Minneapolis for (at least) a year. The #Hawkeyes drop to 5-2, 2-2. Minnesota improves to 5-2, 3-1. I do hope Floyd brought protection because you know Fleck will try to sleep with him tonight. Wisconsin is next.

FINAL: FADE TO BLACK... Minnesota 13 - Iowa 10 The #Hawkeyes did NOT deserve to win this game - only 2 offensive plays were worth more than spit - the rest of the game offensively was literally awful - turnovers galore killed UI. Rushing sucked again. Sleeping on it won't make it better. Stats...

3Q End: Minnesota 10 - Iowa 3 Floyd is slipping away. #Hawkeyes Offense remains offensive - the rushing game is mediocre (to say the least) - Hank Brown's QB rating is even worse than Hecklinski's. I'm not sure there's any reason to be optimistic about it improving either. D can only do so much.

2Q Iowa 3 - Minnesota 3 A butt-ugly game - offensively. Good Lord! The #Hawkeyes rushing game is non-existent - AGAIN - and their top rusher left for the locker room with an injury. QB10 was awful. QB 9 is not much better. At least UI's D is playing well. Halftime Stats (your eyes will bleed)...

Iowa’s avg starting field position is its 42. This is on the QB. Sorry, they’re paid. No reason to pull punches.

I've seen enough of Hecklinski today. And maybe Lauck too (2 false starts). 1&10 on the MN10 and you have to settle for a FG. That's especially bad shit on the road in the #B1G. #Hawkeyes

Hecklinksi's not having his best day. 5" shorter than Hank Brown - one pass batted down, one pass picked on the MN 2, and over-led a wide-open Tony Diaz on a post-pattern that looked like a TD. In a game like this on the road, those are big problems. How much longer does he get? #Hawkeyes

1Q End: Minnesota 3 - Iowa 0 The #Hawkeyes have shot themselves in the foot (pun intended) - a blocked punt led to a Gophers FG, then Hecklinski was picked at the H02. Other than that...

#Hawkeyes kickoff is now set for 2:40 PM.

About 40 minutes from kickoff: #15/14 #Hawkeyes at #Gophers for Floyd. Weather in Minneapolis is great now with a chance of showers around 6 PM. Both teams coming off bye weeks - Minnesota's last game was a 41-13 thrashing at Purdue. Iowa has won 10 or last 11 and 20 of last 25 in this series....

Here's the #B1G Availability Report for the #Hawkeyes game at Minnesota today...

Off-Topic, but... Still undecided about whether to vote for Josh Turek in Iowa's US Senate race? This should be the clincher (it might also make you throw up a little bit in your mouth). Also Ashley Hinson's campaign pledge to be Trump's "top ally" in the US Senate. (Last night in Sioux City...)

#Bears !!!

I realize this is politically incorrect but I'm not a big fan of Brazilian midgets. #Bears

I've always enjoyed Al Michaels. Unfortunately I think he's reached the befuddled Chuck Grassley point in his career. #Bears #Hawkeyes

For music Spotify Premium is great. If you want to listen primarily to podcasts - Overcast is excellent for that and better by far than any other podcasts app I've tested (including Apple's). Apple Music is also great.

Is it hazing, jealousy with Caitlyn Clark? You guys tell me. Ferentz and Fleck are genuine in their Ferentzness and Fleckness. It’s just weird and cool to see it squirm for three hours every year. Hawkeyes are the superior team, as long as the bed goes unshat.

The #Hawkeyes Depth Chart for the Minnesota game: we're back to alphabetical "OR" at QB. (Also the Iowa Homecoming Game vs. Wisconsin has been set for an 11 AM kickoff on FOX. Plan accordingly.)

Here is my latest column: Chris Jones thinks he is going to win. Thanks for reading! www.stormlake.com/stories/jone...

Caleb Williams returns. Kyler Gordon returns. The #Bears roll in Atlanta!

It's great to be alive. 3 weeks out, the ride still is whirling, but my heart is figuratively and literally sound. Thank you so much for the support. Feels like it might be all right. Love you! marc135.substack.com/p/its-great-...

When DHS & ICE are done "investigating" Omar, how about investigating Musk who may have falsified his immigration paperwork (never actually went to college) and then remained here illegally. A South African giving hundreds of millions of dollars to Republicans this election cycle should be illegal.

Lots of people #voting early today at the Johnson County Administrative Building! Staff is handling it all really well and the line is moving quickly. We got in and out in less than 20 minutes. VOTE EARLY!!!

Great to be able to radio out to the world again. We talked heart surgery, the Venn of disappointment in media and Hawkeyes, who are in position to be one of the B1G’s top 3. And welcome back to the beat writer’s best friend, the QB controversy. Enjoy, leave notes, party on.

Off-Topic. Ashley Hinson ("I will be Trump's biggest supporter in the US Senate") has a new ad charging Turek with lying when he says she voted against releasing the Epstein Files. Hinson voted against releasing those files multiple times UNTIL the final vote when Rs couldn't block it any longer.

The story from Tuesday's media day: She was asked what a "Jan Jensen team" would look like, but what the Iowa coach wants is one that can resemble the past success, even with six newcomers and high expectations. iowacollegehoops.com/2026/10/14/h...

Not surprised. 2 tickets plus related costs for seats that at best are OK'ish take nearly $400 out of your billfold. That's unconscionable - especially in this economy. For example, we can (and do) get better tickets than that when the #Cubs play at the Rockies and our total costs are under $150.

If you need a pickmeup, Ukraine struck and destroyed a Russian data center last night, reducing Russian bot traffic by 50%, dropping online pro-AfD discussion to zero, cratering MAGA traffic, and making Elon big mad. Just in time for the mid-terms. Slava fucking Ukraini.

#Bears today... But - we'll see the Packers again on Christmas Day in Chicago - so we have that going for us (and hopefully with Caleb back and a very different outcome). (Hope there are enough defensive players left to field a team next week at Atlanta - dropping like flies up there.)

Time for the Bagency to be shut down for the day. Can't afford that shit in a game like this. #Bears

Probably risky to have it last any longer!

Nice touch by the #Bears for today's game at Green Bay...

The #Hawkeyes Football FBS Stats Rankings updated through yesterday's games - Offense improved after putting up 41 points at Washington - Defense pretty much holding steady. (Remember this is Iowa's Bye Week - so we won't post these again until after the Minnesota game.)

Exactly. Also, you better get ready to do that again tomorrow after the #Bears - #Packers Game... (Also, I consider you and all our followers who are Packers Fans "online friends" - except for the 2-3 times they play the Bears. Then it's "war".)

Dylan Raiola was mediocre as a #Husker and is equally as mediocre and over-rated as an Oregon Duck. If I was a head coach looking at players to "recruit" in the portal - I'd be extremely skeptical of any Nebraska player. UNL hasn't been relevant since the first Bush Administration (if that recent).

Blasphemy!

The #Huskers Defense needs to change its name to the Suckers - because talk about getting suckered on a play-fake...

Sorry about the re-posts of the final stats -- I actually wrote those with a couple of minutes left in the game - and then forgot to update UW's final score after its last TD as time expired. (Plus it's nearly Midnight.) Enjoy the Bye Week...

The #20/18 #Hawkeyes improve to 5-1, 2-1 - and were 2-1 in "The Gauntlet" (which is pretty damn good). Tonight UI racked up 263 rush YDs to go along with 202 YDs passing. Iowa has a bye week before heading to Minneapolis in the annual battle for Floyd (Time & TV TBA). Washington drops to 3-3, 0-3.

FINAL: FADE TO BLACK...& GOLD Iowa 41 - Washington 24 West Coast wins are hard to come by - but the #Hawkeyes clicked tonight - run game was awesome, Hecklinski was terrific, Defense smothered UW (especially vs. run game). Moulton finished with 208 rush YDs (2 TDs). The Final Stats from Seattle...

3Q End: Iowa 34 - Washington 18 Game's got a bit more interesting. Only 3 full drives in the 3Q, all ending in TDs (2 UW, 1 UI). #Hawkeyes continue to dominate on the ground. UW's backup QB putting on a show. One more TD for the Hawks probably ices it - maybe. The Stats after 3...