This is another part in my ongoing series about the Oregon football schedule in 2025, but this article is dedicated to just one opponent because of the challenge it will present in November. Even Mr. FishDuck took a break from his fun at Melbet India because he is concerned about a classic Big-Ten power matchup in the cold part of the football season.
Week 11 – November 8, 2025 – Kinnick Stadium – Iowa Hawkeyes – Iowa City, Iowa
After having Week 10 off, Oregon makes its second and final trip to the Central time zone, the last trip of the season back East, to play the Iowa Hawkeyes; a team under Kirk Ferentz and D coordinator, Phil Parker, that always plays solid defense, especially in Kinnick Stadium.
In 2023, Parker won the Broyles Award, awarded to college football’s top assistant coach. Parker’s expertise was sorely needed. Under Kirk’s son Brian, the Hawkeyes were dead last in FCS football in total offense.
In 2024, Iowa finished tied for 5th in the conference with Illinois at 6-3. Iowa lost its out-of-conference rivalry game versus Iowa State in Kinnick Stadium and lost in the Music City Bowl to Missouri, 27-24. The Hawkeyes’ final record of 8-5 was not what longest-tenured B1G head coach Kirk Ferentz, who took the Iowa job in 1955, moving up from being an assistant coach under Hayden Fry, and Hawkeyes fans wanted.
Ferentz, who played his college football at UConn, has the most wins in Iowa football history, 204-124 (.623%), second all-time in B1G wins behind Ohio State’s Woody Hayes‘s 205. The all-time B1G wins record will be broken by the 70-year-old Ferentz in 2025.
Ferentz is 10-11 in bowl appearances, losing to Stanford in his one Rose Bowl appearance 45-16, with Christian McCaffery returning the opening kickoff for a TD and running wild thereafter. Ferentz has won many B1G games, but not many big games outside of the Big Ten. Many Iowa fans will not be sorry to see Kirk retiring, along with the defense-oriented game plans.
The Hawkeyes always play very tough defense. (Photo Courtesy of Iowa Athletics)
Kirk made the call required by his AD after the 2023 debacle on O, trading in his son Brian for new OC Tim Lester. Under Lester, the Iowa O averaged 27.7 points per game, a marked improvement. However, the QB who engineered the improvement, Cade McNamara who transferred in from Michigan is in the transfer portal.
In 2025, Iowa is going all-in on QB Mark Gronowski. At FBS South Dakota State, Grad Transfer Gronowski led the Jackrabbits to 49 wins, and an FCS title while throwing for over 10,000 yards. Iowa does not play Ohio State, Michigan, and Illinois in 2025, and plays Oregon, Penn State, and Indiana in Iowa City.
This season’s Cy-Hawk game versus Iowa State is the Hawkeyes second game of the season and first road game. Iowa State, the B12 runner-up in 2024, is ranked in the preseason top 25 and one of the favorites to win the B12 in 2025. If Gronowski leads Iowa to a victory in Ames, Iowa will be 2-0, ranked in the top 25, and a B1G title contender.
Iowa B1G Tradition – At the start of halftime, Hawkeyes fans wave to the patients in the adjacent Children’s Hospital. I expect Dan will have his guys practicing this positive Wave. (Because of the hospital’s proximity, Iowa does not play in Iowa City on Friday night.)
Famous Alums – Authors Tennessee Williams, John Irving, and Flannery O’Connor, and The Greatest Generation author, Tom Brokaw. Actor Gene Wilder. Football Player Alex Karras.
Series Record – Oregon 2 – Iowa 1. Oregon is 1-1 in Kinnock Stadium. Oregon won the last game played, 40-18 on September 24, 1984.
Do you have some concerns about this great home-field advantage the Hawkeyes have? Let me know in the only free, civilized, Oregon message board, the Our Beloved Ducks forum!
Jon Joseph
Aiken, South Carolina
Top Photo by Tim Schoon of Iowa Athletics
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Jon Joseph grew up in Boston, Massachusetts but has been blessed to have lived long enough in the west to have exorcised all east coast bias. He played football in college and has passionately followed the game for seven decades. A retired corporate attorney Jon has lectured across the country and published numerous articles on banking and gaming law. Now a resident of Aiken South Carolina, Jon follows college football across the nation with a focus on the Conference of Champions and the Ducks.