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7 Days Until Iowa Football: Dayton Howard
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- 7 Days Until Iowa Football: Dayton Howard
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
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Welcome back to our countdown to the 2026 Iowa football season!
Since May 28, we've been counting down the final 100 days until the Hawkeyes swarm out of the Kinnick Stadium tunnel for their season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5.
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Each day of this countdown has primarily featured an article profiling one of the current members of the 2026 Hawkeyes based on their jersey number. Loyal readers are already familiar with this process by now, but in case you're new, here's how it works: if a player wears No. 8 and we're eight days until kickoff, that's the player that will be featured in the countdown.
We've had to come up with some innovative pieces on occasion due to Iowa not issuing a jersey number for every numeral from 1-100, but with the season so close, that's not going to be a problem anymore.
Today marks just seven days until the season opener, so that means it's time to take a look at one of the two men ( Rashad Godfrey was featured earlier today ) that wears No. 7 - wide receiver Dayton Howard .
Get to know him here.
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Bio
Hometown:Kansas City, Missouri
High School:Park Hill High School
Year:Fourth-Year
Height:6-foot-5
Weight:215 pounds
Other notable players to wear No. 7:You simply can't talk about Iowa football and the No. 7 without mentioning legendary wideout Marvin McNutt . McNutt arrived in Iowa City as a quarterback and left as one of the best wide receivers to ever come through the program. He played a crucial role in Iowa's 11-2 Orange Bowl-winning season in 2009 and still holds the program records for most receiving yards (2,861) and touchdowns (28).
Howard's Career So Far
After redshirting and not seeing any game action in 2023, Howard only saw four catches during the 2024 season. That may be frustrating for a young wideout, but the 2024 campaign is where Howard made his most notable play as a Hawkeye so far.
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With Iowa leading visiting Washington 30-10 on Oct. 12, the Hawkeye offense received a short field thanks to their defense stopping the Huskies on fourth down. The Hawkeyes are known to just run the ball on every snap in these situations, but offensive coordinator Tim Lester saw an opportunity to go for the jugular.
Quarterback Cade McNamara faked the handoff to running back Jaziun Patterson, and that was all it took to free up Howard in the Washington secondary. Not only was this Howard's first collegiate reception (and McNamara's final TD pass as a Hawkeye), he would stroll into the end zone for his first career touchdown.
Howard recorded only three more catches the rest of that season, but he did see a slight uptick in volume in 2025, collecting eight receptions for 91 yards and one score.
Iowa's has a loaded wide receiver room in 2026, but Howard figures to be a key piece of it. His 6-foot-5 frame is a perfect compliment to Reece Vander Zee and Tony Diaz , and the size could be crucial for red zone situations if Vander Zee is double-covered.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io
