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Top Iowa Football Players To Watch Against Northwestern
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- Top Iowa Football Players To Watch Against Northwestern
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Hank Brown meets the media to preview the matchup.
Iowa football is going to need a lot of key players to step up to defeat Northwestern on Saturday night, but we've somehow narrowed the list down to three.
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Here are the top Hawkeyes you should be looking for when Iowa steps on the new Ryan Field for the first time.
QB Hank Brown
After showing flashes in certain moments earlier in the year (Iowa State, game-winning drive vs Michigan), everything came together for Hank Brown against Wisconsin. The fourth-year had easily his best game in a Hawkeye uniform against a good Badger defense, completing 20 of 24 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa's 30-0 victory, winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week as a result.
There's definitely no question as to who the starting quarterback will be against Northwestern, but the biggest question Iowa fans have for him at this point is his ability to string together consistent performances. Having the constant cloud of being replaced by Jeremy Hecklinski at any given moment probably hasn't helped that come to fruition, but now that Brown has regained Kirk Ferentz's confidence, we'll see if he can have another good performance under the lights at Ryan Field. Not only was his outing against Wisconsin a good sign, Brown also happens to be from the Chicagoland area. He grew up in Wheaton before he and his family left the area and relocated to Nashville, Tennessee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Another note: Northwestern's defense hasn't exactly been the Monsters of the Midway in 2026. The Wildcats have yielded the third-most yards per game in the Big Ten, and while they have made up for it with a strong red zone defense, Brown and Co. have the potential to move the football on Saturday.
RB Xavier Williams
Moving the football obviously starts with a successful ground game. We've certainly discussed some of Iowa's struggles on the ground over the past few weeks, but the Hawkeyes did manage 140 yards against Wisconsin. Brown and the passing attack certainly stole the show last Saturday, but Iowa will be just fine if it can get a similar production from the rushing attack against Northwestern.
We mentioned L.J. Phillips as a potential name to watch last weekend, but it's pretty clear the Hawkeyes are using third-year Xavier Williams as the lead back right now. With Kamari Moulton out for the season and Phillips nursing his own ankle injury, Williams tallied 78 yards on 20 carries against the Badgers.
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That's not the prettiest stat line, but Williams has certainly flashed some potential in his career. There's no reason to believe he can't have a good game in Evanston, but that's not why he's on this list. He's on here because taking care of the football has been a struggle as of late. Williams fumbled twice against Wisconsin (one lost) and also coughed up the ball against Michigan and Minnesota, too. We'll see if he can flush those problems away against Northwestern.
DB Jaylen Watson
You can pretty much mention the whole secondary here because Northwestern loves to use unique formations to throw the football around the field. The defensive line will definitely have to pay attention to the mobility of Wildcats quarterback Aidan Chiles, but again, the secondary is going to have its hands full with star wideout Griffin Wilde.
Veteran cornerback Deshaun Lee will get his fair share of targets, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Northwestern try and go towards Jaylen Watson's side of the field. Watson has tallied 24 tackles in his first full season as a starter. He'll be up for the challenge, but its still an interesting matchup nonetheless.
