While the Iowa Hawkeyes are always built around team success coming first and being a huge reason for how many games they win, there are going to be moments in a season where your best, most clutch, and most important players have to step up.
At 5-1, Iowa is eyeing a run to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. The schedule is there for them to do it , but the games aren't played on paper. Iowa has to go out and win these games down the stretch, which falls on five players.
Iowa's defense is going to continue to be called upon down the stretch. Not every game is going to go as it did offensively against Washington, which places pressure on Iowa's defense.
In particular, the linebackers, who are led by Cam Buffington. Down the stretch, Iowa faces teams that want to run the ball. Getting off the field and forcing teams to sling it against Iowa's pass defense is a huge key to success that Buffington can spearhead.
In a similar way to Cam Buffington having to step up, the same falls on Iowa's left tackle, Trevor Lauck. It's inevitable there will be times this year when Iowa is forced to drop back and throw on a huge third-down attempt.
Lauck is going to have to hold up, as he has so often done, against some of the best edge rushers in the country to give Hank Brown or Jeremy Hecklinski time to complete these game-deciding conversions.
Zach Lutmer has been outstanding this year against the run game. He is entirely unafraid to come up and hit a running back or quarterback in space, a play he rarely misses the tackle on. He is third on the team with 34 tackles. He is a star.
Where he can flip games this year is with his ball instincts. Lutmer has been quiet, in my opinion, in the passing game for the defense this year. On one hand, that could be due to quality coverage where quarterbacks ignore his way, which is a win in itself, eliminating a target.
The other aspect could be Lutmer sliding back to safety with Tyler Brown's absence. Lutmer is playing a strategic spot for Phil Parker's defense, but I would like to see him jump a few routes and trust his ball skills and instincts to force some turnovers.
It's hard to envision a successful stretch run for Iowa without DJ Vonnahme coming alive again, as he did last year for Iowa at the end of the season. This year may present even more of an opportunity than 2025 did.
Vonnahme isn't carrying the passing attack by himself. Tony Diaz and Reece Vander Zee have proven to be very capable in the passing game.
Through five games, Vonnahme has 18 receptions. He had 29 all of last year, with 17 coming in the final four games. As Vonnahme continues to get back to 100% health after being banged up, I see Tim Lester continuing to find ways to get DJ Vonnahme the ball more frequently.
Iowa is going to have to win one or two more games this year with a late field goal. It's how it goes for this team. Each year, Iowa steals a game or two in October or November with a walk-off kick in a low-scoring affair.
Caden Buhr could have an opportunity to win a game for Iowa that also keeps the College Football Playoff dreams alive, if not punches a ticket. He has been great so far this year. The bigger tests await down the stretch.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa as Iowa Football's Stretch Run Hinges on These 5 Hawkeyes .
