Iowa

6-2

Week 10 · updated Wednesday, Nov 4

Iowa beat Wisconsin 30-0 and is 6-2.

Fan mood in the week of the Wisconsin game: on the bright side

Fan mood in each Iowa game week this season

Compared with other fanbases in r/CFB game threads that week. Each row is a week, named for its game; the further right the dot, the brighter the talk.

sourerbrightervs Iowa State W 16-13middle of the packvs Northern Iowa W 55-0all inat Michigan W 20-19middle of the packvs Ohio State L 14-31middle of the packat Washington W 41-24on the bright sideat Minnesota L 10-13on the sour sidevs Wisconsin W 30-0on the bright sidesourerbrighterSep 12vs Iowa StateW 16-13middle of the packSep 19vs Northern IowaW 55-0all inSep 26at MichiganW 20-19middle of the packOct 3vs Ohio StateL 14-31middle of the packOct 9at WashingtonW 41-24on the bright sideOct 24at MinnesotaL 10-13on the sour sideOct 31vs WisconsinW 30-0on the bright side
  • W 40-0 vs Northern Illinois
  • W 16-13 vs Iowa State
  • W 55-0 vs Northern Iowa
  • W 20-19 at Michigan
  • L 14-31 vs Ohio State
  • W 41-24 at Washington
  • L 10-13 at Minnesota
  • W 30-0 vs Wisconsin
  • Next: at Northwestern, Saturday, Nov 7

Scores ours first. The two losses came by 17 and 3.

Iowa fans in other seasons

souruneasymixedhopefulall in2019mixed2020uneasy2026 so farhopefulsouruneasymixedhopefulall in2019mixed2020uneasy2026so farhopeful

2021-2025 are not shown: not enough of their chatter was read to place a season.

Since the last game

Iowa won 30-0 vs Wisconsin.

The whole Wisconsin game

Then and now

Iowa has won five straight against Wisconsin, the first such run since 1996.

Before Northwestern

Iowa has won 8 of the last 12 meetings, including the last four; Northwestern's last win was 21-20 in 2020.

Kirk Ferentz is 13-11 against Northwestern as a head coach.

The playoff simulation gives Iowa a 41% chance at Northwestern on Saturday, Nov 7.

Northwestern game on Now

What the Northwestern game is worth

How fan mood is read

Fan mood compares what Iowa fans wrote in r/CFB game threads with every FBS fanbase with enough talk that week. A week runs Monday to Sunday and is named for the game in it. The read is redrawn 300 times from the same commenters, re-ranking every fanbase each time. Sour or all in means the read sat in the bottom or top fifth in at least 70 of every 100 draws; on the sour side or on the bright side, in the bottom or top two fifths in at least 80; anything less settled is middle of the pack. A bright label also needs more positive talk than negative, and a sour one the reverse. Brighter or sourer than usual compares the week with the team's own earlier weeks, after taking out how every fanbase read that week. Each dot sits at the read's rank that week. A week read before these labels keeps the word it was first given, the fifth it sat in (sour, uneasy, mixed, hopeful or all in). Season averages are the mean of a season's reads, in fifths from sour to all in, and seasons before 2026 were read from each week's wider talk, so a comparison across seasons is rough. 2019 and 2020 were read later, in one pass, from saved talk.

Fan mood, week by week

Mood over time

Position = mood · width = volume · color = the kind of feeling

What the message boards say

Message boards

Via HawkeyeNation

What the reporters say

What reporters say

27 quotes collected this season

What the beat said, in their own words.

The staff did a great job of giving our guys a good plan, but most importantly, it’s the players
Ferentz · The Daily Iowan2 days after Iowa's 2026 game against Wisconsin
It was one of those things that I’ve been preparing for all week, that my number was going to get called and it did
Brown · The Daily Iowanthe day after the 10-13 game
Realistically, you got a blocked punt right off the bat and end up with four turnovers, it’s really unrealistic to think we were going to win a conference game doing that
Ferentz · The Daily Iowanthe day after the 10-13 game

More in this tab

Fan chatter

Fan chatterThe loudest night of the season and what a usual night looks like.

Fan chatter this season

Roaring

The loudest night was the 20-19 win over Michigan.

FirstSecondThirdFourthIowa fansMichigan fansusual

A usual night for Iowa fans is steady.

Arguments

The argumentThe one thing this fanbase can't agree on, with receipts.

Inside the fanbase: all 12 corners

Cr/CFB
GGoogle News
LLocked On
WWide Right Natty Lite
BBlack Heart Gold Pants
CCampus paper
HHawkeyeNation
BBluesky
8 outlets & communities talking

One voice

+0.09Whole-fanbase sentiment · warm

Every cohort from the die-hards to the analytics crowd lands within 0.04 of each other — a rare consensus. The most upvoted post:

▶

Locked On

Statement: Hank Brown Leads Iowa Hawkeyes, Wisconsin Routed, Pff Grades Uncover Trends

listen ↗

How Iowa fans actually talk

Rr/CFBFan talk

I just can't believe Iowa won on a forward pass.

open ↗

One of the crowd’s most upvoted takes — read for mood, not as a side. The cohort read is the measured part.

Every fan group, end to end

negative
0
positive
Bettors+0.08 to Local+0.13

Cohort sentiment is a source-weighted model read — never a quote pinned to a person.

What this fanbase keeps coming back to

fan energy
28%
recent results
23%
where the program is headed
12%
offense
8%
the coaching staff
6%

Topics are model-labeled from Reddit — a rough signal of what this fanbase is circling right now.

week 10. The sources and the divergence rank are measured. Cohort labels and sentiment are a source-weighted model estimate, never a quote attributed to a person.
ArgumentsRecurring arguments this fanbase keeps returning to.

What fans are saying

program directionWidely held among fans that season

fans believe Kirk Ferentz’s team often wins by narrow margins

Iowa has had that 7-3 game and the infamous 6-4 victory with a fuck you safety. The years pass and times changes but Kirk Ferentz getting low scoring wins is inevitable.

Based on 5 comments from 4 posters across 4 threads · Jul 6, 2026–Sep 13, 2026 · via CFB, Josh Pate's College Football Show, hawkeyes

player performanceLimited signal that season

fans believe the receivers struggle to create separation

Our line gives him 5+ seconds and none of our receivers can get open against an FCS team. Lmfao fuck me

Ya I think a major issue for us currently is that our receivers aren't getting open. Why that is, I'm not sure. But I think that's a major reason we look like shit, Gronowski is having to hold it too long

Based on 3 comments from 2 posters across 3 threads · Aug 30, 2025 · via CFB

scheme identityOne fan's take

One fan believes Iowa’s rushing yards are critical for wins

Iowa's 3 blowout wins had a dominant run game. Their close wins and 1 loss had awful run games. If you stop the run, you stop Iowa.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Oct 10, 2026 · via CFB

player roleOne fan's take that season

One fan believes Kade Pieper is crucial to the team’s success

Trevor Lauck and Kade Pieper on the offensive line- but that’s still a ton of turnover for a team that usually relies so heavily on experience

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 1, 2026 · via hawkeyes

Show all 11
program directionOne fan's take

One fan thinks Iowa’s roster is underprepared for elite competition

Iowa is supposed to be a B10 power house but can barely compete anytime a good B10 team looks our way.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Oct 4, 2026 · via hawkeyes

player performanceOne fan's take

One fan believes Iowa’s running game struggles to control the clock

The real problem is line/run game, it’s pathetic to watch. Iowa had 30 yards thru 3 quarters, do you think it helps the pass game?

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Oct 4, 2026 · via hawkeyes

player performanceOne fan's take

One fan thinks his skills are uncommon among peers

Some of it is against backups, but even then he moves different than most the other players on the field.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 20, 2026 · via hawkeyes

portal roster moveOne fan's take

One fan argues Iowa’s roster has too many FCS transfers

Ive seen Iowa fans on Twitter claiming we’re much higher than this… which I don’t understand considering we spent nothing on QB and most the portal players we got were FCS

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 17, 2026 · via hawkeyes

program directionOne fan's take

One fan thinks the team’s depth is stronger than last season

My pattern recognition says this will be close but my gut says the gap is just too big this year. We have an actually good offense and defense is way stronger than we thought.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 10, 2026 · via CFB

program directionOne fan's take that season

One fan thinks transferred QBs perform worse statistically elsewhere

Is this Iowa now? Spending every off-season hyping up the latest transfer QB as the savior of the program just for each QB to be worse than the last one?

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Aug 31, 2025 · via CFB

rivalryOne fan's take that season

One fan believes Iowa’s games are consistently close

Nah, it'll still be a close game, these rivalry matches with Iowa State are always close.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Aug 31, 2025 · via CFB

Rival talk

The obsessionThe rival this fanbase can't stop bringing up.
Rent Free · r/CFB fan posts, 2026 season
Iowa fans 55% of posts bring up another team#34 of 77 saltiest · mostly about Michigan
Who Iowa fans can’t stop bringing up
  1. Michigan17%
  2. Ohio State10%
  3. Minnesota6%
  4. Nebraska6%
  5. Iowa State6%
share of Iowa’s football posts that mention each team
Iowa lives rent-free in
  1. Wisconsin20%
  2. Minnesota15%
  3. Iowa State13%
  4. Nebraska11%
  5. Michigan11%
share of each rival fanbase’s football posts that bring up Iowa
Rivalry mirrorHow the rival's fans talk about you vs. you about them.
The rivalry mirror 2026 season
Iowa
×
Iowa State
← Iowa fans, on Iowa State
Iowa State fans, on Iowa →
yardsz 7.5
amesz 7.6
playsz 6.9
fanaticz 6.9
puntz 5.1
jimmyz 5.9
offensez 3.8
rogersz 5.9
lastz 3.7
saturdayz 5.6

“I’d take an Iowa QB over Raynor at this point”

reddit/CFB · fan post
Words each fanbase uses about the other far more than in everyday talk. A longer bar means the word stands out more. The number is its z-score, how far above usual it runs; 2 or more is notable.
Rivalry wordsNumbers from Words for this program and its tier-1 rival, staged side by side.
What the sport says about this rivalry 2026 season · from Words

The watchlist words in play for this rivalry, Iowa vs. Iowa State, staged head to head. A number is how much a program uses that word against the average FBS program — above or below 1.0× — not raw volume, and not a claim about who says it about whom.

Iowa Iowa State
The whole board →

How Iowa fans talk

Who they talk aboutThe people this fanbase names more than anyone else does.
Who they talk about Against the field · 2026 season

The names this fanbase says more than anyone else does — players, coaches, the places they keep coming back to. Not slang: these are the people carrying the conversation.

Kirk Ferentz
×138.2 the field
Signature — named ≥10× as often as the rest of college football
Kirk Ferentz×138.2
Tim Lester×353.7
Jeremy Hecklinski×203.3
Kinnick×53.8
Tony Diaz×318.5
Kamari Moulton×79.2
Phil Parker×94.9
DJ Vonnahme×156.4

“Kirk Ferentz identifies Iowa football WR that's flying under the radar”

reddit/hawkeyes · fan post
Fans on Kirk Ferentz
  1. Imagine Kirk Ferentz doing this.
  2. They went to the Kirk Ferentz school of clock management
  3. anti-Kirk Ferentz push. People hit major Ferentz fatigue with Brian Ferentz as OC especially. Wisconsin
  4. Kirk Ferentz used to be terrible like that too, but he seems to have finally realized the value
  5. Cig won a national title with basically JMU players. That is greater than Kirk Ferentz has ever done. The fact you are trying to argue this proves your ignorance
  6. Kirk ferentz compared to any other program out there. Iowa doesn't get all the talent that other
  7. Kirk Ferentz makes \~$7M/year on an extension through 2029. The brand is: *Take 3-star recruits,
  8. Kirk Ferentz is a good coach. I no longer think he’s a great coach. This isn’t baseball, basketball
What they're calledThe slang the sport reaches for about this program more than most.
What the sport calls them 2026 season · from Words

How often college football reaches for these watchlist words about Iowa — against the average FBS program, or against their own usual rate — said by rival fans and national media as readily as by their own people.

  • “aura”1.4×more than the average program · #14 of 48
  • “fraud”1.1×more than the average program · #12 of 34
The whole board →
Voice profileHow this fanbase sounds vs. every other fanbase.
Measured
Optimism
42nd
Joy
56th
Anger
48th
Doom
65th
Sarcasm
24th
Vs the 127 highest-volume fanbases - 2026 season
Vocabulary by eraThe words that defined each chapter of this program.

Season vocabulary

2026plays
playshankheckmichiganosuwashington
Just like strip sack deacon He plays every down
2025rutgers
rutgersgronowskiviolateucfmemphisrecruiting
It's rutgers, our defense will put up 10 for us.
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