The Hawkeyes will take on Iowa State under the lights this year, so why not turn the dial back and take a look at the 42-3 beatdown from 2016?
Welcome back to our countdown to the 2026 Iowa football season!
On May 28, we began a countdown from 100 days until the Hawkeyes walk out of the Kinnick Stadium tunnel to "Back in Black" before their season-opener against Northern Illinois.
Each day, you'l find an article discussing either the current Iowa football player that wears the respective jersey number of the day of the countdown, a historical piece, or interesting tidbits about the 2026 season.
We're now 90 days away from kickoff, but we've got a minor problem today. Since no Hawkeye was issued No. 90 this year, this article is flipping back the dial to 2016. It's hard to believe that is now a decade ago, but it features an important parallel to the 2026 team because of one opponent - Iowa State.
The Cy-Hawk game is rarely played in primetime, but the 2016 edition of this storied rivalry kicked off at 6:30 p.m. from Kinnick Stadium. It remained the most recent Cy-Hawk contest to begin under the lights until 2026, when the Big Ten announced the 73rd incarnation of the rivalry would return to the 6:30 slot as part of NBC's "Big Ten Saturday Night" branding.
What will transpire in the 2026 edition remains a mystery until the Hawkeyes and Cyclones tee the ball up on Sept. 12, but in honor of 2026 being the first primetime Cy-Hawk game in a decade, let's take a look at what happened during that 2016 contest.
The rundown
The similarities between the 2016 Cy-Hawk game and this year's upcoming game are very present. Obviously both are kicking off in primetime, but the difference between both clubs is nearly identical. Iowa was an experienced team coming off the magical 12-2 campaign in 2015, while Iowa State was in full rebuilding mode after firing Paul Rhoads and hiring Matt Campbell.
That's eerily similar to 2026. Iowa, while not as experienced as it was in 2016, features several key returners from a team that won nine games in 2025, while Iowa State has far more questions than answers. Campbell was hired away at Penn State, leaving new coach Jimmy Rogers in a very difficult position.
Now, back to 2016. The 16th-ranked Hawkeyes were clearly the better team in this one right from the opening kickoff. Iowa scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions of this game, with quarterback C.J. Beathard accounting for all four of them (three passing, one rushing).
The Hawkeyes carried a 28-3 lead into the locker room, and that was that. Iowa added two more scores in the third quarter to make it 42-3, which ended up being the final score. The Hawkeyes dominated on both sides of the ball, but this game was highlighted by their seemingly unstoppable offense.
Beathard completed 19 of his 28 passing attempts for 235 yards and three touchdowns, with his favorite target being wide receiver Matt VandeBerg. VandeBerg, who would propose to his current wife (and Iowa in-game host) Laura after the game, recorded 129 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.
Iowa would vault to No. 13 in the country before inexplicably falling to North Dakota State the following week, which triggered an up-and-down 8-5 campaign. Iowa State finished 3-9, but Campbell wouldn't take long to build the Cyclones into a Big 12 contender.
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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 [email protected]
