The North Dakota State transfer is in line to be Iowa's starting kicker this year.
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.
Each day of the countdown has primarily featured an article profiling one of the current members of the 2026 Hawkeyes based on their jersey number. Though we had a rare two articles yesterday thanks to a pair of Iowa players sharing the same number, that's not going to be the case today.
We're just 25 days away from kickoff, which means it's time to take a look at the player who dons No. 25 - kicker Eli Ozick.
Get to know him here.
Bio
Hometown: Liberty, Missouri
High School: Liberty North High School
Year: Fourth-Year
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 199 pounds
Other notable players to wear No. 25: We're going a long way back for this one, but the recognizable Hawkeye that wore No. 25 is too good not to share. While Brad Banks and Chuck Long are two Iowa quarterbacks to finish as Heisman Trophy runner-ups in the modern era, Randy Duncan was a pretty good player, too. He led the 1958 Hawkeyes to a national championship while setting a new program record for touchdown passes in a season (11).
Ozick's career so far
Kickers don't normally receive a lot of love, but in Iowa City they might as well be treated like royalty, especially after the job Drew Stevens did over an illustrious four-year career.
Stevens left the Hawkeyes with the most made field goals in program history, so replacing him isn't going to be easy. New special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi told the media in the spring that all spots are up for grabs, including the kicker position.
The players competing for the important role are Ozick and redshirt freshman Caden Buhr, but Ozick likely has a leg up on this race due to his experience.
Ozick didn't become North Dakota State's regular kicker until 2025, but once he got the chance to shine, he took advantage of it. The Liberty native connected on 16-of-18 field goal tries with a long of 54 yards.
That range was on full display during Iowa's open spring practice, where Ozick was consistently nailing field goals from 50+ yards away.
Again, nothing is determined, but all signs point to Ozick as the Hawkeyes' next kicker.
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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]
