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 storm out of the Kinnick Stadium tunnel to "Back in Black" for their season-opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5. 

Each day of the countdown primarily features an article profiling one of the current members of the football team based on their jersey number. If No. 87 falls on the day of the countdown, that's the player we're going to be talking about. 

READ MORE: 87 Days Until Iowa Football: Addison Ostrenga 

Today marks 79 days until kickoff, so it's time to take a look at No. 79 - offensive lineman Carson Nielsen. 

Get to know him here: 

Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa 

High School: Waterloo West High School 

Year: Freshman 

Height: 6-foot-7 

Weight: 295 pounds 

Other notable players to wear No. 79: Arguably the most popular Hawkeye to don No. 79 over the years is former offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga. Bulaga was a standout on Iowa's line from 2007-09, starting most of the games he played in and helping spear the Hawkeyes to a 2010 Orange Bowl victory during his junior campaign. Bulaga was selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, where he spent the most of his career and won Super Bowl XLV during his rookie season. 

Nielsen is entering his true freshman campaign for the Hawkeyes this year and was a key prospect on a recruiting class that was ranked No. 26 in the nation by 247Sports. 

Nielsen was a dominant force on both sides of the ball for Waterloo West, helping guide the Wahawks to a pair of playoff berths. Nielsen earned first-team all-district honors during his senior season, which saw him earn a fourth varsity letter. 

Nielsen, a four-star recruit according to 247Sports, earned offers from Iowa State, Tennessee, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and others, but committed to the Hawkeyes ahead of his junior year of high school in April 2024. He became the first member of Iowa's 2026 recruiting class, which includes six other four-star recruits. 

Nielsen will likely spend his first season in Iowa City developing under offensive line coach George Barnett and the veterans on the offensive line (Kade Pieper, Trevor Lauck), but expect him to be a key member of this unit in the future. 

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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]