Iowa 40-0 Northern Illinois (Sep 5, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Northern Illinois · Iowa

Northern Illinois0-10

No. 22 Iowa1-040Final

Sat, Sep 5 · Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa · Crowd 69,250BTN

No. 22 Iowa routed Northern Illinois 40-0.

We had Iowa favored. It won.

Next: Northern Illinois lost to Illinois State 28-24, Sat Sep 12

Next: Iowa beat Iowa State 16-13, Sat Sep 12

Top comment in the game thread

I guess Moulton wins the QB competition

Q1 4:10 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Sep 5

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Iowa a 94% chance, and the closing betting line (Iowa was a 31.5-point favorite) put it at 99%.

Iowa led by 20 after the first quarter and by 33 at the half.

Punt return TD

Iowa · Q3 2:20

FinalIowa 40-0 Northern IllinoisIowa wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 9:52Brown throws touchdown to Diaz, Iowa leads 6-0 after missed PATThe corn fed boys didn't know what to do when Diaz started dancing after that TD lolr/CFB game thread
Q1 6:46Iowa fans praise the offensive line for opening a massive hole on Moulton's 50-yard touchdown runGood job Hank motivating the OL to block and the RB to run for that TDr/CFB game threadI'm straight up having a great time.r/CFB game thread
Q1 4:10Iowa fans celebrate Kamari Moulton's 37-yard rushing touchdown to make it 20-0Quoted at the top of the page.Oh so Kamari is gonna win the Heisman then.r/CFB game thread
Q2 13:40Iowa fans panic as kicker Buhr misses a 53-yard field goal attemptMissed XP, Missed FG... I don't even know who we are anymorer/CFB game thread
Q3 2:20Iowa fans celebrate Evan James' 77-yard punt return touchdownEvan “Wetjen” Jamesr/CFB game thread

Iowa’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Iowa -31.5), at 98% for Iowa (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Outlined diamonds mark rare plays. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Iowa or Northern Illinois flair (804 and 64); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Iowa’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Iowa scored on 6 of its 13 drives; Northern Illinois on 0 of its 15.

Iowa’s drives are teal, Northern Illinois’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

“Nick Saban on Gameday today “I don’t think Iowa will cover the spread”.”

An Iowa fan

How fans reacted

Steady

Fans peaked in the opening quarter.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was steady; the crowd was steady.

Box score

Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0

Iowa covered −31.5 by 8.5. The total, 40, stayed under 44.5.

Team totals	Northern Illinois	Iowa
Total yards	120	507
Passing	13 of 24, 113 yds	21 of 40, 218 yds
Rushing	31 for 7 yds	38 for 289 yds
First downs	7	26
Third down	3 of 15	6 of 14
Fourth down	0 of 0	0 of 3
Turnovers	2	1
Penalties	7 for 61 yds	7 for 60 yds
Time of possession	26:09	33:51

Northern Illinois leaders

Passing Taron Dickens 9 of 14, 96 yds, 1 INT
Rushing Telly Johnson Jr. 8 for 16 yds; Jaidaun Cranford 2 for 9 yds
Receiving Kelan McInerney 3 for 55 yds; La'Don Bryant 4 for 42 yds

Iowa leaders

Passing Hank Brown 12 of 20, 129 yds, 1 TD
Rushing Kamari Moulton 11 for 183 yds, 2 TD; Braeden Jackson 3 for 30 yds
Receiving Tony Diaz 7 for 84 yds, 1 TD; DJ Vonnahme 4 for 42 yds

Feels like 90° to 106° through the game

93° at kickoff · feels like 90° to 106° · no rain recorded

A feels-like 106° is hotter than the peak in 99% of games since 2018.

Each gray tick is one game. The black line is the typical game.

Warmer than 9 in 10 of the 67 other games played at Kinnick Stadium since 2016 (airport temperature during the game window). The usual here around this date is 74°, with about 7 in 10 games between 64° and 82°.

September game-day temperatures at Kinnick Stadium

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 14:49 left3:17 p.m.

Northern Illinois 0, Iowa 0 · Iowa 98% to win

no rain · 93°, feels like 105°

Brown 7-yd pass to Vonnahme

Where this weather comes from

Measured at Iowa City airport, 1.4 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games · 2025 season

Northern Illinois · 3-9

Rated 101st in our preseason ratings.

L 31-35 vs Kent State #190 of 667

lost by 4 as a 5.5-point favorite

L 19-35 vs Western Michigan #89 of 667

lost by 16 as a 6.5-point underdog

W 45-3 @ Massachusetts #262 of 667

won by 42 as an 8.5-point favorite

L 3-42 @ Toledo #43 of 667

lost by 39 as a 15.5-point underdog

W 21-7 vs Ball State #186 of 667

won by 14 as a 6.5-point favorite

L 21-48 @ Ohio #70 of 667

lost by 27 as an 11.5-point underdog

L 10-16 @ Eastern Michigan #176 of 667

lost by 6 as a 1.5-point favorite

L 14-25 vs Miami (OH) #77 of 667

lost by 11 as a 4.5-point underdog

L 3-6 vs San Diego State #85 of 667

lost by 3 as a 1.5-point underdog

L 10-38 @ Mississippi State #29 of 667

lost by 28 as a 24.5-point underdog

L 9-20 @ Maryland #67 of 667

lost by 11 as a 16.5-point underdog

W 19-17 vs Holy Cross #170 of 667

won by 2 as a 13.5-point favorite

Last three games · 2025 season

Iowa · 9-4

Rated 13th in our preseason ratings.

W 34-27 @ VanderbiltTop 25 #16 of 667

won by 7 as a 3-point underdog

W 40-16 @ NebraskaTop 25 #77 of 667

won by 24 as a 5.5-point favorite

W 20-17 vs Michigan State #73 of 667

won by 3 as a 17.5-point favorite

L 21-26 @ USCTop 25 #14 of 667

lost by 5 as a 6.5-point underdog

L 16-18 vs OregonTop 25 #2 of 667

lost by 2 as a 4.5-point underdog

W 41-3 vs Minnesota #60 of 667

won by 38 as a 7.5-point favorite

W 25-24 vs Penn StateTop 25 #18 of 667

won by 1 as a 3.5-point favorite

W 37-0 @ Wisconsin #75 of 667

won by 37 as a 4.5-point favorite

L 15-20 vs IndianaTop 25 #18 of 667

lost by 5 as an 8.5-point underdog

W 38-28 @ Rutgers #55 of 667

won by 10 as a 2.5-point favorite

W 47-7 vs Massachusetts #174 of 667

won by 40 as a 35.5-point favorite

L 13-16 @ Iowa StateTop 25 #50 of 667

lost by 3 as a 3.5-point underdog

W 34-7 vs UAlbany #177 of 667

won by 27 as a 39.5-point favorite

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Northern Illinois’s EPA/play against Iowa, 77 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Northern Illinois’s EPA/play against Iowa’s defense
Northern Illinois offense, 5th percentile · Iowa defense, 82nd
Northern Illinois’s rushing EPA against Iowa’s defense
Northern Illinois offense, 21st percentile · Iowa defense, 97th
Northern Illinois’s explosive plays against Iowa’s defense
Northern Illinois offense, 42nd percentile · Iowa defense, 79th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

Northern IllinoisIowa

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Iowa leads the series 9-1

10 meetings since 1985 · Iowa won the last meeting

2018Iowa 33-7
2013Northern Illinois 30-27
2012 · neutral siteIowa 18-17
2007Iowa 16-3
2006Iowa 24-14

Each line is Iowa’s chance to win through that meeting. Older meetings have no play by play, so no line.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Iowa fans are feeling it less than most fanbases this week (26th among FBS fanbases), and the other side is no happier.

Iowa favored by 31.5 · Total 44.5

How games like this usually go

Iowa by 31.5, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 411 games since 2025 with a favorite of 21.5 points or more.

The market

The spread moved 2 points toward Iowa.

The total rose 1 point.

The books’ cut: 2.2%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Hot and dry. Feels like 101° at kickoff.

Northern Illinois at Iowa · Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026 · Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City

101°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
42weather score, Harsh

At kickoff, Sept. 5, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Later kickoff times scored higher that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 7 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game is ringed. At Kinnick Stadium that day, a 7 pm kickoff would have scored 89, against 42 at 3:15 pm.

11 am: 41, Harsh
noon: 39, Harsh
2:30 pm: 39, Harsh
3:15 pm: 42, Harsh (this game)
4 pm: 45, Harsh
6 pm: 73, Rough
7 pm: 89, Mixed

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Sept. 5, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Iowa is worth +2.6 points (±3.7) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 24th percentile.

75% at home, 65% on the road against FBS opponents (39-13 home, 26-14 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -4.4 at home vs. away over 96 games — inside the ±5.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 144 miles to get here.

No. 22 Iowa routs Northern Illinois 40-0