Northern Iowa · W 55-0 · FCS
No catches.
Wisconsin · W 30-0
5 catches, 54 yards, 1 TD
The other 6 games average 42 yards. This one was 12 above.
Vonnahme has catches in 7 of Iowa’s 8 games: none against Northern Iowa.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
“Vonnahme gotta feel like a champ doing all this in front of kittle”
4 stories in the last 30 days, from 3 outlets.
DJ Vonnahme | Iowa Football | Oct. 31 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 31
Share of the team's total this season.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed. Of his catches with a spot in the play text: left 10, middle 4, right 15.
DJ Vonnahme
DJ Vonnahme is a cornerstone for Iowa — measured against the line DJ Vonnahme joined.
TEAM RECEIVING YARDS LEADER
304
Team leader in receiving yards (304).
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04
Play style
Shows up in the passing game from any alignment.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
from 3 outlets
DJ Vonnahme | Iowa Football | Oct. 31 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 31 · 1 outlet
from 14 outlets
DJ Vonnahme | Iowa Football | Oct. 31 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 31 · 1 outlet
247SportsIowa Football: TE DJ Vonnahme Remaining Humble Amid Rising National AttentionAug 17
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)After a breakout season, DJ Vonnahme is ready to keep raising the bar for Iowa football’s offenseAug 21
Sports IllustratedIowa's DJ Vonnahme Bears Striking Similarities to a College Football Tight End GreatAug 21
The Daily IowanIowa tight end DJ Vonnahme leans on his humble beginnings while handling pre-season hypeSep 3
ESPNDJ Vonnahme likely to miss Iowa's game vs. Northern IowaSep 15
The Des Moines RegisterVideo: Iowa football's DJ Vonnahme on wild tipped pass vs. MichiganSep 26
FOX SportsThe Des Moines RegisterESPNThe Daily IowanThe Gazette (Cedar Rapids)Each week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Fans first named DJ Vonnahme vs Northern Illinois.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 54 receiving yards, 5 catches, 1 receiving TD.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 40-0vs Northern Illinois | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 2 | W 16-13vs Iowa State | 2 | 25 | 12.5 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 4 | W 20-19@ No. 18 Michigan | 4 | 44 | 11.0 | 0 | 21 | |
| Wk 5 | L 14-31vs No. 5 Ohio State | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 0 | 18 | Season-high 64 yds |
| Wk 6 | W 41-24@ Washington | 2 | 44 | 22.0 | 2 | 24 | 2 TD catches |
| Wk 8 | L 10-13@ Minnesota | 6 | 31 | 5.2 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 9 | W 30-0vs No. 25 Wisconsin | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 1 | 45 | |
| Total | 29 | 304 | 10.5 | 3 | 45 |
Oct. 31 · W 30-0 vs Wisconsin, play by play
5 catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. Iowa threw to him on 5 of its 23 passes. 53 of the 54 came before halftime.
45-yard catch on 3rd and 7. First quarter, tied 0-0. Converted.
4-yard touchdown on 3rd and 4. First quarter, made it 10-0.
6 catches for 31 yards. Iowa threw to him on 11 of its 34 passes. 27 of the 31 came before halftime.
7-yard catch on 3rd and 6. First quarter, down 3-0. Converted.
5-yard catch on 3rd and 5. First quarter, down 3-0. Converted.
8-yard catch. Second quarter, tied 3-3.
Incomplete on 3rd and 5. Third quarter, down 10-3. Broken up by Minnesota’s K. Brown.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
2 catches for 44 yards and 2 touchdowns. Iowa threw to him on 2 of its 19 passes. All of it came before halftime of a 41-24 win.
24-yard touchdown. Second quarter, made it 27-0.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
6 catches for 64 yards, his most this season. Iowa threw to him on 7 of its 32 passes. He was 3 of 5 on third and fourth down.
18-yard catch. First quarter, down 7-0.
16-yard catch on 3rd and 10. First quarter, down 10-3. Converted.
4-yard catch on 3rd and 8. Second quarter, down 10-6.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
4 catches for 44 yards. Iowa threw to him on 6 of its 34 passes. He was 2 of 3 on third and fourth down.
Incomplete on 3rd and 11. Second quarter, down 10-7. Broken up by Michigan’s Z. Berry.
21-yard catch on 3rd and 9. Fourth quarter, down 13-7. Converted.
6-yard catch on 3rd and 3. Fourth quarter, down 19-14. Converted.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
2 catches for 25 yards. Iowa threw to him on 4 of its 30 passes.
13-yard catch. Second quarter, down 10-7.
Incomplete on 3rd and 15. Fourth quarter, down 13-10. Broken up by Iowa State’s D. Coffey.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
4 catches for 42 yards. Iowa threw to him on 8 of its 40 passes. All of it came before halftime of a 40-0 win.
16-yard catch. First quarter, up 6-0.
Seen from behind the quarterback; numbers are yards past the line of scrimmage. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
Week 6 · 2026
W 41-24
at Washington
2 rec · 44 yds · 2 TD
With J. Hecklinski — 202 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 88.6 · K. Moulton — 208 rush yds (26 car) · 2 TD
The plays that mattered most
252nd in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position
Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
Targets
4322% of team targetsCatch rate
67%29 of 43 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
67% catch rate on 43 targets · 22% of the team's targets.
2 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 15-6 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 4.2 | 46.2 | 11.1 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 4.0 | 39.7 | 12.7 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 3.6 | 43.8 | 13.3 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 5.5 | 42.5 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Pass share
48.0%
240 pass / 260 run
Plays / game
62.5
8 games
Team sack rate
2.7%
258 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
29 catches and 3 carries in 7 games, more catches a game than most FBS tight ends who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #16 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #5 of 26 Big Ten TEs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
The No. 2,983 recruit in the country is starting at tight end in the Big Ten.
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kirk Ferentz.
