Iowa Hoping for More Homecoming Success vs. Indiana

It's no secret the Iowa Hawkeyes enter the Week 5 college football slate as massive underdogs. The line may be set at seven and a half points, but No. 11 Indiana just ran through that many thought was a Top 10 team in the country. With a Heisman candidate coming to Kinnick Stadium, head coach Kirk Ferentz knows he needs to pull out all the stops to have his Hawkeyes leave with a win.

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz reacts after becoming the winningest coach in Big Ten history, passing Woody Hayes, with a win over the Massachusetts Minutemen Sept. 13, 2025 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the biggest difference makers for the game is going to be the fans. Indiana has yet to play on the road this season. They may be 4-0, but three of those wins come against sub-par opponents. No one can take away their 63-10 victory over Illinois, but the Fighting Illini may be nowhere near the team many experts thought they were.

Indiana is legit, there's no arguing that. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has yet to make a mistake and he's got a receiving trio that Ferentz couldn't say enough good things about. In fact, he compared this Indiana team to Ohio State, a dynasty that's run roughshod through the Big 10 for decades. Iowa may be 0-10 against their last 10 ranked opponents, but there's something different in the air heading into September 27.

The Hawkeyes are 63-44-5 all-time on Homecoming, including a 10-5-1 mark against Indiana. Iowa beat the Hoosiers, 45-29, during Homecoming in 2014.

Iowa 19-6 on Homecoming under Kirk Ferentz. pic.twitter.com/htswiFgd0P
— HawkeyeFBNotes (@HawkeyeFBNotes) September 24, 2025

There's nothing quite like a homecoming game, and Ferentz knows that. It'll be quarterback Mark Gronowski's first, and last as a Hawkeye. The fifth-year player already became the all-time winningest QB in college football history, a number he'll look to expand on once more. In order to do so, he'll have to weather the storm of Indiana, PFF's highest graded team in college football.

Under Ferentz, the Hawkeyes are 19-6 on Homecoming. That's a favorable ratio for a head coach who's been around prior to 2000. All time, Iowa is 63-44-5. Indiana has been here before, plenty of times, in fact. The Hoosiers will be playing Iowa for the 17th time on Homecoming with the Hawkeyes leading, 10-5-1.

2014 was the last time these two teams played on Homecoming. The game ended in Iowa's favor, 45-29. Many would argue it's unlikely this Hawkeyes offense can put up 45 against the No. 11 team in the country, but this is an entirely different Iowa team than the one that played Iowa State in Week 2. If there was ever a trap game for Indiana, it's this one. If the Hoosiers head to Kinnick Stadium too cocky and overconfident, there's a strong chance the Hawkeyes could beat them the same way they did 11 years ago.

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