Way Too Early Michigan Football Opponent Preview: Week 4 vs. Iowa

Michigan will open the season with games against Western Michigan, Oklahoma, and UTEP in non-conference play to begin the 2026 season. To begin conference play they will welcome in the Iowa Hawkeyes to Ann Arbor in week four. At minimum, Michigan should be 2-1 as they head into this matchup.

Iowa on the other hand opens their season with Northern Illinois, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa so they should be 3-0 as they head into this matchup. This could very well end up being two ranked teams playing this game in late September. Let's dive more into how this matchup looks pre-season below.

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski is given the MVP trophy after beating Vanderbilt Commodores | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

2025 Recap

Last season Iowa finished at 9-4, and ended up beating Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Their losses were in week one to Iowa State by 3, to Indiana by 5, Oregon by 2, and USC by 5. Needless to say, they lost close to a few very good teams last season.

Last season Iowa was actually ranked 54th nationally in points scored, but was 119th in total offense.
On defense they were 8th in scoring defense, and 9th in total defense. Like almost all Kirk Ferentz teams, they were defense led last year. Their offense was quite a bit better than most of his recent teams though, at least in terms in scoring points.

Mark Gronowski was the quarterback last year, and he totaled 1,741 yards passing with 10 TD's and 7 INT's while also adding 545 yards and 16 TD's on the ground. In total, he accounted for 26 TD's last year. Their offense was also led by Kamari Moulton at running back who had 878 yards and 5 TD's on the ground himself.

Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Kaden Wetjen escapes a tackle from Vanderbilt Commodores linebacker Bryan Longwell | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Moves made for 2026

Gone is Mark Gronowski at quarterback, but Kamari Moulton returns to lead the backfield. Iowa brought in two quarterbacks last season who will be fighting for the starting quarterback job this season in Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski.

Along with a new quarterback, Iowa will have to replace a lot of the team overall. Iowa ranks last in the Big Ten in returning production at just 44% returning overall. On offense, it's 48%, and on defense it's at 40%. Iowa will look a lot different personnel wise on the field in 2026.

They do return what should be a good offensive line with All-American candidates Kade Pieper and Trevor Lauck. What does the rest of the offense look like around them though? Only time will tell.

Why Michigan should top the Hawkeyes

Iowa lost a lot off of last year's team, and Michigan returns a good portion of their returning production at 63%. That combined with the coaching upgrade from Sherrone Moore to Kyle Whittingham leads me to believe Michigan will be a much better team in 2026 than they were in 2025.

Based on what Iowa lost, I'm not sure you can say the same thing about them. They'll have a new quarterback, and a lot of veteran players to replace on defense. With this game being at Michigan I think that gives the Wolverines a nice edge in this game. Pre-season, I would chalk this one up to a 20-13 type win for the Wolverines.

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