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Black Heart Gold Pants

Swelling with Iowa Hawkeye pride since 2007

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Hawkeye Football: Instant Reaction NIU vs Iowa

Now that. Was exhilarating! And in the brush of an eye, the painful scars from last year’s season opener were wiped away, as Iowa took NIU by storm. You could say the offense & defense were a one-two punch, but it was more like a TKO. By halftime Victor E. Huskie was dizzy from chasing […]

Iowa Hawkeyes vs Northern Illinois Huskies Fan Discussion

The long wait is officially over! After 248 days without Hawkeye football, Iowa is back in action in Kinnick Stadium as the Hawkeyes play host to the Northern Illinois Huskies to kick off the 2026 season. NIU comes to Iowa City with an entirely new look, head to toe. That is, the Huskies jumped ship […]

Iowa Football: How to Watch the Hawkeyes vs Northern Illinois

After months of waiting, game day is finally here! The Hawkeyes are set to open their 2026 season at home in the friendly confines of Kinnick Stadium as they play host to the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies come to Iowa City with a new head coach, a new conference and hopes for a new […]

Iowa Football: Can Hawkeyes Avoid Rutgers-esque Mishap?

Week one of the college football season kicked off on Thursday night with a bang as rutger decided to lay an absolute egg and then throw it all over the face of the Big Ten conference. In case you missed it, the Scarlet Knights paid $1.55M to bring in UMass to take a beating. Rutgers […]

Former Hawkeye Caitlin Clark Shines in FIBA World Cup Group Stage Debut

Early morning basketball? Only if Caitlin Clark is playing. And Caitlin was cooking when she saw the court this morning. The 7:00 tip time was too early for many but those who tuned in were treated to a spectacular debut from the Iowa legend. The Des Moines native put up an impressive 14 points and […]

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Iowa Hawkeyes Football: Northern Illinois Game Preview

This Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes open their football season against the Northern Illinois Huskies. Last year, the Huskies went 3-9 which led to their coach voluntarily resigning. Their current coach, Rob Harley, is officially an interim coach. And they have exactly four returning starters, total, all on offense. Northern Illinois is not good. On its […]

2026 College Football Watch Guide – Week 1

Week 0 is behind us and that means we have actual games to overreact to. Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels notched a surprising win over TCU in Dublin, Ireland. The Horned Frogs weren’t expected to be one of the country’s elite, but given the drama in Chapel Hill since Belichick’s arrival, the victory still […]

By The Numbers: Iowa vs. Northern Illinois

As I write this, it’s been 246 days, 7 hours, and 27 minutes since the sun set on the 2025 Hawkeye football season. I don’t recall, specifically, what I was doing in those final glorious minutes of a sound thumping of the Commodores of Vanderbilt (even if the final score didn’t reflect it), but I […]

KIRK SPEAKS: Northern Illinois

Folks…FOOTBALL IS BACK! While it may be only week 1 and the Hawkeyes haven’t played a snap of actual competition but y’all, we’re in midseason form already here. WE GOT NO QUARTERBACK. Well, we have OR quarterbacks. Sigh. You know what they say…if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. And if the current state […]

Iowa Football: Former Hawks Impacted by NFL Roster Cuts

The deadline for NFL teams to get down to their 53-man roster was Sunday at 4:00 PM EST, but the sand is shifting under our feet, as some players get picked up by other teams or signed to a practice squad in the fluid and frantic 48 hours that follow. The dust hasn’t fully settled […]

Get the best of Black Heart Gold Pants on the new SB Nation app

It’s a big day for Black Heart Gold Pants. Today, the SB Nation app is live, and it’s the best way to follow the Hawkeyes on the go.  You can download it by searching SB Nation for iOS or Android. As you’re surely aware, there have been a lot of changes on the back end […]

The Pessimist’s Guide to Iowa Football 2026

As the resident pessimist here at Black Heart Gold Pants, I have a confession to make: I was greatly debating switching things up this year and writing the optimist side of this post after…I don’t know how many years of writing the pessimist version. What changed? Well, nothing really. I think I’ve written a similar […]

Iowa Football Depth Chart: Hawkeyes Dodge Naming Week 1 Starting QB

Kirk Ferentz and Iowa Hawkeyes football have officially published their first game-week depth chart of the season. The release fails to answer the biggest question of fall camp, listing the quarterback starter as Hank Brown OR Jeremy Hecklinski. The roster does name a starter for the intense battle at running back between Kamari Moulton and […]

Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Open Season as Big Favorites vs NIU

We are BACK! We are baaaaack! Welcome back to college football season and the return of Iowa Hawkeye football! Week zero kicked us off last Saturday but your Hawkeyes re officially back in action this Saturday as they open the 2026 season at home against the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies come to Kinnick with […]

An Optimist’s Guide for the 2026 Football Season. 

​ Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s Iowa pass catchers flying through the air. There is so much to love about the upcoming 2026 campaign for the Hawks. Iowa has been flying so far under the radar (thank you, Kyle Whittingham) that it can’t help but make you feel like Odysseus […]

The Pants Predicts: Iowa Football in 2026

The college football season officially kicks off today with week zero getting underway. Your Iowa Hawkeyes start things in week one with a home matchup against the Northern Illinois Huskies at 3:15pm CT. Iowa is a heavy favorite in each of their first three games this season – all at home and each against varying […]

Ohio State Buckeyes Picked to Win Big Ten Title

While the Iowa Hawkeyes don’t open their 2026 season until next weekend, college football officially returns on Saturday with a full slate of week zero matchups. As was noted in the week zero watch guide, there are a handful of high major matchups to kick off the year, but only one features a Big Ten […]

2026 College Football Watch Guide – Week 0

Like Punxsutawney Phil, I’ve roused myself from a long hibernation, emerged from my burrow and, seeing no shadow before me, declared an early end to the offseason. The 2026 season officially kicks off this Saturday with a slate of week 0 games, giving us just enough of a fix before the full college football world […]

Iowa Women’s Soccer – It’s a New Season With a New Head Coach

There’s something quietly brewing in Iowa City, and it might be happening right under your nose. The Hawkeyes soccer program has enjoyed the most successful multi-year stretch in its history in the last three years. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament three consecutive years in a row (2023 – 2025) for the first time in […]

Ranking Iowa Football’s Most Important Position Groups for 2026

The College Football Playoff (CFP) will not expand for the 2026 season and will remain at 12 teams, and the natives are getting restless. With so many gaps to fill, which position group will have the most impact to give the Hawks a chance to crack the 8-4 ceiling, and possibly vie for finally making […]

Hawkeye Football Opponent Preview: Northern Iowa

Week three of the 2026 season brings the in-state neighbor to Kinnick for Family Weekend, and for the first time since 2001 there will be no Mark Farley on the visiting sideline. UNI is a program in transition: a new(ish) head coach entering year two, a new quarterback with an Iowa recruiting backstory, and a […]

Five Things to Watch for from the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2026

Not a snap has been played, but that doesn’t stop us from running rampant with speculation about what is in store for the 2026 edition of Iowa Hawkeye football. Much of the hand wringing thus far has been about the quarterback controversy (or not?) surrounding Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski. But what are some of the other key watch items as we […]

Kids Day Practice Worst Case Scenario for Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz

If you’re a fan of offense and the forward pass, it was hard to leave Kinnick last Saturday and not feel pretty good. The same can be said for those that weren’t able to make it in person but have spent the last several days re-watching every throw from QB Jeremy Hecklinski. The former Wake […]