The Iowa Hawkeyes open up the doors at Kinnick Stadium this Saturday for their annual “Kids’ Day” open practice. Here is a guide to the day.
This Saturday, August 13, is the annual “Kids’ Day at Kinnick” and open practice as the Iowa Hawkeyes get ready to finish training camp and enter the season. This annual event to engage younger fans is presented by the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. With the Hawkeyes opening up the gates at Kinnick, here is a quick guide to this Saturday for fans planning to attend.
Time
Gates open at 11am CST for a 12pm CST beginning of practice.
Admission and parking
Admission is free for all fans in attendance and parking on the hard surfaces will be free. Any parking in the parking garages will carry their normal fee.
Concessions
Concession stands will be open to fans. Keep in mind they will be cashless and only accepting debit or credit cards.
Pictures and autographs
Here is the fun part for the kids in attendance. Having attended this event four previous times, one really cool opportunity is how close the kids can get to the players. Should a child desire, there is more than ample space for them to take their football, hat, jersey, or any other item right up to the field and get autographs and photos with members of the Hawkeyes football team. The players are usually spending a few minutes signing autographs and meeting young fans prior to practice beginning and often stick around afterwards to ensure each young Hawkeyes fan has their chance for a special moment.
Weather
Talk about a perfect day to watch the Hawkeyes practice. The weather is forecasting a beautiful day of 88 degrees, mostly sunny, and a 10 mile per hour wind to break the heat.
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The Iowa Hawkeyes have sold out all seven home games for 2022. But why? What caused that this year? A look into the draw of 2022 for fans.
All seven of the Iowa Hawkeyes home games have officially sold out for the 2022 college football season. The sellouts became a note of interest over the last few weeks as hype and news began to circulate more and more amongst Hawkeyes fans. This led to a rapid buying of whatever single-game tickets were left and, ultimately, to the Iowa Hawkeyes with a prideful slate of sold out home games.
There is a little bit of everything as a draw for Iowa fans to file their way into Kinnick this fall. There are big games, high-profile players, interesting circumstances, and much more.
One interesting tidbit of the home slate is that each of the seven games has its own special event and occasion tied to it. Giving each game its own designated event can certainly entice fans to snatch up tickets for something that piques their interest.
With the first home game at Kinnick to kick off on Sept. 3 as the Hawkeyes welcome in the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, there is one question to be asked. And that is simply, “why?”
We see that the games have been sold out. We hear that. But why? What caused the home games for the Hawkeyes to rapidly sell out and set up for a raucous 2022 season inside the walls of Kinnick Stadium? There are a few reasons behind this and all of them get fans excited in very different ways. Let’s look at why the 2022 home slate for the Iowa Hawkeyes has led to a clean sweep of sellouts.
Iowa’s season opener versus South Dakota State is officially sold out, meaning six of seven 2022 Hawkeye home dates are now sellouts.
Iowa fans can’t wait to watch their squad heading into the 2022 season. The Hawkeye faithful keep snatching up home tickets and now the UI Athletics Department is reporting a sixth home sellout.
The season opener at 11 a.m. CST on Sept. 3 versus the South Dakota State Jackrabbits from inside Kinnick Stadium is the latest home sellout. Now, only the regular season finale versus Nebraska for Senior Day still has tickets for sale. Early on Monday, just a little more than 600 tickets remained for that final home date versus the Huskers.
All of the other home dates are also sold out. That includes the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series versus Iowa State on Sept. 10 at 3 p.m., Nevada for the “Gold Game and Family Weekend” at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, Michigan on Oct. 1 for the “ANF Black and Gold Spirit Game,” Northwestern at 2 p.m. for homecoming on Oct. 29, Wisconsin on Nov. 12 for the “Military Appreciation Black Out Game” and Nebraska on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. for the “Heroes Game” and Senior Day.
After a Big Ten West championship in 2021, it makes sense why Iowa fans can’t wait to see the encore act from these Hawkeyes. There’s all sorts of preseason thoughts about Iowa out there, but the prevailing consensus seems to be that Iowa will once again be one of the primary challengers in the Big Ten West.
In the preseason Big Ten media poll, Iowa was picked second in the West. According to Phil Steele, Iowa enters 2022 as the nation’s No. 20 team. The Hawkeyes should once again feature one of the country’s best defenses. College Football News pegged it as the No. 6 defensive group nationally.
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Some of it is TV rights, some is tradition, some is Iowa’s choice. Ranking their kickoff times at Kinnick Stadium from worst to best.
The Iowa Hawkeyes used to be the nation’s standard 11 a.m. CST kickoff as a Big Ten game to get the day underway. As things have changed, Iowa has produced a quality string of seasons and their games gain more traction. Thus, their kickoffs have drifted away from the early slot.
Personally, THANK GOODNESS, for that. Kicking off less and less games at 11 a.m. CST is one of the best things the Hawkeyes have had happen to them in recent memory. That time is just no good for a football game. That time slot needs to be strictly reserved for Northwestern hosting Rutgers in a game that is 38 degrees, misting, and sees more punts than first downs in the first half. True Big Ten fans, myself included, will subject themselves to that cruel and unusual torture, but no fan wants that time slot for their own team.
That said, there is a flurry of times we see Iowa kickoff at. They have their out of conference schedule, standard Big Ten games, an occasional Friday game, and one or two night kickoffs each season.
With it narrowed down to five different kickoffs, it is only right we rank the Hawkeyes’ best kickoff times from worst to best for fans. The rankings are based on a combination of time, fan activities, the atmosphere that time can produce, and even a little bit of tradition tossed in.
All of these times will be on the upcoming 2022 schedule so whether this ranking hits home or ruffles some feathers, everyone will have their chance to watch the Hawkeyes in their own personal prime time.
“That noise and that environment, that’s probably the toughest place to play on the road. You can feel the intensity in the air. I think Iowa is probably one of the toughest stadiums to play at in America. It is always going to be a challenge for anybody who goes in there. You know the history of them beating top teams there,” Toney said.
Iowa is not afraid of anyone stepping onto the turf at Kinnick Stadium. That can be said because it isn’t coming from them. Once it comes from another source, that proves the sentiment true.
That holds true based on statistics and evidence. Over the last five seasons, the Iowa Hawkeyes pride themselves on a 25-7 record on their home field. That comes out to a 0.781 winning percentage. Winning nearly 80% of home kickoffs is the definition of home-field advantage.
The year-over-year records for the last five seasons are:
2021: 6-1
2020: 3-1 (Pandemic shortened season)
2019: 6-1
2018: 5-2
2017: 5-2
For those who are more invested in what has happened lately, if shrunk down to the last three seasons, the record moves to 15-3 and balloons to an 0.833 winning percentage.
The Hawkeyes have also taken down four top-20 opponents during this five-year run of domination in Kinnick Stadium. The wins have been rather convincing as well, further proving that they can play with anyone when they have to come to Iowa.
Starting in 2017, the nation saw a 55-24 Iowa rout over No. 6 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes began the day with a pick-six on the first play of the game and never looked back on their way to a resounding win.
Throwback Thursday to Amani Hooker’s pick-6 on the first play of the game against No. 6 Ohio State (btw that game ended with Iowa winning 55-24 cough) pic.twitter.com/gvYYyFbTWg
In 2019, Iowa welcomed in undefeated Minnesota for a night kickoff at Kinnick that featured alternate blackout uniforms and encouraged fans to do the same in black Hawkeye gear.
The Golden Gophers were ranked No. 9 in the country. Iowa came out of the gates and rapidly scored on their first three drives. This propelled them to a lead that was enough to hold off Minnesota’s attempt at a comeback.
Iowa was able to not just put water in the boat, but take away P.J. Fleck’s oars and stop the Minnesota boat from any more rowing in 2019 with a 23-19 victory followed by a field storming.
The 2021 season saw two additional ranked foes fall at the hands of Iowa. The season started with an absolute dismantling of No. 17 Indiana. This game saw two pick-sixes by Riley Moss as Iowa discarded of the Hoosiers in a dominant 34-6 win.
The most memorable game of the 2021 season was Iowa welcoming in No. 4 Penn State. If there was ever a moment to describe the Kinnick Stadium crowd, it can be summed up by causing three consecutive false start penalties by the Nittany Lions. The crowd was deafening to the point Penn State couldn’t get the ball snapped.
This performance by Iowa that took guts to come back from a first-half deficit drew praise from national media. It put Kinnick on the map nationally and is giving Iowa the applause it deserves. Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN’s College Gameday spoke about the environment being one of the hardest to play in and how it changed the outcome of the game.
Congratulations @HawkeyeFootball on a HUGE WIN!! Kinnick Stadium continues to be one of the toughest places to play in the country! Hawks fans helped make a difference.
Iowa will welcome seven opponents to Kinnick Stadium this fall and should get another chance at one or two ranked opponents with Michigan and Wisconsin coming to town. Kinnick Stadium is loud. It is intimidating. It is where teams better be ready for a 12-round fist fight.
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Are the Iowa Hawkeyes about to play football in front of full home stadiums or are they just not committing to cutting ticket sales yet?
We’ve heard from most different levels when it comes to the amount of fans in the stands for college football games in 2020.
Early on we were going to be lucky to get college football played at all in 2020, something that we’re certainly not out of the woods on yet.
Then it was very limited crowds reserved for perhaps the closest family members only.
Then it was said to include at least students.
Then it was Iowa State unveiling a plan to sell roughly 30,000 season tickets and no single game sales for their 61,000 seat stadium.
Now the state of Iowa has a university that isn’t ruling out playing in front of a full house just yet as University of Iowa Gary Barta met with reporters this week and says they’re planning on opening up Kinnick Stadium this fall.
“We have 100 more days (until Iowa kick off) and by then, my guess is we’re going to learn a lot between now and then,” Barta said. “My staff and I are still planning for several different scenarios and the scenarios we plan for, can change by the day, by the hour, by the week, but as of today, we are still planning to open Kinnick up and have as many fans that want to join us, join us.” – Iowa AD Gary Barta
It sounds great and optimistic but the more Barta spoke the less likely it seemed that Iowa will actually be playing in front of capacity crowds, either.
“We’re having to plan for something less that that,” Barta said. “Whether it’s 75 percent or 50 percent or something less than 100. We haven’t at all let go the possibility of 100 percent. We’re realistic. We’re not expecting to have sellouts for every game by any stretch. But as of right now, that’s still one of the models that we’re planning. It’s all going to be based on health and safety of our student athletes, coaches and our staff that will be working the game or playing the game. We’ll make sure that they’re ready to go from a safety standpoint and then for our fans.” – Barta
So there, the University of Iowa isn’t ruling out playing in front of a capacity crowd at some point this season.
They just don’t exactly sound very optimistic about the possibilities of it, either.
Stay tuned, the only sure thing I know about anything this year is that it will probably only get crazier and more confusing before we get any actual resolution.
If you’re a fan of college football or early 20th century architecture, come along for a nostalgic visit to these 32 legendary, on-campus stadiums across America. From the Big House in Ann Arbor to an intimate venue like Peden Field in Athens, Ohio, …
If you’re a fan of college football or early 20th century architecture, come along for a nostalgic visit to these 32 legendary, on-campus stadiums across America. From the Big House in Ann Arbor to an intimate venue like Peden Field in Athens, Ohio, these stadiums hark back to the Golden Age of American sports.
Put these oldest college stadiums on your bucket list, load up the SUV and catch a college game in one of these iconic venues.
32. Sanford Stadium, University of Georgia (1929)
Sanford Stadium — Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Dedicated on October 12, 1929, when Georgia hosted Yale, Sanford Stadium is known for its numerous architecturally pleasing expansions that have been carefully planned to fit with its existing “look”. 92,746 watch games played “Between the Hedges”, the privet hedges surrounding the field. The sacred hedges were removed in 1996 to accommodate the Olympic soccer competition.
31. Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke University (1929)
Dedicated October 5, 1929, Wallace Wade seats 40,000. Originally named Duke Stadium, it was renamed in 1967 for football coach Wallace Wade. A just completed major renovation greatly modernized the stadium. The stadium was the site of the 1942 Rose Bowl, weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
30. Kinnick Stadium, University of Iowa (1929)
Formerly known as Iowa Stadium, Kinnick Stadium opened October 5, 1929. It currently holds 69,250 people. The stadium was renamed in 1972 for Nile Kinnick, the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner, who died in service to his country in World War II.
29. Peden Stadium, Ohio University (1929)
Situated on the banks of the scenic Hocking River in Athens, Peden Stadium has been the home of the Bobcats since October 2, 1929. Today, it has a capacity of 24,000 and is the oldest football venue in the Mid-American Conference.
28. Kenan Stadium, University of North Carolina (1927)
Kenan Stadium opened on November 12, 1927. Built at a cost of $303,000 with a seating capacity of 24,000, the stadium today holds 51,000. Set among the pine trees of south campus, it is one of the most scenic stadiums in the South.
27. Kyle Field, Texas A&M University (1927)
Kyle Field has been home to the Aggies in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a complete stadium since October 24, 1927. “Home of the 12th Man,” it seats 102,733, largest in the SEC. In 2014, Kyle Field’s hosted the largest attended SEC and state of Texas football game, when 110,631 witnessed Texas A&M’s loss to Ole Miss.
26. Michigan Stadium, University of Michigan (1927)
Known as “The Big House”, Michigan Stadium was dedicated in October 1, 1927. It is the largest stadium in the United States and third largest in the world. Its official capacity is 107,601, but it has hosted crowds in excess of 115,000.
25. Ryan Field, Northwestern University (1926)
Home of the Wildcats since October 2, 1926, Ryan Field holds 47,130 people. Prior to 1997, the stadium was named Dyche Stadium, for William Dyche, Class of 1882. It was renamed in honor of the family of Patrick G. Ryan, in recognition of the family’s contributions to Northwestern.
24. Faurot Field At Memorial Stadium, University of Missouri (1926)
71,168 capacity Memorial Stadium opened October 2, 1926 as a 25,000-seat, single level, horseshoe stadium. The original horseshoe is completed by a grass berm, famous for the giant block “M” made of painted white stones behind the endzone. In 1972, the playing surface was named Faurot Field in honor of longtime coach Don Faurot.
23. Nippert Stadium, University of Cincinnati (1924)
Home to the Bearcats in rudimentary form since 1901, and as a complete stadium since September 27, 1924, Nippert Stadium seats 40,000 fans.
22. Michie Stadium, US Military Academy (1924)
Michie Stadium, the home of the Army Black Knights, opened in 1924 and seats 38,000. Because of the view offered by its location overlooking the Hudson River and the medieval-style campus below, it is one of the nation’s most scenic sport venues.
21. Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, University of Texas (1924)
Memorial Stadium has been home to the Longhorns since November 27, 1924. The current capacity of 100,119 makes the stadium the second largest in the state of Texas, the largest in the Big 12, eighth largest stadium in the United States, and the 11th largest in the world.
Previewing Saturday’s Illinois at Iowas college football matchup, with college football betting odds, picks and best bets
The Illinois Fighting Illini (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten West) and Iowa Hawkeyes (7-3, 4-3 West) lock horns at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City at noon ET on Saturday.
We analyze the Illinois-Iowa odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.
Illinois at Iowa: Three things you need to know
1. Illinois has won four in a row, moving to 6-4 to secure bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014 when they appeared in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
2. The Illini have won six games despite the fact they rank 112th in the FBS in total yards (333.7) and 108th in passing yards (183.4).
3. Iowa QB Nate Stanley has passed for 2,331 yards, 14 passing touchdowns and five interceptions with just one rushing score.
Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM!
Iowa (-834) is favored by more than two touchdowns, and the Hawkeyes should be able to get it done at home. However, the Illini have surprised and defied the odds, winning in this spot before. I expect the Hawkeyes to win, but it will be a one-possession game.
New to sports betting? A $10 wager on Iowa to win would return a profit of $1.20.
ILLINOIS (+14.5, -106) continues to get no respect from Vegas. Despite their winning ways lately, the Illini have been a double-digit underdog in six of their past seven outings, winning three games outright while going 5-1 ATS. Illinois is 5-0 ATS in the past five games overall, too, so why bet against the Illini now?
The UNDER (46.5, -110) is the dominant trend for both sides lately. The under is 4-1 in the past five on the road for Illinois, while going 4-0-1 in Iowa’s past five at Kinnick. The under is also 6-1 in Iowa’s past seven league games and 5-1 in the past six against teams with a winning overall mark.
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Previewing Saturday’s Minnesota at Iowa college football matchup, with NCAA football betting odds, picks and best bets
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) travel to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City to battle the Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-3) in a Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. ET) game with conference and playoff implications. The Golden Gophers head into the weekend ranked No. 7 in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA Today Sports. Iowa is ranked 22nd.
We analyze the Minnesota-Iowa odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.
Minnesota at Iowa: Three things you need to know
Iowa has won four in a row and six of the last seven in this series. The Hawkeyes won last year’s meeting 48-31. The 2019 Iowa squad started out 4-0 but is just 2-3 since. But the three losses have been by a combined 14 points.
Offensively, Iowa was at its best early in the season. Minnesota has been at its best since then. For the season, the Gophers have averaged 6.4 yards per play — and have eclipsed that mark in five of their last six games.
Minnesota’s schedule ranks as the easiest of any team in the Power 5. The Gophers’ game control — especially of late — has been impressive. But Saturday’s game will be the team’s second straight against a tough, physical team … and only the second road game since Sept. 28 for Minnesota.
Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM!
Playing the IOWA -154 side here. Analytic indicators support the idea of more to come from a Hawkeye offense that has a talent advantage in the trenches. And defensively, Iowa’s stinginess has helped the team go 14-5 straight up over its last 19. And the Hawkeyes have been through more toe-to-toe moments and against more level competition. If it comes down to a field-goal exchange, the home side has the edge there, as well.
New to sports betting? A $10 wager on Iowa returns a profit of $6.49.
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