The Iowa football team announced starting times and television information for four of its 2012 home games on Thursday.
Iowa’s home games against Minnesota on Sept. 29 and Nebraska on Nov. 23 will both begin at 11 a.m., as will the Hawkeyes’ road contests at Michigan State on Oct. 13 and at Northwestern on Oct. 27.
The four games join Iowa’s Oct. 20 home match against Penn State — a 7 p.m. start — on the team’s announced schedule. Kickoff times for Iowa’s seven other regular-season contests will be revealed at a later date.
Penn State had previously been designated Iowa’s only prime-time opponent of the season.
The Hawkeyes’ game against Minnesota will serve as the Black and Gold’s Homecoming contest in both team’s first Big Ten game of the season. Iowa is 6-9 all-time against Minnesota in homecoming games at Kinnick Stadium, but the Gophers came out on top, 22-21, when the two teams met in Minneapolis last year.
Iowa will travel to Evanston, Ill., to be Northwestern’s Homecoming opponent. The Hawkeyes beat the Wildcats last year, 41-31, for their first win over Northwestern in four years.
The Minnesota, Michigan State, and Northwestern bouts will all be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2, or the Big Ten Network.
Iowa will host Nebraska in the second installment of the Heroes Game on the day after Thanksgiving; the Cornhuskers beat the Hawkeyes, 20-7, in Lincoln, Neb., last season. The second Heroes Game, as the first was, will be televised on ABC.
— by Seth Roberts