In an Iowa football receiver room that is fluctuating amid inexperience and ineligibility, Jacob Gill has been a hopeful target.
After three seasons with Northwestern, the 6-foot, 185-pound third-year joined Wildcat quarterback Brendan Sullivan in transferring to the Hawkeyes this offseason.
The move came after a troublesome year offensively for Iowa, which hit rock-bottom in the FBS in terms of yards per game last season. Such an anemic scheme saw just two touchdowns to receivers in 14 total games.
Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Gill’s arrival in Iowa City quickly caught the attention of Iowa starting cornerback TJ Hall, who noted the newcomer’s shiftiness and thus wanted to test his pass-catching abilities.
“And then he caught everything,” Hall said. “Just seeing him at first, I was like, ‘Man, I feel like this guy’s going to be a big playmaker for us,’ and so far he is. So hopefully we can continue that.”
It’s not that Gill was a receiving powerhouse in Evanston. But he certainly brings much-needed experience to Iowa City this season.
In 2021, Gill played in all 12 games for the Wildcats, recording eight catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. His longest grab was a 31-yarder against Duke in September.
The next season, Gill broke out into two starts while again playing in all 12 games, recording a catch in seven of those games for 99 yards and an average of 14.1 yards per catch with one touchdown.
After an injury saw him play in just four games in 2023, Gill is now healthy, quick, and proving it as a starting receiver for the Hawkeyes.
“Even as an older player in my career, you always want to improve,” Gill said. “I always look for ways to be better.”
Such was evidenced in the Hawkeyes’ 40-0 win in Week 1 over Illinois State at Kinnick Stadium on Aug. 31.
Last year’s breakout receiver Kaleb Brown was absent due to a suspension for an OWI charge over the summer, and second-in-command Seth Anderson was sidelined with an injury.
So the Iowa offense was dependent on Gill — alongside freshman Reece Vander Zee and tight ends Luke Lachey and Addison Ostrenga — to step up and move the offense past the Redbirds and build confidence in its abilities.
Gill delivered.
Despite just three receptions, the wideout totaled 46 yards and continued his Wildcat ways with a long of 31 yards.
That snag was a second-half touchdown that sent Kinnick Stadium into a frenzy.
Although the offense stalled for the first half, it adopted a quick tempo to open the second. And with 7:54 left in the third, up 12-0, quarterback Cade McNamara lined up in the shotgun with Gill in the right slot.
McNamara then rolled out to the right as Gill pressed hard up the middle, the former stopping and settling on his back foot as a defender approached and launching a cross-field spiral to Gill on a slight slant.
Breaking through two defensive backs, Gill bent down for the ball placed just to the right of his hip, rolling down onto the turf as he brought in the catch — but popping back up and flexing to the crowd that roared in celebration of six.
“I’ll just say our playmaking ability and our connections with the quarterbacks — we built a great bond with each other within the room and within the offense in general,” Gill said. “So that just gives you all the confidence in the world, just knowing that you can go out there and fight for those guys.”
Beyond the touchdown, Gill displayed tremendous ball security as he was frequently rocked by Redbird defenders yet maintained control of the catch through the contact.
“It’s just the mentality,” said Iowa starting linebacker Nick Jackson, often on the giving end of such hits. “There’s no shock in that. He’s a hard worker. He’s a competitor. And he’s a heck of a football player.”
Moreover, Gill’s teammates on both sides of the ball praised him for his pride in blocking for the ball carrier — an overlooked skill that’s important for wideouts to build an offense, especially one that relies on the run game like the Hawkeyes’ scheme.
“Oh, man — Gill’s a tough receiver,” Hall said. “He takes blocking very seriously. And a lot of receivers don’t do that, but Jacob Gill — he takes that very seriously … I love going against him.”
“I’ve just got to shout out Jacob Gill — he’s one of my favorite guys to watch,” Iowa offensive lineman Mason Richman added. “If I’m not in and have seen the play clip a couple of times, I’ll watch him block because he’s doing a really good job for us.”
Even with Brown back for Saturday’s matchup with Iowa State, Gill is still listed as a starting wide receiver.
“[I’m] just going in every day and putting the work in, taking these days to come,” Gill said of his progress. “Stacking days has been important for me, and as long as I just keep doing that, I’ll continue to better myself, better the guys around me, and just better the team. So that’s the mindset I take into it every day.”
The Hawkeye offense will need to find him open again — not only to beat an in-state rival but also to add momentum to an offense that needs to stay awake if it wants to play into 2025.