Iowa 31, Northern Iowa 23: Jake Rudock threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns and seven rushers combined for 151 yards as the host Hawkeyes avoided an upset in the opener for both teams.

Mark Weisman and LeShun Daniels Jr. both scored touchdowns on the ground while Tevaun Smith and Damond Powell scored through the air for Iowa (1-0), which was outgained by its in-state FCS foe by a 405-401 margin. Rudock was 31-for-41 and chipped in 17 yards on the ground as the Hawkeyes won their season opener for the 13th time in 14 years.

Sawyer Kollmorgen completed 17-of-37 passes for 380 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for the Panthers (0-1), who were whistled for 16 penalties for 128 yards. Running back David Johnson recorded five catches for 203 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown , and Kevin Vereen Jr. finished with three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown for Northern Iowa, which has lost 16 straight in the series.

Kollmorgen and Johnson hooked up for the 70-yard score with 9:31 left in the third to pull the Panthers within 24-20, and the visitors added a field goal to cut the deficit to a point early in the fourth. After an exchange of punts, Rudock dumped a screen pass to Powell for a 12-yard score with 6:50 left and Kollmorgen's fourth-down attempt near midfield with just over a minute left was intercepted to ice it.

Iowa needed just 1:16 to open the scoring on a 13-yard run by Daniels, but Northern Iowa answered with 10 straight points, including Kollmorgen's 23-yard scoring strike to Vereen. Weisman capped a 17-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run for a 14-10 Hawkeyes lead late in the second and Rudock found Smith for a 24-13 advantage less than five minutes after halftime.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Panthers committed 15 consecutive penalties before the Hawkeyes received their first early in the fourth. ... Northern Iowa's lone win in the series was in 1898, but it has lost the last three by a total of just 20 points. ... WR Kevonte Martin-Manley had eight catches for 62 yards to lead the Hawkeyes, who saw 13 different players record at least one grab.