By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – From being considered too small to play for Nebraska to now being a finalist for the Outland Trophy, Iowa graduate center Logan Jones represents the true core of Hawkeye football under Kirk Ferentz.

Iowa recruited Jones as a defensive lineman out of Council Bluffs, which by the way is Nebraska country, but then Kirk Ferentz’s coaching instincts took over.

Ferentz, a former offensive line coach, thought Jones had more upside as a center, and as so often is the case, Kirk Ferentz was right, of course, with a lot help from Iowa offensive coach George Barnett along the way.

Jones switched from defensive tackle to center in the spring of 2022 and the rest is history that continues to unfold as the 6-foot-3, 302-pound Jones will play in his final regular-season game as a Hawkeye against Nebraska on Friday in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Friday’s game will be Jones’ 50th career start for the Hawkeyes.

His switch from defensive tackle to center came not long after former Iowa All-America center Tyler Linderbaum had made the exact same switch shortly after his freshman season in 2018.

Linderbaum would go on to win the Rimington Award as the nation’s top collegiate center in 2021 and the Solon native now plays for Baltimore Ravens after having been picked in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

“It is very similar, I’ve heard that a lot,” Jones said of his and Linderbaum’s Hawkeye careers. “The transition from defensive line, to o-line and just all the stuff, it’s pretty cool. He’s a mentor and somebody I can look up to and somebody’s film that I watch a lot.

“I know if I were to text him and have a question, he’d be able to answer it. Man, he truly is special and just what he’s done for this program.  And to be able to step up and play center here after him; it wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always the best. But the continual growth and development, and coach Barnett always believing in me, it’s pretty cool.”

Even though he grew up in the heart of Cornhusker country, Jones didn’t draw much attention from Nebraska, whose head coach at the time was Scott Frost.

Nebraska recruited Jones as a defensive lineman, as did Iowa.

But Kirk Ferentz’s staff made Jones more of a priority.

“You know I was right there on the border, but they didn’t really recruit me a whole lot,” Jones said of Nebraska. “They said I was a little too small to play there.

“But after I committed here, that’s when they decided to throw in an offer. So, yeah, pretty interesting.”

Nebraska apparently felt that Jones literally didn’t measure up as a defensive lineman, nor did they envision him playing center.

“You’re too small to play defensive line,” Jones remembers the Nebraska coaches saying.

Jones has gone from being motivated by Nebraska’s lack of interest to now being grateful that things have turned out the way they have as a Hawkeye.

“Back then I’d say definitely,” Jones said of being motivated by Nebraska doubting him. “But I’m beyond grateful they didn’t offer me. I got to experience coming here and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think I’d be the player I am today without the coaches and the support staff and everybody here. I’ve had the same staff my entire career here. So that’s special, man. And they’ve (Nebraska) had however many? So to be able to play for this program and the coaches, the teammates you get to play with, it’s special.

“But back then, I’d say 100-percent it motivated me.”

Jones comes from a family that is filled with Nebraska fans, and he grew up in a city that has more red and black than black and gold.

“There’s way more Nebraska fans,” Jones said of Council Bluffs. “There’s a whole lot of back and red going on over there.”

As for his family members that are Nebraska fans, Jones said his time as a Hawkeye has helped to shift allegiances

“I have some family members, they’re Nebraska fans,” Jones said. “My grandpa is a Nebraska fan.

“But he kind of got smart and I did, too. Once I committed to Iowa, they realized that if you want to start winning, you’ve got to support the Hawks. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Jones was right about the winning, considering Iowa has won nine of the last 10 games against Nebraska, including seven straight from 2015 to 2021.

Jones respects Nebraska as an opponent, but he also doesn’t hide his disdain for the Cornhuskers as a Big Ten border rival.

“That’s how rivalries should be,” Jones said. “They should hate us and we hate them. That’s the way it is, right.

“We respect the way they do things an respect what they’ve done thing the past couple years. They have a good football team. I respect them, but it’s fun. You play these football games to win them. And that’s exactly what we plan to do. It’s going to be tough, and they want to win the football game, too.”

Jones is among three starting offensive linemen for Iowa whose careers are about to end, along with senior right tackle Gennings Dunker and senior left guard Beau Stephens.

They have persevered through the daily grind and been through the battles together.

Kirk Ferentz was reminded about all the unique individual stories in Iowa’s senior class, including Jones’ position switch, while meeting with the media on Tuesday.

“Two of our three program goals are graduation and then maximizing your career,” Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. “You can’t do either one of those if you don’t stay the course.

“I have guys leave the program or whatever, you know, two years into it or three years into it, one year into it. It’s hard to graduate from Iowa if you leave, and it’s hard to maximize your career here. All those guys you mentioned are going to hit both those marks.

“They have graduated or are going to graduate, and then the other part of it is they’ve really maxed out their careers. Most of the guys you mentioned — all the guys. Let me rephrase that. All the guys you mentioned are playing their best football right now, which is paramount. If you are going to have a good team, you have to have guys playing their best when they’re older.”

 

Iowa (7-4, 5-3) vs. Nebraska (7-4, 4-4)

When: Friday, 11:o8 a.m.

Where: Lincoln, Nebraska, Memorial Stadium (85,458)

TV: CBS

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series: Friday’s game is the 56th meeting in the all-time series. Nebraska holds a 30-22-3 advantage in the series that began with a 22-0 Iowa victory in 1891. Iowa has won nine of the last 10 in the series, including seven-straight from 2015-21.

Iowa’s 56 points in 2017 in the 56-14 win were the most in the series’ 54-game history. Since that 42-point win, the last seven games have all been decided by seven points or less.

Iowa has won the last six meetings in Lincoln dating back to 2015, but the Huskers lead 15-8-1 all-time in contests played in Lincoln. Four of the six games were decided by a single possession.

The Hawkeyes have kicked a game-winning field goal to beat Nebraska four times since 2018 (Miguel Recinos, 2018; Keith Duncan, 2019; Marshall Meeder, 2023; Drew Stevens, (2024).

The 1999 Iowa-Nebraska game in Kinnick Stadium marked Kirk Ferentz’s first game as Iowa’s head coach.

The first 10 games in the series were played in either Omaha (eight games) or Council Bluffs (two games). The series was even at 4-4-2 in those 10 meetings