By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Trevor Lauck, all 6-foot-5, 310 pounds of him, likes to eat, and hang out with his fellow offensive linemen on the Iowa football team.

So for Thanksgiving dinner, Iowa’s starting left tackle organized a chow fest for the Iowa offensive linemen, all 17 of them, at Big Grove in Iowa City.

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski also was part of the guest list.

“They had more food than we could eat, honestly,” said Lauck, a third-year sophomore from Indianapolis. “They kept brining it out. I was a little nervous at first because they only brought out one thing of turkey and one thing of stuffing and one thing of potatoes, or whatever.

“But then as we demolished those, they kept bringing them out, and before you know it, they had more food than we could eat. And then after that they brought about six pumpkin pies out and we only took down about three of those.”

It should come as no surprise that food consumption is a popular topic and activity for Iowa’s offensive linemen.

Sometimes, it even turns into a competition.

“We did have a bratwurst eating contest this offseason and Lucas Allgeyer won,” Lauck said.

For those not familiar with Lucas Allgeyer, he’s a 6-5, 300-pound freshman from St. Louis, Missouri.

He represents the future on the Iowa offensive line.

He also apparently has a little Joey Chestnut in him; Joey Chestnut being the person who once ate 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

“I think he had close to 10 in like a couple minutes,” Lauck said of Allgeyer.

Allgeyer’s name came up when Lauck was asked which of the Iowa offensive linemen can eat the most.

Lauck noted that Allgeyer won the bratwurst eating competition against a field that included Iowa senior right tackle Gennings Dunker, who is 6-5 and tips the scales at 315 pounds.

“I’d have to go with him just because of that,”Lauck said of Allgeyer. “Because Dunker and a lot of the other guys were participating in that and he won.

“So until somebody takes that from him.”

The Iowa offensive line is a popular topic right now with graduate center Logan Jones having won the 2025 Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation’s top collegiate center; with all five starters earning at least third-team all-Big Ten, including three first-team picks, and with the next wave of leaders, which includes Lauck, ready to step up.

Iowa (8-4) will face 10-2 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31 in Tampa, Florida, and the performance of the Iowa offensive line will go a long way in determining the outcome because it always does.

It’s hard to think of many games that Iowa has won under Kirk Ferentz in which the offensive line performed poorly.

And while that could be said about most teams, Iowa is built in a way that relies heavily on staying ahead of the chains, but without the benefit of explosive plays.

That’s why a strong case could be made for Lauck and his cohorts to win the 2025 Joe Moore, which goes to the nations top collegiate offensive line.

The other two finalists are explosive-play specialists Indiana and Oregon, so no matter what happens, a Big Ten offensive line will be the winner.

But it just seems that the Iowa offensive line has had to overcome the most obstacles to reach this level.

When asked to state Iowa’s case, Lauck said:

“Just watch our games. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Iowa won the Joe Moore Award in 2016, but the current offensive line compares favorably to that group based on individual awards.

Iowa had three offensive linemen make third-team All-Big Ten in 2016: Cole Croston, James Daniels and Sean Welsh, whereas the current Iowa offensive had three make first-team All-Big Ten – Logan jones, Beau Stephens and Gennings Dunker – and two earn All-America honors in Jones and Stephens.

This isn’t trying to minimize what the 2016 Iowa offensive line accomplished, but rather an attempt to show just how much the current offensive line has accomplished.

Iowa has lost four games against ranked opponents this season by a combined 15 points.

That will be the storyline that many take from this season, regardless of what happens in the bowl game, and that’s unfortunate because it sort of takes away from what this offensive line has accomplished.

This success story didn’t happen overnight, though.

It’s been a grind, sometimes, a humbling and frustrating grind filled with growing pains, setbacks and disappointment.

The stars of today weren’t always stars on the Iowa offensive line.

Jones, Stephens and Dunker struggled at times as underclassmen because they needed more time to grow physically and mentally. They had to take their lumps before they could start delivering them.

But they all have stayed the course, and that’s a tribute to them, and to Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett and head coach Kirk Ferentz, whose area of expertise is the offensive line.

Part of the reason they have stayed the course is because of the togetherness and camaraderie that is present within the Iowa offensive line culture.

That culture is easy to identify as you listen to Lauck explain why he organized the Thanksgiving dinner.

“It was right before our last home game and I just feel like the seniors have done a whole lot for us,” said Lauck, who made third-team all-Big Ten as a first-year starter. “They’ve done so much for the program, both on and off the field.

“So it was just kind of a tribute to them, just one last big fancy ordeal before the last game in Kinnick.”

Lauck believes that the bond that connects the Iowa offensive linemen off the field also helps to make them play better on the field.

“It’s super genuine and it all starts with coach Barnett and coach Ferentz,” Lauck said. “They know that the tighter a team is, or the offensive, the better they are. And I feel like that helps us on the field for sure.

“We spend so much time off the field together, and when we get to the field, we’re just like brothers out there.”

Brothers also like to tease each other, and have fun at each other’s expense and the Iowa offensive linemen are no different.

Lauck told the media that the Iowa offensive linemen planned to have a gift exchange for Christmas, and whomever purchases what is voted as the worst gift would have to face the consequences, which in this case, is riding a sled down a hill while wearing very little clothing.

“So he’ll go down the hill and everyone else is throwing snowballs and stuff like that,” Lauck said.

That kind of fun isn’t the same as sharing a Thanksgiving meal together, but what both gatherings have in common is that they bring the offensive linemen together.

These guys all want the same thing, which is to achieve stardom and help Iowa win games.

But only five can be starters on the offensive line, which means about a dozen have to accept not being starters, and they also have to support the starters because the team always comes first.

That probably isn’t easy to do since all of the Iowa offensive linemen have egos and were stars in high school or they wouldn’t be Iowa offensive linemen.

But they seem to make it work, partly because of the culture that exists within the Iowa offensive line community in that it has to be easier watching somebody that you like and respect play in front of you.

There was a time not so long ago when the Iowa offensive line wasn’t being celebrated and showered with individual awards. Barnett was also being scrutinized as recently as the 2023 season when the Iowa offense performed at historically low levels.

Lauck was reminded of those tough times and then was asked how the offensive line has climbed to where it is today.

“It all starts with coach Ferentz, trusting him and it trickles down to coach Barnett and trusting him,” Lauck said. “We all came here for a reason and that’s because we believe in coach Ferentz and what they teach and how they teach it.

“It’s really just blocking out the noise, keeping our head down, working hard and really just trusting literally everything that they say and they tell us. Just knowing that it’s a process and just keep getting better through the years and as everything goes by.”

It also helps to keep believing as Lauck did even during those tough times when he first arrived.

“I’ve always believed in us,” Lauck said. “I don’t know if the outside would think the same. But when I was freshman, I could tell we had special guys, not only on the field but off the field, too; really great leaders, and I knew it was only a matter of time before everyone got what they deserve.”

Lauck admires how Logan Jones has silenced his critics by becoming arguably the top center in college football.

Jones came to Iowa as a defensive tackle and then switched to center in 2022; following the same path as former Iowa All-America center Tyler Linderbaum.

Jones struggled at times during those early days and months, but he stuck with it, trusted the process and benefitted from being part of a strong culture.

“A couple years ago people were giving him crap and he didn’t listen to any of that,” Lauck said. “He just kept his head down and worked. And it just kind of shows for the younger guys, too, you don’t have to listen to anyone and what they say. Just keep your head down and work and listen to coach Ferentz and coach Barnett and good things will happen.”