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IOWA CITY, Iowa-- It didn't take long for the Hawkeyes to dominate the overmatched Northern Iowa Panthers. Iowa raced out to a 28-0 lead in the first 17 minutes of the game and never looked back. Kirk Ferentz and his squad defeated UNI 55-0. The Hawkeyes used a bunch of different combinations of players to allow some depth pieces an opportunity to get some good in-game snaps.  Here are HawkeyeInsider's observations throughout the contest.  -- Iowa could do whatever they wanted on the first drive. Nathan McNeil had a 16-yard catch off the first play of the game. They went loose with some of their lineup combinations and let Braeden Jackson break off for a 14-yard run. Second-year tight end Mason Woods had his first career catch to put Iowa inside the two-yard line before McNeil rushed it in. Iowa did whatever it wanted to on the first drive and built confidence with some of the depth pieces.  -- Jackson's day wouldn't slow down any time soon. On the 24-yard line, Jackson sprinted right by Northern Iowa's linebacker corps and caught a beautiful ball from Hank Brown for the score. That was Jackson's first touchdown as he continues to make a case to move up Iowa's depth chart.  -- The Hawkeyes could do whatever they wanted offensively. Hank Brown was 10 for 10 totaling 121 yards and a score at the end of the first quarter. Iowa had 243 yards of offense through the first 15 minutes that was capped off with a 48-yard touchdown run by Xavier Williams. Williams and McNeil needed a big game to get their confidence up and it didn't take long for them to feel themselves. Jackson's big play capability could also be giving them a run for their money on the depth chart.  -- Addison Ostrenga has been through hell over the last calendar year trying to get his body right to make an impact on Iowa football. With 12:59 remaining in the second quarter, Brown found Ostrenga for a tight end screen that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown. It was his first score since September 14, 2024 against Troy. Following his season-ending achilles injury, Ostrenga is feeling better than he has in quite some time.  -- Jacob Wallace has been a rising player throughout the past year and he made a big play on Saturday when he intercepted Jaxon Dailey in the second quarter. It was Wallace's first career interception and helped set Iowa up in opposing territory.  -- Williams used his strength to overpower several Panthers on Saturday. With 10:06 remaining in the second quarter, he bust through the trenches, shook off a couple of wimpy tacklers and found the end-zone from 14-yards out. Iowa was off to a 35-0 lead in the first 19:54 and had 323 yards of offense. Williams had 103 yards on four carries.  -- A scary moment for Iowa's defensive line as Bryce Hawthorne went down in the second quarter and immediately grabbed at his knee. He was down for a minute before managing to get up and walking off. Hawthorne, Iowa's most experienced defensive lineman, was able to put some weight on his leg while walking off. No true update at this time, but he did miss the rest of the game. Hawthorne went to the medical tent before going on the stationary bike. He did put on his helmet and appeared to be good to go.  -- Jeremy Hecklinski did get some action in the second quarter but couldn't get anything going on his first drive. On third down, Hecklinski missed the linebacker blitzing on the inside and went down with a sack. Hecklinski would bounce-back and help lead a scoring drive to go up 42-0 at the end of the first half. On Hecklinski's first drive of the second half, he missed that same blitz across the middle and took another sack.  -- Williams had a shaky start to the year and was stuffed at the line of scrimmage in the first couple of games. He showed his strength and coordination repeatedly against Northern Iowa. He raced in from 37-yards for his third score of the day with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter to put Iowa up 49-0. The right side was wide-open but he shook off a wimpy tackler and managed to stay in bounds to take it to the house. Iowa has felt good about the running back depth this offseason and the young backs are continuing to gain confidence as the snaps go by.  -- It would have been worrisome if Iowa didn't get constant pressure on Northern Iowa today in the backfield. They were constantly harassing Dailey throughout the day. The Pleasant Hill, Iowa native constantly had his back on the ground. With 4:22 remaining in the third quarter, Dailey was pressured and had to get rid of the ball, which resulted in Rashad Godfrey's first career interception. Iowa looked to take advantage of opportunities in the passing game and were making things happen.  -- Jackson's big day wasn't done in the fourth quarter. He made two beautiful cutbacks and outran Northern Iowa to the end-zone. The walk-on back went 62-yards to the house and finished with more than 100 yards rushing on the day. Iowa had three different running backs go for more than 100 yards for the first time since 1983.