WR Tony Diaz dazzles in Hawkeye debut

Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver Tony Diaz became a viral sensation for the Hawkeyes during the offseason. The hype continuously built through clips shared on the Hawkeye football social media accounts and interviews with players and coaches, especially head coach Kirk Ferentz at the Big Ten media days. But all the hype was just words. Hawkeye fans wanted to see Diaz do his thing on a Saturday, when it mattered.

With that pressure, Diaz dazzled. He had seven receptions for 84 yards and ten rushing yards on top of that. Nearly becoming the first Hawkeye wide receiver to amass 100 yards in a game since 2024 - Jacob Gill had 138 vs UCLA.

"It's not too much, it's not pressure, just going out there and doing me," said Diaz. "They know what I can do so, I'm glad that they have that trust in me."

Diaz started his third collegiate season on Saturday. His previous two seasons, he starred at UT- Rio Grande Valley. When he transferred to Iowa, he spent time in the spring practice sessions recovering from an early injury.

"As dumb as it sounds, he's really aggressive catching balls," said Ferentz. "He tries really hard to do it and sometimes his own detriment, maybe, with the injury stuff."

During his big performance on Saturday, Diaz showed off his athleticism. His ability to jump, wide catch radius and agility stand out. Backing up the praise from offensive coordinator Tim Lester in August when he said Diaz and Evan James - the Hawkeye wide receiver that transferred from Furman - brought skills that past wide receiving rooms haven't had.

"When the ball is thrown to me, I'm going to try and make a play on it," said Diaz. "(The quarterbacks) put the ball where it needs to be so when they do that it makes it easy on me."

It's why Diaz seems to already be a favorite target of both quarterbacks, Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown. Diaz was targeted 13 times on Saturday, the most on the team.

"He's a stud athlete, I think everybody knows that, but he's also a smart player. He's got really good football IQ and he's seeing defenses well," said Brown. "So just being able to be on the same page as you were saying and know that he's an athlete and I put the ball in his area, he's going to come down with it, but at the same time he's not making dumb decisions and he knows where to be."

That's how it went on the first score of the Hawkeye season during the first week of the season. Facing third and goal inside the five-yard line, Brown threw it toward Diaz. The ball found the ground, but so did a yellow penalty flag. Diaz drew enough contact for a defensive pass-interference call, resetting the offense to first and goal. Shortly after, Brown went after Diaz again. He threw it high, where only Diaz could snatch it, and that is exactly what the man known as the "boogeyman" did.

"When I got in there it was like, it was just crazy, I was like, I just scored like I really didn't know what to do," said Diaz. "So I just spun the ball and started dancing."

Diaz will look to back up his strong start this week vs Iowa State. That game kicks off Saturday night at 6:30.

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