Iowa fans can’t wait to see what five-star defensive back Xavier Nwankpa does next.
A Southeast Polk product out of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, the in-state star showcased just a taste of what might be to come in his first career start in the Hawkeyes’ 21-0 TransPerfect Music City Bowl shutout of Kentucky.
Nwankpa reeled in a Destin Wade pass for his first career interception and proceeded to race 52 yards for a pick-six. The 6-foot-2, 210 pound safety also tallied eight tackles against the Wildcats, which was the second-highest total in the contest for Iowa.
On Thursday, Nwankpa went ahead and treated fans to a behind the scenes look at practice by tossing on the microphone. With Nwankpa mic’d up, Iowa Hawkeyes fans get a look at the sophomore defensive back singing, interacting with his teammates as he gets his work in and a special cameo from a famous Hawk.
X Mic’d Up 🎙️@xaviernwankpa01 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/sgUlDQLcpW
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) August 17, 2023
Nwankpa is listed as Iowa’s starting strong safety and will be an integral piece in Hawkeye defensive coordinator Phil Parker’s defensive backfield. The sophomore joins a group of safeties that also includes Sebastian Castro, Quinn Schulte and Koen Entringer.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz talked about how Nwankpa is progressing and the group of safeties recently at Iowa’s media day.
“He’s doing a good job. He’s out there competing, and still on the back end, (Quinn) Schulte is the veteran guy if you will, kind of the stabilizer right now, and then we’ve got a bunch of other guys competing.
“Xavier is doing a good job and making good progress. (Koen) Entringer is the same way. He’s doing a good job, as well Castro has been practicing well, played his best in the bowl game. That’s kind of us. We’ve got some young guys coming along, and we’ve got an older guy like Castro who finally got some traction in that bowl game and really looked like a Big Ten safety, not just a specialist, if you will. So I think we have good competition back there,” Ferentz said.
Iowa kicks off its season in under two weeks on Sept. 2 when it welcomes in Utah State at 11 a.m. on FS1 from Kinnick Stadium.
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