Iowa junior running back Toren Young runs the ball upfield against Middle Tennessee at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Iowa City. 20190927 Iowavsmt Bryon Houlgrave/The Register, Des Moines Register via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Iowa Announces Honorary Captain vs. UMass

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI
By Jennifer Streeter | Last updated Sep 13, 2025 3:00 PM ET

Former Iowa Hawkeyes running back Toren Young will serve as an honorary captain for Saturday's game against UMass.

Young was announced as an honorary captain on Thursday. Kickoff is slated for 7:40 p.m. EST at Kinnick Stadium. The game against the Minutemen follows up Iowa's 16-13 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 6. This will be the first meeting in history between UMass and the Hawkeyes.

Despite the fact that both teams have been playing football since the 1890s, UMass only made the jump to the FBS level in 2011 while Iowa has been in the Big Ten for over a century.

Toren Young Named Honorary Captain

The Iowa alum will accompany the Iowa captains to midfield for Saturday’s pregame coin toss and be with the Hawkeyes in the locker room before and after the game.

Our honorary captain this Saturday is @Toren28Young! @LegacyHawks x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/bmdg1CCXSp
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 11, 2025

"Yeah, Toren! One of my favorite Hawks ever," said one fan in response to the announcement.

Young was a three-year letterman and helped the Hawkeyes win three bowl games — the Pinstripe Bowl (2017), the Outback Bowl (2019) and the Holiday Bowl (2019) — across 2017-19. The Wisconsin native amassed 1,262 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns (eight rushing) in 32 career games. His 1,262 career yards rank 37th in program history.

His single-season best came during his junior year (2018). That year Young totaled 637 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

Young previously served as a game captain four times in 2019 as a senior.

Since graduation from Iowa, Young went on to get his Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in educational leadership and policy analysis. He is currently a Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Madison Metropolitan School District.

The upcoming game against UMass will be the last matchup for Iowa before they begin conference play. Iowa is projected to win heavily, with wide receiver Kaden Wetjen saying the roster is looking forward to responding to adversity against the Minutemen.

"We know [football] is an imperfect game and not everything is going to go your way," Wetjen said. "And I think you've seen in the past, we have a pretty good tradition of responding after adversity ... the standards we have in plans ... since January we've been working and know the team that we have. I have no doubt we will respond to adversity."

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