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A.J. Epenesa appreciating every moment at Kinnick, mentions decision about his future
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Riding the right leg of redshirt junior kicker Keith Duncan, the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini, 19-10, on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
Improving to 8-3 with the win, Iowa will close out their season on Friday, November 29 against their rival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, in Lincoln.
One of the top defensive ends in the conference, junior A.J. Epenesa racked up one-and-a-half tackles for loss and forced a fumble in the victory over the Illini. A projected first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Epenesa realizes this could have been his final home game as a Hawkeye. For now, he is trying to enjoy the moment.
Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register the Iowa City Press Citizen shared Epenesa’s postgame comments on Twitter:
Iowa DE A.J. Epenesa, on soaking up the day in case it was his last game at Kinnick.
"Always. You soak in every home game. I haven’t thought about that process, and I’ll look into that process later on after the bowl game."
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) November 23, 2019
A native of Edwardsville, Illinois, Epenesa was a five-star prospect and the No. 1 strong-side defensive end in the 2017 class. Living up to the billing, he recorded 15 tackles (5.5 TFL) and 4.5 sacks in his first year on-campus, earning Freshman All-B1G honors.
Totaling 22 sacks during his time in Iowa City, Epenesa is currently tied with Leroy Smith (1988-92) for eighth in program history.
The day after Thanksgiving, Iowa’s tilt with Nebraska from Memorial Stadium will kick at 2:30PM ET on BTN.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.