Iowans love pork and and they love football.

That is why the Iowa Pork Producers Association is bringing back the viral promotion involving Iowa State University athletes who throw around the old pig skin.

In hopes of encouraging people to buy more ham and bacon, the Iowa Pork Producers Association used a name, image and likeness deal with the last names of Iowa State football players.

Conveniently enough, the last names of ISU Cyclone football players Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann and Caleb Bacon make for a convincing ad campaign: “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon.” Since the first promotion, Cyclones Alec Cook and Zach Lovett joined the team.

When the promotion first dropped last year, it went viral with millions of views and a feature on ESPN SportsCenter’s social media account, according to the Iowa Pork Producers Association. The Sports Business Journal also named the partnership the Best NIL Deal of 2023.

The promotional campaign is coming back for 2024 and the association is looking for more Cyclones to join.

More: Hardly anyone recruited Caleb Bacon in high school. Now he’s a football star at Iowa State

What’s new for the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ campaign?

Hamann will no longer take part in the promotion. He recently decided to leave Iowa State’s football program to focus on his engineering degree, according to the IPPA. A video came out of Hamann saying goodbye to his fellow teammates.

But this isn’t the end of the campaign. The IPPA is looking for more students to join the promotional cast.

Where can I watch the 2024 ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ promotional videos?

Videos can be found on the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s YouTube or social media. Every Monday at 10 a.m. for the next seven weeks, new tryout videos of Cyclone students will air to see if they fit into the “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon” mantra. The series will end Oct. 7, just in time for National Pork Month known as Porktober.

Pork promotion donates to food banks

For every student who takes part in the ad campaign, IPPA will donate $1,000 worth of pork to a food pantry of the student’s choice. Last year, $13,000 worth of pork was given to food pantries. Donations from the most recent video will go toward the following food banks:

• Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colorado, in the name of Myles Purchase
• DMARC in Des Moines, Iowa, in the name of Tyler Moore
• Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners in Plymouth, Minnesota, in the name of Tommy Hamann
• Lake Mills Food Shelf in Lake Mills, Iowa, in the name of Caleb Bacon
• Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, Nebraska, in the name of Alec Cook
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, in the name of Zach Lovett

Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.

Every week, it seems like a new list with the top “this” or the top “that” comes out, and the latest from Yelp showcases the best pizzas in the Midwest. Granted, most of the places on this list come from Illinois and Michigan, which each have pizza styles of their own with Detroit-style, Chicago deep dish and Chicago tavern-style all making appearances.

Missing from this list of 100 is Iowa’s own style of pizza, Quad City-style, made famous at Harris Pizza, with two locations in Bettendorf and Davenport, and a third in Rock Island, Illinois. The pizza features a thin, crisp crust made with a malty, sweet dough and spicy tomato sauce. Next comes the toppings, layered under cheese. The pizza is then cut into strips with scissors.

Casey’s breakfast pizzas and Happy Joe’s, the originator of taco pizzas, also are not on the list.

The list also doesn’t include the Lincoln Winebar, the pizza shop in Mount Vernon named one of the 22 best in the country by the New York Times in June.

Yelp first broke down its user-generated ratings by looking at pizza locations from across the region, including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Then the review aggregator winnowed down the list by using a large concentration of reviews that included relevant keywords and ranked them using factors such as the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning those keywords.

Here’s a look at the seven pizza restaurants in Iowa that did make Yelp’s list of 100 best in the Midwest.

Zoey’s Pizzeria

This pizzeria in Marion outside Cedar Rapids landed in the No. 64 spot on Yelp’s list. Zoey’s Pizzeria originally opened in 1991 and serves Chicago-style deep dish and New York-style thin crust pies. Try the NewZago crust, a Chicago-style dough pressed out thin instead of deep-dish style, or the Zookie, a warm chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Location: 690 10th St., Marion

Contact: 319-377-2840 or zoeyspizza.com

Nonna’s Pizza & Pasta

This newcomer in Ankeny landed in the No. 72 spot on Yelp’s list. Nonna’s Pizza & Pasta from owners and New Yorkers Donnie Hizeqaj and Mike Kabashi opened in 2022 with options such as Grandma’s Pizza with a crisp, thin-crust square pizza topped with mozzarella, marinara sauce, olive oil, basil and Romano cheese; Sicilian square pizzas with tomato sauce and mozzarella or a lasagna version with everything but the pasta; gluten-free pies; or regular round pizzas.

Location: 1802 N. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny

Contact: 515-850-1085 or nonnaspizzapasta.com

Sfumato Pizzeria

The No. 90 spot on Yelp’s list comes from Alton in northwest Iowa. Sfumato Pizzeria opened in 2012 with a menu of Neapolitan-style pizzas baked in a wood-fired pizza oven. The husband-and-wife team of Matt and Shannon Slemp along with Mark Slemp, Matt’s father, run this pizza restaurant, technically in unincorporated Carnes. They named it Sfumato, an Italian word for a style of painting that translates into “up in smoke.” The family recommends the Margherita or the fig and caper with prosciutto.

Location: 4995 Carnes Drive, Alton

Contact: 712-737-3007 or facebook.com/p/Sfumato-Pizzeria

More: The 27 essential restaurants in the Des Moines metro: 2024 edition

Maggie’s Farm Wood-Fired Pizza

This Iowa City pizza farm landed in the No. 91 spot on Yelp’s list. Maggie’s Farm offers Napoli favorites baked in a wood-fired oven from wife-and-husband duo Carolyn Brown and Jerry Zimmerman, who grow the vegetables used on their pizzas on their farm, named after their first labradoodle. Look for options such as the Ellie with caramelized onions, blue cheese and bacon or the soppressata with Italian dry-cured salami and pepperoncini topped with a four-cheese blend.

Location: 1308 Melrose Ave., Iowa City

Contact: 319-351-4588 or maggiesfarmpizza.com

More: Visit a pizza farm for a plow-to-table, only-in-the-Midwest experience

Basal Pizza

Head to Waterloo for the No. 93 best pizza in the Midwest, according to Yelp. Basal Pizza offers wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas as well as Detroit-style pizzas. The pan-style Detroit pizzas serve two to three people, while the Neapolitan pies are meant for individuals.

Location: 225 W. Fourth St., Waterloo

Contact: 319-333-0180 or basalpizza.com

More: 9 things you probably didn’t know about breakfast pizza at Casey’s General Store

Smash Pizza

Bettendorf’s Smash Pizza ended up at No. 96 on Yelp’s list. The restaurant offers a 16-inch New York-style pizza and a 14-inch Sicilian square that the restaurant says sells out early daily. Try the elote with corn or the roasted wild mushroom and fried kale for something different. Before opening in 2022, chef and owner Brian Olsen operated Smash Pizza as a food truck.

Location: 3403 Devils Glen Road, Bettendorf

Contact: 563-900-4064 or smashqc.com

More: 11 Des Moines pizzerias to satisfy any craving spanning deep dish to crispy thin crust

Need Pizzeria & Craft Beer Bar

Head to Cedar Rapids for the No. 98 pizza on the Yelp list. Need Pizzeria offers gluten-free and vegan options with a focus on New Haven-style pizza. Do look for novelty options on the specials menu, which recently featured a sriracha BLT and Crab Ya Goon, a white pizza with crab dip, crab meat, green onions, crispy wonton strips and sweet chili sauce.⁠

Location: 207 Second Ave. S.E., Cedar Rapids

Contact: 319-362-6333 or needcr.com

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, X, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

Luke Lachey Calls Out Jokes About Iowa’s Offense- ‘No One Likes To Hear That Kind Of Stuff’ | 08.16.24

Iowa’s opener received a stunning twist less than a week out from kickoff. However, the Hawkeyes are still a sizable favorite over their first opponent of the season in Illinois State.

Per FanDuel, Iowa, the No. 25 team in the nation, is a 23.5-point favorite (-115) over the Redbirds on Saturday. The over-under for the game between them is set at 41.5 points.

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How to watch Illinois State vs. Iowa

Time: 12:00 p.m. EST
Channel: Big Ten Network
Location: Kinnick Stadium (Iowa City, Iowa)

Iowa and Illinois State will be the opening game of the weekend on the Big Ten Network. Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Oregon, and Washington will be on the channel throughout the day as well.

More on Illinois State vs. Iowa

The only other meeting for this pair came back in the opener back nine years ago 2015. Iowa won 31-14 behind 341 yards of offense in a balanced attack by QB CJ Beathard and RB LeShun Daniels Jr..

Again, though, this game is going to be more different than anyone was expecting a week ago with the suspension of the Hawkeyes’ head coach in Kirk Ferentz. He along with one of his assistants in Jon Budmayr will serve the one-game punishment this weekend. It will be the first time in his tenure of over a quarter century that he won’t be on the sidelines for Iowa with Seth Wallace set to be their interim against Illinois State.

Beyond that, Iowa once again looks to be among the top teams in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes return most of their roster from 2023 that went 10-4 and played in the Big Ten Championship. There was still quite the difference between their two sides of the ball with their defense finishing fourth in the country by allowing only 14.8 points but their offense finished second from last nationally by scoring just 15.4 ppg..

Still, with much of the defense back and a new offensive coordinator, Iowa wants to be one of the teams in the mix for the College Football Playoff.

As for Illinois State, they enter their 15th season this fall under Brock Spack. He has become the school’s all-time winningest coach in that span with an overall record of 95-65 (.593). That includes their 6-5 finish from 2023.

This game will be unlike any other in this century for Iowa if for no other reason than Ferentz not being present for it. Still, the Hawkeyes plan to be alright without him in this opener against the Redbirds as they remain over 20-point favorites in Vegas.