After a rough start to the 2025 season on the offensive side of the ball, the Iowa Hawkeyes used a pay game against UMass in week three to get things headed in the right direction.
Iowa opened the year 1-1 after falling 16-13 on the road to Iowa State in week two and despite the defense looking up to Phil Parker’s standards, the offense looked to have regressed if anything in year two of Tim Lester. Through the first two weeks, Iowa had thrown for an absurdly low 131 yards and just one TD. This despite opening
the season at home against FCS Albany.
Admittedly, the Hawkeyes had run for more than 220 yards per game over their first two, but that was boosted by a 310-yard outburst in week one. Things felt pretty grim for the Iowa offense after week two with such miserable passing output and a run game that couldn’t make up the difference in its one matchup against a defense with a pulse.
That’s what the week three non-conference finale was for. Iowa finally looked to get QB Mark Gronowski some rhythm and took some shots down the field. It wasn’t a monster game, but Gronowski finished with 179 yards (more than in the first two weeks combined) and a pair of passing touchdowns while completing 67% of passes. He added 12 yards and a rushing touchdown for good measure.
All told, the Hawkeyes tallied 435 yards of total offense en route to scoring 47 points. Iowa averaged 5 yards per carry on the ground and more than 11 yards per reception. It was a game to boost the stats and the confidence of the offense and it was mission accomplished.
Now, the Hawkeyes hit the road for the second time this season as they open Big Ten play at Rutgers. They do so on Friday evening, no less, when they go to Piscataway, New Jersey to face off with the 3-0 Scarlet Knights.
While offense has been a challenge for the Hawkeyes most of this season, that’s not been the case out in Jersey. The Knights come into the game averaging 52.3 points per game on 461 yards of total offense per game.
They’re getting contributions from all over the place. Minnesota transfer QB Athan Kaliakmanis is has completed 62 passes through three games (just one fewer than Gronowski has attempted in that span) for 820 yards and 7 TDs. He’s yet to throw an INT on the season while the Iowa defense has yet to come away with one.
His primary target has been 6’6” sophomore WR KJ Duff, who leads the team with 17 receptions and 244 yards. But he is one of three Knights with 200+ receiving yards AND two TDs through three games, joined by 6’3” junior Ian Strong and 5’10” senior DT Sheffield.
On the ground, Rutgers has three backs with more than 100 yards on the season, led by sophomore Antwan Raymond. Raymond is going for 5.8 yards per carry and leads the team in TDs with 5.
While the Knights’ offense has been humming, the defense has been more up and down. They gave up 31 points in the opener to Ohio, but were able to squeak out a 34-31 victory. They’ve begun to settle in over the last two weeks, giving up 17 to Miami (OH) and 10 last week to Norfolk State.
Now we come to the Big Ten opener with Iowa’s offense looking to create some consistency against that Rutgers defense that has been more vulnerable while the Knights look to keep their offense humming along against an Iowa defense that has been relatively stout through three weeks.
Despite hitting the road, the Hawkeyes have opened as favorites in this one. FanDuel Sportsbook has Iowa -2.5 early on with an over/under set at 45.5 total points. Given Rutgers is averaging more than 50 per game on their own, it’s clear Vegas thinks the Iowa defense wins this battle.
Here’s a quick look at the details for this week’s matchup in Jersey.
Date: Friday, September 19th
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Matchup: Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1, 0-0) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0, 0-0)
Location: SHI Stadium – Piscataway, NJ
TV: FOX
Updated Weather Forecast: mostly clear skies with temps in the low 70s
FanDuel Opening Line: Iowa -2.5, O/U 45.5
