Tag: Iowa

Iowa QB Mark Gronowski exits a winner vs. Vanderbilt in ReliaQuest Bowl

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Mark Gronowski threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to help No. 23 Iowa overcome a late surge to beat No. 14 Vanderbilt 34-27 in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Wednesday afternoon in Tampa, Fla.

Gronowski, who won back-to-back FCS national titles at South Dakota State (2022, 2023) before spending his final season with the Hawkeyes, completed 16 of 22 passes for 212 yards and an interception, adding 54 rushing yards.

Selected the game’s Most Valuable Player, Gronowski extended his own NCAA wins record, finishing his collegiate career with 58, the most at any level.

“I’m just so proud of our guys,” Gronowski said. “Everyone came out here ready to play. We gave it our best football out here. It was just a lot of fun to come out here one last time with the guys.”

Tight end DJ Vonnahme led the Hawkeyes (9-4) with a career-high 146 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven receptions. Kamari Moulton added 95 yards and a score on 14 carries.

The Commodores (10-3) scored four of the final five times they touched the ball after tallying just three first-half points. Heisman runner-up Diego Pavia was largely muted in the first half before awakening in the second half to finish with 347 passing yards, a team-high 36 rushing yards to account for a combined three scores in his final collegiate game.

All-American tight end Eli Stowers opted out of the game for Vanderbilt, but Tre Richardson and Junior Sherrill stepped up with 127 and 123 receiving yards, respectively.

Gronowski’s 44-yard scramble on Iowa’s opening drive set up a 4-yard score by Moulton 2:05 into the game.

The Hawkeyes nearly doubled their lead next drive with a 51-yard catch by Vonnahme down to the 4. However, Martel Hight came up with a diving end-zone interception on the next play.

Vanderbilt got on the board with 7:49 left in the first half when a 13-play drive ended with Brock Taylor’s 41-yard field goal.

It appeared that was going to be the halftime score before Iowa got a gift when Vanderbilt punter Nick Haberer crossed the line of scrimmage before kicking the ball, a penalty which gave the Hawkeyes the ball at the Commodores’ 10 with less than a minute left.

They needed just one play to cash in, with Gronowski throwing a 10-yard TD to Reece Vander Zee to give Iowa a 14-3 halftime lead.

Another Iowa passing touchdown, this one 21 yards to Vonnahme, made it 21-3 with 8:50 left in the third quarter.

Eleven seconds later, Vanderbilt finally reached the end zone on a 75-yard bomb from Pavia to Richardson.

Pavia and the Commodores cut the deficit to one score three times in the second half, with a 16-yard TD to Joseph McVay late in the third quarter, Pavia’s 11-yard keeper with 11:19 left and a field-goal drive that cut it to 34-27 with 2:58 left.

But Iowa scored the final three times it touched the ball before running out the clock, twice on field goals by Drew Stevens and once on a 1-yard keeper by Gronowski to never allow Vanderbilt to get the ball back with a chance to tie the score.

–Field Level Media

Iowa vows ‘A’ game to slow Diego Pavia in QBs Vandy finale

Posted on | by Field Level Media

After taking college football by storm and taking Vanderbilt to historic heights, quarterback Diego Pavia will have his hands full in his final game with the Commodores.

No. 14 Vanderbilt, which has already set a school record with 10 wins this season and finished just outside of the College Football Playoff, will look to send the program-changing quarterback out with a second straight bowl victory on Wednesday against No. 23 Iowa and its stingy defense in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

“It means a lot. He’s excited to go out,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said of Pavia’s last game. “This is about his connection with his teammates. This is about trying to finish a historical season in a historical way.

” … Like every competitive moment for Diego, it’s a chance for him to prove himself. He’s got one chance remaining to show what he can do to NFL GMs and coaches and to the world. I know that’s going to have his fire lit.”

Pavia threw for 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 826 yards and nine scores this season.

He didn’t handle losing out on finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza well, posting “F all the voters” on an Instagram story the night of the Dec. 13 ceremony before issuing an apology the following day.

The Vanderbilt quarterback will have to play his final game for the Commodores (10-2) without his favorite target.

All-American and Mackey Award-winning tight end Eli Stowers, who led Vanderbilt in receiving yards each of the last two seasons with a combined 1,407 yards and nine touchdowns over the 2024-25 seasons, opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

The Hawkeyes (8-4) will challenge Pavia with a defense ranked seven in total yards (270.6 yards per game), scoring defense (15.2 points) and passing defense (158.2 yards).

“Going against a guy like that, you definitely have to be on your ‘A’ game,” Iowa defensive back Deshaun Lee said of Pavia. “It’s going to be a great competition.”

Pavia’s potential replacement, incoming five-star QB Jared Curtis who flipped from Georgia in early December, has been practicing with the team in the lead-up to the game, although he’s not eligible to play.

On the other sideline, this will also be a sendoff for Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski, who won back-to-back FCS championships at South Dakota State in 2022-23 before joining the Hawkeyes for his final season of eligibility.

He has just eight passing TDs this season, but was a major threat with his legs, racking up 15 rushing scores which was a program record for QBs and tied for fifth-most in program history. He has 52 rushing touchdowns in his collegiate career.

Gronowski is aided by an offensive line which won the program’s second Joe Moore Award this season honoring the best OL in college football.

“That was such a special moment for the entire team, honestly,” Iowa center Logan Jones said of winning the award.

This will be Iowa’s sixth time under Kirk Ferentz playing a bowl game in Tampa, but the first since 2018 when it was the Outback Bowl. The Hawkeyes are 2-3 in Tampa bowls under Ferentz and 10-11 overall in bowls over his 27-year tenure.

Vanderbilt is looking to win a bowl in consecutive seasons for just the second time in program history (2012-13).

This will be the first-ever matchup between Iowa and Vanderbilt.

–Field Level Media

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will return in 2026 for his 28th season

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, the winningest coach in Big Ten history, said Wednesday that he will be back on the sideline for a 28th season in 2026.

Ferentz, 70, guided Iowa to an 8-4 regular-season record with the Hawkeyes’ bowl destination to be learned Sunday. It will be Iowa’s 12th bowl game in the last 13 years and 22nd of Ferentz’s tenure.

“I feel good physically,” Ferentz said Wednesday at a recruiting day press conference. “I’ve got permission from my wife to keep doing this. And it’s what I like doing. I really enjoy doing it. … I don’t envision stopping any time in the near future. It’s what I do. I don’t golf, and when I did, I stunk. So I don’t see going back to that.”

Ferentz, who is the longest-tenured coach in major college football, said his age does come up during the recruiting process.

“I just tell them the truth: I feel really good,” Ferentz said. “I had no idea what it feels like to be 70, and now I do — however many months it’s been. And it doesn’t feel any different than when I was 60.”

Ferentz’s contract runs through the 2029 season. He said during the summer that he expects to sign another contract with the school at some point.

Ferentz has a 212-128 record (62.4%) since arriving at Iowa in 1999 after serving as the Baltimore Ravens’ assistant head coach/offensive line coach.

Ferentz passed legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes (205 wins) to move atop the Big Ten victories list when the Hawkeyes routed UMass 47-7 on Sept. 13.

Ferentz has won 10 games or more eight times during his tenure, including a school-best 12-2 mark in 2015 when the Hawkeyes lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl. He has had four losing campaigns, including his first two seasons on the job.

–Field Level Media

Mark Gronowski accounts for 3 TDs as Iowa handles Nebraska

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Mark Gronowski ran for two touchdowns and threw for another and Iowa continued its dominance of Nebraska in a 40-16 win on Friday afternoon in a Big Ten game in Lincoln, Neb.

The Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) won for the 10th time in 11 meetings with their largest margin of victory in the series since 2017.

Gronowski, a sixth-year senior, extended his NCAA Division I record with his 57th win as a starting quarterback. He threw for 166 yards and a TD and ran for 64 with two scores, giving him 15 rushing TDs this season.

Kamari Moulton added 93 yards and two TDs for the Hawkeyes, who won for the seventh straight time at Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska (7-5, 4-5) lost for the third time in four games despite a career-high 217 rushing yards from Emmett Johnson. But 177 of that came in the first half as the Cornhuskers gained just 69 yards in the second half.

Up 24-16 at halftime, Iowa forced a fumble on a punt that resulted in a safety. Gronowski’s second rushing TD, a 6-yard run, put the Hawkeyes up 33-16 with 4:47 left in the third.
Moulton’s 1-yard run made it 40-16 with 13:40 to go.

A 70-yard run by Johnson set up his 1-yard score on the following play for a 7-0 Nebraska lead. Iowa responded with a 41-yard field goal by Drew Stevens and then took a 10-7 lead on a 35-yard TD catch by DJ Vonnahme.

Nebraska tied on a 31-yard field goal by Kyle Cunanan late in the first, and after the Cornhuskers recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff Cunanan hit from 29 for a 13-10 lead early in the second.

Iowa retook the lead on a 3-yard TD run by Moulton with 8:15 left in the first half. Cunanan hit his third field goal, from 35 yards out, to cut it to a 1-point game with 2:39 to go before halftime, only to see Gronowski score on a 1-yard run with 37 seconds remaining.

–Field Level Media

Iowa-Nebraska rivalry game concludes teams’ regular seasons

Posted on | by Field Level Media

A longstanding rivalry will be renewed Friday afternoon when Nebraska hosts Iowa in a Big Ten Conference game in Lincoln, Neb.

It’s the 56th meeting between the Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes, the 15th since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011. Known as the Heroes Game, Iowa has won 10 of 14 meetings as conference foes including the last two, both on walkoff field goals.

Another field goal at the buzzer propelled Iowa (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) to a 20-17 win over Michigan State last week. Drew Stevens connected from 44 yards to complete a comeback from down 10 in the fourth quarter.

Iowa’s past three games have been decided by a combined 10 points, and for the season, the Hawkeyes are 2-4 in one-score games.

“Everybody’s tired right now, everybody is sore, it’s part of the territory,” said coach Kirk Ferentz, who has won 211 games in 27 seasons at Iowa. “It just seems like every year this game is back and forth.”

Nebraska (7-4, 4-4) got blown out 37-10 at Penn State in its last game. The Cornhuskers have dropped three of five since a 5-1 start.

“I’d like to win every game we play,” third-year coach Matt Rhule said. “We came here with an intention of building a program that will last. We don’t want short-term results. We’re not where we want to be. We want to be national champions.”

Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson, a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award (college football’s top running back), leads the Big Ten in rushing with 1,234 yards. He has topped the 100-yard mark seven times this season, including the past four, but in two games against Iowa has gained only 98 yards on 29 carries.

The Hawkeyes are fourth in the Big Ten in run defense, allowing 101.6 yards per game.

Freshman quarterback TJ Lateef will be making his third start for Nebraska since Dylan Raiola suffered a season-ending injury. He’s completing 70.4 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Iowa senior Mark Gronowski, a transfer from South Dakota State, is the winningest quarterback in NCAA history with 56 victories. He’s thrown for 1,363 yards with seven TDs and six interceptions with the Hawkeyes.

–Field Level Media

Drew Stevens’ 44-yard FG caps Iowa rally over Michigan State

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Drew Stevens kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa a 20-17 Big Ten win over Michigan State on Saturday in Iowa City.

After taking over on its own 21-yard line with 41 seconds remaining, the Hawkeyes advanced the ball to Michigan State’s 25 on a 29-yard pass from Mark Gronowski to Reece Vander Zee to help set up Stevens’ game-winner.

Gronowski finished 12-of-22 passing for 147 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Iowa (7-4, 5-3), which trailing 17-7 entering the fourth quarter.

Alessio Milivojevic completed 25 of 42 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Michigan State (3-8, 0-8), which has lost eight straight.

Michigan State held a 17-10 lead until Iowa tied the game at 17-17 with 1:29 left on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Gronowski to Jacob Gill, who outjumped a defender in the corner of the end zone.

The score was set up by a 40-yard punt return to the Michigan State 43 by Kaden Wetjen.

Trailing 7-3 at halftime, Michigan State scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 17-7 lead.

Milivojevic hit Chrishon McCray for a 45-yard touchdown pass with 8:58 left in the third to give the Spartans a 10-7 lead. Michigan State went up 10 points on Milivojevic’s 5-yard pass to McCray that capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive.

Iowa finally mounted a drive early in the fourth, going 67 yards in nine plays and cutting Michigan State’s lead to 17-10 with 11:27 remaining on a 26-yard field goal by Stevens.

Iowa took a 7-0 lead with 3:38 remaining in the first when Wetjen returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown.

Michigan State made it a 7-3 game with 2:54 left in the first half on a 27-yard field goal by Martin Connington.

–Field Level Media

Skidding Michigan State hits Iowa with Hawkeyes hungry for win

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Any hopes Iowa had of qualifying for the Big Ten Championship game and earning a berth in the College Football Playoff have evaporated in the last two weeks with losses to Oregon and Southern California.

Iowa feels there is plenty to play for in the last two games of the regular season, starting with its home finale on Saturday against reeling Michigan State.

First, Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) has plenty of incentive to win its last home game and send its seniors out on a good note. The Hawkeyes also want to position themselves for the best bowl game possible when the regular season ends.

Iowa also wants to get the taste of tough, close losses to Oregon (18-16) and USC (26-21) over the last two weeks out of its system.

“I think the team has the right mindset,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We’d had great leadership. I’ve talked about that for quite a while and it’s been really consistent. That’s critically important, certainly. And again, it’s all about moving on afterwards.”

Michigan State (3-7, 0-7) comes in on a free fall, having lost seven straight games following a 3-0 start and now knowing it won’t go to a bowl game for a fourth straight season.

There is a lot of uncertainty going forward about the status of second-year head coach Jonathan Smith, but all he is focusing on is having a strong finish to the season, starting with Iowa.

“This team is similar to what they’re known for,” Smith said of Iowa, a team Michigan State beat last year in East Lansing, 32-20. “They play really good defense and make it hard in a lot of ways, whether you try to run it or throw it. The quarterback makes a difference. His experience, you can see it on tape and the good decisions he makes with it, it complements a good run game.”

That quarterback, Mark Gronowski, has passed for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. He has added 13 rushing scores for the Hawkeyes.

Spartans linebacker Jordan Hall has stood out and leads the squad with 74 tackles and three forced fumbles. He also has two sacks and one interception.

The last time Michigan State won in Iowa City was a 26-14 decision in 2013.

–Field Level Media

No. 17 Southern California completes comeback win over No. 21 Iowa

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Bryan Jackson ran for two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter as No. 17 Southern California rallied for a 26-21 victory over No. 21 Iowa on Saturday at Los Angeles.

Jayden Maiava passed for 254 yards and one touchdown. Makai Lemon caught 10 passes for 153 yards and a TD, and the Trojans (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) stayed alive in the chase for a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.

King Miller had 83 rushing yards on 19 carries, and Jackson scored his two TDs on four carries as USC overcame an early 14-0 deficit.

Mark Gronowski passed for 132 yards and a touchdown with an interception, while also catching a TD pass for the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3), who lost their second consecutive game.

Kamari Moulton had 90 rushing yards for Iowa, while DJ Vonnahme caught four passes for 59 yards.

Trailing 21-10 at halftime, the Trojans owned the second half to extend their winning streak to three games.

Ryon Sayeri kicked a 28-yard field goal early in the second half before Lemon caught a 12-yard TD pass from Maiava late in the third to pull USC within 21-19. Maiava’s pass on a 2-point conversion try was incomplete.

USC went ahead for good with 13:36 remaining when Jackson finished off a six-play, 40-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run. The drive started after the Trojans’ Jahkeem Stewart intercepted a Gronowski pass.

Iowa was on a late drive with a chance to take the lead, but Gronowski’s pass to Kaden Wetjen was just out of bounds at the USC 8-yard line with 1:59 remaining.

Iowa led 7-0 through one quarter after Gronowski hit Dayton Howard on a 2-yard touchdown pass. It became 14-0 when Gronowski scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter.

USC got onto the scoreboard for the first time on a 1-yard TD run from Jackson with 9:15 remaining in the first half.

Iowa used a trick play to take a 21-7 lead with 3:24 left before halftime. Gronowski caught a 5-yard TD pass from wide receiver Reece Vander Zee after a reverse that started on a hand off to Wetjen.

The Trojans pulled within 21-10 at halftime on a 40-yard field goal from Sayeri.

–Field Level Media

No. 17 USC honing in on latest big opportunity vs. No. 21 Iowa

Posted on | by Field Level Media

No. 17 Southern California will be out to keep a narrow focus on No. 21 Iowa this Saturday in Los Angeles, knowing that a victory will continue to make the bigger picture come to life.

The Trojans (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) will need some help to get into the Big Ten championship game, but by winning their last three games — against Iowa, Oregon and UCLA — a spot in the College Football Playoff might be there for the taking.

Overlooking the Hawkeyes, though, with a date against Oregon next, would ruin future plans.

Since falling 34-24 at Notre Dame on Oct. 18, USC got back into Big Ten play with victories over Nebraska on Nov. 1 and Northwestern at home Friday when the Trojans pulled away in the second half for a 38-17 victory.

Jayden Maiava completed 24 of 33 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns, while wide receiver Makai Lemon had 11 receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown, as well as a rushing TD. Walk-on running back King Miller gained 127 yards with a TD.

USC’s defense recovered a pair of fumbles and gave up just 28 rushing yards in the second half while allowing three points over the final two quarters.

“We know the more we win, the bigger these opportunities get,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’ve got some big ones coming up that are big because we’ve made them big. And so I think for the team, just making sure they understand that, they understand how hard it is to get to this point in any year, where you have in front of us what we do.”

If Ohio State and Indiana win out, those teams will meet in the Big Ten title game. But if USC wins out and Ohio State falls to rival Michigan, the Trojans would board a flight for Indianapolis next month. That is just one outside scenario that would help USC down the stretch.

The Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2) dropped an 18-16 heartbreaker at home to No. 9 Oregon on Saturday. All three of their losses this season have come to ranked teams, as they fell to Iowa State on Sept. 6 and lost to current CFP No. 2 Indiana 20-15 three weeks later.

Iowa took a 16-15 lead over Oregon with less than two minutes remaining after a 3-yard touchdown run from Mark Gronowski off a quarterback draw, but the Ducks got a 39-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington with three seconds left.

“We came up a little short, but proud of our team’s effort and the way we competed certainly,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Tough loss. A lot of little things that we’re going to have to figure out, do a little bit better at, but the most important thing for our team is they understand there’s a lot to be proud of.”

For the Hawkeyes to have a chance in their second-ever conference visit to the L.A. area (they lost 20-17 at UCLA last season), they likely will have to lean into a defense that is third in the Big Ten with 13.7 points allowed per game. USC leads the conference with 503.2 yards gained on offense per game.

–Field Level Media

Atticus Sappington’s last-second kick lifts No. 9 Oregon over No. 20 Iowa

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Atticus Sappington made a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to lift No. 9 Oregon to an 18-16 Big Ten victory over No. 20 Iowa on Saturday afternoon in damp Iowa City.

The Ducks (8-1 overall, 5-1 in Big Ten) never trailed until 1:51 remained in the game — when Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski ran for a 3-yard score on fourth-and-goal. The Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2) couldn’t convert their 2-point try and led 16-15 when the Ducks and quarterback Dante Moore got the ball back.

Oregon marched 54 yards in 10 plays to set up Sappington’s game-winner. The key play was Moore’s pinpoint 24-yard completion to Malik Benson that put Oregon at the 27-yard line with 23 seconds to play.

Moore finished 13-for-21 for 112 yards without a touchdown pass in the consistent rain, but the Ducks ran for 261 yards against one of the top defenses in the nation. Noah Whittington led the ground attack with 17 carries for 118 yards.

Gronowski was 10 of 18 for 138 yards and a touchdown pass, but Iowa was held to 101 rushing yards.

The Ducks scored first with their defense. A high snap out of punt formation was batted out of the end zone for an Oregon safety at the 9:55 mark of the first quarter.

Oregon had good field position after the safety and drove close to the red zone, but Deshaun Lee picked off a Moore pass in the end zone.

The Ducks took a 9-0 second-quarter lead on Dierre Hill Jr.’s 19-yard run down the left sideline that capped off an eight-play, 82-yard drive. Iowa answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Gronowski’s 3-yard touchdown pass to DJ Vonnahme.

Sappington made a 46-yard field goal as the first-half clock expired, giving the Ducks a 12-7 halftime lead.

An Iowa fumble by Kaden Wetjen as the Hawkeyes approached the red zone in the third led to another Sappington field goal and a 15-7 lead. Iowa made it 15-10 on Drew Stevens’ 58-yard field goal early in the fourth.

Oregon played without key receivers Dakorien Moore and tight end Kenyon Sadiq and Gary Bryant Jr., another wide receiver, left with an ankle injury in the first half. Offensive lineman Alex Harkey also missed the game for the Ducks.

–Field Level Media