iowa wins big ahead of gauntlet schedule
SHI STADIUM— The Hawkeyes met the Scarlet Knights last Friday (Sept. 19). Iowa, trying to continue to push to beat some quality teams this year after an impressive season last year, looked to take down a semi-strong Rutgers program.
Entering this game, Rutgers was 3-0 on the season thus far… but they played virtually zero competition. They faced off versus a decent Ohio team, Norfolk State, and Miami of Ohio. Yes, not #2 Miami and Yes, not #1 Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have faced off against some mediocre teams thus far, but they have performed well enough to make it seem like they may be one of those sneaky teams then end up surprising CFB, similarly to a team like Syracuse or Vanderbilt from last year, even Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is now quietly building themselves into a natural top 25 team, with the Scarlet Knights loss to the Hawkeyes they draw further from that comparison.
This game had tons of hype behind it, 55,000+ fans in attendance for this Friday night game, marking the 10th sellout game since 2022 for the Scarlet Knights. Pretty even-keel teams facing off versus each other on a Friday night made for the occasion. Rutgers QB, Athan Kaliakmanis completed 24 passes while throwing for 330 yards, marking a career record for him. He received great support in the back field from Antwan Raymond who added two touchdowns on the ground. And yet another career game for the Scarlet Knights as WR, Ian Strong, finished with a career high in receiving yards pulling in 151 yards on the game. Defensive Back, Jett Elad produced 9 tackles in the game paving a way for a strong defensive game for himself.
Quarterback for the Hawkeyes, Mark Gronowski, threw for 186 yards completing 12 of 18 passes. On the ground for the Hawkeyes, Kamari Moulton rushed for 68 yards while scoring a touchdown.
With under 10 minutes in the fourth quarter, a FG by the Scarlet Knights boosted their score over the Hawkeyes 28-24, but the Hawkeyes ended up hauling in two unanswered touchdowns resulting in a win for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa shows great promise this year, but they are matched with an incredibly tough schedule. They suffered their only loss, as of now, to Iowa State 13-16 in a near upset win over the Cyclones. This was a must win game as the Hawkeyes have an incredible slate on their plate in the latter half of this season. They will face off against ranked teams such as Penn State, Oregon, Indiana, and USC. Not to mention other solid teams such as Nebraska and Wisconsin who are always a tough team to beat.
If the Hawkeyes want to make it into the playoffs this year they are going to half to hone in on both sides of the ball, as their play has been sloppy but has led them to wins. These wins will turn into quick and devastating losses when playing ranked teams though. Gronowski needs to be able to throw the ball more to his receivers, completing only 12 passes in a game is a critical reason as to why Iowa let Rutgers back into the game multiple times.
On the other side, Rutgers plays some top talent as well in the latter half of the season. Iowa is much more of a complete team as of now but talents such as Kaliakmanis, Raymond, and Strong make a strong case for fans to be excited when facing off against ranked Penn State, Oregon, Illinois, and Ohio State. Defense, defense, defense is a crucial path to victory for these Scarlet Knights… they need to get their offense back out on the field as quickly as possible if they want to continue to keep the interest of their fan base.
UP NEXT:
Rutgers: Rutgers faces off against Minnesota this Saturday (Sept. 27) at 12:00pm EST at TCF Bank Stadium
Iowa: Iowa takes on #11 Indiana University this Saturday (Sept. 27) at 3:30pm EST at home (Kinnick Stadium). IU coming off of a strong win versus former #9 Illinois last weekend.
Cameron Williams
DiSportsPhotoAgency
Senior Writer
