Fresh off a 47-7 win against UMass last Saturday that saw Kirk Ferentz become the Big Ten’s winningest head coach, the Hawkeyes travel to Rutgers Friday night to open the Big Ten season. The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 and have looked impressive against some lower-tier competition, so the Hawkeyes will need to continue to improve on offense to open the conference schedule with a win. The game is on FOX with kickoff at 7:05. Hear the game on MC 93 with the pregame at 6pm. Coverage is brought to you by Ed Morse Chevy Buick and GMC, Community Health Care Dental Clinic and Muscatine Power and Water.
• The Hawkeyes’ last road victory in a night game came in the Big Ten opener at Minnesota in 2024. Iowa went 1-2 in road night games last season.
• Iowa’s defense is 12th nationally in total defense (207.5), 16th in rushing defense (73.5) and 30th in scoring defense (11.5) through the first two games.
• Graduate student Kaden Wetjen is the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after having a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown against UMass. The punt return tied a Big Ten and Iowa record and was the longest return in Kinnick Stadium history. His 182 punt return yards in the game were fourth most in Big Ten history.
• First-year Iowa starting QB Mark Gronowski won his 51st career game in the Hawkeyes’ Week 3 victory over UMass, moving him past Boise State’s Kellen Moore for the most wins in FCS/FBS history. He is also tied with Cullen Finnerty of Grand Valley State (Division II) with 51 career victories.
• Gronowski completed 16-of-24 for 179 yards and two touchdowns in Week 3 against the Minutemen. The two TD passes were a season high.
• The Hawkeye offense finished with a season-high 422 yards of total offense and 47 points in Week 3 against UMass. It is the fourth time under OC Tim Lester that Iowa has gone over 400 yards and the 47 points were a high under the second-year OC.
• Iowa’s defense has held all three opponents under 240 yards of total offense and two of the three opponents to under 200 yards. UMass’ 119 yards were the fewest allowed by the Hawkeye defense since 2018 against Maryland (115).
• The Hawkeye defense is third in the nation in total defense (178.0), sixth in rushing defense (57.7), 12th in first down defense (31), 13th in passing defense (120.3) and 14th in scoring defense (10.0). Iowa has allowed one touchdown in each of its first three games.
• Iowa’s rushing attack ranks 30th in the nation (sixth in the Big Ten), averaging 214 yards per game. The Hawkeyes have rushed for 200+ yards in two of the first three games and nine times during Lester’s tenure.
• The Hawkeyes are 34-1 when scoring 21+ points since 2020. Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 80-5 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.
SERIES HISTORY
• Friday’s game is the fifth all-time meeting between Iowa and Rutgers. The Hawkeyes are 4-0 against the Scarlet Knights, with two of the victories coming in Piscataway.
• Iowa won the first ever meeting in New Jersey, 14-7, in 2016 and were victorious, 27-10, in 2022.
• During the last meeting in 2023, Iowa’s 22-0 shutout victory clinched a share of the Big Ten West Division title. The Hawkeye defense limited Rutgers to 127 yards of total offense (34 on the ground) and the Scarlet Knights’ offense didn’t pass the 50-yard line.
IOWA IN BIG TEN OPENERS
The Hawkeyes are 9-4 in their last 13 Big Ten Conference openers and are 14-12 under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• Iowa opened Big Ten play at Rutgers in 2022 — a 27-10 Hawkeye victory.
