NoelarBear
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Know Your Opponent: Iowa Hawkeyes - GopherHole.com
Before every game, I ask a reporter who covers the Gophers’ upcoming opponent to give us a view from the opponent’s perspective. I asked Jonah Parker from Black Heart Gold Pants’ of SBNation six questions about the Iowa Hawkeyes. Minnesota travels to Iowa City looking to reclaim the Floyd of...
Before every game, I ask a reporter who covers the Gophers' upcoming opponent to give us a view from the opponent’s perspective.
I asked Jonah Parker from Black Heart Gold Pants’ of SBNation six questions about the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Minnesota travels to Iowa City looking to reclaim the Floyd of Rosedale, one of college football's best rivalry trophies; this will be the 119th meeting between the two rivals. The last time Minnesota won two straight in Iowa City was in 1979 and 1981
Huge thanks to Jonah for giving us his thoughts. We are happy to once again partner with Black Heart Gold Pants!
1. The 2024 season was the 12th straight winning season for the Hawkeyes as they finished 8-5 overall. Before the 2025 season, Vegas had Iowa making it 13 straight, as many had Iowa winning around seven games. What were the expectations for this 2025 Iowa team in Iowa City? In your opinion, have they met those expectations eight weeks into the season?
JP: This has been a topic of conversation all season as I think the perception of this year has really been morphing over time. At the beginning of the year, we polled our community and the consensus was a 9-3 expectation (well above the 7.5 win line from Vegas). That was in line with our average staff projection, as well as my own personal thoughts on the season. We’re asking the community for their updated view on that nine win number this week and the early results seem to indicate most fans are now around 8-4.
The reasoning there is pretty simple - most fans expected Iowa to lose games to Penn State and Oregon given their preseason rankings, then thought we would drop one more out of Iowa State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, USC and Nebraska. USC has been a common one just given Iowa’s struggles historically traveling west and the timing the week after a tough matchup against Oregon.
But the puts and takes of the year so far have really yanked fan emotions around. Iowa State felt like a game Iowa should have won. Indiana looked like an impossible task going in, but looking back is another one most fans feel the Hawkeyes were one play away from winning. Penn State and Wisconsin have proven to be nowhere near as good as we expected, but wins nonetheless. And now we find ourselves 7 games in and still having an ability to get to 9 wins.
All that to say, there have been peaks and valleys already, but so far the season has largely met expectations with the rest remaining to be seen.
2. Iowa attacked the transfer portal last offseason in search of a quarterback and landed a solid one in Mark Gronowski from South Dakota State. Gronowski is an FCS National Champ and a Walter Payton Award winner. Can you give Gopher fans a sense of what to expect from Gronowski? How would you grade his performance so far this season?
JP: Much like views on the season as a whole, views on Gronowski have really been a moving target this year. We’ve been burned by portal QBs in the past and there was some skepticism of the former Jackrabbit entering the season as a result. That skepticism grew in the first couple weeks when Gronowski really struggled finding rhythm and connecting on the easy throws that were there.
But he showed meaningful growth against UMass and Rutgers and really looked like he was on a trajectory to be exactly what this Iowa offense needs when he went down against Indiana.
The worry coming out of that was he would have his rushing ability affected, but the real impact through two games since has been to his throwing. Gronowski’s footwork has been iffy since the knee and it’s really showing up in his accuracy on intermediate throws. Iowa has had a decent number of open receivers (relative to what we’re used to) of late, but Mark has been consistently overthrowing or simply missing guys as he floats rather than driving off his plant leg.
So what will the Gophers see on Saturday? I expect they get a healthy dose of scrambling and designed QB runs, where Gronowski is very good. They’ll get a guy who makes good pre-snap reads, puts Iowa into the correct call at the line and sets up the offense for success. But whether he makes the throws remains to be seen.
3. The Hawkeyes are averaging 29.9 points per game, which is ninth in the conference, but their 324 yards per game is 17th. What are the strengths of the Hawkeyes' offense heading into Saturday? What areas do you think they need to improve?
JP: The obvious strength of this offense is the rushing attack. As noted, QB Mark Gronowski is a mobile QB who can put immense pressure on defenses with his escapability, but also with designed runs. He leads the team and is third in the nation (not just among QBs) with 10 rushing TDs on the year.
Behind him, the Hawkeyes have had a revolving door at RB given a slew of injuries at the position. This week, they’re expected to have everyone back. They’ll be led by Kamari Moulton, who leads the team in rushing, but missed multiple weeks earlier in the year. He’s Iowa’s most dynamic runner and has good vision with a balance of power and speed. The true power back is freshman Xavier Williams, who despite being the hammer has been Iowa’s home run threat this year. He is averaging 7.2 yards per carry, boosted by a pair of long TD runs against Wisconsin.
Look for Iowa to run early and often with efforts in the passing attack really focused closer to the line of scrimmage. Return specialist Kaden Wetjen has been featured more recently on jet sweeps and in the screen game and is a threat every time he touches the ball. But the Hawkeyes have really struggled to find answers at receiver this year.
Reece Vander Zee is Iowa’s only WR with any size but has missed most of the season. He had a great contested catch a week ago and I would expect OC Tim Lester to try to get him more work near the sticks this week. But down the field, transfer WR Sam Phillips has really struggled securing catches while Jacob Gill, who has historically been very sure-handed, missed an easy first down conversion a week ago that turned into Gronowski’s only interception of the day.
If the Hawkeyes do look for a shot play off play action, I would think Phillips or Gill will be the target, but they’ve been very unreliable so far this season.
4. It’s a different year, but the Hawkeyes' defense is the same under Phil Parker. The Hawkeyes' defense is fourth in the Big Ten in points allowed (14.6) and yards allowed (249). What has impressed you the most about the Iowa defense this year? In what ways have teams had success against Phil Parker?
JP: I think the most impressive thing this year has been the growth we’ve seen in seven weeks. Early in the year, there were major question marks here, particularly at corner and linebacker. The Hawkeyes lost All-Big Ten linebacker Nick Jackson and All-American Jay Higgins to the NFL, but Karson Sharar and Jaden Harell have been very solid this year. Harrell missed some time and backup Jayden Montgomery filled in very nicely.
The most growth has been seen in the secondary, where we knew Koen Entringer would be a stalwart and Xavier Nwankpa has always had the most potential. Corner TJ Hall has finally come into his own and has the size to hang with anyone. Perhaps the biggest story, though, has been the growth for Deshaun Lee. He was picked on early and often opposite Hall as an undersized corner, but over the last few weeks he has been great, culminating in the game-clinching pass breakup against Penn State last week.
Up front, the big uglies are very stout against the run. They run plenty of games to help generate some pressure, but none are uber quick to really come off the edge without Parker drawing something up. That has resulted in a bit more blitzing than Iowa fans are used to, so if you’re looking for a potential big play on Saturday, my money would be on Parker dialing something up that results in Lee on an island. The question is whether the Gophers recognize it and can connect before the pressure gets home.
5. Could you give Minnesota fans a few players who could make a difference this Saturday?
JP: On the defensive side of the ball, the thing that really makes this work year after year is the scheme and the teaching is what drives it rather than the players in the positions. But if I had to peg who makes an impact that is notable for viewers, I’d earmark the aforementioned Nwankpa as one who is likely to come away with a pass deflection or big hit just given the raw athleticism in the back end. Up front, Max Llewellyn leads the team with five sacks and is likely to generate some pressure in the passing game. On the inside, DT Aaron Graves eats up blocks, but is also very athletic and has Iowa’s second-longest interception return of the year at 35 yards.
On offense, Moulton, Williams and Gronowski are really the big names to know. I already mentioned Vander Zee and the rest of the receivers. The only other two names I would throw out there are freshman running back Nathan McNeil and h-back Hayden Large. McNeil hasn’t gotten a ton of run lately, but has the most burst of any back on the depth chart and is a threat to break one if he can get on the outside. Large is a hybrid fullback/tight end who will be involved in the run game as a blocker but also is likely to find himself targeted on a crucial third down at some point.
6. Saturday will be the 119th meeting between Iowa and Minnesota as they battle for the Floyd of Rosedale—one of the best rivalry trophies in college football. Minnesota leads the series 63-53-2 but has lost 11 of the last 13 games. The last time Minnesota won two straight in Iowa City was in 1979 and 1981. The Gophers travel to Iowa City as 8.5 underdogs. What does Iowa need to do to hold on to Floyd? What is your prediction for the game this Saturday?
JP: I think the only thing that could make this trophy any better is if we get back to a live hog and I am genuinely wondering why we haven’t had one on the sideline for these matchups over the years. I digress.
This is a tough one to feel out for me. The Iowa defense has been playing very well and my initial inclination is to say this is a game where Iowa grinds things into the mud and wins by a touchdown or so in a low-scoring affair. But then I look at the Vegas line and I can’t help but to think this is a game where the Hawkeyes slip up and leave us wondering what happened.
I can certainly envision a world where Drake Lindsey finds his rhythm and slowly picks Iowa apart with short and intermediate throws in the gaps in the zone. The Gophers get up early and Iowa is pushed off their spot and forced to throw the ball more than they want while Gronowski continues to struggle hitting his spots.
But I’m a homer at heart so I’ll say Phil Parker gets in his bag in this one and dials up some pressure on Lindsey. The Iowa defense forces a pair of turnovers that set up the Hawkeye O for short fields, gifting them 10 points. Gronowski uses his legs to make up for again throwing fewer than 20 passes on the day. Williams finds the endzone while Gronowski pads his stats with another QB sneak at the goal line.
Iowa 24, Minnesota 16
