NOTES: Season Opener Against UAlbany

1ST & 10

• The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the preseason polls, coming in at No. 33 in the coaches’  poll and No. 44 in the Associated Press rankings.
• Iowa returns 13 starters -- six on offense, five on defense and two specialists -- for the 2025 season.  The team has a total of 41 returning letterwinners.
• The Hawkeyes have won 96 games during the College Football Playoff era -- the 11th-most nationally during that span and fifth-most in the Big Ten.
• Iowa returns two specialists -- punter Rhys Dakin and return specialist Kaden Wetjen -- who garnered All-America distinction last season.  Wetjen was the recipient of the Jett Award, given to the nation’s top returner.
• Two-time FCS national champion quarterback Mark Gronowski posted a 49-6 record as the starter at South Dakota State, tying the FCS record for most career victories by a QB.  He threw for 10,000+ yards and rushed for 1,700+ yards with a combined 130 touchdowns.
• Iowa’s offense ranked 72nd in the nation in scoring (27.7) in 2024 under first-year OC Tim Lester -- a 57-spot improvement from 2023.
• The Hawkeyes are one of five teams in FBS to have won at least eight games in each of the last nine seasons (Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State).
• Iowa is one of seven programs nationally to have posted 11 straight winning seasons (Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Georgia, Iowa, Memphis, Ohio State).
• Iowa’s defense allowed 17.8 points per game in 2024. The unit has allowed fewer than 20 points per game in nine consecutive seasons -- the longest streak nationally by six seasons. Iowa finished 11th in FBS in scoring defense and 20th in total defense (318.4).
• The Hawkeyes are 32-1 when scoring 21+ points since 2020. Since the start of the 2015 season, Iowa is 78-5 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.
• Iowa has had a consensus All-American in each of the past six seasons -- the only school nationally to accomplish the feat.  The program has 12 consensus All-Americans over the past 11 seasons.
• Including Saturday’s game against UAlbany, Iowa has sold out 22 consecutive games in Kinnick Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s season opener is the first ever meeting between Iowa and UAlbany.

IOWA IN SEASON OPENERS
Iowa is 101-33-2 all-time in season openers, including 22-4 under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• The Hawkeyes have won their last four and 10 of their last 11 season openers dating back to the 2014 season.

UNDER THE LIGHTS
Saturday’s game is the 25th night game inside Kinnick Stadium. Iowa is 17-7 under the lights, which includes a four-game winning streak.
• Iowa won 27-0 over Nevada in 2022, 26-16 over Michigan State in 2023 and 42-10 over Wisconsin and 13-10 over Nebraska in 2024.  
• The Hawkeyes’ first two home games are under the lights in 2025.

A NEW QB1
South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski takes over the reigns as Iowa’s QB1 for the 2025 season.  The Naperville, Illinois, native comes to Iowa City with an impressive collegiate resume.
• Compiled a 49-6 career record as a Jackrabbit with the 49 wins tying the FCS record for most wins by a quarterback.
• 2023 Walter Camp Award recipient, which is the FCS Heisman... Walter Camp Award finalist in 2024.
• Led South Dakota State to two FCS National Championships in 2022 and 2023.
• Passed for 10,309 yards and 93 touchdowns and rushed for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns at South Dakota State.
• Gronowski is playing in his second career game inside Kinnick Stadium; he was the Jackrabbit starter in the 7-3 Hawkeye victory in 2022. 
• Gronowski is one of 16 quarterbacks nationally to start at least one game in three consecutive seasons.
• Graduated with both his bachelor and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from South Dakota State.

A NEW QB ROOM
Five of the six quarterbacks on the 2025 roster are first-year Hawkeyes, including transfers Mark Gronowski (South Dakota State), Hank Brown (Auburn) and Jeremy Hecklinski (Wake Forest) and freshmen Jimmy Sullivan and Ryan Fitzpatrick.  The only returnee in the room is junior Jackson Stratton, who started two games a season ago.

OFFENSIVE GROWTH
Iowa’s offense averaged 15.4 points during the 2023 season and that mark went up to 27.7 points in 2024 under first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester.  The Hawkeyes went from 132nd in the nation in scoring offense to No. 72.  

KADEN “THE JET” WETJEN
Graduate Kaden Wetjen was named the recipient of The 2024 Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. He was the first Hawkeye to receive the distinction.
• The Williamsburg, Iowa, native led the country by a wide margin, finishing with 1,055 combined kick return yards. He ranked first in the FBS in kickoff return yards (727) and second in punt return yards (328). Wetjen had two return for scores in 2024 -- a 100-yard kickoff return against No. 19 Missouri in the Music City Bowl and an 85-yard punt return in the win over Northwestern. 
• He was the only player in the nation to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown.
• During the regular season, Wetjen returned a punt 85 yards for a score against Northwestern, the seventh-longest in school history. He had 100+ kickoff return yards in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State, Northwestern) -- a first by a Hawkeye since at least 1978.

STEVENS APPROACHES RECORD
Senior Drew Stevens enters the 2025 season tied for third in school history in career field goals.  The South Carolina native has made 54 field goals in his career.
• Stevens enjoyed a breakout 2024 season, making 20-of-23 field goals, which were a career high and the sixth-most in program history.  He was 5-for-5 from 40-49 yards and had four makes from 50+.   
• He tied Kyle Schlicher’s program record that was set in 2004, making five field goals in the road win at Maryland on Nov. 23.  The five makes also tied the SECU Stadium, which led to him being named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. 
• Two of Stevens’ makes came from 54 and 50 yards, making him the first Hawkeye since Tim Douglas (at Illinois, 1998) to make multiple 50+ yard field goals in the same game. They were his sixth and seventh career 50+ yarders, which are a school record.
• Stevens has four career games where he has made at least four field goals and he has three career game-winning field goals (21-yarder with 28 seconds left in road win at Minnesota in 2022, a 53-yarder in road win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field in 2023 and a 53-yarder as time expired in a win over Nebraska in 2024.).
• For his career, Stevens has made 54-of-67 field goal attempts (80.6 percent) and is 83-of-84 on PATs. He is 8-of-12 from 50-59 yards in his Hawkeye career.  

DAKIN READY FOR YEAR 2
Freshman Rhys Dakin averaged 44.1 yards on 64 punts in 2024, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 24th nationally.   The Australian, who hails from the same hometown of Melbourne as former Hawkeye Tory Taylor, earned FWAA Freshman All-America honors for his efforts.
• Thirty-three of Dakin’s punts in 2024 were fair caught, 29 were downed inside the 20 and 16 traveled 50+ yards. Only five of his punts were touchbacks.

WOODY & KIRK 
Kirk Ferentz is in his 27th season as Iowa’s head football coach. He is the longest tenured active head coach in college football and he won his 200th career game as a member of the Big Ten Conference on Oct. 12, 2024, against Washington. currently is second in Big Ten history with 204 wins, trailing only Ohio State’s Woody Hayes’ 205 wins.
• Ferentz has 128 Big Ten wins, which rank third all-time, trailing Hayes (153) and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler (143). 
• Ferentz won his 200th career game at Iowa State in 2023. He is the 27th coach at an FBS institution to reach the 200-career win milestone and the 99th coach across all divisions. Former Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry finished his career with 236 victories.
• Ferentz has 10 career bowl game victories, which tie Joe Paterno for the most bowl wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

NOTABLE FERENTZ WINS AT IOWA
1 - Northern Illinois (9/18/99) - 24-0
2 - Michigan State (10/7/00) - 21-16 - first career Big Ten victory
11 - vs. Texas Tech (12/29/01) - 19-16 - Alamo Bowl
22 - at Minnesota (11/16/02) - 42-21 - clinched share of Big Ten title
37 - at Penn State (10/23/04) - 6-4
41 - Wisconsin (11/20/04) - 30-7 - clinched share of Big Ten title
50 - Montana (9/2/06) - 41-7
81 - vs. Georgia Tech (1/5/10) - 24-14 - Orange Bowl
100 - at Michigan State (10/13/12) - 19-16 (2 OT)
144 - Northern Illinois (9/1/18) - passed Hayden Fry for most wins in school history
150 - at Illinois (11/17/18) - 63-0
175 - at Northwestern (11/6/21) - 17-12
195 - Illinois (11/18/23) - 15-13 - passed Bo Schembechler for No. 4 in Big Ten history
200 - Washington (10/12/25) - 40-16 - passed Amos Alonzo Stagg to move to No. 2 in Big Ten history

YEAR AFTER YEAR
Four of Iowa’s assistant coaches -- Phil Parker (26), LeVar Woods (17), Seth Wallace (14) and Kelvin Bell (12) -- have combined to coach 69 combined seasons with the Iowa football program under Kirk Ferentz.  Strength coach Raimond Braithwaite is in his 21st year with the program.

AT THE ALMA MATER
Three Hawkeye coaches -- LeVar Woods, Kelvin Bell, Abdul Hodge -- played for the Iowa football program under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

ADIOS TO THE BOOM
Lou Crist will serve as the public address announcer for the Hawkeye Marching Band for the final time during Iowa’s season opening game against UAlbany.  Crist has served in the position since 1981.  During his tenure, Crist has missed just one game after falling in Sept. 2008.