NOTES: Big Ten Opener at Rutgers

1ST & 10
• Friday’s game is Iowa’s third night game during the first month of the 2025 season.
• 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.  
• Iowa has opened conference play on the road in each of the last three seasons, going 2-1 in the three games (W at Rutgers in ‘22, L at Penn State in ‘23 and W at Minnesota in ‘24).

 STARTING STRONG
• Iowa’s defense has started the season strong, ranking third in the nation (second in the Big Ten) in total defense (178.0) through the first three weeks. The unit is also sixth in rushing defense (57.7), 12th in first down defense (31) and 14th in scoring defense (10.0).
• The Hawkeyes have allowed just one touchdown in each of the first three games against UAlbany, Iowa State and UMass. Iowa has held two of its first three opponents under 200 yards and haven’t allowed more than 238 yards in any of the first three contests.
• Iowa limited UAlbany to 177 yards in the season opener, including just 33 yards in the second half. The Great Danes had 43 rushing yards and nine overall first downs.
• In Week 2, the Hawkeyes limited Iowa State to 238 yards and 16 points. The Cyclones entered the game averaging 39.5 points and 421 yards of total offense.
• In Week 3, Iowa held UMass to 34 yards in the first half, 119 yards in the game and eight first downs. It was the fewest yards allowed in a game since 2018 against Maryland (115) and the fifth fewest allowed in a game under Ferentz. The eight first downs are tied for the ninth fewest allowed in a game under Ferentz.

STIFF RUN D
The Hawkeyes’ rushing defense has held two of the first three opponents under 50 yards. Iowa is sixth nationally, allowing 57.7 rush yards per game.

CAUSING CHAOS
Iowa pinned back its ears and made it difficult for the Minutemen in Week 3 in Kinnick. The Hawkeyes had 10 different players record a tackle for loss in the game and the defense recorded a season-high five sacks.
• Senior DE Max Llewellyn had a team-high 2.5 TFL and two sacks in the game, which were both career highs.  Llewellyn is leading the team with four TFL and three sacks this season.

NEW LBs STEPPING UP
Graduate linebackers Jaden Harrell and Karson Sharar both posted career bests in tackles in Week 2 against Iowa State. Harrell tied for the game high with nine tackles (and forced a fumble), while Sharar finished with seven stops. 
• The duo, who are both in their first year as starters, are first and second on the team in tackles. Harrell has a team-high 19 tackles with one TFL and one sack, while Sharar has 16 tackles and 1.5 TFL. Harrell has led the team in tackles in two of the first three games.

WEJ MAKES HISTORY; NAMED BIG TEN SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Graduate student Kaden Wetjen made history in Week 3 when he returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Hawkeyes’ 47-7 victory over UMass. The return tied a Big Ten and Iowa record (Michigan State’s Al Brenner at Illinois, 1966 and Iowa’s Bill Happel vs. Minnesota, 1984) and was the longest punt return in Kinnick Stadium history, besting Bob Longley (94 vs. Oregon in 1949).
• Wetjen finished with a career-high 216 return yards (182 punt and 34 kickoff) and a career-high 236 all-purpose yards. The 182 punt return yards are the fourth-most in a single game in Big Ten history, trailing Maryland’s William Likely (233 in 2015), Iowa’s Nile Kinnick (201 in 1939) and Iowa’s Kevonte Martin-Manley (184 in 2013).
• He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 15. It was his second career weekly honor.

ALL-TIME PUNT RETURN TDS
Graduate student Kaden Wetjen has two punt return touchdowns during his Hawkeye career, which are tied for the second-most in school history. He had an 85-yarder against Northwestern during the 2024 season.
1. Tim Dwight  (1994-97) 5
2. Kevonte Martin-Manley  (2011-14) 2
Kahlil Hill (1998, 2000-01) 2
Kaden Wetjen (2022-pres.) 2

STEVENS APPROACHES RECORD
Senior Drew Stevens moved into third place in program history in career field goals with his two makes in the season-opening win over UAlbany. The South Carolina native is 6-for-7 in field goal attempts this season, giving him 60 field goals in his career. He Is 11th in the NCAA (third in the Big Ten) in field goals per game (2.00).
• He made 15 consecutive field goals from Week 10 of the 2024 season to Week 3 of the 2025 season.

1.     Nate Kaeding (2000-03)    67
2.    Mike Meyer (2010-13)    61
3.    Drew Stevens (2022-pres.)    60

• Stevens connected from 28 and a career-long 55 yards in the victory over the Great Danes. The 55-yarder is tied for the fourth longest kick in school history. He also made a 54-yarder against UMass – his school-record 10th career make from 50+.
• 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. 
• 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 60-of-74 field goal attempts (81.1 percent) and is 93-of-95 on PATs. He is 10-of-14 from 50-59 yards in his Hawkeye career.  

STEVENS ASCENDS IN CAREER SCORING
Senior Drew Stevens has scored 28 points in the first three weeks of the 2025 season to lead the team. He now has 273 career points, which ranks fifth all-time in program history.

1.    Nate Kaeding    373 (1 TD, 166 PAG, 67 FG)
2.    Mike Meyer    324 (141 PAT, 61 FG)
3.    Rob Houghtlin    290 (128 PAT, 54 FG)
4.    Tom Nichol    277 (142 PAG, 45 FG)
5.    Drew Stevens    273 (93 PAT, 60 FG)

ALONE AT THE TOP
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 the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history. Ferentz won his 206th game as a member of the Big Ten on Sept. 13, 2025, against UMass, to pass Ohio State’s Woody Hayes atop the prestigious list. He won his 200th career game as a member of the Big Ten on Oct. 12, 2024, against Washington.
• 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
206 – UMass (9/13/25) – 47-7 – passed Woody Hays to become Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach