PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The University of Iowa football team defeated Rutgers, 38-24, to open Big Ten play at Shi Stadium.

Mark Gronowski was 12-for-18 on passing attempts for 186 yards and found the end zone three times on the ground adding 55 yards with his legs.

Kamari Moulton returned to the Hawkeye rushing attack and led the way with 68 yards and a score on 14 attempts.

Dayton Howard led the Hawkeye receivers in yardage pulling in a 42-yard reception and Zach Ortwerth added 30 yards.  

Defensively, the Hawkeyes were led by Karson Sharar with nine tackles (two solo, 0.5 sacks) and Jaden Harrell with nine tackles (one solo). Max Llewellyn and Ethan Hurkett each recorded a sack and Hurkett added a block on a field goal attempt. Jaxon Rexroth pulled in the Hawkeyes first interception of the season.

Kaden Wetjen had a special team’s touchdown for the second straight game taking the opening kickoff 100 yards.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

"First and foremost, just really excited to get the win tonight. Really proud of our team, I thought they did a great job of competing for the full 60 minutes, and that is part of football. Going back to earlier in the week we talked with the guys about expecting this to be a really tough challange. Coming in on Friday night, a blackout, a really good crowd and tough environment and against a really good football team too. 

They have a good team and we witnessed that tonight, so happy we could fight through some things. The first half wasn't exactly by script, but the guys kept pushing and kept digging. They believed in each other.  Sometimes you have to win games like this too, and we had to work for it tonight which is a real credit to Rutgers. They came out on fire offensivley, went up and down the field pretty much at ease against us.

Wetjen sparked us with the kick return, he's a pretty dynamic guy. The first three-and-out we had some opportunities, but came up short and then we started to get some traction. 

The first half I kind of flashbacked to 1983 against Penn State, we won 42-38, and it was up and down. Luckily at halftime things settled down a little bit and we started getting some traction defensivley, the second half we were much better at getting off the field defensivley. 

It was a tough hard fought game for sure for both teams. They have some good players over there and a good coach. Happy to get the win, go back and watch everybody work tomorrow, put our feet up. 

Lot of positive effort out there, the way the team stuck with each other, the follow along was good. Everyone was good at halftime. The coaches did a good job making some adjustments, just gotta move forward. Saw a lot of growth and a lot of improvement. There is more out there to be had, that is probably our biggest challenge. We talk to the guys about a five week block and we are four points away from being where we want to be. That is yesterday's news so it is all about taking care of tomorrow, recovering and having a good week of practice. 

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hawkeyes opened the game with a bang with Kaden Wetjen housing the opening kickoff taking it 100 yards for the score.
• Rutgers responded with a six play 75-yard drive that culminated with a five-yard touchdown rush.
• After a three-and-out for the Hawkeyes, Rutgers again drove down the field scoring on a four-yard rush to cap a 12 play 63-yard drive.
• With 2:24 left in the first, Iowa punched back with a six play 75-yard drive with Kamari Moulton scoring from six yards out on a rush.
• The Scarlet Knights made it three straight drives with a score with a nine play 75-yard drive that ended with a quarterback sneak for the score.
• The Hawkeyes again responded this time scoring with a seven play 73-yard drive that was capped with a two-yard rush by Mark Gronowski with 8:00 left in the first half.
• After a high scoring first half both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter with Iowa missing a field goal and Rutgers having one blocked by Ethan Hurkett.
• Drew Stevens gave Iowa the lead on a 26-yard field goal with 14:02 remaining in the game. The drive eclipsed 10 plays and 69-yards over 4:44.
• On the next drive, Rutgers used nine plays to cover 75 yards and score on a one-yard rush.
• Gronowski added his second rushing touchdown of the night (a two-yard rush) with 5:39 remaining in the game to put the finishing touches on a seven play 80-yard drive that used 3:55 of clock.
• On the ensuing drive Max Llewellyn was credited with a quarterback hurry and Jaxon Rexroth picked up an interception as a result of the pressure.
• Iowa took advantage of the turnover and good field position and had a six play 35-yard drive scoring on a quarterback sneak from Gronowski – his third rushing score of the night.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• WR/KR Kaden Wetjen tied an Iowa record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff.
  • It is the sixth 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in school history and the second of Wetjen’s career. He is the second Hawkeye to return an opening kickoff for a touchdown (C.J. Jones vs. USC in the 2003 Orange Bowl).
  •  Wetjen has returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in 2025. He was the only player in the nation to accomplish the feat in 2024.
  • It is Wetjen’s second career 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown (2024 Music City Bowl vs. Missouri) and it is the 45th 100-yard return for a touchdown in Big Ten history (25th in a league game and first since 2023).
  • He is now tied for the most career kickoff returns for a touchdown in school history with two, joining Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Kahlil Hill.
  • He has four career combined return touchdowns (two punt, two kickoff), which are tied with Hill for the second-most all-time. He trails only Tim Dwight (5).
  •  It is Wetjen’s second straight and fifth career game with 100+ return yards.
  • He finished with 183 all-purpose yards to lead the team.
• QB Mark Gronowski completed 12-of-18 attempts for 186 yards. He also tied a career high with two rushing touchdowns.
  • He is the first Hawkeye QB to have a rushing touchdown in four straight games since Larry Lawrence had a four-game streak to end the 1968 season.
  • He set a new career high with three rushing touchdowns.
  • The last Iowa QB to rush for three touchdowns was Matt Rodgers against Cincinnati on Sept. 15, 1990.
  • The victory is Gronowski’s 52nd as a collegiate quarterback, making him the winningest QB in college football history (all levels).
• RB Kamari Moulton returned from injury to tally his first touchdown of the season -- a 6-yarder in the first quarter. o It was Moulton’s sixth of his career.
  • He led Iowa in rushing with 68 yards on 14 attempts to go along with three receptions for 21 yards.
• WR Dayton Howard had a career-long 42-yard reception in the fourth quarter on Iowa’s go-ahead touchdown drive.
• LBs Karson Sharar and Jaden Harrell combined for 19 tackles. o Sharar had a career-high 10 tackles to record his first career double-digit tackle game. It is the first such game by a Hawkeye this season.
•  LB Jaxon Rexroth recorded Iowa’s first interception of the season and the first of his career.
  • It was Athan Kaliakmanis’ first pick thrown of the season.
• DB Zach Lutmer had three pass breakups which ties for a season-high by a Hawkeye this season.
• DL Ethan Hurkett blocked a 29-yard Rutgers field goal attempt in the third quarter. It is his first career block.
  • Iowa has two blocks this season (one punt, one field goal) and it is the third straight season the Hawkeyes have blocked a field goal (Yahya Black vs. Washington, 2024; Logan Lee at Iowa State, 2023).
•  K Drew Stevens went 1-of-2 on field goal attempts with a make from 26 yards. 
  •  It was his 61st career field goal, tying Mike Meyer for the second-most in school history.
  •  Stevens scored six points in the game, passing Tom Nichol for fourth place in program history with 279 points. 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

The Hawkeyes have played 332 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 242 times (156-86). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 90 times (51-39). 

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action on Sept. 27, hosting nationally ranked Indiana at 2:30 p.m. (CT) inside Kinnick Stadium. The game will be streamed on Peacock. Iowa won the toss and elected to receive.