LOS ANGELES – The 21st-ranked University of Iowa football team fell to No. 17 USC, 26-21, on a rainy Saturday afternoon at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Trojans outgained the Hawkeyes, 360-320, in total offense.

Graduate Mark Gronowski completed 12-of-19 passes for 132 yards while throwing, rushing, and catching a touchdown. He added 32 rushing yards.

Sophomore Kamari Moulton led Iowa’s rushing attack with 90 yards on 15 attempts.

Zach Lutmer and Xavier Nwankpa led Iowa on defense with eight tackles a piece. Karson Sharar added seven tackles, and Koen Entringer broke up a pair of passes.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

"Obviously, a tough loss for our football team. I thought our guys were focused and prepared coming in here. Certainly, we played complete team football in that first half. It went about as well as we could’ve hoped and got off to a really good start there.

Certainly in the second half, just a flip on that. It wasn’t a matter of effort or any of that stuff; USC did a good job coming back and maximizing its opportunities in the second half. The halves were both pretty different. I told our team I was proud of their effort, and obviously we’re all disappointed. It’s a tough loss, certainly want to give credit to our opponent.

They did the things they needed to do to take control of the game in the second half. Even then, it went right down to the wire. We had a chance there on the last play to catch the ball and advance it down there and just keep playing it out. Tough loss, but we’ll try to get back on our feet early tomorrow and go from there and finish this out.”

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Iowa marched down the field on the opening possession, capping a seven-play, 69-yard drive with Gronowski finding Dayton Howard in the back of the end zone on fourth down.
• Gronowski’s 13th rushing touchdown of the season gave Iowa a 14-0 advantage to start the second quarter to cap off a nine-play, 45-yard drive.
• USC got on the board with an 11-play, 75-yard drive to cut the Hawkeye lead to seven with just over nine minutes remaining in the second quarter.
• The Hawkeyes responded the ensuing drive with sophomore Reece Vander Zee finding Gronowski in the end zone on a trick play.
• USC connected on a 40-yard field goal as the Hawkeyes held a 11-point lead at the break.
• The Trojans opened the half with a 28-yard field goal after a nine-play, 70-yard drive.
• USC used a nine-play, 82-yard drive to find the endzone on a 12-yard passing reception but would have an unsuccessful two-point conversion try.
• USC took its first lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter after using six plays to cover 40 yards to rush in a one-yard touchdown.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• QB Mark Gronowski had a passing, receiving and rushing touchdown in the game. He completed 12-of-19 attempts for 132 yards with one touchdown and one interception, had nine rushes for 29 yards and one touchdown and a 5-yard receiving touchdown (the second of his career).
  • He is the seventh Big Ten player (fifth Big Ten QB) since 2000 with a pass TD, rush TD and a receiving TD in the same game.
  • Gronowski’s TD reception is believed to be the first by a Hawkeye QB since Kyle Sherman vs. Minnesota in 1994.
  • Gronowski had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dayton Howard – his sixth of the year -- in the first quarter. The score was set up by a 44-yard completion to Jacob Gill – Iowa’s second-longest pass play of the season.
  • He had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter – his 10th consecutive game with a rushing touchdown.
  • He is the only player in the nation to score a touchdown in every game.
  • His 10 straight games with a touchdown is a Big Ten record for the most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown by a QB in league history. He is the first FBS quarterback with a rush TD in each of his team’s first 10 games since Houston’s D’Eriq King in 2018 and the first Power Conference QB with a rushing TD in each of his first 10 games.
  • Gronowski has 13 touchdowns this season, which are the most rushing touchdowns by an Iowa quarterback in program history.
  • Gronowski has had a rushing and passing touchdown in five games this season and in 31 games in his collegiate career.
• WR Reece Vander Zee had a 5-yard touchdown pass to Gronowski on a reverse pass trick play in the second quarter. Vander Zee was a former high school quarterback.
• RB Kamari Moulton finished with a team high 93 yards on 15 attempts.
  • He has led the running backs in rushing in six straight games.
• WR Dayton Howard had a 2-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter – his first touchdown reception of the season and the second of his career.
• TE DJ Vonnahme had four catches for a career-high 59 yards in the game – the most by a Hawkeye TE this season.
  • He has six catches for 102 yards over his last two games.
• DB Xavier Nwankpa and DB Zach Lutmer combined for 16 tackles – eight apiece – to lead the team.
• Drew Stevens scored three points in the game – all via PATs – to move to into sole possession of second place on Iowa’s all-time scoring list. He has 327 career points.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Iowa’s offense scored on its opening possession for the second time in its last three games and fourth time overall this season. The Hawkeyes drove 69 yards over seven plays for the touchdown.
• Iowa’s 13-point halftime lead (21-10) was the largest home halftime deficit for USC in the Lincoln Riley era.
• Iowa OL Gennings Dunker was flagged for a holding penalty on the final drive of the first half. It was the first accepted holding penalty by an Iowa offensive lineman this season (10 games in).
• It is just Iowa’s second loss in its last 40 games when scoring 21+ points since 2020 and just the second loss since 2015 when leading by 14+ points (64-2 record).
• Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have played 338 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 248 times (159-89). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 90 times (51-39).