NOTES: vs. No. 6/6 Oregon

1ST & 10
• Saturday’s game against No. 6 Oregon is the Hawkeyes’ first home contest against a top 10 ranked opponent since 2022 and the seventh since 2016.
•  Iowa City will welcome FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff for the third time since 2021 on Saturday. 
• The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 24 in the Week 11 coaches’ poll – the first ranking of the season and first since Week 2 of the 2024 season.  
• Saturday’s game is the first top 25 battle in Kinnick Stadium since 2021 when the third-ranked Hawkeyes downed No. 4 Penn State, 23-20.
• Iowa’s 4-1 start in Big Ten play is the team’s best through five games since 2015.
• The Hawkeyes became bowl eligible in the Week 9 win over Minnesota. Iowa is eligible for the 13th consecutive season and for the 23rd time in the last 25 seasons.
• The Hawkeyes scored a touchdown via offense, defense and special teams in its Week 9 victory over Minnesota. It was the first time for the program since 2020 vs. Michigan State.
• Iowa’s defense recorded a season-high three interceptions against the Gophers – the most for the unit since 2023. The Hawkeyes have all nine of their picks in the last five games.
• The Iowa defense is second nationally in total defense (234.9), fourth in scoring defense (12.4), fifth in first down defense (110) and passing defense (151.0) and eighth in rushing defense (83.4).  The 12.4 scoring defense would be the lowest in a single season under DC Phil Parker. 
• QB Mark Gronowski is the only player in the nation to score a touchdown in every game and the streak is the longest by a Big Ten quarterback all-time. (Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson has scored in all seven contests; he has missed two games because of injury.)
• Gronowski’s 11 total rushing TDs are fifth-most nationally and are the third-most among FBS quarterbacks. The 11 rushing TDs are tied for the most in a single season by a quarterback in school history.
• PK Drew Stevens has made 70 career field goals – the most in program history. He is also third in school history in career scoring (319). 
• Graduate Kaden Wetjen has a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown (Week 3 vs. UMass), a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown (Week 4 at Rutgers) and a 50-yard punt return TD (Week 9 vs. Minnesota). He is the only player in the nation to have both a punt and kickoff return TD in 2025.
• Wetjen is also the only player in the country to score via a punt, kickoff, rushing and passing touchdown.
• Over his last five games, Gronowski has completed 86-of-126 attempts (68.3 percent) for 819 yards and three touchdowns. 

THE SERIES
• Saturday’s game will be the just the fourth meeting all-time between Iowa and Oregon. The Ducks have won the last two contests and hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.
• Saturday’s game will be the first meeting in 31 years, which was a 40-18 Oregon victory in 1994 in Eugene. 
• Iowa is 1-1 against the Ducks in Iowa City with the victory coming in the first ever meeting, 34-31, in 1949.

GRONOWSKI IN 2025
Graduate Mark Gronowski has completed 107-of-165 attempts for 946 yards and four touchdowns in eight games this season. The Illinois native also has 313 rushing yards (second-most on the team) and is leading the team with 11 touchdowns.
• His 11 rushing touchdowns are fifth nationally and second in the Big Ten.
• Gronowski’s 64.8 completion percentage is 54th in the country.
• In Week 3 against UMass, Gronowski completed 16-of-24 passes for a season-high 189 yards and two touchdowns. He completed a pass to 12 different receivers in the game.
• In his first career Big Ten game at Rutgers, Gronowski completed 12-of-18 attempts for 186 yards while rushing 13 times for 55 yards and scoring three touchdowns.
• In Week 8 against Penn State, Gronowski rushed for 130 yards on nine attempts -- the most ever by an Iowa quarterback -- and scored two touchdowns. He had a 67-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead touchdown.
• Gronowski had a 29-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee in Week 9 vs. Minnesota. It was the team’s longest touchdown pass of the season.
• Gronowski has had both a passing and rushing touchdown three times this season -- Week 1 versus UAlbany, Week 3 versus UMass and Week 9 vs. Minnesota. He has 29 such games in his collegiate career.
• He has 11,254 career passing yards, 2,080 career rushing yards, 97 career passing touchdowns and 48 career rushing touchdowns.  

LOJO: OUTLAND TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Center Logan Jones was selected as the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week on Oct. 28 following the Hawkeyes’ 41-3 victory over Minnesota. The Council Bluffs, Iowa, native anchored an offensive line that earned the highest grade in FBS by Pro Football Focus in the game.  

ANOTHER DIMENSION
Graduate quarterback Mark Gronowski gives Iowa’s offense another dimension with his legs. Through eight games, the Illinois native is second on the team with 313 rushing yards on 76 attempts. He also has a team-best 11 touchdowns, which are tied for the most by an Iowa quarterback in a single season all-time.
• Gronowski is fifth nationally in rushing touchdowns (11) and seventh in total touchdowns (11) this season, while ranking 37th in total points scored (66).
• The last Iowa QB to lead the team in rushing attempts in a season was Butch Caldwell in 1976.
• Gronowski finished with 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Week 8 win over Penn State. The 130 rushing yards are the most ever in a game by an Iowa quarterback. His 67-yard rush in the fourth quarter set up Iowa’s go-ahead touchdown and was the team’s longest run of the season.
• He is the first Hawkeye QB to rush for 100+ yards since Butch Caldwell in 1972.   
• Gronowski had 54 rushing yards (before sacks) on a career-high 16 rushing attempts in Week 2 at Iowa State and 55 rushing yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns in Week 4 at Rutgers. The three touchdowns are the most by an Iowa quarterback since Matt Rodgers had three against Cincinnati on Sept. 15, 1990. The last Iowa QB to even have two rushing touchdowns in a game were Brad Banks (2002) and C.J. Beathard (2015).
• Gronowski has had a rushing touchdown in each of his first eight games of the 2025 season, which includes two multi-touchdown games. The eight straight games with a rushing touchdown is a Big Ten single season record. Indiana’s Antwan Randle El had a rushing TD in nine straight games spanning the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
• Gronowski has had both a passing and rushing touchdown three times this season and in 29 games in his collegiate career.

GETTING POINTS
The Hawkeye offense has been efficient in the red zone, getting points 94.1 percent of the time, which ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally. Iowa has been in the red zone 34 times and has come away with points 32 times (23 touchdowns, 9 field goals).

MINNESOTA MAULING
Iowa’s defense stifled Minnesota in the Week 9 victory, intercepting three passes and allowing just 133 yards of total offense. The 133 yards are the fewest allowed the Gophers since 2008 and are the ninth fewest in a game under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
• Iowa didn’t allow a first down until the second quarter in the game.
• The rush defense surrendered just 24 yards on 25 attempts, as Minnesota had negative rushing yards until late in the fourth quarter.   

CONSISTENT D
• Iowa’s defense ranks second in the nation in total defense (234.9), fourth in scoring defense (12.4), fifth in first down (110) and passing defense (151.0) and eighth in rushing defense (83.4) through the first eight games of the 2025 season. 
• Iowa’s defense has allowed just 33 points in the second half this season and two touchdowns. The unit didn’t allow a third-quarter touchdown until Week 8 and has allowed just 10 points in the third quarter.

DA DOUGH BOYZ ARE BACK
Iowa’s defense got two interceptions from its defensive backfield in the Week 8 win over Penn State and three more (two by DBs) in Week 9 against Minnesota. 
• Senior Deshaun Lee had a diving pick (the second of his career) in the second quarter and he had a pass breakup on the Nittany Lions’ final offensive play to clinch the Hawkeye victory. Senior Xavier Nwankpa recorded his first interception since 2023 (third of his career) in the second quarter and returned it 28 yards to the 1 to set up an Iowa touchdown. Nwankpa also had a forced fumble and tied a career high with 10 tackles in the victory.
• Sophomore Zach Lutmer and senior TJ Hall both recorded picks against the Gophers. Lutmer snatched his interception and returned it 34 yards for his first career collegiate touchdown.

Seeing the field from both sides 👀@HawkeyeFootball's Zach Lutmer breaks down how his QB past gives him an edge on defense ⬇️#B1GToday pic.twitter.com/wQt1KX0FgM

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 5, 2025

CLUTCH KOEN
DB Koen Entringer has a team-best two double-digit tackle games this season. He had a career-high 11 stops in the Week 8 win over Penn State and 10 tackles (seven solo), including a career-best two TFL, in Week 5 against Indiana. The Michigan native made a pair of key fourth-down stops in the second and fourth quarters for an Indiana turnover on downs.
• Entringer is second on the team with 44 tackles and 3.5 TFL. He also has two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in Week 2 at Iowa State.

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 is leading the nation in combined return yards (by 27 yards) for a second straight season. He has 653 combined return yards (262 kickoff, 391 punt) through eight games. Wetjen is No. 1 in the NCAA in punt returns (24.4), second in punt return TDs (2) and third in kickoff return touchdowns (1).
• He is the only player in the nation to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown this season and he was the only player to accomplish the same feat in 2024.

STEVENS IS NO. 1
Senior Drew Stevens made two field goals in Week 8 against Penn State to pass Nate Kaeding for the most career field goals made in program history. He has currently made 70 career field goals during his four-year Hawkeye career. 
• The South Carolina native is 16-for-21 in field goal attempts this season. He is fifth in the NCAA (first 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. 
• 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 and Indiana -- his school-record 10th and 11th 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 70-of-88 field goal attempts (79.5 percent) and is 109-of-111 on PATs. He is 11-of-15 from 50-59 yards in his Hawkeye career.  
• Steven’s brother, Jack, is a kicker at Washington State. He spent his freshman season at South Dakota State.

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 currently has 210 career victories.
• Ferentz has 132 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 Hayes to become Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach