IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 20th-ranked University of Iowa football team fell to No. 6 Oregon, 18-16, on a rainy Saturday night at Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa scored a touchdown with 1:51 remaining before the Ducks drove down the field and converted a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to seal the win.

Quarterback Mark Gronowski completed 10 of 18 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. He also added a rushing score.

Kamari Moulton led the Hawkeye ground game with 87 yards on 23 carries. Jacob Gill and DJ Vonnahme paced the receiving corps with 43 yards apiece; Vonnahme hauled in a touchdown.

Karson Sharar led the Iowa defense with 10 tackles, including four solo stops and one tackle for loss. Koen Entringer added nine tackles (four solo), while Xavier Nwankpa and Jayden Montgomery each finished with eight.

Oregon outgained Iowa in total yardage, 373-278.

QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ

"It really hurts to lose the game, but really these kinds of games that are emblematic of November football, especially in our conference where you get two teams getting after it pretty good. So, all those things that we thought coming into the game really certainly panned out to be true.

I have a lot of respect for Oregon's talent and they're a very well-coached team. Have been all year. We knew we had a big challenge on our hands there.

Then all those cliches you hear forever in football, they stay around because they mean something. It is a game of inches. Details do matter. I think that's really what it came down to in a lot of ways tonight.

So we came up a little short, but proud of our team's effort and the way competed certainly. Tough loss. A lot of little things that we're going to have to figure out, do a little bit better at, but the most important thing for our team is they understand there's a lot to be proud of. They're going to see a lot of really good efforts on film, a lot of things they did during the course of the game that were really impressive.

I think all the coaches are really proud of the effort that everybody put into it and the way we responded several times in the football game. We still have a good team, and we got plenty of football in front of us.

We'll go back, critique this thing, do what we can to see what we can improve on next week, and that will be the biggest challenge is getting everybody back on their feet here after we get through tomorrow. Losing is tough. Never has been fun, and that's certainly the case here.

Again, credit to our opponents. A really good football team, and they played well tonight.

Last few things. I want to also thank our fans. You guys were all in the stadium, and that's typical of November football here. Our fans were outstanding. The weather could have been a challenge, and you would never know it with them. Didn't dampen their enthusiasm. They certainly were good start to finish, and we appreciate that. It's a big edge for us." 

PHOTOS

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Oregon got on the board first with a safety after a botched snap and illegal bat penalty on an Iowa punt attempt.
• The Ducks added to their lead with a 19-yard touchdown rush with 11:46 left in the second quarter to cap an eight play 82-yard drive.
• Iowa responded with a three-yard touchdown pass from Gronowski to Vonnahme with 5:43 left in the first half to cap a 10 play 75-yard drive.
• A 46-yard Oregon field goal as the first half ended gave the Ducks a five-point lead going into the break.
• With 44 seconds left in the third quarter Oregon connected on a 40-yard field goal.
• Drew Stevens connected on a field goal with 12:39 remaining in the game to cap a seven play 35-yard drive.
• Iowa took its first lead of the game with 1:51 left in the game on a three-yard touchdown rush from Gronowski that capped a 93 yard 12-play drive. The two-point conversion attempt was no good.
• Oregon used 10 plays to drive 54 yards before connecting on a 39-yard attempt with three seconds remaining in the contest.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• QB Mark Gronowski completed 10-of-18 attempts for 138 yards and one touchdown. He also had 12 rushes for 25 yards and one touchdown.
  • He had a 3-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Vonnahme in the second quarter. It was his fifth touchdown pass of the season.
  • He had a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter – his ninth consecutive game with a rushing score.
  • Gronowski has 12 touchdowns this season, which is the most rushing touchdowns by an Iowa quarterback in program history.
  • His nine straight games with a touchdown is a Big Ten record for the most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown by a QB in a single season. Indiana’s Antwan Randle El scored in nine straight games, spanning the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
• TE D.J. Vonnahme had a 3-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter – the first of his career and the first by an Iowa tight end this season.
• RB Kamari Moulton finished the game with 23 rushes for 87 yards.
  • He has led the RB room in rushing in five straight games.
• DB Deshaun Lee had an interception in the end zone in the first quarter – his second pick of the season.
• K Drew Stevens made a 58-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, tying both a Kinnick Stadium (Michigan State’s Jonathan Kimm, 2023) and Iowa school record (Tim Douglas, at Illinois, 1998).
  • It is Steven’s 12th career field goal from 50+ yards, extending his school record.
  • He now had 71 career field goals, extending his school record. It is also tied for the seventh-most field goals in Big Ten history.
  • With the four points, Stevens now has 323 career points, one point behind Mike Meyer for second place in career scoring in school history.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• The Hawkeye defense recorded its 10th interception of the season in the game.
  • Iowa has recorded at least one interception in each of the last six games.
  • Iowa’s defense has given up 20 points or less to every ranked opponent it has played this season.
• All three of Iowa’s losses to ranked teams have come by a combined 10 points.
• Oregon won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Hawkeyes have played 337 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 247 times (159-88). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 90 times (51-39).

UP NEXT

Iowa returns to action Nov. 15, traveling to Los Angeles to face USC.  The game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. (CT).