Analyzing Iowa's Big Ten Opener vs. Rutgers

After a stinging loss to the arch-rival Iowa State Cyclones in their second game, admittedly on the road, the Iowa Hawkeyes found themselves between a rock and a hard place, facing down one final non-conference opponent before Big Ten play begrudgingly began.

Spirits were relatively low until the Hawkeyes took the visiting UMass Minutemen to town at home this past weekend, in what was one of the team's most impressive, purely dominant games in recent memory. To a final tune of 47-7, Iowa kept their MAC opponent miserably out of reach the whole way through, in a fashion necessary to the team's morale going forward given their sole aforementioned loss.

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) looks to pass the ball during a football game against the Massachusetts Minutemen Sept. 13, 2025 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, though, the schedule is set to severely toughen up, as the Hawkeyes will travel to New Jersey next weekend in search of their first road win of the season against Rutgers. The game officially marks the beginning of the team's conference slate.

The Scarlet Knights, currently 3-0, will welcome the Hawkeyes hot-off their own blowout victory over Norfolk State at home, 60-10. While that win looks fantastic, and their flawless record is hard to beat, a closer look at Rutgers' year so far reveals some potential pain points that Iowa should look to exploit if they want to escape with a victory.

First, defensively, Rutgers leaves room for desire. Despite performing stastically well on this front in their last two games, in the team's season-opener, they allowed the visiting Ohio Bobcats to put up 31 points in what was nearly a disastrous loss.

While the Scarlet Knights escaped, 34-31. their scattered defensive presence and penchant for allowing much weaker competition, in comparison to Iowa, to score and score big is a great sign for a Hawkeyes team that just set their season-high in points thus far.

Not only that, but Rutgers, having played three straight (favored) games at home against out-of-conference opponents, haven't faced the same level of competition that the Hawkeyes ran into in the form of the ranked Cyclones in week 2. Up to this point, the Hawkeyes appear to be the more seasoned team of the two, even if just slightly, providing them with an inherent advantage at the beginning of B10 play.

Where the two teams predominately differ is in Rutgers' ability to move the ball through the air while doing so efficiently. Against Norfolk St., Iowa's incoming opponent stacked up 378 yards passing on their way to that unreal 60-point mark. In addition, the team has yet to throw a single interception so far this season. For an Iowa team that, up until last week, struggled with the passing game, they'll have to find ways to interrupt Rutger's established rhythm so far this season.

It'll likely come down to whose style of football wins out in a gridlock between two somewhat similar teams that ultimately rely on different methods of scoring. If Iowa manages to win, expect those Rutgers passing numbers to dwindle, in addition to a relentless attack on the ground from the black and yellow visitors.

A 3-1 (1-0) start would do wonders for a Hawkeyes team that appears to be, in perfect time, finding their footing.

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