Iowa Dominates Nebraska in Key Area During Blowout Win

After suffering two straight losses to ranked opponents and barely escaping a conference-worst Michigan State Spartans team at home during last week’s Senior Day festivities, the Iowa Hawkeyes entered their final regular season game facing down a subdued disappointment from one of the nation’s most revered, down-to-the-wire fanbases. After a B1G Championship appearance (blowout loss therein aside) two seasons ago, the Hawkeyes followed that up with a less encouraging 8-5 finish last year.

Between the two - an extreme and a relatively mundane alternative, comparatively - the team's 2025-26 campaign appears to be trending much more towards the latter, with the black and gold still struggling endlessly to win against ranked competition under head coach Kirk Ferentz. While those aforementioned fans try and get used to the lesser norm, the team continues to excel in favored matchups.

Doing the Leg Work

Their latest, on the road against the injury-ridden and reeling Nebraska Cornhuskers, was no different. Iowa dominated the matchup versus a team with almost as much to play for, though doing so in lieu of their starting quarterback, Dylan Raiola, inarguably lessened the stakes. While the Hawkeyes dominated in most every facet, it was their run game that did most of the (literal) leg work towards the team's eventual 40-16 win.

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— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 28, 2025

For most of the season so far, Iowa's defense has been the more notoriously reliable aspect of the team's overall game-plan. More often than not, the Hawkeyes' scoring unit has been a more complimentary aspect of victories than the reason for their being. But by way of four touchdowns on the ground (of just five total) Iowa's offense took the weight off of their score-stuffing unit for the last game of the regular season.

A break is better late than never, especially in 24-point, "not even close" fashion.

Domination by Committee

By traditional measures for the senior signal caller, the Hawkeyes' Mark Gronowski accounted for half of the team's rushing scores from under center. Despite having initially been seen as a solution to Iowa's normally mediocre passing attack, the QB's proficiency on the ground continues to define his game as the campaign comes to a close.

The other two scores were allotted to designated Kamari Moulton who, on 18 carries for 93 yards, led Iowa's backfield with more yards on his own than Nebraska had through the air in total.

Wherever Iowa ultimately ends up on the bowl game scene, such a dominant end to their year bodes well for the program's future, as well as the sanity of fans still reeling from their conference championship appearance the season before last.

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