Iowa QB Remains Calm Despite Drops and Miscues

With a Friday night Big 10 showdown awaiting, Iowa Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski knows that this team is going to find their stride. Rutgers has looked fantastic in their first few games, but Iowa is coming off their most prolific win of the season.

UMass may not be in the same tier as the Scarlet Knights, but no one can take away the Hawkeyes 47-7 victory. Iowa has dominated in both of their wins, but Gronowski's Week 3 performance really stood out. His breakout game was even more special as it resulted in HC Kirk Ferentz setting the all-time Big 10 wins record.

On paper, 18/24 for 179 yards with a pair of touchdowns is clearly Gronowski's best work of the season. After sitting down with Eliot Clough of 247Sports, the senior QB cleared the air on his 58.7% completion percentage, one that has been held back by costly drops.

"There's not really anything physically on my side that I can do. It's more of just continuing to encourage those guys. Knowing that they're going to have to make plays for us at some point, and I'm going to keep giving those guys opportunities," Gronowski said.

He added, "I'm not wavering my faith in them, but I'm making sure that they're taking reps or maybe taking more catches on the jugs machine after practice -- guaranteeing that they're getting all those catches. I've got to continue to keep the pressure on them, keep throwing them the ball, and they're going to continue to make plays."

Sep 13, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) looks to throw a pass during the first quarter against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

One of the key players Iowa needs to step up is redshirt-freshman WR KJ Parker. Parker has just two receptions for 12 yards, though one of those was a touchdown against UMass. In fact, everything he's done this season has been against the Minutemen.

From senior to freshman, Gronowski had some words of advice to his 5'10'' 184-pound target, "I think he just has to continue to build confidence in the game. Shoot, he's only a redshirt-freshman, so he still has a lot more years to go. Obviously, we need him now, we need him to keep progressing. I think that confidence will slowly grow throughout the season, and, hopefully, it will show up on a Saturday."

Looking at the rest of the receiving core, Senior WR Seth Anderson had a stellar outing against UMass. The Georgia native may have only had three receptions, but two of them were touchdowns. Through the first three weeks, he has caught half of Gronowski's touchdown passes.

The Hawkeyes are currently led by another senior, WR Sam Phillips. Phillips, who patiently awaits his first touchdown of the season, has four receptions for a team-high 90 receiving yards. Both he and senior WR Jacob Gill (80 receiving yards) have a chance to surpass 100 receiving yards in their Friday night showdown at Rutgers.

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