Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa's Offense Makes Up For Inexcusable Errors vs. Nebraska

The Iowa Hawkeyes' defense is leaving a lot to be desired, but their offense is carving up this Nebraska defense.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Nov 28, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) warms up before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Nov 28, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) warms up before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

With both teams sporting the same record, college football fans knew they were in for a showdown during Rivalry Week. The Iowa Hawkeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers may not be the biggest rivals in the world, but their games these past two years can't go unnoticed. While this one doesn't replicate either of them, it goes to show that anything can happen, especially in the B1G.

Through the first 30 minutes, Iowa leads Nebraska, 24-16. Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule opted to go for a pair of field goals instead of fourth down conversions, so it remains to be seen if those will come back to haunt him. It was far from a mistake free half from Iowa, but the Hawkeyes offense more than held their weight.

Iowa's First-Half Blunders

Through 15 minutes, Emmett Johnson was on pace for 528 rushing yards. After putting up 132 yards on the ground in the first quarter, Iowa quickly realized they somehow didn't prepare for Nebraska's biggest weapon.

The Cornhuskers jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 70-yard run from Johnson. A little bit of misdirection completely screwed up Iowa's defense as they all guessed wrong, but somehow they managed to stop Johnson at the one-inch line. Ultimately, it didn't matter as Nebraska scored anyways.

Iowa put up 10 unanswered, but Nebraska came back with a field goal and changed the course of the game with a modified onside kick. Due to the conditions, it's incredibly hard to kick it out of the end zone. Instead, Nebraska went for a squib kick that went 39 yards, dropping at the Hawkeyes 26 yard line. It took a Nebraska bounce, and they were able to jump on it before Iowa. Special teams, which have been stellar for Iowa all season, worked against them there.

Iowa's Offense Keeping Them Alive

While it's important to point out the errors, this Iowa team would be nothing without Mark Gronowski. In his final regular season game with the team, he's putting on an absolute show. Gronowski is fighting through the snow as he's used a stellar mix of both his arm and legs to put up plenty of first half points for the Hawkeyes.

Gronowski doesn't have a ton of touchdown passes on the season, but his 35-yarder to Vonnahme was a thing of beauty. In the next drive, he had a 26-yard pass and 29-yard run that highlighted a first half that was all about the big play. It wasn't just Gronowski though as Kamari Moulton found the end-zone for the first time since Iowa played at Wisconsin on October 11.

Moulton's touchdown was just the beginning of his big half as he exploded for a 34-yard run as part of Iowa's no-huddle offense towards the end of the first half. An 11-yard pass to Phillips set up the Hawkeyes for an easy Gronowski rushing touchdown. That was a great sign for Iowa as it looked like he'd banged up his arm earlier in the drive.

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

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