Iowa's Offense Has Yet to Reach Full Potential

Despite sitting at 2-1 and outscoring their opponents 81-14 in those two wins, the Iowa Hawkeyes are far from satisfied. HC Kirk Ferentz didn't get this far by enjoying two blowout non-conference wins. With No. 19 Indiana looming, Iowa knows that their Friday night showdown against Rutgers is just the beginning.

If their 16-13 loss to No. 16 Iowa State revealed anything, it's the fact that this team cannot survive without an offense. No matter how good their defense may be, Iowa needs their offense to put up points. Not many teams are going to be able to say they held Iowa State to just 16 points, but Iowa still came out of that game on the losing end of things.

Eliot Clough of 247Sports had the chance to speak with Iowa Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski. The senior had plenty to say about their win against UMass. That win was Gronowski's breakout game of the season, but there's still plenty of work to be done.

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

"I don't know if we have exactly ex what we want to do on offense. We've had a couple injuries. So, we're still trying to figure out a lot of our playmakers, and and the guys that we need to keep getting the ball to," Gronowski said.

He went on to praise WR Kaden Wetjen who was just named Big 10 Special Teams Player of the Week. Wetjen is now fourth all-time with his monster kick/punt return performance in Week 3. Not only that, but he became the first player in Iowa history with a kick return, punt return, rushing, and receiving touchdown.

Gronowski continued, "Our identity on offense is we're going to run the ball. We're going to try and stretch the teams out left to right. But, then also take a lot of play action deep shots and when those deep shots aren't open, and I don't have the ability to be aggressive on some of those, I've got to continue to check the ball down so we can continue to have those positive plays. That way we can keep running those play action plays throughout games."

Averaging just 4.9 yards per attempt this season, it's hard for Hawkeyes fans to imagine a scenario where this team takes multiple deep shots a game. Things began trending in the right direction against UMass as four wideouts had 20+ yard receptions. In the previous two weeks, they had just one combined. Moving forward, it's clear Gronowski has the arm talent should Ferentz choose to let him loose and attempt 20+ passes a game.

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