PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Both teams got off to a strong start, and Iowa finished strong in a 38-28 Hawkeyes’ win over Rutgers on Friday night.
Iowa (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) made a trio of splash plays while the Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) looked dominant early, but fizzled down the stretch with just seven points in the second half.
“(I am) really, really proud of our team,” head coach Kirk Ferentz told the Hawkeye Radio Network. “They really hung tough and just did a great job fighting through some tough circumstances. You never know how games are going to go, although we did know this was going to be a tough environment against a good team.”
First Quarter | 15:00 | Rutgers 35
Last week, Kaden Wetjen looked dominant in the return game, taking four punt returns for 182 yards, including a program-record 95-yard punt return for a touchdown.
He picked up right where he left off with a 100-yard kick return touchdown on the game’s opening play Friday night.
The Williamsburg native collected the opening kickoff about five yards deep in his own end zone before cutting through a hole on the right side of the coverage unit.
With TJ Washington leading the way, Wetjen outraced the Scarlet Knights and into the end zone to give Iowa a 7-0 advantage just 12 seconds into action.
The return tied a program record for the longest kick return in program history and moved Wetjen into a tie at the top of the all-time career kick return touchdowns leaderboard at Iowa with two. He joined Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Kahlil Hill.
First Quarter | 12:39 | Third-and-6 | Iowa 45
The Hawkeyes failed to hold onto their lead for long as Rutgers marched down the field in six plays to score a touchdown and tie the game at 7-7.
Facing an early third down just inside Iowa territory, the Scarlet Knights went with a trips look with three receivers to the wide side of the field.
Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis ended up with an easy read on the play as receiver DT Sheffield emerged from the middle of the wide side, racing by Zach Lutmer for a gain of 40 yards.
The Scarlet Knights scored on the next play via a five-yard Antwan Raymond rush.
While it led directly to a score, it also proved a sign of things to come as Kaliakmanis gashed the Hawkeyes’ secondary for 330 yards, including passes of 43, 40, 37, 26, 24, 21 and 19 yards.
Fourth Quarter | 7:13 | Second-and-6 | Iowa 47
Trailing 28-24 in the fourth quarter, Iowa’s offense needed a spark after mustering just three points in the second half.
After a defensive holding penalty against Rutgers gave the Hawkeyes new life near midfield, quarterback Mark Gronowski made his mark with a highlight reel throw to Dayton Howard.
In an empty set with three receivers to his right and two to his left, Gronowski put a throw on the money to Howard, who had a step on Jacobie Henderson, and made a diving grab to secure the deep ball.
Gronowski scored his second rushing touchdown of the game two plays later to put Iowa in front for good.
In a tense moment, when the Scarlet Knights appeared to be in the driver’s seat, Gronowski delivered the spark the Hawkeyes needed to pull out a gutsy road win.
Fourth Quarter | 4:49 | Third-and-8 | Rutgers 27
Looking to respond to Iowa’s go-ahead score, Rutgers managed just two yards on first and second down to set up a third and long deep in their own territory.
Kaliakmanis took the snap from the shotgun and looked left as Raymond stayed in to block.
The Hawkeyes’ pass rush generated near immediate pressure and, as Kaliakmanis looked to throw, Max Llewellyn got home, causing the pass to flutter high over the middle of the field.
Llewellyn compared the play to his strip sack of Dylan Raiola in Iowa’s win over Nebraska last season.
“I almost felt a little bit of déjà vu from Nebraska,” Llewellyn told the Hawkeye Radio Network. “It’s like the urgency is coming, somebody has to make a play. I’ve kind of gone through that and know how to be comfortable and trust my fundamentals. I was beating him with some stuff in the middle of the game and was just throwing my best stuff right there at the end, trying to make something happen.”
Linebacker Jaxon Rexroth managed to dive under the pass for an interception — the first defensive takeaway of the season.
Iowa took over possession on the Scarlet Knights’ 35-yard line and ran the ball six times to punch in a touchdown and take a commanding 38-28 lead with 2:14 remaining in the contest.
5 Takeaways from Iowa’s win over Rutgers: Offense puts on a show
Iowa opens Big Ten play with win over Rutgers on Friday
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
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Ethan Petrik
University of Iowa Athletics Beat Reporter
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