The Iowa offense found an extra gear to, for once, bail out a struggling defense.
That was…different.
That was a vastly different football experience for anyone that watches this program. Defensive struggles in the first half? Check. Offense and special teams carrying the load until the defense can get on the rails? Check, sort of? Iowa in an arena football game? Check.
Crucially – defense and offense both bow up at the perfect moment in the fourth quarter and they win? Check, check, check.
When was the last time we saw any of that? When was the last time Iowa had a fourth quarter lead, lost it, then regained it and also dominated the final 10 minutes of a game? Never? Is the answer never?
It’s refreshing to see the offense carry some of the weight. We saw glimpses of this last year, that the offense could hit a gear they had been nowhere close to hitting the last several years. Obvious statements are obvious, but previous offensive coordinators don’t get Iowa to 38 points last night. They needed all of that with the defense struggling against a legitimately talented Rutgers offense (their wide receivers are huge.)
The extra gear last year was Kaleb Johnson. This year, it’s Gronowski. This is the reason you snag someone like him in the portal. He was wobbly the first two games – him missing time in spring due to his shoulder operation will forever be under-stated – but has since settled into a nice rhythm. He had maybe two bad throws on the night, with missing the aforementioned touchdown to Zach Ortwerth the lowlight. But his ability in the run game is fantastic – he’s a true mauler and feels like a guarantee in short yardage situations – and he looks better on the longer throws than the short throws, weirdly.
He also hit some really wild historic numbers – he’s the first Iowa quarterback since Larry Lawrence in 1968 to have a rushing touchdown in four-straight games, and he’s the first Iowa quarterback with three in one game since Matt Rodgers against Cincinnati to open the 1990 season. You all remember that game, right?
How about this number from Gronowski last night?
And hey – 1-0 in the league, with Indiana looming next week. Get that win, get to 4-1 and 2-0 heading into the bye, and we might be cooking with something.
Other thoughts:
- Kaden Wetjen now has four returns for touchdowns in his career, tied for second all-time at Iowa with Kahlil Hill. The only player with more is Tim Dwight, with five. His return last night is the easiest return you will ever see.
- The defense – wow that was a tough go for awhile. Rutgers has some real dudes on the outside and that dink and dunk offense always gives Iowa fits going back to the Norm Parker years. Then mix in RPOs with legit size outside – the Rutgers game plan morphed into throwing jump balls for awhile and aim for flags – and that was hard to watch for awhile. But Phil Parker is a witch, Iowa dialed up pressure, and just when Iowa needed it they found their first turnover of the year.
- This thread is worth a read. Good stuff from Hawkeye Gamefilm. The first tweet captures the game well – not a perfect four quarters from Iowa, but still a pretty good four quarters from a team that has struggled to do that in recent years. If you haven’t been following Hawkeye Gamefilm, what are you doing? Make better choices.
- This was a brilliant touch from Rutgers.
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Category: General Sports
