Despite a rough outing to open his Iowa football career against Albany, Mark Gronowski was feeling very confident he would bounce back on the road against Iowa State.
“One of the things is just just calm my feet down a little bit, slow everything down, and make sure I’m catching it then punch and get into my drop, just so I can start seeing everything,” Gronowski said at Iowa media availability on Tuesday. “And just really just trust my throws and just sometimes, just having that, ‘Screw it’ mindset.”
That aggressive mindset has been very successful for Gronowski in his career. He threw for over 10,000 yards and won back-to-back FCS national championships at South Dakota State. The senior’s winning pedigree earned him many potential suitors in the transfer portal, but he chose to stay near to his hometown of Naperville, Illinois and play for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
After just two games in the black and gold, the decision is already proving to be a mistake, and it not Gronowski’s fault. Yes, he looked bad against Albany, but his downfall in the 16-13 loss to the Cyclones was his own coaching staff.
It was clear from the first quarter that the Hawkeyes had no confidence in their signal-caller. Iowa’s first two drives of the game were so conservative they probably made Ronald Reagan smile in his grave.
Run. Run. Pass. Punt.
Run. Run. Pass. Punt.
That’s a strategy that won’t work in Pop Warner football, let alone in a trophy game on the road against a top-20 team (trust me, I sat through John Fox’s Chicago Bears teams)
The Hawkeyes did manage to put together a terrific drive to cut the deficit to three before halftime, but the passing attack wasn’t used to its full potential. Instead, Iowa focused on running the football and using Gronowski’s arm on third down situations, rarely ever taking a shot against the Iowa State secondary.
Gronowski and the offense managed to repeat that same drive to open the second half, marching down to the Cyclone 18-yard line. The Hawkeyes faced a 4th and 2, a distance they had been able to convert for most of the drive, but head coach Kirk Ferentz opted to send the field goal team out instead.
There’s plenty of times where it’s good to settle for the tie, but Iowa was rolling on that possession. Iowa State couldn’t stop the run, and Gronowski even showed flashes in the passing game, highlighted by a 22-yard completion to Jacob Gill early in the drive.
The Hawkeyes had plenty of options to pick up the first down. Gronowski’s big frame would have easily allowed him to pick up a few yards, running back Jaziun Patterson could have navigated his way between the tackles, or Iowa could even take a gamble and try a play-action pass to the flat.
Had the Hawkeyes went for the first down and converted the attempt, a touchdown and a 17-13 lead would have been a likely possibility. A failed attempt would sting, but Iowa’s defense was playing with a ton of confidence and could have stolen the football right back. Instead, Iowa settled for a 13-13 tie and never came close to the end zone again.
The Hawkeyes likely paid Gronowski a seven-figure NIL salary to play for them, so why not let your million dollar man prove his value and make a clutch play? It was hard to read Gronowski’s facial expression from the top row of Jack Trice Stadium, but I would bet a lot of money that he wanted to take a risk and go for it.
That’s the kind of moment that can shatter not only the quarterback, but the entire team’s confidence. That lack of confidence was evident on Iowa’s disastrous final possession, where Gronowski was sacked on back-to-back plays and could only throw up a helpless prayer to Hayden Large on 4th-and-15.
I still believe the Hawkeyes have the pieces to be a good football team in 2025, but they have some serious soul-searching to do before that can come close to fruition.
Step one?
Get Gronowski some confidence back against a bad Massachusetts team next weekend at Kinnick Stadium.