The Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) played extremely poorly through the first three quarters of Saturday's win over Michigan State.
The offense was struggling all game to move the ball, and quarterback Mark Gronowski was playing some of the worst football of his college career.
Gronowski did not complete a single pass until two minutes remaining in the first half, and finished the first half completing five of ten passes for a paltry 24 yards and an interception.
The trend continued in the third quarter, and the Hawkeyes were down 17-7 heading into the final quarter of play.
The offense finally started to show some life, and Gronowski stepped up once again in the fourth quarter as the Hawkeyes nearly doubled their passing yards and erased the deficit to tie the game.
After a great catch by Reece Vander Zee near the sideline, the offense put kicker Drew Stevens in a position to win the game, and he came through.
Stevens drilled a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa a walk-off 20-17 win over Michigan State and send the seniors out with one final home win.
After the emotional win, Gronowski shared that he never had any doubts in his or his teammates' ability to get the job done.
During his postgame media availability (posted by "The Hawkeye Report"), Gronowski stated that he kept preaching to the guys on the sidelines that they had done this before.
He also mentioned that he continually had belief in the guys, and they had belief in him to get the job done.
It looked bleak through the first three quarters, but when he was asked how he keeps playing so well in the fourth quarter this season, Gronowski stated he has put in a lot of time and reps in his life to be ready for those moments.
Gronowski knows he has done this before, and that knowledge allowed him to overcome three quarters of poor play and give the Hawkeyes a chance to win.