In a first-half shootout with Rutgers, the Iowa offense wanted to keep its foot on the gas as the defense was struggling to slow down the Scarlet Knights.
Iowa scored points before its offense took the field as return specialist Kaden Wetjen scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff. It was his second consecutive game scoring a touchdown for the Iowa special teams.
After earning the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week award last week, Wetjen continues to produce highlight-reel plays for the Hawkeyes.
Following Wetjen's score on the opening kickoff, the Iowa defense could not slow down Rutgers' offense as they got whatever they wanted in the first half.
Iowa's offense kept pace with Rutgers' offense, scoring two more first-half touchdowns on a Kamari Moulton six-yard run and a Mark Gronowski two-yard run to tie the game.
The Iowa defense made some great halftime adjustments and held Rutgers to only seven second-half points as the Iowa offense continued clicking.
Gronowski was proud of the way the offense and defense are working so well together, and stated that sometimes, the offense will have to carry the load.
During his postgame media availability (posted by "247Sports"), Gronowski stated that offensive coordinator Tim Lester continues preaching that the offense needs to continue being aggressive.
As Gronowski's confidence grows, the team is more confident in him, and everyone believes in each other.
Gronowski noted that there is still room for improvement in the passing game, but they made a "great step in the right direction" during Friday night's win.
Overall, Gronowski stated that is was a fun game and it is great to be 1-0 in Big Ten Conference play.