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Iowa

Hawkeyes rally past Scarlet Knights

On3 imageby: Tom Kakert5 hours agoHawkeyeReport
Kaden Wetjen(3)
Kaden Wetjen scored on a 100 yard kickoff return. (Photo: USA Today)

It was a tale of two halves on Friday night at Rutgers. The first half looked like an arena football game with both teams scoring at will. Then in the second half, Iowa defensive coordinator made a couple of key adjustment, leading to Rutgers being limited to just seven points as Iowa pulled away for a 38-28 victory in their opening game of Big Ten play.

With the win, Iowa moves to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes will host Indiana next Saturday with kickoff schedule for 2:30 pm on Peacock.

There weren’t many people expecting an offensive shootout on Friday night when Rutgers and Iowa tangled, but that’s exactly what they got in the first half with both squads combining to score 28 points in the first quarter.

Iowa started with bang when Kaden Wetjen, coming off a Big Ten Player of the Week performance last week on special teams, making a case for a repeat performance with a 100 yard kickoff return for a score.

Rutgers wasted little time answering the Hawkeyes with a six play and 75 yard score, highlighted by the throwing of Scarlet Knight quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who connected DT Sheffield for a 40 yard gain. From there Antwan Raymond ran it in to tie things at 7-7.

Kaliakmanis engineered a 12 play drive on their next possession, also for a score. This time he converted three times on third down and eventually ran it in from five yards out for a 14-7 lead.

But, the Hawkeyes were not done in the first quarter. Mark Gronowski found Sam Phillips for a 25 yard strike and T.J. Washington scampered 16 yards on a reception and Rutgers was also hit with a personal foul. From there, Kamari Moulton, who returned after missing the last couple of games, ran it in from 7 yards out to tie the game at 14.

The Scarlet Knights opened the second quarter with Kaliakmanis finding the end zone on a sneak from one yard out and a 21-14 lead. But, Iowa was quick to answer right back.

Gronowski found tight end DJ Vonnahme for a nice tunnel screen for 21 yards and from there Jaziun Patterson was running hard for 13 yards before Gronowski ran it in from 2 yards out to tie the game at 21.

The third quarter was the complete opposite of the first two with both teams being held scoreless. Early in the fourth period after missing a field goal in the third Drew Stevens connected from 26 yards out for a 24-21 lead for the Hawkeyes.

Rutgers quickly matched the points and exceeded it with a with a nine play drive where Athan Kaliakmanis repeatedly found wide receivers Ian Strong and KJ Duff in the air and eventually Antwan Raymond ran it in from two yards out to give the Scarlet Knights what would be their final lead of the game, 28-24.

Kaliakmanis finished his day with 24-40 passing for 330 yards and he threw one interception. Strong led the way with 8 receptions for 151 yards and Duff caught 7 for 92 yards.

Just as the Scarlet Knights responded to the Hawkeyes, Iowa did the same on their next drive. Gronowski found Jacob Gill for 11 yards to get going and Dayton Howard forced a key holding call on third down to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Gronowski found Howard for a 42 yard completion and from there, Gronowski ran it in for his second touchdown of the night and a 31-28 lead.

Three plays later in the next Rutgers drive, Max Llewellyn hit Kaliakmanis on his pass and the ball fluttered into the air and it was hauled in by Iowa linebacker Jaxon Rexroth. Iowa then marched 35 yards in six plays with Gronowski scoring for the third time and a 38-28 win.

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