Tuesdays with Torbee

Shaking off rust. A shakedown cruise. Workmanlike.

Select your preferred cliché to describe the Iowa Hawkeyes’ underwhelming game one of the 2025 season against the scrappy-but-outsized Great Danes of Albany.

More cynical Iowa fans may use a Yogi Berrarism to describe Saturday’s effort: Déjà vu all over again.

Another season that opened with hopes a savior at quarterback might finally make the Iowa offense a threat worthy of complementing a fierce defense instead has fans thinking scrapping out back alley fistfights will be the only way to win games.

While the cynics may be proved right, I’m going to try to inject some optimism through level-headed objectivity.

First, the ugly. Transfer quarterback Mark Grownoski who put up a preposterous 10,000-plus passing yards and 49 wins for the South Dakota State Jack Rabbits in a four-year career, managed an anemic 44-yards passing in his Hawkeye debut, with a terrible stretch through the first quarter where he missed several gimme completions. He did right the ship a bit in the second quarter, leading Iowa to a passing touchdown and a 10-7 lead, en route to a comfortable 34-7 win.

A comfortable win – one where the running game dominated to the tune of 300-plus yards is always a welcome sight – but Iowa fans really, really wanted to see some evidence of an effective passing game and it was pretty much fully MIA.

The bazillion dollar question (and whether Iowa will or will not be a legit Big 10 conference contender) is whether Gronowski’s first game performance was a one-off anomaly or a harbinger of bad quarterback play to come. It’s not hard to understand fan frustration after the Deacon Hill Experience.

I admit to concern. On the ride up to Kinnick I told my seat mate I had one major “want” for the game against an outmatched FCS foe: to see a quarterback that could make plays downfield and showcase an improved receiving squad. Needless to say, that did not happen.

But fan disappointment doesn’t really mean a thing. The team got a win and the Hawks are 1-0 heading into a lively rivalry game against a ranked Iowa State teams whose fans are riding high on early season hope.

So will that hyped stage be too much for Grownoski?

I am fascinated to see. To my admittedly untrained eye, his problems last Saturday seemed to stem from nervousness or being too hyped up. Short-armed throws, weird lobs that missed, and most frustratingly, being gushy to just fire the ball in when receivers broke open all seem like jitters/nerves to me.

It almost felt like he was simultaneously wanting to prove he was the answer, while being terrified of making a turnover. That is a recipe for tight, bad play. Now, he never put the ball in harms way and when he chose to tuck-and-run, made good gains. But to beat Iowa State or any of the better Big 10 teams remaining on the schedule, the “do no harm, but make no big plays” strategy absolutely won’t work. Iowa is not going to rush for 300-plus on any Big 12 or Big 10 team most likely, regardless of how good the offensive line and running back stable is.

The hope here is Gronowski is able to play looser on the road than at home, where expectations and hope weigh heavy. In Ames, he will be booed and castigated and dismissed. That can be a motivator. The us-against-the-world mentality might do him some good.

I suspect the only person even moderately pleased with Gronowski’s quarterback play was Kirk Ferentz. After all, he protected the ball, led several scoring drives and helped bring home the win. Offensive coordinator Tim Lester and Mark Gronowski, I suspect, are hoping for much, much more in the next outing.

Lost in the worry over future offensive woes is that the new-look Iowa defense looks strong again. I wish the defensive line got a bit more pressure, but it was clear Albany’s plan was to get the ball out as quickly as possible to avoid the pass rush making plays. The new linebackers looked solid, if unspectacular and the defensive backs pretty much shut down Albany other than its lone touchdown drive which was highlighted by a couple of pretty amazing pass catches.

And once again, Iowa will win if it can run the ball. Xavier Williams looked like the X-factor (pun intended) to me, consistently hitting the hole with purpose and bursting through for 122 rushing yards. Starter Kamari Moulton racked up 22 on only three carries, but left with an injury. But Terrel Washington Jr., Jaziun Patterson and freshman Nathan McNeil all looked like they could start for most college teams. Officially zero worries here with Iowa’s running game in the hands of these guys and a really nasty and effective offensive line.

I actually like the position Iowa is in heading into Ames. Most college football talking heads will pick the Cyclones at home, and at 2-0 and ranked they deserve the respect. After watching many games around the country, however, I’m not sold on the Big 12 being a superpower conference and I think a hungry and feeling disrespected Iowa team is going to be very dangerous.

All eyes will be on Iowa’s signal caller. It is time for him to demonstrate the moxie that helped him win two national championships at the FCS level. Get him making plays then lean on the running game and defense and the Hawkeyes can stretch their winning streak at Jack Trice to six.  

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