Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) hands off the ball to running back Jaziun Patterson (4) during the fourth quarter in the Cy-Hawk football at Jack Trice Stadium on Sept. 6, 2025, in Ames, Iowa Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mark Gronowski Makes Puzzling Comment About Iowa's Offense

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI
By Jordon Lawrenz | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Senior quarterback Mark Gronowski has only thrown the ball 63 times in the Iowa Hawkeyes' first three games. Head coach Kirk Ferenz has been with the team since 1999 and has long prioritized running the ball. While there's nothing wrong with that, Gronowski's recent comment left many questioning the true identity of this team's offense.

Having attempted 63 passes compared to running the ball 132 times, one sees a clear discrepency in the pass to run ratio. The number of opportunities for Gronowski increased from Week 1 to Week 2, though it stayed exactly the same from Week 2 to Week 3. 24 attempts per game seems to be the baseline with their Big 10 battles looming.

Ahead of their showdown at Rutgers, Gronowski talked to the media. The fifth-year transfer QB had plenty to say about his UMass performance and this team as a whole entering conference play at 2-1.

"I think there's a lot more to show and a lot more to improve upon and and grow. We've been running the ball really well. Last week I think we had over 400 yards of total offense, which is awesome," Gronowski said, per 247 Sports' Eliot Clough.

He continued, "That's a great offensive week, but I still think that there's a lot more that we can do in the pass game. We can continue to stretch the ball downfield. On that side of things, when we start stretching the ball downfield, it opens up our run game. Then, when our run game starts opening up, it starts opening up our pass game. So, it's kind of that back and forth that you got to continue to balance. That's what I really like about what we have here in our offense is that it's a really balanced attack. We're trying to be 50/50 as much as possible. Game plans and and how the scores are going in the games can affect that a little bit, but it's really great to have that balanced attack."

Ultimately, this team has run the ball 1.86 times more than they've thrown it. Looking at his history, it's safe to assume that Ferentz wants to run the ball as much as humanly possible. Gronowski came to Iowa knowing that he would be entering a run-first style offense.

In Week 1, Iowa threw 16 passes but ran the ball 53 times. In Week 2, they threw it 24 times and had 39 carries. Last week is the closest they've ever been to 50/50 as they threw the ball 31 times and ran it 40 times.

While this offense, especially under Gronowski, will never be a true 50/50, it's safe to assume the Hawkeyes will operate somewhere in the ballpark of a 65/35 run/pass split for the rest of the season.

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