Expect Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski To Hit Ground Running In Week 1

If the Iowa Hawkeyes make noise in 2025 as a potential College Football Playoff team, it will be because transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski ended up being the difference-maker many project him to be.

Iowa went out and got Gronowski via the transfer portal after he put up a stellar few seasons at South Dakota State. Gronowski, a 6-foot-2, 235 pound senior from Naperville, Illinois, spent the first four seasons of his college career with the Jackrabbits.

There, he became one of the best players in the FCS. In fact, in 2024, he won the Walter Payton Award, which is basically the Heisman Trophy for FCS players.

Gronowski was also a winner. He went 49-6 as the Jackrabbits' starting quarterback and helped them win back-to-back national championships.

What makes him intriguing, for Iowa, is not just his history as a quarterback and what he can bring to the table as a proven winner, but he's also quite the dual-threat. He fits the modern day mold of a quarterback who can hurt defenses with both his arm and his legs. At South Dakota State, he threw for 10,330 yards and 93 touchdowns (20 interceptions) while also rushing for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns.

He's the type of dual-threat quarterback Iowa hasn't had for quite some time, and heading into Week 1's matchup with UAlbany, Gronowski told Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register that offensive coordinator Tim Lester has given him the go-ahead to use his legs.

"They've kind of told me that we're going to run when we need you to run," Gronowski said. "If you see two-man (Cover-2 man underneath) and everyone else has turned around, just go take it and run it. Take the opportunities that the defense is giving to you.”

One would imagine that Gronowski's "green light" to run is not just for the game against the Great Danes, but it should stand for the rest of this season as well.

The Hawkeyes will need Gronowski to be the most dynamic player on the field more often than not in order to be a team that can compete in the Big Ten this season. That's exactly why they brought him in.

Now it's time to let him loose.