Sep 19, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (16) passes the ball during the first half as Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Karson Sharar (43) defends at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

How Iowa Brought Major Pressure vs. Rutgers

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI | By Jon Alfano | Last updated Sep 20, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a well-earned reputation as a defense-first team, but that wasn't really the case in Friday night's win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Well, at least it wasn't in the first half.

Early on, the Scarlet Knights simply had their way with the Hawkeyes' defense, racking up 269 total yards and 21 points on their first four possessions (would've been 24 points if not for a missed field goal on the fourth drive). However, Iowa tightened up after that, allowing just 156 total yards and seven points on the Rutgers' final seven possessions.

Part of the reason for the turnaround had to do with the Hawkeyes' pressure finding ways to get home. They had an impressive eight tackles for loss and three sacks on the night, two of them in the second half. Karson Sharar, Max Llewellyn and Ethan Hurkett all got to quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.

Even Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano gave the Hawkeyes' defense their flowers after a strong second-half performance.

''Well, you know, the two edge rushers are good players," Schiano told reporters after the game. "Then the big guy, 95 [Aaron Graves], he's a powerful dude. I thought early on we were protecting extremely well. Then as I said, they heated us up a little bit with some pressures. Sometimes when you use pressures and then you don't bring the pressures, guys are worried about the pressure so they don't do as good a job just blocking the straight front.

''I don't know if that happened tonight. I have to watch the tape. It kind of felt that way a little bit. But I don't think that -- again, I don't think that was the problem. That's a good defense. They put pressure on everybody and they cover well. I thought there was a lot of DPIs called and maybe there may have been some that weren't. I think our guys did a good job in the receiving corps of getting open, and Athan did a good job getting them the ball most of the night.''

The Hawkeyes' second-half performance was great, but they'll definitely want to start faster going forward. They're going to face much better offenses later in Big Ten play, and the defense will have to be sharp for them to have a fighting chance.

All that starts with the defensive front, and things look good in that regard at least.

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This article first appeared on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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