Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Hank Brown (9) throws a pass during a football game agains the Massachusetts Minutemen Sept. 13, 2025 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Way Too Early Iowa vs. Rutgers Predictions

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI
By Jordon Lawrenz | Last updated Sep 14, 2025 4:00 PM ET

SHI Stadium plays home to the Iowa Hawkeyes and Rutgers Scarlet Knights first Big 10 game of the year. Each team has three non-conference games under their slate with the Hawkeyes bringing their 2-1 record up against the Scarlet Knights' 3-0 start to the 2025 season. These teams only have a short history against one another, but Iowa is 4-0 all-time against Rutgers.

FOX will host this Big 10 Conference game on a rare Friday night. The Scarlet Knights opened their season on a Thursday, as this is Iowa's first game to not take place on Saturday. The Hawkeyes only other Friday night game this year is their season finale against Nebraska.

On paper, Rutgers opens as the favorite. ESPN Analytics gives the Scarlet Knights a 57% chance to win. Playing at home certainly helps as Iowa's lone loss this season came on the road. Of the two teams, Iowa had a more difficult strength of schedule thus far. They fell to No. 16 Iowa State by just three points, a game many believe they could've (and should've) won.

As for Rutgers, the 3-0 team padded their record with wins against Ohio, Miami (OH), and Norfolk State. To make matters even easier, their first four games are all at home. Things are only going to get harder from here as Rutgers has games against No. 4 Oregon, No. 9 Illinois, No. 1 Ohio State, and No. 2 Penn State.

Iowa's QB Mark Gronowski made a statement in Week 3 against the Minutemen. While 16/24 for 179 yards and two touchdowns doesn't seem too out of the ordinary, it's a vast improvement from what he showed in the first two weeks. His numbers look even better when Heisman candidate Arch Manning went 11/25 for 115 yards with a touchdown and interception against UTEP.

Hawkeyes fans shouldn't get ahead of themselves, but it's good to know Gronowski has the capabilities to be a quality quarterback. HC Kirk Ferentz has always relied on his run game, and the team has plenty of viable options with any of them able to break out at any given moment.

Rutgers is coming off of a 60-10 win over Norfolk State. They held the Spartans to just 92 yards passing though they had 128 yards on the ground. These numbers favor a Hawkeyes team who will choose to run the ball nine times out of ten.

Through the first three games of the season, Rutgers has allowed 446 rushing yards. Ohio nearly got the best of them in Week 1 thanks to a 239-yard and three-touchdown performance from QB Parker Navarro. The next week, they allowed Miami (OH) QB Dequan Finn to throw for 251 yards. It's safe to say Gronowski will fall somewhere in that 92-239 yard range against the Scarlet Knights. As for the running back trio of Nathan McNeil, Jaziun Patterson, and Xavier Williams, the three will look to put up a 200-yard performance like Ohio did against Rutgers to open the season.

Prediction: Iowa 21, Rutgers 17

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