How Iowa Can Excel in B10 Matchups

A lot of sports media personalities, fans and analysts have spent the first few weeks of the 2025 college football season reminding one another that the Iowa Hawkeyes aren't what they used to be, at least not fully.

Even given the team's dominant victory in their first game, the second week's loss to the in-state rival Iowa State Cyclones on the road - despite the Cyclones being favored to win that game - has soured the perspectives of many from the outside looking in. To an extent, that's a fair reaction to your team dropping a nail-biter to their arch-rivals just two games into the season.

But it isn't time to give up on the white and gold turning this into a surprising season, at least not yet. And that isn't just because they've got an FCS opponent, in the UMass Minutemen, at home this weekend before conference play fully kicks off. No, the Hawkeyes are built for B10 football; the crux of their potential success will depend on whether or not they lean into their strengths.

A part of that process is accepting what doesn't work and moving on from it, too. The Hawkeyes, in bringing in lauded transfer quarterback Matt Gronowski from South Dakota State, were looking to build out the program and put the passing game in a position that it hadn't been in a very long time. While we're only two games into the year, it appears that dream might be just that: a dream

Not that it can't happen at a later point, but where Iowa has excelled in this early stretch of the season is almost entirely predicated on where they have excelled in the past; namely, a patented, unrelenting rushing attack and a consistent-enough defensive unit.

Regarding the latter, the Hawkeyes have cracked the 100-yard mark on the ground in both their games thus far this season, tripling that number for 310 yards total in their home win over UAlbany. Where the passing game has struggled, the rushing unit has more than made up for it, and that even includes consistent contributions of the like from the aforementioned Gronowski.

With NCAA-wide respected defenses throughout the conference, Iowa fits a similar bill. At this team's absolute best, a top-five finish in the conference doesn't seem terribly out of reach, especially if they can find ways to get over the offensive hump that just barely kept them from stealing one against the ranked Cyclones last Saturday.

How effective the Hawkeyes eventually end up will depend on how dedicated they are to what works, what scores, going forward. While they're currently situated at #11 in the B10 power rankings, with an entire season of conference play ahead of them, Iowa represents a beacon of hope given their early flashes of competition and, at times, success.

Having a date set on the road at Rutgers immediately following their home bout with UMass this weekend, it won't be long either way before onlookers get their answer to the Hawkeyes B10 potential in one of two ways: wins, or losses.

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