September 20, 2025

We learned a lot about the Scarlett Knights last night during their game against Iowa, and I’m going to be fair about this. It seems to me, Head Coach, Greg Schiano and his Scarlett Knights, are back to where they were when Rutgers first made their change from the Big East College Football Conference to the Big Ten, and that my friends, is proving that they belong. In my opinion, there’s still a little bit of that old energy or aura lingering. Just a little bit. 

Okay, let’s put the mental and psychological stuff aside. Rutgers took their first loss of the season last night against the Iowa Hawkeyes, 38-28. Rutgers is now 3-1 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play, and Iowa improved their overall record to 3-1. By the way, this was the first inter-conference game for both teams.  

Rutgers took injuries on both sides of the ball, which is never good this early in the season. I don’t know the extent of their injuries so I’m not even going to mention them specifically, but definitely saw one offensive lineman, one defensive end, and one linebacker limp off. We’ll get the injury report later this week I assume.

Both teams started this game with a lot of energy, and the score at halftime was 21-21, but this is now the second time Rutgers started off a game fast and explosive only to run out of gas and break down in the second half (their game against Ohio).

Well, we learned last night that Rutgers wide receiver, Ian Strong, is not only a great player and a game-changing player, but he is the center piece of that entire Rutgers team. Having said that, Rutgers has an excellent group of receivers (KJ Duff and DT Sheffield).

We learned that if you give quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis, time to sit in the pocket and throw the ball, he can burn you at any time. Kaliakmanis to Strong is probably one of the most dangerous connections in the country.

The entire game changed in the second half. Iowa went back to their ground and pound style of offense, and their defense, after making some adjustments, started to get pressure on the quarterback. As a matter of fact, Rutgers couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half. Iowa’s defense started rushing five guys and they really turned up the pressure.

Iowa quarterback, Mark Gronowski, completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards, but he was able to escape the pocket and do damage on the ground. Gronowski rushed 55 yards and 3 touchdowns. He did it to Rutgers just like Parker Navarro did it to Rutgers.

Running back, Kamari Moulton, looked good last night. He ran hard, downhill, and violently. Statistically, he finished with 68 yards on 14 carries for 1 touchdown. That’s 4.9 yards per touch.

Let’s not forget about wide receiver, Dayton Howard, who made a huge play late in the fourth quarter that set up Iowa’s go-ahead touchdown.

Iowa 38 Rutgers 28