THE BEST LINE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Iowa’s offensive line consisting of center Logan Jones, guards Beau Stephens and Kade Pieper and tackles Gennings Dunker and Trevor Lauck has been named the recipient of the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s top offensive line.
• It is the second time Iowa has received the award (2016, 2025) and the Hawkeyes have been a semifinalist four times (2016, 2020, 2024, 2025).
• The Hawkeyes are one of three schools to earn the distinction more than once, joining Alabama and Michigan.
• Iowa’s offensive line is one of eight schools nationally to start the same five players in every game this season. It is the first time the Hawkeyes have started the same five players on the O-line since 2013.
• The Hawkeye offensive line, which had all five players earn All-Big Ten honors and three earn All-America recognition, has given up 16 sacks in the team’s 12 games.
• Iowa was the only school to have three offensive linemen earn AP All-Big Ten honors.
• Jones (50 starts), Dunker (37 starts) and Stephens (33 starts) have combined to start 120 games in their collegiate careers.
• Guard Beau Stephens led all Power Four guards with an 88.3 PFF grade and his 92.9 pass-blocking grade is the best among all guards in America. He did not allow a sack or hit allowed and had only three pressures surrendered all season.
• Guard Kade Pieper’s 82.7 grade leads all FBS right guards. He was the only right guard in the nation with 80.0-plus grades as a run-and-pass-blocker and he didn’t allow a sack on 293 pass-blocking snaps.
• The first, and only, accepted holding penalty against an Iowa offensive lineman this season occurred in Game 10 against USC (Gennings Dunker in the final drive of the first half).
THE TOP CENTER IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Senior Logan Jones became the second Hawkeye all-time to win the Rimington Trophy, presented to the nation’s top center.
• Jones, who has started all 12 games and 50 career contests, anchors Iowa’s offensive line that is the Joe Moore Award winner as the nation’s top unit. He has served as an Iowa captain each week this season, he is the top-rated center in the country by Pro Football Focus (by nearly two points) and he has not been flagged for an offensive holding penalty in 2025.
• Jones is the only center in America who has top-five marks as a pass blocker (second) and run blocker (third).
• He joins Tyler Linderbaum (2021) as Iowa’s Rimington Trophy honorees. The Hawkeyes are one of four schools (Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama) to have multiple Rimington Trophy recipients.
GRONOWSKI IN 2025
Graduate Mark Gronowski has completed 150-of-240 attempts for 1,529 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games this season. The Illinois native also has 491 rushing yards (second-most on the team) and is leading the team with 16 touchdowns (15 rushing, 1 receiving).
• His 15 rushing touchdowns are No. 1 in the Big Ten and ninth nationally. They are tied for the third-most by a QB in the nation.
• In Week 3 against UMass, Gronowski completed 16-of-24 passes for a season-high 189 yards and two touchdowns. He completed a pass to 12 different receivers in the game.
• In his first career Big Ten game at Rutgers, Gronowski completed 12-of-18 attempts for 186 yards while rushing 13 times for 55 yards and scoring three touchdowns.
• In Week 8 against Penn State, Gronowski rushed for 130 yards on nine attempts — the most ever by an Iowa quarterback — and scored two touchdowns. He had a 67-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead touchdown.
• Gronowski had a 29-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee in Week 9 vs. Minnesota. It was the team’s longest touchdown pass of the season to date.
• Gronowski had 117 of his 147 passing yards in the fourth quarter and finished with 57 rushing yards in Iowa’s come-from-behind 20-17 win over Michigan State in Week 13. He completed his final four passing attempts for 67 yards, including a 13-yard game-tying touchdown.
• In the regular season finale at Nebraska, Gronowski completed 9-of-16 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, while rushing 13 times for 64 yards and two touchdowns – his third multi rushing TD game this season.
• Gronowski has had both a passing and rushing touchdown six times this season — Week 1 versus UAlbany, Week 3 versus UMass, Week 9 vs. Minnesota, Week 11 versus Oregon, Week 12 at USC and Week 14 at Nebraska. He has 32 such games in his collegiate career.
• Gronowski has led three fourth-quarter game-winning drives (at Rutgers, Penn State, Michigan State) – the most by a Hawkeye quarterback since Ricky Stanzi had four in 2009.
• He has 11,837 career passing yards, 2,258 career rushing yards, 101 career passing touchdowns and 52 career rushing touchdowns.
ANOTHER DIMENSION
Graduate quarterback Mark Gronowski gives Iowa’s offense another dimension with his legs. Through 12 games, the Illinois native is second on the team with 491 rushing yards on 120 attempts. He also has a team-best 15 rushing touchdowns, which are the most by an Iowa quarterback in a single season all-time and tied for the fifth-most in school history.
• Gronowski is No. 1 in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in rushing touchdowns (15) and fifth in total touchdowns (16) this season, while ranking 32nd in total points scored (96).
• In the regular season finale at Nebraska, Gronowski rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing total gave him 491 yards this season, breaking Iowa’s single season quarterback rushing record that was set by Ken Ploen (487) in 1956.
• Gronowski finished with 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Week 8 win over Penn State. The 130 rushing yards are the most ever in a game by an Iowa quarterback. His 67-yard rush in the fourth quarter set up Iowa’s go-ahead touchdown and was the team’s longest run of the season.
• He is the first Hawkeye QB to rush for 100+ yards since Butch Caldwell in 1972.
• Gronowski had 54 rushing yards (before sacks) on a career-high 16 rushing attempts in Week 2 at Iowa State and 55 rushing yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns in Week 4 at Rutgers. The three touchdowns are the most by an Iowa quarterback since Matt Rodgers had three against Cincinnati on Sept. 15, 1990. The last Iowa QB to even have two rushing touchdowns in a game were Brad Banks (2002) and C.J. Beathard (2015).
• Gronowski had a rushing touchdown in each of his first 10 games of the 2025 season and he has three multi-touchdown games this season. The 10 straight games with a rushing touchdown was a Big Ten single-season record.
• He was the first FBS quarterback with a rushing TD in each of his first 10 games since Houston’s D’Eriq King in 2018 and the first Power Conference QB with a rushing TD in each of his first 10 games.
• His 15 rushing touchdowns are the second-most in Big Ten history by a quarterback in the last 30 years, trailing only Michigan’s Denard Robinson (16).
• Gronowski has had both a passing and rushing touchdown six times this season and in 32 games in his collegiate career.
