3 Burning Questions for Iowa football: Has Iowa State surpassed the Hawkeyes?

IOWA CITY Iowa dropped its week two matchup against No.

14 Iowa State for the second year in a row on Saturday.

The Cyclones' back-to-back wins in the series and their postseason success coupled with the Hawkeyes offensive struggles over the past four years brings up three key questions.

Have the Hawkeyes been surpassed by Iowa State? The question started to percolate last season after Iowa State managed a 20-19 win over Iowa in Kinnick Stadium.

However, the Cyclones could still be written off as a one-year wonder.

Even as Iowa State appeared in the Big 12 Championship and the Hawkeyes fell short of College Football Playoff expectations with an 8-5 record, the Cyclones could not quite definitively claim to be the better program in the present day.

Arguments over conference superiority and schedule seemed to trump the results on the field.

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7, 2025 Davenport man accused of sexually abusing and secretly videoing child Fall movies come into focus as summer winds down | Streamed & Screened However, after picking up its second consecutive win over the Hawkeyes and starting the season 3-0, the Cyclones look like the team to beat in the Big 12 and a potential College Football Playoff team.

Theyre also clearly the better program with an established top-tier head coach, a proven track record of developing quarterbacks and a lockdown defense.

Answer: Right now, Iowa State is the better program.

Why cant Iowa find a quarterback? Mark Gronowski set a new Big Ten low-water mark for passings yards (127 yards) by a quarterback through two games (minimum 35 attempts) since 1995.

Despite throwing for more than 10,000 yards and scoring more than 100 touchdowns at South Dakota State, the Naperville, Illinois native failed to meet the moment in the first two weeks of the season.

Gronowskis resume makes his case intriguing over Cade McNamara, Brendan Sullivan or any of the other Hawkeye quarterbacks from recent memory.

Max Brosmer just made the FCS-FBS jump last season at Minnesota and threw for 2,828 yards and 18 touchdowns before landing with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

After last weeks underwhelming win over UAlbany, head coach Kirk Ferentz called the lack of dynamic passing attack a group effort.

It wasnt perfect all around, Ferentz said.

...

We ran some routes short because of new guys, and that's the age-old story, too.

Just like quarterbacks don't want to take the drop-off sometimes, receivers, they'll be quick but don't hurry, and they get hurried and shortened routes, too.

We had a little bit of that.

So, it takes more than a quarterbacks physical and mental tools for him to look good.

And, wide receiver Jacob Gill also painted the lack of a deep passing game as a group effort on Saturday.

Answer: A complete offensive overhaul continues to make quarterback the toughest position to play in Iowa City.

Should the Hawkeyes be concerned about UMass? With confidence at an all-time low after an emotional loss, should Iowa fans be worried beyond the slight concern that a David will best Goliath inherent in any buy game? UMasss recent history doesnt give any reason for that.

The Minutemen went 2-10 in 2024 and only managed wins over FCS opponents Wagner and Central Connecticut.

This year doesnt appear to be one with more success in store under first year head coach Joe Harasymiak.

UMass opened the season 0-2 including a 42-10 loss to Temple and a 27-26 loss to Bryant, an unranked FCS opponent.

To make matters worse, the Minutemen lost both games at home in Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Answer: Respectfully, no.

Highlights from Iowa State's 16-13 win over Iowa | September 6 Mark Gronowski | Iowa Football | Sept.

6 We got to look ourselves in the mirror: Iowa faces passing game reckoning after CyHawk loss.

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