Relive the Moment: The Night Mark Gronowski Wrote His Iowa Legacy

IOWA CITY, IA - OCTOBER 18: Quarterback Mark Gronowski #11 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs on the field after the match-up against the Penn State Nittany Lions on October 18, 2025 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) | Getty Images Welcome to Relive the Moment, our offseason series where we crack open the tape on some of the most memorable games in Iowa Hawkeye history. We’ll revisit the setup, the swing plays, and the legacy — and tell you where the cast of characters ended up.

First up: a game we never want to stop watching. The Setting: October 18, 2025 — Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City Iowa came in at 4-2, fresh off a road loss at Indiana the prior week, with a Big Ten record sitting at 2-1 and a season that was teetering between “this could really be something” and “here we go again. ” Penn State arrived in Iowa City on a three-game losing streak that had cost James Franklin his job — fired earlier that month after a 22-21 loss to Northwestern.

The Nittany Lions were 3-3 overall, 0-3 in conference, and starting backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer in place of injured starter Drew Allar. They were also still ranked in the AP Top 25 when the season started and carried that “best roster Penn State has had in a decade” reputation into Kinnick. The lights were on.

The stadium was sold out — 69,250 packed in for a primetime kickoff. Iowa was unbeaten in night games on the year. And nobody — not the broadcast team, not the analytics models, not the fans clutching beverages in the south end zone — had any idea they were about to watch the Mark Gronowski Game.