#TBT: The Entire Iowa-Rutgers History

Unlike weeks 1 and 3, Iowa actually has a history with the fourth team they’ll meet this fall. It’s not much, but it’s something.

The Iowa Hawkeyes own a 4-0 advantage in their all time series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights but this is a series that only dates back to 2016, a bit surprising when one considers Rutgers is famously one of the first two teams that played in the very first college football game in 1869. Rutgers only recently joined the Big Ten in 2014 along with Maryland, back when large media markets were the driving force behind conference realignment. Doesn’t that sounds quaint?

The short history of the Iowa-Rutgers series doesn’t feature much in terms of quantity, either in the number of matches or offensive output. The Hawks cracked thirty points only once while Rutgers has totaled only 17 points across all four games.

It may not be an exciting series, but let’s take a look at how the Hawkeyes have fared against the Scarlet Knights over the years.

2016 – Iowa 14, Rutgers 7

It took 147 years from that very first college football game for Rutgers to face the Hawkeyes on the gridiron in 2016. It very much felt like a game from the 19th century: low scoring, ugly, hoop skirts and yellow fever everywhere. Never mind that last bit, but when Iowa traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey on September 24, 2016, Rutgers gave them a fiercer battle than many were expecting.

After nearly thirty game minutes Iowa scored the series’ first point. The Iowa defense had just stopped Rutgers on 4th and goal when CJ Beatherd led Iowa on a monster 99-yard drive, capped off by a 36-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle with only :34 seconds left in the first half.

The 7-0 lead would hold until the fourth quarter when Rutgers receiver Andre Patton scored on a 14-yard pass. On their next possession, Brandon Snyder managed to strip the ball from Patton and on the very next play Akrum Wadley scampered 26 yards to pay dirt to put Iowa back on top.

The Iowa defense still needed one more stop to seal the game. Rutgers pushed them back to their own 17-yard line but finally held up to get a 4th and 2 stop. With under five minutes to play, the Hawkeye offense was able to burn the clock and earn their first victory against the Scarlet Knights.

2019 – Iowa 30, Rutgers 0

As tight as the 2016 meeting was, 2019 was anything but. Iowa entered the game ranked #20 and played like they meant it. Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a stellar day, collecting 113 yards on only four catches with a pair of touchdowns. The first one came on a 58-yard bomb from Nate Stanley merely two and a half minutes and five plays into the game.

Believe it or not, Iowa didn’t have a rushing touchdown in this game despite Rutgers fielding the 107th-ranked rushing defense that year. Backs Toren Young, Mekhi Sargent, and Tyler Goodson combined for 171 yards on the ground. They didn’t need to do much with ISM and Tyrone Tracy shredding the Scarlet Knights secondary. Oh yeah, Tracy had a touchdown of his own with Ihmir grabbing another long catch and run score well into the third quarter.

The brightest highlight for Rutgers was punter Adam Korsak’s 47.6 yard average on ten punts, four of which were downed inside the Iowa 3. Nate Stanley’s 236 yards and three touchdowns helped alleviate Korsak’s punting prowess. Meanwhile, the Iowa defense held future Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco to only 36 yards on the ground and quarterbacks McLane Carter and Artur Sitkowski to ratings of 9.2 and 9.8, respectively. A good day all around.

2022 – Iowa 27, Rutgers 10

Speaking of defense, Iowa needed every bit of it in the 2022 meeting because their offense was broken down somewhere outside Newark. Rutgers, looking for their first 4-0 start since 2012, outgained the Hawkeyes 361-277 and Iowa didn’t even get their first offensive touchdown until the second half.

Thank goodness for Cooper DeJean. After Rutgers opened the game with a 12-play, 66-yard drive for a field goal, the soon to be Super Bowl LIX hero snagged an over the shoulder interception and wove his way 45 yards for the touchdown. Quarterback Evan Simon had to get rid of the ball quickly with Lukas Van Ness absolutely tattooing him after letting it go.

Later in the first half the defense again would come up with points on a Kaevon Merriweather 30-yard scoop and score after Sebastian Castro jarred the ball loose from Joshua Youngblood. In hindsight, those 14 points alone would’ve been enough to seal the game, but just in case Drew Stevens added three points of his own for a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Iowa offense finally found success in the third quarter. Leshon Williams and Luke Lachey made big plays to get the ball inside the Rutgers five, with Williams scoring from two yards out shortly afterwards. The Scarlett Knights offense would eventually break the Iowa defense on an amazing Aron Cruickshank touchdown catch over Riley Moss but it was too little, too late.

2023 – Iowa 22, Rutgers 0

The 2023 game was actually the first in the series that wasn’t the Big Ten opener for either team. You may not remember this, but Brian Ferentz of all people was once the offensive coordinator, and at the time his unit wasn’t having the best go of it. Barely two weeks before the game it was announced he wouldn’t return following the end of the 2023 season.

For three quarters it was same old same old as the only points Iowa was able to muster through the first 45 minutes were two Drew Stevens field goals. Again, it was the defense that made the difference. They held Kyle Monangai, then the Big Ten’s leading rusher averaging just over 100 yards per game, to only 39 yards on 13 carries. The week prior, Monangai had run all over Ohio State for 159 yards. The Scarlett Knights would only garner 127 total yards on the day with seven first downs.

Statistically speaking, the maligned Iowa offense ended up having their best game of the season. Deacon Hill threw for a career high 223 yards, completing 20 of his 31 passes, including a monster 54-yarder to Zach Ortwerth that set up Stevens’ second field goal.

The 402 yards of total offense Iowa had would sadly not be a harbinger of things to come. The next week at Illinois they’d only tally 281 and 257 against Nebraska the week after that. We won’t even go into that year’s Big Ten Championship Game or Citrus Bowl. You’re welcome.

This fall, Iowa and Rutgers will once again meet as each other’s conference opener. Their history hasn’t always been pretty, but there’s nothing prettier than adding to the win column. We’ll see if Iowa’s short history with the Scarlet Knights continues to go in the right direction.

#TBT: The Entire Iowa-Rutgers History

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