“It’s a 60-minute thing,” is what head coach Kirk Ferentz stated in his post-game press conference, and he hit the nail on the head. It took every minute for the Iowa Hawkeyes to come back and beat the Michigan State Spartans 20-17 on a field goal from Drew Stevens.
Given that these Spartans were coming off seven consecutive losses, and the Hawkeyes had just hung tough against two strong, ranked opponents in Oregon and USC, a reasonable fan would probably assume that the Hawkeyes would roll over the Spartans for a dominant victory.
This reasonable fan, however, does not yet understand what Iowa football is capable of.
The match was a puntfest early on, but a great return from Kaden Wetjen set up Iowa’s offense deep in Michigan State territory. Quarterback Mark Gronowski dropped back and scrambled left away from the pressure.
The entire stadium was shouting, “Throw it, Mark!” He did throw it. Into double coverage. For an interception.
Luckily, the defense got another stop, and Wetjen decided he was going to take matters into his own hands. He did his thing and made the Spartans’ special teams look silly on the way to a 62-yard punt return touchdown, his fourth return touchdown of the season.
“Kaden Wetjen single-handedly kept us in the game today in a lot of ways with just his returns,” Ferentz said. He was absolutely right again, especially since this touchdown would be the only points the Hawkeyes would score in the first three quarters of action.
Michigan State got on the board with a field goal in the second quarter, but after an interception by defensive back Zach Lutmer, Iowa had a chance to answer with a field goal of its own. Unfortunately, Stevens pushed his 53-yard kick wide left as the score remained 7-3 at the break.
Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Zach Lutmer (6) celebrates an interception in the second quarter of the game against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa (Jeffrey Becker / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images)
The Spartans came out of the break firing on all cylinders as they knocked the football away from Gronowski to set up a 45-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to receiver Chrishon McCray.
They kept their momentum going as another connection to McCray gave Michigan State a 17-7 lead heading into the final quarter.
At this point, it looked as if Iowa was gearing toward another disappointment as they trailed a lowly 3-7 squad at home on Senior Day by double digits.
They eventually managed to kick a field goal, but a turnover on downs at Michigan State’s 33 with 3:45 to go made the situation feel dire. But not to this Hawkeye team.
Michigan State Spartans receiver Chrishon McCray (13) catches a touchdown defended by Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Deshaun Lee (8) in the third quarter of the game on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa (Julia Hansen / Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Their next drive made it all the way to the endzone as a great throw and catch from Gronowski to receiver Jacob Gill meant the Hawkeyes had found a way to tie the game with 1:29 left.
Better yet, the defense came up with another clutch stop and gave the offense a chance to win, starting at their own 21-yard line with 41 seconds left and a timeout.
Gronowski did his job and led his team into field-goal range, with a big help from a highlight-reel catch by receiver Reece Vander Zee.
Once again, Drew Stevens trotted onto the field to kick a 44-yarder for the win. He was no stranger to this situation; he’d kicked game-winning field goals before. 2023 against Northwestern in Wrigley Field and last year’s home finale against Nebraska are two examples.
But on the other side of the coin, he had missed a field goal earlier in the game. Earlier this season against Indiana, he missed a go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.
Did Stevens have one final game-winner left in him? You bet he did.
He drilled that 44-yard field goal at the buzzer to lift Iowa to a 20-17 victory. Should the game have been that close? Probably not, but kicking a game-winning field goal is a pretty good way to cap off your final collegiate home game and send the rest of your senior teammates back to the locker room with smiles on their faces.
This Friday, the Iowa Hawkeyes will end the regular season playing for the Heroes Trophy on Black Friday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. While the Cornhuskers are 7-4, they are missing their starting quarterback, meaning this should be a comfortable win for the Hawkeyes. We’ll see you all when they win 13-10 on a last-second field goal…again.
