Hawkeyes Hold Off Vanderbilt for 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl Championship

Hawkeyes Hold Off Vanderbilt for 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl Championship

By Joey Johnston

Everyone who has grown weary over college football's modern foibles - the transfer portal, NIL and bowl-game opt-outs, just to name a few - should have watched Wednesday afternoon's ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.

Everyone who believes in the sport's all-for-one spirit, its traditions, the time-honored bowl-game fun and the power of a cleanly played competitive effort had to be delighted with Iowa's riveting 34-27 victory against the never-say-die Vanderbilt Commodores.

And the aftermath?

It provided a perfect punctuation mark, something so pure and right that it seemed like the close of a sentimental movie.

There was Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski, the game's Most Valuable Player, having an on-field game of catch with his father, Ray. When Gronowski began football in kindergarten, his father was his first coach. Wednesday was Gronowski's final college game, so he wanted the feeling to last just a bit longer. Oh yeah, it was his father's birthday.

"I played catch with him for the first time (as a kid),'' Gronowski said. "Walking off the field in my college career, I got to play catch with him on his birthday, which is very meaningful. It's just a really cool moment to win that game and have that moment with him.''

Moments?

There were plenty of them on Wednesday.

"You saw two very resilient, very competitive football teams,'' Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We played 13 games, but we started (with training) back in January. It's not like Major League Baseball, where you play 162 games. The time working together (in college football) is so much more proportional.

"If you have guys who don't like each other or guys who don't like working, it doesn't work well. We're looking for guys who understand what it takes to be good and don't mind putting in (the time). Then the camaraderie develops. This group, even back in January, just had a different vibe. It has really shown up on the field.''

Ferentz, completing his 27th season at Big Ten Conference stalwart Iowa, said it was one of his favorite Hawkeye teams. Iowa finished 9-4 - losing against Iowa State, Indiana, Oregon and USC, despite leading in the fourth quarter of each game - and defeated the No. 13-ranked Commodores to end a 13-game losing streak against Associated Press top 25-ranked teams.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea, whose SEC team finished 10-3 for the best record in program history, grew emotional when confronted with his squad's final contest of 2025.

"This team has set a new bar for the program,'' Lea said. "That's the best football team in Vanderbilt history. I want to make sure those guys are proud of that, despite how we fell (after Wednesday's defeat). The pain we feel, it will resolve. We will get past it and be left with something we'll be really proud of. For me as the head coach, it's something to build upon, which is so exciting.''

Both Ferentz and Lea predicted that the ReliaQuest Bowl would be one of this season's most compelling and competitive postseason games. They were correct.

And a big reason was the presence of the marquee starting quarterbacks - Gronowski for Iowa, Heisman Trophy runner-up Diego Pavia for Vanderbilt. Not only did they play - no QB opt-outs here - but they each brought a passionate will to win.

Gronowski, who won two Football Championship Subdivision titles at South Dakota State before finishing his college career this season at Iowa, was 16 of 22 with 212 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was tight end DJ Vonnahme (seven catches for 146 yards and one touchdown). Gronowski also had a rushing score and 54 yards on the ground, including a 44-yard scamper that set up Iowa's opening-drive touchdown.

Meanwhile, Pavia turned it on during the second half, when the Commodores scored 24 points. Overall, Pavia was 25 of 38 for 347 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to Tre Richardson (six catches for 127 yards). Fellow receiver Junior Sherrill added eight catches for 123 yards. Pavia also rushed for 36 yards.

Iowa, which led the whole way, got big momentum while looking to protect a 7-3 advantage as halftime neared.

On fourth-and-27 from its 15-yard line, Vanderbilt sent out punter Nick Haberer. Understandably, the Commodores were wary of Iowa's Kaden Wetjen, considered the nation's best return man. So after receiving the snap, Haberer ran to the right, almost like he was a considering a fake. Instead, he was buying time before delivering a 53-yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the Iowa 32.

But as Haberer danced around, he actually went a yard or two past the line of scrimmage before punting.

It was an unusual flag - intentional grounding. Iowa got possession (loss of down, 5-yard penalty) at Vanderbilt's 10. Gronowski immediately delivered a scoring pass to Reece Vander Zee, who made a spectacular catch in the right corner while also deftly toe-tapping.

So what about that seemingly unorthodox punt strategy?

"One of Iowa's most dangerous players is their punt returner (Wetjen) and sometimes you have a tendency to over think that stuff,'' Lea said. "One of the ways you can neutralize a return is just by rolling out and extending the amount of time the punter holds the ball. It's no different than hang time.

"I loved the play. I think Nick just lost track of where he was on the field. It's a great lesson for us and it will be on our teaching tape. We just lost rack of where we were on the field.''

Initially, Ferentz said he wasn't sure what to think.

"For the record, I was more ticked about us not having contain over there when the guy (Haberer) rolled to the right,'' Ferentz said. "Full disclosure: I didn't know the rule. The guy (official) on our sideline did know the rule and he said to me, 'You know, you can go a generation or a career and not experience one of those.' Also for the record, Tyler Parker (Iowa assistant coach) did know the rule and he said over our headset, 'We're going to get the ball,' which was great. Every play on special teams, in my mind, is critical. That was a big one.''

When Vanderbilt was thwarted on its opening third-quarter drive, then Iowa produced a 21-yard score from Gronowski to Vonnahme, the Hawkeyes had a 21-3 lead.

But Vanderbilt had Pavia.

Pavia's brinksmanship pulled the Commodores within 24-17 at the end of the third quarter, then 31-24 and 34-27 in the fourth quarter. Iowa did just enough to keep Vanderbilt at arm's length, including an 11-yard run by Xavier Williams on third-and-1, which essentially iced the game.

"We were one stop away,'' Lea said.

But getting that one stop is always difficult against Iowa. Lea compared the Hawkeyes' approach to facing a boa constrictor. Iowa, he said, is expert at squeezing the life out of a game, especially by exploiting field-position advantages and effectively executive all the little things.

"The way Iowa plays, it's kind of amazing,'' Lea said.

No one has played more often at the Tampa-based bowl than Ferentz's Hawkeyes (now 4-3 in seven appearances). It was also Ferentz's 11th career bowl victory, which set a Big Ten Conference record.

"No question, I've seen it all,'' Ferentz said. "Today was good and beautiful. It would have been great to go undefeated. No one would complain about that.

"But sometimes, you learn more about people and teams when it's not going well. Today was representative of that. There were a lot of ups and downs, but we responded. That's the beauty of this game, finding an answer. It takes the right people.''

Both Iowa and Vanderbilt put the right people in place on Wednesday afternoon, giving us a ReliaQuest Bowl to remember. Just like Gronowski's catch with his father, you didn't want this one to end.