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Iowa football 2025 early opponent preview: Albany
Hawkeyes’ first foe of 2025 is coming off 4-8 season last year, head coaching change
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Editor’s note: First in a 12-part series previewing each of Iowa’s 2025 regular-season opponents.
IOWA CITY — Mark Gronowski’s last game against Albany went quite well for his Jackrabbits.
Gronowski completed 15 of 19 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns as South Dakota State trounced Albany, 59-0, in the 2023 FCS semifinals. (A couple weeks later, Gronowski led the Jackrabbits to their second consecutive FCS national title.)
Now with Gronowski preparing for his final season of college football as a Hawkeye, Iowa will seek a similarly favorable outcome in its 2025 season opener — Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. on FS1 — against an Albany team that is coming off a 4-8 season and undergoing somewhat of a transition.
The game will be Jared Ambrose’s first as Albany’s head coach after serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 2022 and assistant head coach since 2023. He replaced Greg Gattuso, who now is a senior defensive analyst at Penn State.
Myles Burkett — a Wisconsin transfer who handled starting duties for most of last season — transferred to Eastern Kentucky in December. Van Weber, who took over starting quarterback duties late in the season, suffered a knee injury in the spring. Albany added Aidan Semo, who spent two years on the bench at Georgia Tech and one year at a junior college.
Jojo Uga, Albany’s leading rusher from last season, will be back after rushing for 422 yards and averaging 4.2 yards per carry last season. But the Great Danes must replace all four players who had 300-plus receiving yards last season.
Iowa vs. Albany: 3 things to watch
- Mark Gronowski’s Hawkeye debut. The 2025 season opener will be Gronowski’s first game in an Iowa uniform. How much the former FCS national champion can elevate Iowa’s passing game will be one of the biggest keys for the 2025 season.
- What does Tim Lester have in store for Iowa’s second year in his Shanahan-style system? Lester oversaw a dramatic improvement in his first season as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator. Now, he has bolstered groups at quarterback and wide receiver to work with in 2025.
- How much of an advantage does Iowa establish at the line of scrimmage? Albany averaged a meager 3.4 yards per carry last season while allowing opponents to average 4.7 yards per carry. That is surely welcome news for Kamari Moulton and the rest of Iowa’s running backs as they fill the void left by now-NFL running back Kaleb Johnson.
2025 prognosis
The Hawkeyes’ matchup against the Great Danes should be a great way to ease into the 2025 season.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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