Iowa QB Mark Gronowski's running ability concerns No. 6 Oregon as much as his passing skills

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mark Gronowski needed Iowa’s second off week of the season to rest his body. Not because of the beating he had taken as a passer, but as a runner.

Gronowski was expected to put some life in Iowa’s passing game after throwing for more than 10,000 yards at South Dakota State. What wasn't expected was that he would go into November as the Hawkeyes' second-leading rusher.

He's run 76 times for 313 yards through the first eight games, and his 11 rushing touchdowns not only lead the Hawkeyes but are tied for most in a season by an Iowa quarterback. He's the only player in the nation to have scored at least one touchdown in every game.

Gronowski's skill set adds to the challenge No. 6 Oregon will face when it visits Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

“He’s able to push the ball down the field and he can make you accountable with his legs,” Ducks coach Dan Lanning said. “If everything’s covered, he can take off with it and he carries it in critical situations. He’s obviously been a winner in the past and is operating really well for them.”

Gronowski took limited practice snaps the week after Iowa's 41-3 win over Minnesota on Oct. 25. The reduced workload helped him to continue his recovery from a knee injury he sustained in the fourth quarter of the 20-15 loss to Indiana on Sept. 27.

"Just trying to take some plays off for my body,” Gronowski said this week.

Gronowski has not been nearly as prolific as a passer as when he was leading South Dakota State to wins in 49 of his 55 starts, two Championship Subdivision championships and an appearance in the FCS semifinals. Gronowski will be going for his 56th career win Saturday, which would extend his all-time, all-division NCAA record.

He's 17th in the Big Ten and 118th in the FBS with 118.3 passing yards per game, but the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder's mobility adds another dimension to the Iowa offense.

Offensive coordinator Tim Lester said he's coached quarterbacks in the past who were quick enough to scramble for a first down, and he's had speedsters who could run like a wide receiver.

“I’ve never had one that runs like a fullback, though,” Lester said. "This is the first.”

Gronowski had a career-high 130-yard rushing day in Iowa’s 25-24 win over Penn State on Oct. 18, with his 14-yard run on a third-and-6 clinching the game.

His emergence as a runner wasn't sudden. He ran for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns in four seasons at South Dakota State.

“When I was a freshman, all I wanted to do was hit people and just try to run it over people,” Gronowski said. “And eventually, as I progressed and played more college football games, I learned that I’ve got to slide sometimes. There’s no reason to get the extra 2 yards. Sometimes, you just stay down, protect your body.”

Iowa is sixth in the Big Ten with 185.3 rushing yards per game, and the carries are distributed among six players who have between 25 and 82 attempts. The Hawkeyes have run on 62% of their plays.

“We’ve been running the ball really efficiently, so we’ve kind of stuck with that,” Gronowski said. “But I think that the best teams are always trying to be the most 50-50, where the team doesn’t expect if they’re going to be passing or running the ball on first down. Even sometimes on third down, some third-and-longs, we might squeak in a couple of run plays, and hopefully some of those pop for some big gains.”

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