Iowa holds off Vanderbilt’s comeback bid for 34-27 victory in the ReliaQuest Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. — Naperville native Mark Gronowski threw two touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Iowa to a 34-27 win over No. 13 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Wednesday.

Gronowski was 16-of-22 passing for 212 yards, throwing touchdowns passes of 10 and 21 yards to Reece Vander Zee and DJ Vonnahme, respectively, as Iowa got out to a 21-3 lead early in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt (10-3) rallied behind Diego Pavia. The Heisman Trophy runner-up threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Tre Richardson and a 16-yarder to Joseph McVay to pull the Commodores within 24-17.

The teams traded scores early in the fourth quarter, with Gronowski making it 31-17 with a 1-yard keeper and Pavia answering with an 11-yard TD run.

Iowa (9-4) pushed the lead back to double digits with a 44-yard field goal from Drew Stevens to cap off a 13-play, 49-yard drive that took more than seven minutes. Vanderbilt answered with a 37-yard field goal from Brock Taylor to make it 34-27, but Iowa closed out the game with Xavier Williams running for 11 yards on a third-and-1 with 1:55 remaining and the Commodores out of timeouts.

Pavia finished with 347 passing yards. Richardson caught six passes for 127 yards and Junior Sherrill had eight catches for 123 yards for Vanderbilt.

Vonnahme led the Hawkeyes with seven catches for 146 yards and Kamari Moulton rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown. Gronowski had 54 rushing yards.

The takeaway

Iowa: The Hawkeyes are 4-3 in the ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly known as the Outback Bowl) in seven trips under coach Kirk Ferentz. It's the 11th time Iowa has won nine or more games in a season under Ferentz.

Vanderbilt: Despite the loss, the Commodores set a school record with 10 wins and signed coach Clark Lea to a six-year contract extension in November.

Up next

Iowa: Hosts Northern Illinois on Sept. 5.

TCU: Hosts Austin Peay on. Sept. 5