You wouldn't know from talking to people around Iowa City that the Hawkeyes have actually won three of their last five contests against Iowa State.
This is mainly because Iowa's record against the Cyclones since Kirk Ferentz succeeded the legendary Hayden Fry is 3-6, including last year's crushing 15-13 defeat in Ames.
Before Ferentz arrived on the scene, there was a time when this rivalry was so one-sided, it almost wouldn't be considered a rivalry. It didn't matter if the games were in Iowa City or Ames - Iowa always had the upper-hand on Iowa State.
But that all began to change in 1998, Fry's final season as the head Hawk. I was 11 at the time and being the first Iowa-Iowa State I ever attended, I remember this all too well. The Cyclones came in as heavy underdogs and absolutely laid into the Hawkeyes, leaving Kinnick Stadium with a 27-9 win, its first over Iowa since 1982.
At that time, the Hawkeyes were beginning a decline, and when Ferentz first arrived, Iowa was literally the scrap heap of the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Iowa State was starting to get better under Dan McCarney, and once it reached the point when the Cyclones were winning the head-to-head games in this rivalry, Iowa State was also going to bowl games while the Hawkeyes were in a rebuilding mode.
1999 and 2000 were both years that the Cyclones were good, and the Hawkeyes were bad. In 2001, the Hawkeyes made it back to a bowl game, but in a game that was moved back to the end of the season because of 9/11, Iowa State left its home field escaping with yet another win.
The worst of this came in 2002, a year that Iowa was a co-Big Ten champion and finished 11-2 if you include the Orange Bowl loss to USC. In this contest at Kinnick Stadium (another game I attended I might add), the Hawkeyes went into the half with a 24-7 lead before Seneca Wallace and his crew turned the tables on Iowa in the second half and left Kinnick with a 36-31 victory that still stings me and many other Hawkeye fans today, especially considering it was the only regular-season loss Iowa would have all year.
The following year in Ames, the Hawkeyes turned the table, beating the Cyclones 40-21 and giving Ferentz his first victory in this rivalry. This is also around the time that Iowa State began to decline during the McCarney era. Since that game in '03, the home team has won the last four meetings.
As you can see, in recent years, this hasn't been the best of rivalries for the Hawkeyes, and more specifically, for Ferentz. The losses are painful and wear on everyone that bleeds black and gold. But if you put this in its proper context, it has only been recently that you see the Hawkeyes losing to Iowa State when the Cyclones are considered inferior to Iowa. In the early stages of the Ferentz era, Iowa State was a better program than Iowa and won the majority of the time when it would be favored.
All that said, if the Hawkeyes were to lose this coming Saturday at home, things will not sit well here in Iowa City.
- Brendan
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2 comments:
In my opinion this is a must-win game, not just for Iowa but for Ferentz as well. And I'm sure you have noticed that the players have been waiting for this game for quite some time now. They're tired of hearing about losing to Iowa State and they're definitely going to do something about it on Saturday.
If ISU wins then they were the better team. Iowa will not let themselves fall into the same lull that they found themselves in when they lost to ISU last year.
I think we'll be able to tell really quickly who comes out on top in this game...i believe iowa has the better talent but it's always a toss-up game...if iowa can take the ball and score like they have the first two weeks, this game may be over...however, if we allow state to get on the board first, who knows what will happen...I think being at home gives will help us prevail
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