Kirk Ferentz prepping Hawkeyes for an intense battle with Cyclones

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 72nd edition of the Cy-Hawk Rivalry will take place Saturday morning at Jack Trice Stadium, and Iowa’s head coach expects a dogfight for many reasons.

Kirk Ferentz wants to continue his magic at the venue, and win seven-straight, but this time around he’ll have to do it against an Iowa State team that’s eager to end the streak. The Hawkeyes are focusing on returning the favor after losing by one point to the Cyclones at Kinnick Stadium last season.

With the game having an early kickoff, and on the road, Ferentz is making sure his players are mentally ready for a rowdy crowd of 60,000-plus fans. Which is why he’s expecting to get Iowa State’s best. Matching wits with Coach Matt Campbell is never easy, and all eyes will be on this matchup because the FOX Big Noon Kickoff crew will be in attendance. Bottom line, Ferentz understands something has to give going up against a top-20 squad.

“When you go on the road you really have to have an ability to block things out and just focus on what’s important, and there’s a lot more things to probably get distracted by when you go on the road than maybe at home,” Ferentz said.

Although Iowa State (2-0) has won two of the last three meetings, Iowa hasn’t lost at Jack Trice Stadium since 2011. Not to mention Ferentz is 6-2 against Campbell overall. The No. 16 Cyclones desperately want to change that narrative, and take advantage of the spotlight. The rivalry hasn’t had this much exposure since the 2019 clash, when ESPN’s College Gameday was in the building.

Ferentz is confident his defense will be up for the challenge of slowing down the Cyclones’ potent offense. Special Teams are elite for both teams, and most importantly, the quarterbacks are the headliners. Iowa State’s Rocco Becht continues to be on fire after a stellar performances through the first two games. Iowa’s Mark Gronowski didn’t reveal much in his debut last week, but fans are anticipating Ferentz will unleash the signal-caller’s talent early and often.

Ferentz believes this game has all of the ingredients for a physical slugfest, and four quarters of execution is necessary.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought game, that’s what history has shown,” he said. “We’ve lost some tough ones over there, too, and to have a good one you’ve really got to earn it.”

Taking the crowd out of it early will be key for the Hawkeyes. Iowa (1-0) must get off to a fast start, and can’t afford to fall into a hole. Ball control, field position, and no turnovers will go a long way. The Hawkeyes ran a vanilla playbook against Albany, so that should give Ferentz and his staff the advantage with the Cyclones not knowing what to prepare for. Gronowski only attempted 15 passes in last week’s victory over the Great Danes. He did show great mobility, and that was by strategy.

“We didn’t do everything, and hopefully there’s more stuff we can do,” the 70-year old said. “We may have a little bit more in our game plan, but you’ve still got to execute against a really challenging defense.”

Iowa State’s defense is no slouch, and shutout South Dakota for the final three quarters. Ferentz understands that his team is going to have a slim margin for error, especially on the road in a hostile environment. Regardless, the game is going to come down to which team wants it more, and Ferentz knows the Cyclones won’t go away easy.

“They just play good complementary football, and it’s going to be a challenge for us, so got to make all the possessions count, quite frankly.”