Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz started his Saturday morning like most senior citizens. A breakfast of two scrambled eggs followed by spending time with his grandson. Then, the 69-year-old spent the afternoon in front of the television watching a football game. The similarities stop there. 

After 25 seasons of coaching the Hawkeyes, Ferentz finally got the opportunity to watch his team through a screen rather than from the sidelines. The advantages – better camera angles to watch all 22 players on the field and a solid writing surface to jot notes on his team’s performance. Nevertheless, while the coach was still no more than an hour outside of Kinnick Stadium, he still felt millions of miles away from the field.

“It’s sterile, and you’re pretty much helpless,” Ferentz said at his press conference on Tuesday. “Not that I do a lot during games anyway, I’m not playing, but you have a total feeling of disconnection, so it was really strange.” 

Sitting next to his wife, Mary, Ferentz saw his Hawkeyes take a narrow 6-0 lead into the tunnel at halftime. The pair kept their conversations “very civil” throughout the opening half, but Ferentz admitted the atmosphere got a little tense at the break. 

“I walked around at halftime, came back, and then I gave a, ‘yeah,’ or whatever when we made a play,” he said. “[Mary] was sitting about 20 yards away from me.” 

Walking into Iowa’s practice facility on Sunday, Ferentz told his players he was proud of their performance in the win against Illinois State, but it was difficult for him to share his players’ feelings. 

“Then it’s even stranger after the game because either it’s a really good time emotionally or a bad time, and those highs and lows make it really special, so you miss out on all those things. It wasn’t the same seeing everybody on Sunday … It’s over and hopefully, something I’ll never experience again.”

With their head coach off the couch and back on the sidelines, the Hawkeyes look to continue their recent success against rival Iowa State, having defeated the Cyclones in seven of the last eight meetings. For the Hawkeyes, who feature plenty of in-state players, the Cy-Hawk game has been a staple of their youth. 

Safety Xavier Nwankpa, hailing from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, and a standout at Southeast Polk High School, has viewed the local contention from both sides. His father, Frank, ran track for the Cyclones, and will still remind his son throughout game week that Ames boasts just as good a football team as Iowa City. 

Iowa linebacker Nick Jackson has only competed in one Cy-Hawk game to date, a 20-13 Iowa road triumph, but is well versed in how much intensity the game produces. 

“Anytime you have a rivalry game, it’s great for the game of football in general,” he said at media availability. “It raises competition, raises environments, brings states together when they have one game to compete – the fans love it. I just know how good those guys are over there, those guys compete, those guys make plays, and those guys are fired up. We have to be ready to go.” 

Nwankpa, Jackson, and the rest of the Iowa defense will have their hands full against an Iowa State offense that returns a more seasoned quarterback and a pair of talented wideouts. It’s been over a century since the Hawkeyes last shut out the Cyclones, and in 2024, the feat won’t be easy. 

In last year’s rivalry matchup, Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht made just his second career start, completing 23-of-44 passes for 203 yards, including a touchdown and interception. That performance was his lowest passer rating of 2023, as the 6-foot-1 Becht built an impressive season in Ames, earning Big 12 Freshman of the Year Honors, posting 2,674 passing yards and 20 scores. 

Jackson empathized with Becht’s growth, acknowledging that in last year’s Cy-Hawk duel, Jackson was also making his second career start in an Iowa uniform. 

“You just keep learning, but he came out in game two and he lit it up,” Jackson said of Becht. “He was making really good reads, really good plays, he’s just a heck of a football player. I think, just watching the tape from last year and each game after that, he’s just continuing to get better and better.” 

In the Cyclones’ season opener against North Dakota, Becht completed 77 percent of his passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a rushing score in the red zone. Becht’s main weapons against the Fighting Hawks were Jaylin Noel and Jaylen Higgins, who ran wild for a combined 13 receptions for 210 yards and two scores. 

Noel, a senior from Kansas City, Missouri, was an all-conference second-teamer from league coaches, logging 66 receptions for 820 yards and seven scores. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder can be a deep threat on vertical routes, reeling in four passes of at least 50 yards last season, not to mention two 50-plus yard kick returns. 

Higgins transferred to Ames prior to the 2023 season, having spent two seasons at Eastern Kentucky. The larger of the duo at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Higgins earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention in his first season as a Cyclone, registering 53 catches for 983 yards and six touchdowns. His 75.6 receiving yards per contest ranked second in the conference. 

“They’re just able to make any play, any down, any distance,” Nwankpa said of the wideout tandem. “So just hold those guys to as little as possible.” 

The Cyclones lost a key piece of their defense over the offseason after star cornerback TJ Tampa declared for the NFL Draft. And just one game into this season, the injury bug struck linebacker Caleb Bacon, who received surgery on Sunday for a lower left leg injury and is out indefinitely, per reports. 

The redshirt junior was a former walk-on before placing second on the team last year with 60 tackles. Filling in his stead will be junior Zachary Lovett and sophomore Jack Sadowsky V, who combined for three tackles in Week 1. Even with a loss at linebacker, the Cyclones still held North Dakota to three points, despite the defense being on the field for almost 38 minutes. The last time the Hawkeyes put up more than 250 yards against the Cyclones was in 2019. 

“Just growing up, it seems like if you played defense in any sport, you’ve got a chance,” Ferentz said. “You can’t win if you don’t have a chance. Real credit to [Iowa State]. They’ve been tough on a lot of people.” 

Notes 

Iowa football’s ranking jumped to No. 21 in the most recent Associated Press poll, up four spots from their previous position at 25. The Hawkeyes are the sixth-highest-ranked Big Ten program, sitting eight spots behind USC, which jumped 10 spots after an upset over LSU. 

Ferentz said running back Jaziun Patterson did not play against Illinois State due to a coach’s decision, but said the sophomore would likely play against Iowa State, looking to repeat the 86-yard, 1-touchdown performance he had the last time he lined up against the Cyclones. 

“He was back with us yesterday, and we expect him to be ready to roll this week,” Ferentz said of Patterson. “Just a great young guy.” 

Ferentz also noted that wide receiver Seth Anderson would not be back from injury in time for Iowa State, but would hopefully be available the week after or the next.