Many players had biggest days in Iowa-ISU series, but none like Matt VandeBerg’s

Many is the player who have given great performances in the Iowa-Iowa State football series.

Some were college stars who went on to the NFL like quarterbacks Seneca Wallace of Iowa State and C.J. Beathard of Iowa, wide receiver Tim Dwight and defensive back Tyler Sash of the Hawkeyes, and quarterback Sage Rosenfels and wide receiver J.J. Moses of the Cyclones.

Others weren’t quite as famous. Like Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz (four touchdown passes vs. Iowa in 2011) and Iowa running back Dennis Mosley (229 rushing yards on 39 carries and three touchdowns vs. ISU in 1979).

Two college superstar running backs were topped in the series by their younger brothers.

Troy Davis of Iowa State is a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, one of just two FBS players with two 2,000-yard rushing seasons. He did good work against the Hawkeyes with games of 139 and 152 yards in 1995 and 1996.

However, brother Darren Davis was a wonderful player who rushed for 244 yards against Iowa in 1998 and 235 in 1999 in Cyclone victories. He stacked three 1,000-yard seasons in Ames.

Ronnie Harmon was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten player at Iowa and a 12-year NFL veteran. Yet, brother Kevin Harmon did more against the Cyclones, with a 182-yard, three-TD rushing day in 1987.

Nate Kaeding and Keith Duncan of Iowa were All-Americans who each kicked four field goals in a game against Iowa State. But Cyclone kicker Bret Culbertson made five against Iowa for all his team’s points in a 15-13 win over the Hawkeyes in 2007, including the game-winning 28-yarder with one second left.

Matt VandeBerg had a terrific career at wide receiver for Iowa between 2013 and 2017. Totals of 134 catches for 1,686 yards and 10 touchdowns bear that out.

It was against Iowa State when VandeBerg shined brightest. His two career 100-yard receiving games were against the Cyclones.

It wasn’t because he was an Iowa kid who grew up enthralled by the rivalry. He’s from South Dakota. Quickly, though, he got into our in-state game as much as anyone from Muscatine or Marshalltown.

“Seeing how impressive the rivalry is was the best thing about it,” said VandeBerg. “You know how much our fans hate them. But when you go there, they let you know about it. It’s incredible to be in that kind of environment.

“To have the best game when the environment is that hostile, there’s nothing like that.”

VandeBerg now is a Realtor in Solon, the receivers coach of Solon High’s football team, and co-host of a podcast about Hawkeye sports with his wife, Laura VandeBerg, the stadium/arena host at Iowa sporting events.

He totaled 19 catches for 285 yards in the three Iowa-Iowa State games from 2015 to 2017, and scored a touchdown in each of them. In 2015 at Iowa State, he recovered teammate Henry Krieger Coble’s fumble at the ISU 3 and leapt backward into the end zone over Cyclone defender Brian Peavy for a score.

“It was a collective hold-your-breath moment as I kind of remember,” VandeBerg said this week. “Then everybody in the stadium was going crazy.

“I remember there were some Iowa State fans on the back side of the end zone — and you can see it on the tape — jumping up in the air when the ball comes out, and then their heads go down in their hands after I pick it up and score.”

That was one of two wins VandeBerg helped Iowa get at Saturday’s Hawkeyes-Cyclones venue, Jack Trice Stadium.

“Their grass is one of the best grasses I’ve ever played on,” he said.

A compliment for Iowa State from the Hawkeye?

“That’s the only one they’re going to get.”

In 2016 against the Cyclones at Kinnick Stadium, VandeBerg had a night he called “a special place in my heart.”

Not only did he catch seven of Beathard’s passes for 128 yards and a TD in a 42-3 blowout and had a 25-yard rush on a flanker reverse, but Laura accepted his marriage proposal immediately after the game.

“C.J. was saying he threw me extra passes because he knew. Nobody knew,” VandeBerg said.

Would he have proposed that night had the Hawkeyes lost? “The glory of it,” he said, “is I don’t have to answer that.”

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