Iowa’s Big Ten West title is extra special for group that has ‘endured a lot’ in 2023

IOWA CITY — Iowa football encountered a problem after its 15-13 win over Illinois. It needed to find the game ball.

“We couldn’t find the ball,” quarterback Deacon Hill said. “It took us like five minutes to get one.”

Once the team did have a football, defensive coordinator Phil Parker gave the ball to head coach Kirk Ferentz in a moment that wide receiver Kaleb Brown will “remember forever.”

“He just said he’ll be talking about us 10 years from now,” Brown said.

With the win, Ferentz surpassed Michigan’s Bo Schembechler for third-most overall wins all-time as a Big Ten head coach. Ferentz downplayed the moment and milestone with some humor, noting Parker’s Michigan State roots.

“It’s a Michigan State guy giving a ball to the guy to move past a guy from Michigan,” Ferentz said. “A little self-serving on his part, quite frankly.”

Moving ahead of Schembechler on the all-time wins list was far from the only reason the win and subsequent celebration was special.

Iowa also won an outright Big Ten West title and earned a Big Ten championship game berth amid a season that has seen adversity in many forms.

This football team has “endured a lot,” Ferentz said.

Neither of Iowa’s two losses — then-No. 7 Penn State’s 31-0 rout or Minnesota’s 12-10 upset at Kinnick — inspired much confidence about this team’s postseason prospects from those outside Iowa City.

“Coming out of State College, things weren’t looking too good for us,” Ferentz said. “And then going into our bye week, things weren’t looking too good. But the guys don’t buy that narrative. They don’t buy into all the stuff out there.”

Injuries have been another key area of adversity.

Quarterback Cade McNamara, tight end Luke Lachey, tight end Erick All and defensive back Cooper DeJean have all suffered major injuries that, in most cases, will sideline them for the rest of the 2023 season. (Iowa has not ruled out a bowl-game return for Lachey, who was seen without a walking boot on Saturday.)

The slew of injuries are in addition to the absence of defensive tackle Noah Shannon, a two-time all-Big Ten honorable mention, because of his one-year sports wagering suspension.

“This year has been the most next-man-ins I’ve ever seen,” linebacker Jay Higgins said.

Then there is the adversity surrounding beleaguered offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.

Interim athletics director Beth Goetz informed Brian Ferentz earlier this season that she will not retain him after the 2023 season. Goetz’s decision was in the midst of a third season of having statistically one of the worst offenses in college football.

The looming dismissal meant meant Iowa’s final home game this season also was Brian Ferentz’s final game at Kinnick Stadium.

As evident from Kirk and Brian Ferentz’s emotional embrace caught by the TV cameras, Kirk noted “some sentimental value” to Brian’s Kinnick finale.

“He’s been admirable in the way he’s handled a very tough situation,” Kirk Ferentz said of his eldest son. “And I’m not quite sure I know how he’s done it, but I’m really proud of him as a dad. And can’t say enough about that.”

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Higgins believes the division title is “a testament to how we stayed together in the locker room.”

“Countless opportunities where guys could have started separating, but that never happened,” Higgins said.

Evans has been on “some really great teams” that did not make the Big Ten championship game, but the way the 2023 Hawkeyes “just keep fighting” through their adversity sets this team apart.

"I wish you guys were there during the week because you would see what I’m seeing,“ Evans said. ”Whether it be in the film room, whether it be on the practice field, just how these guys battle and fight.“

Kirk Ferentz has been around Iowa long enough — 25 years as a head coach, plus nine as an assistant — to know “there’s nothing easy.”

“There’s things that come up in sports that are tough in life,” Kirk Ferentz said. “But what keeps you going are the people you’re with every day. That’s what I enjoy.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com