Iowa football’s knack for narrow victories has been difference-maker in recent success

IOWA CITY — Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa long enough to know there is “nothing easy.”

"Really hasn't been during my 34 years here,“ Ferentz said after his team’s 15-13 win over Illinois. “Unless you get that rare year like in ’02 where things just took off. But even then, we go over to Indiana and have to pick it off twice in the red zone or we come out of there with a loss."

It is, as the longest-tenured head coach in FBS football said, “just the nature of the sport.” The close, not-so-easy games also are an aspect of the sport where Ferentz’s Hawkeyes, especially in recent years, have excelled.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Iowa has a .667 winning percentage in one-possession games and an even better .762 winning percentage in games decided by 10 or fewer points.

Both metrics are the best in the Big Ten West.

"They're so comfortable in a 7-3 game," Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule said of the Hawkeyes. "They're so comfortable in a 10-9 game. Their heart rate doesn't go up."

The only other teams in the division with an above-.500 record in games decided by 10 or fewer points are Minnesota (9-7) and Purdue (11-6).

Linebacker Nick Jackson credited Raimond Braithwaite, Iowa’s strength and conditioning coach, for preparing the team mentally for close games.

“Preaching to us about being in deep water and being comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Jackson said of Braithwaite’s offseason message. “When you do that, it builds a mindset. It builds a mentality.”

It perhaps also helps that Iowa has plenty of experience playing in these types of games. Out of the Hawkeyes’ 38 games since the start of the 2021 season, 21 of them have been decided by 10 or fewer points.

Nebraska also has played in 21 games decided by 10 or fewer points during that span, and Illinois has played in 22 games decided by 10 or fewer points.

Experience alone is not enough to ensure success in these types of games, however. Just ask Iowa’s next opponent, Nebraska.

The Huskers have been an atrocious 3-18 in games decided by 10 or fewer points since 2021.

The three seasons in question have included three head coaches — Scott Frost, Mickey Joseph on an interim basis and now Matt Rhule. All three have experienced this issue, including the highly-touted Rhule.

Nebraska has been sitting at five wins for the entire month of November, coming just short of a coveted sixth win — the one necessary for bowl eligibility — in its last three games.

The Huskers lost by three to Michigan State and Maryland. They then lost in overtime to Wisconsin despite having an early 14-0 lead.

Iowa’s knack for pulling out close wins has helped it claim two division titles in the last three seasons.

Iowa’s three Big Ten championship game berths since the conference implemented its current divisional structure is second in the West to Wisconsin’s four appearances.

Meanwhile, Nebraska’s lack of winning close games has been a key part of why the Huskers have not been bowl-eligible since 2016, let alone in any recent discussion for a division title.

Despite the drastic dichotomy between Iowa and its next opponent, this year’s Big Ten West champion obviously cannot take another close win for granted. One of Nebraska’s three close wins was last year against Iowa, which spoiled the chance for another Hawkeye trip to Indianapolis.

“They stopped us from going to the Big Ten championship, and now we've got a chance to stop them from going to a bowl game,” wide receiver Nico Ragaini said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com