Iowa football prepares for ‘biggest game in our state’ after ‘sour taste’ of 2022 loss

IOWA CITY — Halfway up the stairs on a landing in the atrium of Iowa’s Hansen Football Performance Center, four trophy cases are positioned equidistantly from each other.

The strategic positioning of the four trophies — the Music City Bowl Trophy, 2021 Big Ten West title trophy, Floyd of Rosedale Trophy and Heartland Trophy — would hardly suggest something was missing to someone taking a quick glance.

But one does not need to remind anyone at 992 Evashevski Drive of what is missing. No two-year-old division title trophy can hide the sting of not having the Cy-Hawk Trophy there — the traveling trophy between Iowa and Iowa State.

“That definitely stuck with us and left just a sour taste in your mouth for a year,” Iowa defensive lineman Joe Evans said, looking back at last year’s loss at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes will have their shot at bringing back the hardware with Saturday’s game at Iowa State. Even without the desire to avenge the 10-7 loss, the rivalry carries plenty of value for this year’s team.

“It’s like the biggest game in our state,” said Evans, who went to high school in Ames a couple miles north of Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium.

Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean, an Odebolt native, said the annual rivalry “really means a lot to kids from Iowa.”

“This is a game where you get everybody over to the house and you watch it all together — Iowa and Iowa State fans,” DeJean said.

It’s not just the Iowa natives on the Hawkeyes’ roster, either.

Punter Tory Taylor, an Australia native, called the Cy-Hawk game "probably my favorite game of the year.“

“My favorite game that I've probably ever played was at Iowa State a couple years ago,” Taylor said.

(A quick look at the box score suggests why it might be Taylor’s favorite. He had eight punts that averaged 51.1 yards in Iowa’s 27-17 win over the then-ninth-ranked Cyclones.)

Iowa tight end Luke Lachey said Jack Trice Stadium provides a “really good environment” for the game.

“I'm just excited to go out there and hopefully get those fans quiet by the end of the game,” Lachey said.

Taylor said sarcastically about “how humble and modest their fans are out there.”

“It’s not like there’s 8-year-olds hanging over the fence, giving you the rude finger or anything like that,” Taylor said.

For those not fluent in sarcasm, Lachey can translate.

“I remember a lot of little kids flipping us off,” Lachey said. “Adults as well.”

It will be the first Cy-Hawk game for some of Iowa’s transfer portal additions, but former Charleston Southern wide receiver Seth Anderson has some rivalry experience from playing East Carolina.

“They were throwing cans and stuff at us,” Anderson said. “But yeah, it was pretty fun.”

New quarterback Cade McNamara, meanwhile, has experienced the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. He started in Michigan’s 2021 loss at Michigan State.

“I loved playing in that game,” McNamara said. “I love playing in rivalry games, and I just can’t wait to experience the Cy-Hawk rivalry for the first time.”

Historically, the Cy-Hawk rivalry has taken some twists and turns while Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa — whether it be as an assistant on Hayden Fry’s staff from 1981-89 or as head coach since 1999.

Iowa’s 51-10 blowout of Iowa State in 1983 started a string of 15 straight Iowa wins.

“It ended up being a pretty wide gap, and nobody saw that coming,” Ferentz said. “For whatever reason, the series wasn't all that competitive.”

But then Iowa State, a four-touchdown underdog, stunned Iowa in Fry’s final season with a 27-9 upset.

“Ever since then, it's been a series,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz lost his first four Cy-Hawk games despite having a 2002 team that was good enough to go to the Orange Bowl. From 2003 to 2014, no team won more than three in a row in the series. Iowa won six straight, though, from 2015-21 until Iowa State snapped the streak with last year’s 10-7 win at Kinnick.

The last five games were decided by 10 or fewer points.

“Not always predictable, but it's a tough, tough series,” Ferentz said. “Just expect more of that on Saturday.”

Iowa State’s offense has some new faces after losing its top quarterback and running back — Hunter Dekkers and Jirehl Brock, respectively — because of sports wagering. Its top wide receiver last year, Xavier Hutchinson, now is in the NFL. Iowa State is expected to start Rocco Becht, a redshirt freshman, at quarterback.

But the Cyclones have what may be one of the better secondaries Iowa will face this season, with T.J. Tampa and Jeremiah Cooper leading the way. That does not seem to faze Anderson, however.

Asked what he saw on film from Iowa State, Anderson said “a lot of opportunity.”

In what way? “In a good way.”

With that confidence, it may seem to Anderson like a matter of when, not if, the Hawkeyes can silence the Jack Trice crowd (and take the Cy-Hawk Trophy back).

“That’s going to be a good feeling for sure,” Anderson said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com