Kirk Ferentz’s 200th win was vintage Coach Pragmatic, basic and tough

AMES — The Kirk-O-Meter hit 200 Saturday, in much the same way it reached many of his first through 199th college football wins as a head coach.

Ferentz’s Iowa team blocked a field goal, returned an interception for a touchdown, didn’t do anything foolish enough to be noteworthy on offense, and closed out what became a close game in their 20-13 win over Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium.

A wins total that began with a 24-17 triumph over Rhode Island after an 0-5 start at Maine in 1990 is now at 200 for Ferentz with perhaps many more this season.

“I think we’re growing,” Ferentz said, “and the thing I’m most excited about is I just think we have a lot of potential and will continue to grow.”

If this win didn’t define Ferentz football, it didn’t fall far from the tree. Iowa amassed just 235 yards, scored just three offensive points over the final three quarters, yet checked a lot of non-box score boxes to earn a hard-fought win.

This program won eight games last season and 10 the year before that with substandard offense. This year’s offense can’t be graded yet. The early returns aren’t great, but maybe the potential Ferentz alluded is there.

And maybe the Cyclones’ defense that Iowa encountered Saturday will, for a second-straight season, be one of the best it meets.

But Iowa’s defense was a bit better. It made the plays that made the difference.

One was in the second quarter when Sebastian Castro intercepted a Rocco Becht pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Another was when ISU had a fourth-and-1 at its 40 and defensive end Ethan Hurkett of Cedar Rapids wrapped up ball carrier Cartevious Norton behind the line of scrimmage with 1:16 left to effectively end the game.

Castro and Hurkett are Ferentzian Iowa stories, decent recruits but nothing headline-grabbing. Castro is a fifth-year senior who began to make an impact late last season. His best career game was Iowa’s 21-0 silencing of Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Hurkett is a fourth-year junior who has overcome knee surgery and has given the Xavier High Saints a second Hawkeye defender of impact to go with safety Quinn Schulte.

Who doesn’t play well in an Iowa defense?

The pick-6 is a far more common occurrence in college football than you might guess, even if you had been paying close attention to Iowa's games. Last year, 89 out of the 133 FBS teams had at least one.

However, the frequency in which the Hawkeyes have returned picks for six under defensive coordinator Phil Parker has been something close to amazing.

Castro made it 16 straight seasons in which the Hawkeyes have at least one pick-6. Is that not crazy? It would be even crazier had Utah not done it the last 19 years — it doesn’t have one yet in 2023, though — but it’s still remarkable.

“I guess that’s normal around here,” Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara said, and he guessed right.

Iowa tied for first in the nation with interception returns for scores last season with four, two of them coming in the second quarter of that Music City Bowl. The Hawkeyes also tied for third in pick-6s in 2021, tied for seventh in 2020, tied for fourth in 2017, tied for third in 2015, and tied for fourth in 2010.

This is who Iowa is, this is what it does. It has 220 interceptions overall since the start of the 2009 season, more than any team in the nation.

Iowa had six defensive touchdowns a year ago when every point was precious. Well, every point from Castro’s TD and the following PAT kick was the difference in a 7-point win.

Pick-6s aren’t expected, Castro said. “What’s expected is good defense. With great defense comes pick-6s. Pick-6s are flashy, but I always respect the little things. The battles in those trenches with the D-linemen, that’s where the battle’s won.”

The Hawkeyes have won 11 of their last 15 games against Iowa State because of defense. They came within three minutes of holding the Cyclones to seven points or less for the eighth time in those 15 contests.

Parker considers runs of 15-plus yards and passes of 20-plus “explosive plays.” The Cyclones didn’t light a single firecracker, though they did get a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:53 left to give a dull game something tantalizing late.

A win’s a win’s a win, right? If you’re the Hawkeyes, this sure beats the 10-7 loss they endured to the Cyclones a year ago.

Iowa’s better than Iowa State and showed it. But if the two teams had been Anyone Else and Anyone Else State and moved the ball like this, you’re not watching this game for four quarters.

For Ferentz, however, the game has never been about entertainment. It’s been about the people, the work, the commitment, the belief in bedrock football principles of a century ago that he feels never really change.

He’s never been Coach Prime. He’s always been Coach Pragmatic. There’s never been a Tight End U. that could be marketed to the masses.

But 200 wins is a number that has been reached by just 99 college coaches over all divisions since 1890. You don’t fall into 200 wins, you don’t get there on gimmicks and catchphrases. You don’t win 200 times by starting to think everything is all about you.

“Nobody gets there alone,” Ferentz said after No. 200, words that can apply to everyone, everywhere, and applied to a football team that enjoyed a most pleasant bus ride back to Iowa City Saturday evening.

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