Trice rarely right for Ferentz’s Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Out of the frying pan and into the Trice.

If the No. 22 Hawkeyes thought last Saturday's 17-16 escape of Northern Iowa was a dogfight, they're in for that times 10 this week.

It's about a two-hour bus ride from Iowa City to Ames. Somehow, for Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, the bus detours to the Bermuda Triangle.

The days of Hayden Fry dominance and 15 in a row are over and might be over forever. But since former ISU coach Dan McCarney engineered the big breakthrough at Kinnick Stadium in 1998, the Cyclones (1-0) have dominated the Hawkeyes (1-0) at Jack Trice Stadium.

Ferentz teams have gone into Trice five times and have come away with a defeat four of those five. Iowa's last victory in Ames came in 2003, a 40-21 victory fueled by a pair of blocked punts by future NFL safety Sean Considine.

“Every time we go into Ames to play Iowa State, we know it's going to be a fight, we know it's going to be a war,” Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer said. “So, whether we win the game before or lose the game before, whatever, we've got to be willing to fight those guys because they're going to come out fighting.”

There's that word again - fight. It's been exactly that since ‘98, when the Cyclones blew off the 28-point spread and snapped Iowa's 15-game winning streak.

The fight goes back to Ames this week, where Ferentz's Hawkeyes are 1-for-4.

1999 - Blitzes burned

Maybe this is why Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker doesn't blitz a whole lot.

Iowa blitzed twice and left cornerback Mikkel Brown one-on-one with ISU receiver Damien Groce. The first went for a 22-yard TD and the second went 80. It added up to an early 14-0 lead that the Hawkeyes just weren't equipped to deal with at that stage of the Ferentz era. ISU hung on, 17-10.

“We came in thinking we could force a few mistakes. Maybe that backfired a little on us,” Ferentz said. “One of those days. They made the plays and we didn't.”

2001 - Turnover turnover

The Hawkeyes trailed, 17-14, when outside linebacker Grant Steen intercepted the only bad pass ISU QB Seneca Wallace threw all day. Steen headed inside the ISU 20-yard line, poised to put Iowa in great shape.

But Chris Campbell, the intended receiver and a defensive back in high school, sneaked up from behind and stripped away the ball. ISU recovered at its 17.

“I read the quarterback's eyes and he threw it right where I was,” Steen said. “It might have been the play to turn the game around. In my eyes, it was the play that gave them the win.”

Iowa State drove 50 yards the other way and chewed precious minutes off the clock, and the Hawkeyes never got in position to score again, falling 17-14.

2003 - Redemption

Considine's blocks set it up, but Steen finished it off.

The senior linebacker scooped up a fumble and cradled it like a gold doubloon. Then he picked off a pass midway through the third quarter of Iowa's 40-21 victory over Iowa State and put both burly arms around the ball, treating it like a newborn in a hailstorm.

2005 - Knockout punch

The No. 8 Hawkeyes won a share of the Big Ten title the previous season. They had all-Big Ten quarterback Drew Tate. They had it all.

For a little more than a quarter, they had Tate.

With 9:22 left in the second quarter, Tate compounded a bad-read interception into perfect two-deep coverage when he knocked himself out of the game tackling free safety Steve Paris. He immediately went to the end of the bench before walking into the locker room.

He finished with his poorest performance since Arizona State last season, completing 5 of 11 for 57 yards, an interception and one really bad idea of a tackle.

“We didn't see this coming at all,” Ferentz said of the 23-3 loss. “This was a thorough beating for us.”

2007 - One shining moment

Early last year, Phillip Bates lost the quarterback battle to Austen Arnaud and then transferred. Iowa State fans might forgive his flight because of one play in 2007 against the Hawkeyes.

Bates was too good to keep off the field. Then-coach Gene Chizik lined him up at wide receiver in the fourth quarter. ISU quarterback Bret Meyer spotted that Iowa had middle linebacker Mike Klinkenborg on Bates. Meyer floated a pass and 38 yards later Bates had set up kicker Bret Culbertson's fifth field goal in a 15-13 Cyclone win.

Ferentz is 1-4 at Trice, but you have to agree it's been a mostly interesting 1-4.