Hawkeyes Swarm to Victory at Iowa State

Kirk Ferentz Records 200th Career Win Saturday in Ames

AMES — The big moments always seem to make Kirk Ferentz emotional.

So of course the Iowa football coach was going to get a little more than misty-eyed at 200 wins, and with that milestone win coming against one of his program’s biggest rivals.

Saturday’s 20-13 win over Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium was the 200th career coaching victory for Ferentz, and while it led to some tears, he made sure to downplay it in the post-game press conference.

“I feel very honored, and appreciative,” he said. “Whether it’s in football or in life, when you have something of significance, nobody gets there alone.”

It was a win for the team, Ferentz said, and while that seems rather cliched, his players made sure to mention that the victory was for their coach as well.

“I just know how much everybody cares for Coach Ferentz, and that’s something I recognized the day I walked in — how much everybody respects him, but also how much he cares about us,” said quarterback Cade McNamara, who has played all of two games for the coach, yet has a perfect grasp of the program. “I’m not dissing anyone else. I just have an unbelievable relationship with Coach Ferentz.

“There’s nothing else these guys wanted but to get this win for him.”

“Oh, it’s huge,” defensive lineman Logan Lee said. “It was so much fun celebrating with him. He was getting emotional.”

The Hawkeyes moved to 2-0 to start the season, surviving in a grind-it-out win in a game that everybody expected.

Iowa got off to a 10-0 lead and led 17-3 at halftime, yet needed to get a final stop when the Cyclones got the ball back with less than two minutes to play.

And when Ethan Hurkett hauled down Cartevious Norton for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-1 with 1:16 to play, the Hawkeyes knew they were getting the Cy-Hawk Trophy back after losing it last season.

They remembered how the Cyclones went to get the trophy after that 10-7 game — a lot of individual sprinting with trash talk interspersed with the dash.

So the Hawkeyes got into their usual post-game “Swarm” to get the trophy this time around.

“We ‘swarm’ in, we ‘swarm’ out, we ‘swarm’ to get the trophies,” Lee said. “We know the work we put in. It’s everybody together.”

Iowa didn’t put up the numbers to shake the national narrative of offensive malaise — the Hawkeyes were outgained 290-235, had a seven-minute disadvantage in time of possession, and seven of the points came from Sebastian Castro’s 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.

McNamara, who was 12-of-22 passing for 123 yards and an interception, said the offense was “progressing.”

“We had some miscues today some of us want back,” McNamara said. “Us continuing to grow to get better, and the passion everybody is showing to get better, is starting to show on the field.”

The Hawkeyes may have found a rushing star in Jaziun Patterson, who rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown. His 59-yard run set up Iowa’s first points of the game — a 28-yard field goal by Drew Stevens — and showed a swiftness that he hinted at late last season.

“He’s such a downhill runner,” McNamara said. “He’s willing to sacrifice his body for the team. We definitely appreciate when he does it like that.”

“I’d say he runs hard,” said Ferentz, eschewing any sort of descriptive cliche. “He’s a north-south (runner). He runs hard.”

“I mean, it just kind of happened,” Patterson said. “I was glad for the opportunity.”

Castro’s interception meant the Hawkeyes now have a 16-year streak of at least one interception return for a touchdown.

“It was like slow motion,” Castro said. “I saw it the whole way. It’s something I’ll never forget. I saw the ball coming really slow. I brought it in, and I was like, ‘Bring it home.’”

“Bring it home,” seemed to be the motto of the day.

A win, a trophy, and a history for a coach who felt the appreciation of his players.

“Nobody gets into (coaching) for (milestones),” Ferentz said. “It’s the people. I certainly got into it for that reason.

He couldn’t resist a joke.

“It allows me to keep my job, I figured that out,” Ferentz said.