For the third time in the last four years, Iowa State came out on top of the Cy-Hawk college football rivalry game. The loss visibly deflated Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who could be in his final year with the team.
The game was a back-and-forth defensive battle that Iowa State came out on top of, 16-13. Few were more upset with the result than Ferentz, who admitted that his team simply “didn't do enough” to pull off the upset.
“We didn't do enough today to beat a good football team,” Ferentz said, via ESPN. “I don't think it had anything to do with our preparation or our effort. The series has been decided at the end of the game the last couple years, and there were several opportunities that we didn't cash in.”
Ferentz could have broken the record for most wins in Iowa football history with a victory. He remains tied with Woody Hayes with 205 wins in his 27-year career.
Iowa went scoreless in the first and fourth quarters, only scoring in the middle periods. Ten of the Hawkeyes' 13 points came in the second quarter.
Iowa tied the game with a field goal at the end of the third quarter, but could not do anything from that point on. The Hawkeyes' two fourth-quarter drives resulted in just 35 yards, including a turnover on downs to effectively end the game.
Iowa offense struggled again in Iowa State loss
For the second consecutive week, Iowa struggled to move the ball downfield. The Hawkeyes could only muster 214 yards of total offense, including just 83 passing yards from quarterback Mark Gronowski.
The Iowa offense heavily leaned on star running back Kaleb Johnson in 2024. They have always been a defensive-focused, run-dominant team under Ferentz, but they no longer have a weapon like Johnson in the backfield. Freshman Xavier Williams exploded for 122 rushing yards in Week 1, but only averaged 3.7 yards per carry against Iowa State.
The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry has been one of the most underrated in college football for years, but the Cyclones have dominated the series in recent years. Iowa has just one win over its in-state rivals since 2022.
Regardless of which team wins, the game consistently goes down to the wire. Five of the last six meetings have been one-score affairs, backing up Ferentz's belief that his team just did not do enough to steal a victory.
