IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa doesn’t need the noise this week. Kirk Ferentz made that clear Tuesday, and his players followed suit as the Hawkeyes turned their attention to Iowa State with the same flat, businesslike approach that has long defined the program.
That’s the Ferentz way, especially during Cy-Hawk week: keep the temperature down in public, keep the focus on what can actually be controlled, and leave the drama to everyone else. Iowa would like nothing more than to reclaim the rivalry at Kinnick Stadium, where the Cyclones have won the last two meetings, 10-7 in 2022 and 20-19 in 2024.
Ferentz wasn’t interested in treating this like some special, isolated event.
"I've never really quite bought into the one game or circling dates or red letters. You know, whatever they do for all that stuff.
I think it's a slippery slope," Ferentz said on Tuesday. "Really what you are trying to do is get a team to understand it's important to compete every week.
I totally understand we have 12 opponents, and I understand every game matters, conference games really matter, intrastate rivals really matter. I get all of that."
"Just trying to turn things on and off, that's a really risky game to play in my opinion. We just tried to get our guys -- really the race is us against time.
That's the race we're running right now. We've got 11 more chances to play."
That message landed with the Hawkeyes. Jayden Montgomery said Iowa isn’t changing the way it prepares, whether the opponent is Northern Illinois or Iowa State.
"We try to treat them all the same," linebacker Jayden Montgomery said. "Regardless if it's NIU last week or Iowa State this week, we try to prepare the same way every week because every game is important."
Deshaun Lee struck the same note, brushing off the idea that the moment changes anything Iowa does.
"Nah, no pressure," defensive back Deshaun Lee said. "It's an Iowa State week, but it's another team to go compete against, and we're going to bring our best."
There’s plenty of emotion on the other side, too. Iowa State is in the middle of a major overhaul, with a new staff and essentially a new roster, and head coach Jimmy Rogers has made no secret of wanting to win over the state quickly. On Tuesday, he acknowledged the edge that comes with this rivalry.
"It's not just any ordinary game. There's an intensity to it," Rogers said on Tuesday.
"From coach speak, it is a little bit, but to not acknowledge the emotions that are going to be played with on the field is, for me and my rivalries in the past, it's always amped up. It's not like you can hide it and say it's another game to the players."
Rogers also helped crank up the rivalry atmosphere earlier by saying "Let's beat the expletive Hawks!" during a Cyclone basketball game.
Iowa isn’t pretending that won’t be part of the conversation. But the Hawkeyes are more concerned with how they handle their own side of the matchup.
They held Northern Illinois without a first down until the third quarter and got a balanced offensive performance that should leave them feeling good entering Cy-Hawk week. Iowa State, meanwhile, is still sorting out its identity after allowing 209 yards against SEMO, and with so little tape available on the new-look Cyclones, Iowa is paying close attention.
"They're a good team, they've got a good defense," wide receiver Tony Diaz said. "They've got pretty much a new team, so we're just going to stick to the game plan we got and keep watching film on them, and then come out and execute our game plan."
The outside world may see a ranked rivalry game, a spread, and plenty of emotion. Iowa is treating it like another week of work, just with a trophy sitting on the line. Ferentz said the series has earned that kind of respect over time.
"Really, for 20-plus years it's been a really competitive, tight series," Ferentz said.
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