Kirk Ferentz believes Cy-Hawk rivalry is ‘underappreciated’ outside Iowa

Saturday afternoon, Iowa and Iowa State will play the 71st Cy-Hawk game. The matchup returns to Iowa City after the Hawkeyes came away with the victory in Ames a year ago.

For football fans in the state, it’s a big day as the two schools battle it out. To Kirk Ferentz, the rivalry deserves a bit more appreciation from outside the state.

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Ferentz will be coaching in his 34th Cy-Hawk game on Saturday, so he knows how important it is to the fan bases. But he also sees it as a good example of a rivalry because of how intense it gets, which is why he thinks it’s “underappreciated” on a larger scale.

“This game, obviously, is a big, big game,” Ferentz said. “It’s a rivalry game. Certainly, it’s been intense for a long time. It’s my 34th experience. I’ve seen a lot of different things throughout the course of that time. But bottom line is it’s just a good game for our state. It’s good for everybody if they’re involved in football and like football.

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“On top of it, I think it’s probably a little bit underappreciated outside of our state in terms of the intensity of the rivalry and the way the players go after it each and every time. It’s really a good football game.”

Last year, Iowa came away with a 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk game. Jaziun Patterson led the charge for the Hawkeyes as he totaled 81 yards and a touchdown, and a Sebastian Castro pick-six helped them come away with the rivalry victory.

Iowa will look to build on a strong second half in last week’s season-opening shutout against Illinois State. Cade McNamara played in last year’s game – he completed 12 of 22 passes for 123 yards – and he fully understands the meaning behind the matchup as he gets ready for his second go-round.

“The more I’m in Iowa, I just realize how important this game is for the state,” McNamara said. “They’re a really good program. They have a lot of good players and it’s a veteran group. Overall, every single time these two teams meet, it’s gonna be a battle. I think we’re gonna expect that and we’re looking forward to it.”