Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz will have team prepared to fight for Floyd of Rosedale

Floyd of Rosedale is a big bronze pig. Outside of college football, that may sound strange, but within the bounds of college football and its epic rivalries that have spanned years — a bronze pig can mean everything.

Just ask Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who has been fighting for Floyd ever since he became Iowa's offensive line coach in 1981. Now as head coach at Iowa since 1999, he's plenty aware, but he didn't know it was such a big deal when he joined the Hawkeyes.

“But what I do remember is there was a real rivalry, and when I got here in ’81 there was. I was kind of naïve to it until they came across the field after the 12-10 win out there in 1981, and I thought, 'Boy, they’re pretty enthusiastic about shaking hands,' and then I realized they wanted to come get the trophy that was right behind us,” Ferentz said in a recent news conference (h/t On3 ).

The Iowa-Minnesota rivalry goes back to 1891 but Floyd or Rosedale was introduced to the fray in 1935. He's awarded to the winner of the game and Floyd gets to stay with them until the next contest between the two heated rivals.

Minnesota leads the all-time series between the two schools, 63–52–2, but Iowa has won Floyd once more.

The Hawkeyes won Floyd eight seasons in a row from 2015 to 2022 but Minnesota stole him back last season with a 12-10 win in Iowa City that led to this scene:

College football. It really is a beautiful thing.

For Ferentz, keeping the history alive and making sure his team is ready to recapture the pig will be part of his strategy in the lead-up to the 7:30 p.m. EST kick on Saturday in Minnesota.

“We haven’t seen the pig in a while, so we’ll have pictures and all that and see if we can do something about it,” Ferentz said.