This week will present an entirely new challenge to the Iowa Hawkeyes offense when they take the field inside Kinnick Stadium.
With Iowa State looming in the Cy-Hawk rivalry, Iowa is going to be tasked with a much more intense challenge in the defense that they are facing. After a 40-0 showing against Illinois State by the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones are a much different animal to face.
The Hawkeyes’ offense is healthy and fully loaded aside from a few lingering injuries and will need all hands on deck to notch their second victory.
When asked about facing the Cyclones’ defense and the struggles they have had against them over the past few years, Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz gave them their credit.
“You know, one person’s opinion. They’ve done a lot of things well there since Coach Campbell got there. That league was not exactly, like, known for defense, and ours is probably a little bit more so that way, at least that’s kind of been the trend,” Ferentz said about Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell and his program.
“I think Coach Heacock, he’s an outstanding coach, great person. He came in with a vision. I’m not sure where all it got incubated or where it got hatched, but they’ve been good on defense basically after that first year was a year of adjustment,” continued Ferentz.
“But from my vantage point, they’ve been good on defense all the way through, and they’ve been good on offense, too. They’ve changed subtly, but they’ve got an identity and a system that works really well for them. I think that’s why they’ve been so successful. They run the ball, control the ball. They pass it well, too,” Ferentz went on to say.
“But they’re balanced on offense, and then defensively they’ve been really good. I think you know how I feel. Just growing up, it just seems like if you played defense in any sport, you’ve got a chance. You can’t win if you don’t have a chance. Real credit to them,” Kirk Ferentz added about their successes.
“But they’ve been tough on a lot of people. You look back, it’s hard to find how many games where they gave up a lot of yards or points. Really hard,” Ferentz ended with.
The Cyclones’ Week 1 victory backs up this sentiment as well. They held North Dakota, albeit an FCS program, to just three points.
They limited North Dakota to 121 yards through that year at 4 yards per attempt but did give up 174 yards on the ground.
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