The Short List

Apologies for not getting this up before now, Hawk fans.

No. 3, 1990 - Iowa 45, Iowa State 35

Danan Hughes, Nick Bell and company put up big points on the Cyclones in Kinnick Stadium as the Hawks improved their season record to 2-0 after a 63-10 trouncing of Cincinnati in the opener.

Merton Hanks captained the defense that would lead Iowa to an 8-3 (6-2 in the Big Ten) record and a Rose Bowl berth against Mark Brunell and the Washington Huskies.

No. 2, 2008 - Iowa 17, Iowa State 5

It was a sloppy, disgusting day and the football reflected that.

Iowa led 3-0 at halftime, and the game went into the fourth quarter tied, 3-3. Ricky Stanzi and Jake Christensen continued to ride the quarterback carousel as head coach Kirk Ferentz remained undecided on a weekly starter.

But behind Shonn Greene's 123 yard, one touchdown-performance and a huge punt return touchodown by Andy Brodell, the Hawks prevailed in Iowa City to regain possession of the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

No. 1, 2003 - Iowa 40, Iowa State 21

This was an obvious choice.

It was Kirk Ferentz's first win against the Cyclones after starting out 0-4. It ended a five game losing streak in the series for the Hawkeyes. Until today, it was his only win in Ames.

The Hawkeyes were led by quarterback Nathan Chandler's 72 passing yards and 53 rushing yards. Fred Russell added 87 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Iowa's defense, however, was the story of the game.

Chad Greenway had 17 tackles, Abdul Hodge added 15 - including three tackles for loss - and a forced fumble. Matt Roth also had three tackles for loss and a sack. Grant Steen had an interception and a fumble recovery on top of six tackles as the Hawkeyes harassed Cyclone quarterback Austin Flynn all day.

No. 4, 1979 - Iowa 30, Iowa State 14

From the first meeting in 1894 until 1934, the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones had renewed their dislike for each other on almost a yearly basis. The Hawks dominated the early years of the rivalry, winning 16 of the 24 contests.

It would be over four decades before the teams squared off again.


The 1950s saw the Hawkeyes claim back-to-back Rose Bowl championships under legendary coach Forest Evashevski. The Hawks also claimed a share of the 1958 national title.


The '60s and '70s, however, were hard times for Hawk fans as the team failed to field a team with a winning record for 17 seasons.


But all of that changed in 1979 when the Black-and-Gold hired a man by the name of Hayden Fry from northern Texas. Fry said he came to Iowa for one thing: to win.

After the Hawkeyes and Cyclones renewed their rivalry in 1977, Fry wasted little time making his mark on the now-annual showdown.


Similar to Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, Fry captured victory in his very first Cy-Hawk battle, leading the Hawks to a 30-14 win in Kinnick Stadium.


Despite losing the next three meetings, Fry went on to lead the Hawks to a series record 15 straight wins over the Cyclones. The legendary Iowa coach finished his career with a record of 16-4 against Iowa State.

No. 5, 1899 - Iowa 5, Iowa State 0

This is the first installment of a five-part series which will count down the five greatest Iowa-Iowa State gridiron throw downs of the past.

It took Iowa four tries to solve the Cyclones - in Iowa City, no less - losing each of the first three match-ups in this rivarly which dates back all the way to October 1894.

1899 ended up being a great season for the Hawks who finished with an unblemished 8-0-1 record.

The only game Iowa didn't win was a week two slug fest with the University of Chicago in the Windy City which ended in a 5-5 tie.

The Cy-Hawk trophy and bowl games didn't yet exist. Nor did the Big Ten Conference - Iowa and Iowa State were both members of the 15-team Eastern Independent Conference.

Iowa would go on to win the next four meetings against Iowa State following the 1899 victory.

Hawks to face Cyclones

Kirk Ferentz will hold his weekly press conference this afternoon. Having had a few days for Iowa's dramatic 17-16 win over Northern Iowa to settle in his mind, Ferentz hopefully will only take positives from such a surprising week one test.

A few things I hope he addresses:

Who is going to start at running back?
Redshirt freshman Adam Robinson, who came in after starter Paki O'Meara struggled early, led the team with 63 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown on Saturday. Robinson was bursting through holes in the offensive line, but more importantly the Des Moines-native showed he was willing to work for the tough yards instead of attempting to hit a "home run" on every play. The Hawkeyes' first touchdown of the season came on an 11-yard scamper by Robinson in the third quarter.

Fellow redshirt freshman Jeff Brinson did not play in Saturday's game. If Brinson suits up this weekend in Ames, expect him to see some action.

What is the situation with Derrell Johnson-Koulianous?

• Why did DJK get on the field for only a handful of plays, especially considering how close Saturday's game was?


• How much playing time is he going to see against Iowa State?


• Is Ricky Stanzi going to throw the ball to Tony Moeaki so many times that Moeaki eventually gets hurt? Why flirt with disaster so early in the season?

How does the defensive game plan change after the success UNI had against it?
In the last few seasons Iowa has typically struggled against the spread offense (Indiana and Kellen Lewis, ring a bell?). On Saturday, UNI spread out the Hawks' conservative base defense and veteran quarterback Pat Grace tore Iowa apart, completing 23-of-37 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, 15 of those completions went for Panther first downs.

Sure, Iowa's defense kept them in the game like they always do. But when the Hawks needed simply to keep UNI out of field goal range on the final possession of the game, Grace and the Panthers marched down the field seemingly with ease. It was like Grace was performing surgery on the Iowa secondary.

Can a brother get an adjustment or two?

Maybe just something as simple as press coverage. It doesn't even have to be man-to-man coverage; it can still be cover two zone. However, letting the defensive backs get a good jam on a receiver at the line of scrimmage throws off the timing of the routes and forces the quarterback to sit in the pocket where the defensive line can get after him.

How about blitzing a linebacker or a safety up the middle? Or how about a nickel back off the edge? Certainly the Hawks have the athleticism defensively to take a few risks here and there.

The spread offense is an aggressive style of offense and the best way to counter it is not to sit back and watch, bend but don't break, but to attack.

The Great Escape

What did Iowa learn about itself in today's 17-16 nail-biter over Northern Iowa?

First off, it looks like the special teams units are strong. Back-to-back blocked field goals to close out a game? Unbelievable. 

Secondly, Tony Moeaki is healthy and he looks solid. The senior snagged 10 catches for 83 yards, including a nasty touhdown grab from Ricky Stanzi in the final period to give Iowa it's first lead since the first quarter, 17-13.

Running back Paki O'Meara struggled in his first collegiate start. The junior was held to 16 yards on just nine carries by an aggressive UNI defense.

Redshirt freshman Adam Robinson filled in nicely following Paki's early struggles, leading Iowa with 63 yards on 15 carries. Despite it taking until nearly six minutes into the third quarter, the Hawks scored their first touchdown of the 2009 season on a slick 11-yard touchdown run by Robinson – the first of his career.

One thing that concerns me though is Derrell Johnson-Koulianous not seeing the field until the third quarter. 

Are you kidding me? 

Clearly the coaches could see Stanzi was struggling with his rhythm early on and they keep his favorite target on the sideline? That just doesn't make a lot of sense. 

In college football there isn't a preseason schedule where games don't count toward the season record and teams can work the bugs out of their systems like there is in the NFL. At this early point in the season it is important for players to be finding their strides. You can't find your stride if you're on the sideline. 

The Hawks also were only 3-12 on third down conversions, an area they struggled in last year and need improvement if they want to continue winning close games.

But in the end, the Hawks won a close game – something that has been anything but automatic for Iowa teams of the recent past.

Try not to be nervous for next week.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow.

T-minus 22 hours to tomorrow's kick off.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Saturday's showdown between the Hawkeyes and the Panthers will be the two quarterbacks and their respective receiving corps on display. And by on display I mean front and center.

For Hawk fans it will be interesting to see if Ricky Stanzi and Derrell Johnson-Koulianous can continue in the groove they found at the end of last season.

DJK pulled in 44 catches for 639 yards and three touchdowns a year ago to lead Iowa in receiving, including a 181-yard performance in Iowa's 55-0 romp of Minnesota in the final regular season game of 2008. DJK cemented himself as Stanzi's favorite target after making a pair of clutch receptions during Iowa's miraculous final drive in the 24-23 upset of then-undefeated, No. 3 Penn State.

It will be interesting to see how Stanzi deals with the loss of Brandon Myers at tight end. Myers was virtually a sure-thing last year on third-and-whatever for Iowa's offense. It seemed like Stanzi and Myers hooked up on almost all of Iowa's 65 third down conversions in 2008.

The next man in is Allen Reisner who had 11 grabs for 200 yards and a touchdown in 2008 backing up Myers.

If Tony Moeaki can avoid any run-ins with the injury bug, he should have a phenomenal senior season as well.

On a personal level, I am excited to see how Iowa uses Keenan Davis. Davis is the biggest recruit at wide-out the Hawks have had since Dominique Douglas in 2005.

I'm hoping Keenan sticks around a little longer than Douglas did.

Watch out for UNI's Pat Grace and the Panthers' speedy receiving corps.

Without running backs Derrick Law and Taylor Brookins in the lineup expect UNI to take to the air early and often in order to build momentum and try to take the crowd out of the game.

Grace is a savvy veteran who knows all too well how to dissect a defense so expect another heavy dose of "Tampa 2" from the Iowa defense.

Here's to a bright and early morning tomorrow.

Hampton out for the season

"So much for SoCal on New Year's," was my first thought when I heard the news.

The news was Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz had officially announced that sophomore running back Jewel Hampton will miss the entire 2009 season with a knee injury.

Hampton, the heir apparent to fill the massive void left by 2008 Doak Walker Award-winner and current New York Jets running back, Shonn Greene, rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns on 91 carries as a true freshman last fall.

He will redshirt to save a year of eligibilty.

Like I said, so long Rose Bowl hopes. Even the Capitol One Bowl could be overly optimistic given the Hawks' treacherous road schedule. Hawk fans should set their sights on another Outback or Alamo Bowl apperance or risk being let down by the black-and-gold at their own peril. That doesn't mean give up, it just means be realistic.

However, in the words of Lee Corso I must say, "not so fast, my friend."

Time for Ferentz to re-initiate, "next man in."

But who will it be?

The running backs -- without Jewel -- have the least experience of any position on the team, which doesn't boast well for Iowa's run-right, run-left, throw-it-away-on-third-down-style offense -- I call it lack of imagination.

Ferentz has announced that junior Paki O'Meara will get the start in Saturday's game against Northern Iowa. O'Meara, an all-state running back at Cedar Rapids Washington, is the only back to have seen action last year -- albeit limited action, rushing for just 62 yards on 21 carries in 2008.

Behind Paki are a handful of unknowns looking to take advantage of some time in the spotlight.

Redshirt freshmen Jeff Brinson and Adam Robinson should figure into the mix, as well as true freshman Brandon Wegher. If this group can stay healthy, the offensive line -- Ferentz's specialty -- will make them look good.

"I don't know if it's going to be a two-man, three-man, four-man, but we'll do whatever it takes to be effective out there," Ferentz said during a press conference of his approach to the running back-by-committee system for the UNI game. "I am comfortable. I think the guys have practiced well and I'm optimistic they'll do some good things as we move forward."

And that's all they'll need to do.

The years the Hawkeyes have been great under Ferentz they haven't had several flashy players making one-handed grabs or rushing for 300 yards a game. They have a simple formula for success: strong running game, stingy defense, and sound fundamentals. They are the ultimate example of team football. Iowa is best when the rest of the nation doesn't see them coming.

So perhaps Jewel's injury is bittersweet.

Only time will tell.