At 204 wins at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz needs only two more to break Woody Hayes’s all time record. Barring a monumental collapse, it’s almost certain that Ferentz will break that record this year, hopefully week 2 against Iowa State. It’s a tremendous achievement, especially considering that he didn’t do it at one of the conference’s blue bloods and in an era of frequent coach turnover.
Entering his 27th year as head coach (the same year in which Hayes set his record by the way) it has been a long and
transformational road for Ferentz to get to this point. Inheriting a team spare on talent and stepping into a role many felt should have gone to someone else, Kirk had to build his legacy from the ground up. Getting his first win against Northern Illinois in 1999 was the first step, but in his second season at enduring a 13-game losing streak, Kirk was still searching for his first win in conference play. Let’s pick up the story at October 7, 2000.
The Michigan State Spartans entered the game ranked #25 with a 3-1 record. Iowa sat at 0-5 and in the midst of that double digit losing streak held over from 1999. It’s not like the Hawkeyes lacked talent with Ladell Betts, Kevin Kasper, Aaron Kampman, and LeVar Woods, among other solid players on the rosters. But the seeds of Ferentz’s future success were planted this year with Bob Sanders, Robert Gallery, Fred Russell, Dallas Clark, and Nate Kaeding all in their freshman years. Iowa just needed that first conference victory to spark the fire.
Another freshman that year, Jon Beutjer started at quarterback that day and he led Iowa down the field for a touchdown on their opening drive, with Betts dragging Spartan defenders over the goal line. It was a terrific start and just what Iowa needed to gain confidence early on. It would also be the only points either team would score in that first frame, and while Iowa threatened late in the quarter, a Jeremy Allen fumble short circuited the drive.
Michigan State would strike back early in the second quarter with a big run by TJ Duckett bursting for a 50-yard run to the goal line to set up 1st and goal. Spartan quarterback Ryan Van Dyke would pitch a short two yard touchdown toss three plays later to finally get on the board. Too bad for the Spartans that Iowa would block the extra point to keep the Hawkeyes ahead by a point. Duckett would be a headache for Iowa all day long, as he ended up with 248 yards on 30 carries. But it would be a rough day for Michigan State overall, with 106 penalty yards and three sacks given up. It was a classic Iowa upset mud fight that we’d see repeated many times over Kirk’s 26 seasons. Duckett would gash the Iowa defense some more to close out the first half and the Spartans would add a field goal to make the halftime score 9-7.
Half of the third quarter would go by without any more scoring, both defenses locking down and keeping each other out of scoring position. The Iowa defense came up with the next big play with Aaron Kampman leaping to pick off a Ryan Van Dyke pass over the middle. Not only did Kampman have to make the leap, he also had to wrangle in the bobbled ball before crashing down on his backside. Who knew the big man was so nimble?
Again the Iowa offense stalled, and again the defense kept MSU from scoring. But then a Spartan punt bounced into the back of a Hawkeye blocker giving Michigan State new life well into Iowa territory. Once again, TJ Duckett made a highlight run, going 31 yards on third down to lengthen their lead to 16-7. With Iowa’s offense not getting any traction, a two score lead might’ve seemed too much to overcome. Thankfully, as we’ve seen time and again throughout KF’s tenure, the other two phases came to the offense’s rescue.
On the subsequent kickoff, Khalil Hill caught the ball at his own ten and proceeded to bob, weave, stop, start, and sprint his way 90 yards for the return touchdown.
With one quarter to play Iowa could just make out the elusive first conference win for their young coach, but they still needed to keep Michigan State from going back up two scores. As half of the quarter drained away, MSU lined up for a chip shot field goal only for the Hawkeye special teams unit to once again come to the rescue. The kick bounced off a wall of Iowa arms and into those of future special teams coach LeVar Woods and the offense had their opportunity to win it. They just had to sustain a long drive, something they’d struggled to do all day long.
With the pressure on, the young Beutjer skillfully led his crew down the field with some big help from his playmakers. Facing 2nd and 6 at the Spartan 44, Beutjer hit Kasper on a screen and the senior took it from there, dashing through the defense all the way to pay dirt to put the Hawkeyes finally back on top.
Never mind that excessive celebration penalty. Nate Kaeding would drill the PAT for the 21-16 lead. LeVar Woods would once again come up big by intercepting Van Dyke on the first play of the next series, giving Iowa a few more chances to bleed the clock but ultimately couldn’t get a first down. Michigan State would have one last chance to win it, but with five seconds to play, Van Dyke’s Hail Mary fell harmlessly incomplete. Players and fans surged onto the Kinnick field, reveling in the release of a full year of disappointment and frustration after the homecoming win. Iowa had beaten the #25 team in the country, snapped a 13-game losing streak, and given Kirk Ferentz his first Big Ten win as head coach.
Whenever Kirk joins Woody Hayes at 205 wins or overtakes him with 206, that first conference win will always be a microcosm of his career at the helm at Iowa: not always pretty, oftentimes maddening, but beautiful in its own way that not many outside the Hawkeye family truly understand.
Enjoy the game highlights below and drop a memory of your own in the comments.
