We wrote earlier this year about in-state college football rivalries. There’s an archetype to these, one fit by nine states, with variants in something like thirteen more. The rivalry in Iowa is one of the nine. The rivalry in Iowa fits the archetype.
The archetype is that the collegiate rivalry embodies a cultural split within the state. It’s a split present in a lot of states, and in those where perhaps it might not otherwise be present, the rivalry can sometimes help create it. It’s a blue collar/white collar divide. It’s a rural/suburban divide. It’s a conservative/liberal divide. There’s the academic, liberal school—your Kansas, your Washington, your Virginia; and then there’s the ag school, or the tech school, or the otherwise not-historically-a-place-of-desk-jobs school—Kansas State, Washington State, Virginia Tech. It’s not a hard and fast rule that people of these schools fit these dichotomies, and the red/blue thing has taken on a nastier tinge lately and separated itself more regionally than within states themselves, changing that element, but the idea is the same: A different type of person affiliates themselves with the University of Iowa than affiliates themselves with Iowa State University. There can be a respect there. There often isn’t. And as is so often the case in these rivalries, when each entity views the other at its worst, the insults come back to class: Iowa people view Iowa State people as low-class. Iowa State people view Iowa people as arrogant without merit (a favorite story of mine is one a friend tells of an Iowa person coming back from a trip abroad and calling Vienna “the Iowa City of Europe”).
I’m hesitant to speak too confidently on this, as my place in the rivalry is moderately removed. I didn’t go to Iowa State. My parents did, as did my grandparents, as did one great-grandparent, but I didn’t. The rivalry wasn’t something existential for my family. But it mattered. When Iowa State beat Iowa, it mattered. It was a victory for the farm kids. It was a victory for the blue-collar kids. It was a victory not only for the people we are and the people our ancestors were, but for whom we aspired to be. It was a victory for the blue collar world. Because some schools make bigger commitments to farmers than putting a performative sticker on their helmets to sell merchandise off a movement that felt a lot more authentic 35 years ago.
I know plenty of wonderful Iowa people, and I know of some more-than-disappointing Iowa State folks. I don’t want to paint something this large and nuanced as good vs. evil. Iowa State fans will say and do nasty things this weekend. Iowa fans will too (and will be their stuck-up selves about it all, which would be a lot less laughable were they not outranked academically by every Big Ten school save Nebraska). And at the end of the day, my perception is that this rivalry does not stand across a broad a divide as that of Ole Miss and Mississippi State, or of Kansas and Kansas State. But for certain people—for certain Iowa State people, and even for others, like the K-State fan who pulled me aside in Manhattan in 2018 to talk about how much happier he was when the ag schools (Oklahoma State, Iowa State) came to town—this is a lot more meaningful than a football game.
It’s a meaningful football game, though, and it comes at a meaningful time for the Iowa State apparatus. The Big 12 might be projecting stability, but it’s on uncertain footing. Iowa State would likely prefer Big Ten membership and might be making something of an audition these next few years, as cable fades and streaming increases and the product of competition begins mattering more relative to the size or uniqueness of specific media markets. There’s also the fact that Iowa State has never been this good, or good at all, really. The program didn’t win a bowl until 2000. The program’s never won an outright conference title. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity for the Cyclone world, and while the school is right to enjoy it, there’s a sense alongside that enjoyment of needing to make it count. You only get so many chances to become a big deal.
On the Iowa side, it’s meaningful as well. The Hawkeyes have a better history than their neighbors to the west, but aside from two Rose Bowls in the 50’s, a handful of national championships awarded by fringier sources than the AP, the resurrection of the program under Hayden Fry (which was only a big deal because of how bad Iowa football had become), and occasional top ten finishes under Kirk Ferentz, there isn’t much to pound one’s chest about. Iowa’s biggest success has been avoiding being terrible at any point these last twenty years. It’s certainly better than what Iowa State can offer (Iowa State has been terrible for plenty of time in the last twenty years), but in the seasons since Fry won the Peach Bowl at the end of ’82, the programs are tied at one when it comes to victories in the current New Year’s Six bowls. This could well be the best Iowa team since the one that won that Orange Bowl at the end of 2009. It could be better than that team. It could be the best Iowa team in sixty years.
Iowa’s position as the premier program in the state shields it from some of this reality. Iowa doesn’t have to actually be any good, because they can just point at Iowa State and say, “Well, we’re better than them.” If Iowa State wins this weekend, that could change. It might not, but it might, and it won’t if Iowa State does not win this weekend. Iowa State’s on the come-up. Iowa’s in stagnation. There’s a reason Matt Campbell reportedly gets NFL interview requests while Kirk Ferentz is a running national punch line. But at the same time, Iowa’s been here before. Iowa State has not. There’s a reason Iowa’s top ten ranking draws little reaction while Iowa State’s is a source of localized jubilee.
College Gameday will be on hand, and even that has its insults, with former Hawkeye Ashton Kutcher rumored to be ESPN’s chosen celebrity guest for the show despite the game taking place in Ames. The last time Gameday came to Ames, they brought a country music star with no ties to either institution. ESPN seems entirely incapable of finding anyone in their East Coast world with so much as a nominal tie to Ames, Iowa. Their program tomorrow will likely be marked by jokes belittling the state’s attachment to corn, jokes that, light-hearted intention and all, will be more personal for Iowa State than Iowa by virtue of the schools’ respective foci. Does Iowa State make those jokes itself? Sure. Do they come off a little different coming from guys in suits who flew in on private jets? Yes.
So, forgive Iowa State if tomorrow seems a little existential.
It is.
***
Whom:
Iowa State vs. Iowa
When:
3:30 PM Cyclone Time
Where:
Jack Trice Stadium
Weather:
Hot. Temperatures in the 90’s during the game, with a ten to fifteen mile-per-hour wind blowing across the field diagonally, from southwest to northwest.
How to Watch:
ABC
The Opponent:
Iowa’s defense carried the way last week, picking off Michael Penix Jr. three times en route to a 34-6 bottling of a hyped-up Indiana team. They allowed just 2.5 yards per carry on 31 rushing attempts and held the Hoosiers to 4.7 yards per pass attempt (there were 33). Offensively, Iowa was fine. They turned the ball over twice themselves, they only outgained IU by seventy yards, Spencer Petras was 13-for-27 through the air. Two of the Penix interceptions were returned for touchdowns. One touchdown came from a 56-yard run by Tyler Goodson. The last was a Petras draw from inside the ten. It was an impressive victory, and there’s a chance Iowa packed it in schematically once the game was in hand, but it was arguably three tackles away from being a dogfight.
That said, Iowa’s a good football team. The offense is unlikely to be bad. The defense is among the best in the nation. Iowa State’s offensive line has its work cut out for it in a big, big way.
The Numbers:
Bill Connelly’s SP+ has the Hawkeyes a two-point road favorite. Vegas has the Cyclones as four-point favorites at home. The over/under currently sits at just 46.
What Iowa State Needs to Do:
On defense, the Cyclones need to limit big plays. You don’t necessarily need to grab four turnovers to beat Iowa (though if you can, great), but you do need to keep their punt team busy and get yourself off the field and out of the heat.
Offensively, it’s a tougher battle. Yes, Iowa State played a simple gameplan last week, yes, Northern Iowa’s tough defensively, but Iowa is degrees upon degrees tougher. Northern Iowa is a good FCS defense. Iowa is a great FBS defense. The ISU line is going to need to make holes for Breece Hall. Breece Hall is going to need to reliably grab chunks of four or five yards on early downs. Brock Purdy cannot panic under pressure, and Iowa State’s tight ends need to pull down everything within arm’s reach over the middle. The team can do the long-drive thing. It needs to do that tomorrow to win this game.
Finally, on special teams, it’s all about execution. It always is, but in a game that figures to be low-scoring, field goals need to be made. Extra points need to be made. Punts and kicks need to be covered and caught. Execute, execute, execute, no matter how intense the adrenaline.
Other Games of Interest:
Iowa State’s not at a place to worry too much about other teams, especially outside of the conference, but Texas’s game at Arkansas is of obvious import after the Longhorns looked the part last week of a rival for ISU in the race for the Big 12 Championship. That game kicks off…probably during the third quarter. Might be a good comedown if you’re watching things at home. If Texas looks good, buckle up for a that-much-tougher Big 12 ride.
Iowa State Thoughts:
One last thought on last week that’s getting way ahead of things is that results like that one—a non-loss that nonetheless sticks out on a résumé—could be a sort of tiebreaker against programs without such a performance if Iowa State’s in a place of caring about rankings tiebreakers come December. So that’s no good. But, again, that’s way ahead of things. Iowa State needs to win this game. For the future as much as the present.
