Iowa HC Blames Loss to Indiana on Mental Errors

If people who tuned into the matchup are being honest, the Iowa Hawkeyes had several chances where they could've pulled off a win over No. 12 Indiana.

However the Hawkeyes simply threw the game away. Mental errors, miscues and avoidable mistakes gave Indiana the win. Backup quarterback Hank Brown flipped a screen pass wide left and Drew Stevens subsequent field-goal attempt also went wide left — leaving 69,250 disappointed fans at Kinnick Stadium to walk their way out on Homecoming 2025.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz took to his post game press conference to express his awareness of the mental errors, with a particular emphasis on the turnovers.

Sep 27, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz and Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti shake hands before the game at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

"We certainly had some miscues that hurt us and put us in a tough position. At the start of the game, it wasn't exactly how we scripted it out ... Obviously, we left the door open with some mistakes," Ferentz said postgame. "The turnover thing, I think we're minus one on the season turnover wise in five games into the season and I was hoping we'd be a little higher than that by now. Just a couple missed opportunities."

The latest loss (20-15) to the Hoosiers now makes Iowa 0-11 against their last 11 ranked opponents.

Iowa finished Saturday with 284 total yards across 192 passing yards and 92 on the ground game. In comparison, Indiana beat the Hawkeyes in all of these aspects — 337 total yards with 233 in the air and 104 rushing. This was all in spite of Iowa having more time with the ball (32:42 time of possession compared to Indiana's 27:18).

The Hawkeyes also threw two interceptions compared to Indiana's one.

However, the Hawkeyes still have seven number of games to play on the regular season, a point Ferentz was sure to tell his roster in the locker room.

"The thing I shared with the players in the locker room was [that] there's a lot of football ahead. Not as much as we had a couple weeks ago obviously, but there's a lot of football left. The big thing is that we've got really good people here; we've got a good staff and we've got quality players that are great to work with ... we will keep improving as long as our attitude is where it needs to be."

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