Iowa HC Offers Hilarious Response to Strategy vs. Ranked Teams

Playing in the Big Ten is always going to give any school its share of fits when working through the conference schedule. With the additions of Oregon, USC and UCLA added to the mix last season, the chances of facing a stacked conference schedule are multiplied even more

Over the course of the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes are set to face No.11 Indiana, No.3 Penn State, No.6 Oregon and No.21 USC.

Not the easiest set of fixtures for any team, nonetheless, one with plenty of question marks around a shaky offense.

This is a Hawkeye team that has faltered against recent ranked opponents; as a matter of fact, this was one of the first questions asked to Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Ferentz responded, “Probably score more points than whoever it is we’re playing. That’s about as good as I can do on that one.”

A straightforward answer from the Hawkeyes’ coach.

A brief recap of Iowa’s previous matchups

We won’t travel eons back to figure out these rankings, but there are results worthy of taking note of. None more recent than the latest Cy-Hawk series matchup, a grueling 16-13 loss to Big 12 school No.16 Iowa State.

The 2024-25 season saw a dominant 35-7 No.3 Ohio State win and a narrow 27-24 Music City Bowl loss to No.19 Missouri, which properly paints Ferentz’s reign of ranked teams. Against teams just inside the top 25, the scorelines will give the message that the Hawkeyes can keep it close at times can keep close but can never get over the line.

Against the nation’s elite, however, a dominant victory is more often than not the case.

Iowa is 0-10 against ranked teams — Sep 12, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti watches his team warm up prior to the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Where does Indiana fall

To those who are still waiting for the Indiana drop-off, they will have to keep waiting. The Hoosiers are undefeated for a reason and wouldn’t have made it to the College Football Playoff last season if they were truly a fluke.

Are the Hoosiers perfect? No, but pundits from across the nation have already filed in their predictions, and it doesn’t scream great news for the Hawkeyes. Combine that with recent running back injury news, and things begin to topple on against Ferentz’s team.

Final thoughts

However, the game is not played on paper, and with a packed Kinnick surrounding the Hoosiers, perhaps Iowa can be just the second team in the regular season to take down Curt Cignetti’s squad.

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