Iowa HC's Streak Against Ranked Teams Worsens

Kirk Ferentz has accomplished much as the head coach in Iowa City. Through 27 seasons - since 1999 - Ferentz has set a consistently insurmountable standard, at least to most, logging countless signature seasons and sending swathes of generational talent to the NFL.

All the same, at the helm of the Hawkeyes, he's lost 11 straight games to ranked opponents, including two already this season. With this weekend's 20-15 home loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, who are ironically ranked 11th in the country, Iowa has officially fallen to 3-2 (1-1).

While his program-defining positives must be recognized and revered, losing to nationally relevant opponents so regularly that it becomes a streak isn't going to cut it, especially in front of the crowd at Kinnick Stadium.

Whilst the Hawkeyes only lost by five, looking back on the game as a whole reveals innumerable frustrations for a team that had multiple opportunities to run away with it. Not only did the offense stall on numerous crucial drives - with a fourth quarter pick that essentially sealed the deal after starter Mark Gronowski left the game with an injury - but Iowa's defense struggled to keep pace with the Hoosiers', with Indiana's big-play ability being what set them apart by the final buzzer.

Iowa Hawkeyes Head Coach Kirk Ferentz | Kyle Robertson | Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

IU managed to tally two interceptions total on the afternoon, limiting Iowa to 284 yards, only 92 of which came on the ground. Ferentz has been long known for his defensively inclined rosters, allowing the offense to play a more complimentary role in the bigger picture.

But when the defense can't be your calling card in a system like that, what's left? A slightly subpar effort on either side of the ball that, while possibly being enough to topple less-favorable opponents, will get you beat every time when the lights are brightest. Iowa's loss to Indiana is the perfect example.

Technically close score aside, the Hoosiers simply matched, if not completely outdid, the Hawkeyes in every regard. After a road win over Rutgers last week that allowed Ferentz and his team to jump out to a 1-0 start in the B1G, a second straight conference win, specifically at home over a ranked opponent, was exactly the sort of thing Iowa needed to set their season apart.

As has been the growing trend, they came up short.

While the Hawkeyes may be favored next week against the hosting Wisconsin Badgers, their very next battle comes in the form of the third-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. That one is in Iowa City, admittedly, but that may not matter to a powerhouse opponent if it didn't matter to Indiana.

When push comes to shove, Iowa has begun to slowly fall behind the very standard that Ferentz' initially, himself, set. Barring a miracle, the expectations for the Hawkeyes no-longer-new season seem to be, once again, veering towards the middle of the road.

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