By Todd Brommelkamp/1600 ESPN
IOWA CITY – Two hundred wins.
Iowa’s 40-16 win over Washington was remarkable for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the Hawkeyes finally putting together four quarters of good football halfway through the 2024 campaign. It will go down in the history books though as a milestone victory for Ferentz, who summed up the dog-eat-dog world of college football by recalling a comment his wife made 40 years ago.
“It seems pretty simple,” Mary Ferentz said. “If you guys win, everything is good. And if you guys lose everything sucks.”
Last week against Ohio State, the sky was falling. This week, as the Hawkeyes rolled up 328 yards of offense behind 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns from Kaleb Johnson, all was well. The Hawkeyes are 4-2 overall and back above .500 in Big Ten play. They should be favored by oddsmakers in all six of their remaining games, not that those numbers always equate to reality.
Back to Ferentz and Saturday’s historic win.
Time marches on. It dawned on me surveying the crowd of media that was assembled for Ferentz’s postgame Q & A session beneath Kinnick Stadium that not many in the room could say they were present for both wins No. 1 and No. 200.
I was.
Saturday, Sept. 18, 1999, a throng of students (including yours truly) spilled over the walls of the stadium and past security to celebrate the first of what everyone hoped would be many wins to come. The Hawkeyes beat Northern Illinois 24-0 in a game that featured running back Ladell Betts rushing for a career-high 174 yards and linebacker LeVar Woods scooping up a blocked field goal and returning it for a game-sealing touchdown. Both players are now serving on Ferentz’s current coaching staff.
Little did anyone know it would take more than a year for Ferentz to collect his second career victory. The non-conference win over the Huskies of Northern Illinois would prove to be Iowa’s lone triumph of the 1999 season. The Hawks began the following season 0-5 before beating Michigan State en route to a 3-9 showing.
Betting on Ferentz to reach 100 wins in Iowa City probably would have seemed like a longshot.
Two hundred wins? Forget about it.
“Let’s be clear, if we didn’t win, I wouldn’t be here right now,” he said. “That’s just how it works, and it always has.”
In his third year the Hawkeyes won more than they lost. The following year they were the talk of college football and playing the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series with a Heisman Trophy runner-up at quarterback.
Since then, there have been ups and there have been downs. Critics will tell you the game has passed Ferentz by, that he’s not equipped to operate in the world of Name, Image and Likeness and the transfer portal.
Then there are days like Saturday, when the tried and true Ferentz formula was on full display and looking just as effective as ever.
Twenty-six seasons. Two hundred wins…and counting.
“I know fans get upset when we lose,” he said. “I get that. Everybody is looking for reasons, but it’s all about trying to move forward and get better, see(ing) what we can do to fix things and get better. If you don’t have the right kind of guys around you, it’s tough.
[I’m] just proud of our guys. They go to work and just keep pushing things.”
As Ferentz left the room following an impromptu address from Athletics Director Beth Goetz, he made a quip about winning 200 more.
Four hundred wins.
I won’t be here for that.
[That’s where I want to end, but the internet being the internet I feel compelled to share with you I am well aware Kirk Ferentz will not win an additional 200 games.]
Todd Brommelkamp is the host of “The Todd Brommelkamp Show” and can be heard weekday mornings on 1600 ESPN from 6:30-9:00 AM.
