ND State loss wasn’t the worst loss under Ferentz, or the seventh worst
IOWA CITY, Iowa – From a perception standpoint, the Iowa football team suffered its worst of 89 losses under Kirk Ferentz this past Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
It doesn’t matter that North Dakota State is an FCS dynasty and is trying to win a sixth consecutive FCS national title.
The Bison don’t measure up when it comes to perception.
But if you could just get past the FCS stigma, you’d see that Iowa has suffered worse losses based on the circumstances surrounding each loss.
I actually came up with seven losses that to me were worse than what occurred last Saturday. My original intent was to only have five, but I just couldn’t leave No. 6 or No. 7 off the list, which is dominated by Iowa State and the directional schools from Michigan.
Neither of Iowa’s last two bowl losses made the list because in both cases the opponent – Tennessee in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl and Stanford in the 2016 Rose Bowl – were better than Iowa. The Hawkeyes performed woefully in both games, but the opponent had something to do with that.
The opponent shouldn’t have had the same impact in the seven games that made the list based on either the opponent’s talent or the circumstances for each game.
You could argue that the current North Dakota State team is better than six of the seven opponents on the list, the exception being Nebraska in 2014. And that would be a close call.
The Bison also are better than Rutgers, which is Iowa’s next opponent on Saturday in the Big Ten opener in New Brunswick. N.J. The list might have to be revised should Iowa lose again on Saturday.
It already has been revised once with Iowa’s 27-24 loss at Minnesota in 2010 a late addition after being reminded just how miserable that game was by a reader. It is the only road game on the list.
1. 2012 – Central Michigan 32, Iowa 31: The 2012 season is a good place to start when looking for the worst losses under Ferentz. The Chippewas hardly were a power that season, finishing 7-6 overall and 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference.
Iowa tied its season high for points in this game, but the defense allowed nearly 400 yards, including 283 passing yards by quarterback Ryan Radcliff, who completed 26-of-35 pass attempts at Kinnick Stadium.
The Hawkeyes were 2-1 heading into the Central Michigan game, but then oddly enough, they rebounded to defeat Minnesota and Michigan State in the next two games before the closing the season with six consecutive losses.
Iowa had an extra week to prepare for Michigan State, but the team that defeated the Spartans 19-16 in two overtimes at Kinnick Stadium had no business losing to the other team from Michigan three weeks earlier on the same field.
2. 2007 – Western Michigan 28, Iowa 19: The Hawkeyes were young and painful to watch on offense for most of the 2007 season. Former prep phenom Jake Christensen struggled as the new starting quarterback and didn’t get much help from his supporting cast.
And yet, a bowl bid still was on the line heading into the season finale against another one of those pesky directional schools from Michigan, this time Western Michigan, which entered the game with a 4-7 record.
The Broncos left Kinnick Stadium 5-7 as Iowa failed to seize the opportunity. The Hawkeyes fell behind 19-0 in the first half and allowed 489 yards, including 367 passing yards.
3. 2014 Iowa State 20, Iowa 17: Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Hawkeyes unraveled in the second half despite playing at home and despite Iowa State being horrible that season.The Cyclones only finished 2-10 in 2014.
But on this mid-September day, they held a veteran Iowa team, which featured 2014 Outland Trophy winner Brandon Scherff at left tackle, to just 275 yards, while passing for 255 yards themselves.
4. 2012 – Iowa State 9, Iowa 6: From an entertainment standpoint, this game probably should be ranked as the worst. But Iowa State finished 6-7 that season, so that removes some of the stench.
Iowa had survived against Northern Illinois in the season opener a week earlier, winning 18-17 at Soldier Field in Chicago. But the offense had moved more horizontally than vertically under new offensive coordinator Greg Davis.
The same thing happened a week later against Iowa State, as Iowa was held to just two field goals at Kinnick Stadium despite being led by senior quarterback James Vandenberg, who had passed for over 3,000 yards the previous season.
It was a sign of things to come that season.
5. 2002 – Iowa State 36, Iowa 31: You can attribute this loss largely to the greatness of Iowa State dual-threat quarterback Seneca Wallace.
But Iowa still led 24-7 at halftime, was playing at home and had a roster filled with future NFL players such as Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, Eric Steinbach, Robert Gallery, Matt Roth and Jonathan Babineaux, along with other star players, including quarterback Brad Banks, who finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy that season.
Iowa would go on to finish 11-2 that season and undefeated in the Big Ten for the first time in 80 years. The Hawkeyes didn’t lose again until facing Southern California in the 2003 Orange Bowl.
The 2002 team is the only team on the list to exceed expectations despite the loss.
6. 2014 – Nebraska 37, Iowa 34: I hesitated to put this overtime loss on the list because Nebraska finished a respectable 9-4 that season.
The circumstances ultimately convinced me to do it.
Iowa let the game slip away despite leading 24-7 in the third quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Nebraska scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime. The crowd was into the game until Iowa lost the momentum and ultimately the lead.
7. 2010 Minnesota 27, Iowa 24: A star-studded Iowa team already was struggling when it faced the lowly Gophers in the 2010 regular-season finale in Minneapolis. Minnesota was 2-9 heading into the game and was led by interim head coach Jeff Horton, who had replaced the fired Tim Brewster.
The Gophers were in disarray, and yet still prevailed against an Iowa team that had several future NFL players including defensive linemen Adrian Calyborn, Karl Klug, Christian Ballard and Mike Daniels, quarterback Ricky Stanzi, defensive back Tyler Sash and offensive lineman Riley Reiff.