By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When you’ve coached in one place for as long as Kirk Ferentz has coached the Iowa football team, and won as many games as he has, which currently stands at 199 as the head Hawk, there comes a point when all there is left to accomplish is the really hard stuff.

Like for example, beating Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

Kirk Ferentz is in his 26^th season as the Iowa head coach, but he has yet to experience the thrill of victory in Columbus.

His teams have come close a couple times, and when Iowa defeated Ohio State in 1987 in Columbus, Ferentz was coaching the Iowa offensive line under Hayden Fry.

But as the Iowa head coach, Kirk Ferentz is 0-6 against Ohio State in Columbus, and the oddsmakers believe he will fall to 0-7 since the Buckeyes are favored by 20.5 points heading into Saturday’s game against Iowa in Columbus.

“It’s kind of what you’d expect of them, a top-ranked team like that, very impressive in all regards,” Kirk Ferentz said of the current Buckeye squad. “On top of that, we’re playing in a very hostile environment. The Big Ten is full of a lot of tough venues to go to, and certainly Columbus fits that bill.”

Kirk Ferentz is one win from moving into second place by himself on the Big Ten’s career win list.

He is currently tied with Amos Alonzo Stagg and trails only Woody Hayes, who compiled 205 wins in 28 seasons as the Ohio State head coach from 1951 to 1978.

If you’re in the same company as Amos Alonzo Stagg and Woody Hayes, you’re obviously doing something right, and have been doing it for a long time.

Kirk Ferentz already has achieved legendary status, but there is something missing, or a blemish you could say.

In addition to having not won Big Ten title since 2004, Iowa has lost six of its last seven games against Ohio State, seven of its last nine against Penn State and four in a row against Michigan.

Iowa won 10 games last season for the third time since 2019, but three of its four losses were against Penn State (31-0), Michigan (26-0) and Tennessee (35-0) by a combined score of 92-0.

Kirk Ferentz was asked on Tuesday about the gap that currently separates Iowa from the traditional Big Ten powers and what needs to happen to narrow it.

“I’m not looking at it that way,” he said. “We just take each week individually.

“But it kind of goes back, we’ve been playing pretty well defensively. We’ve had issues with the offensive line. Then last year we obviously had some challenges at the quarterback spot. It’s yesterday’s news. If you’re going to play a team that is nationally ranked, top-10 team, and those teams you mentioned typically are in that neighborhood, I’m not saying you’ve got to be firing on all three cylinders, but it certainly helps. It gives you a chance.

“I guess I look at it the other way. I look at last year, I’ll go back to that because I know has been written about how many points we scored about whoever it was a year ago, and I think maybe you look at it the other way, maybe we did a hell of a job winning 10 games. There’s two ways to look at every coin.”

Yes, there are two ways to look at every coin, and winning 10 games is impressive under any circumstance.

But the flipside to that argument is that the offense kept Iowa from being anywhere close to elite last season, and that’s a shame considering how well Iowa played on defense and special teams.

The offensive deficiencies were preventing Iowa from being elite, and it ultimately cost Brian Ferentz his job as offensive coordinator as he was fired with four game left in the 2023 season.

The offense looks much better under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, who has re-energized and sort of re-configured the running game, helping to make junior running back Kaleb Johnson an emerging star.

But as Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday, Iowa has only played four games and it’s too early to throw a parade.

A loss to Ohio State, which most believe is very likely, would lower Iowa’s record to 3-2 and make the remaining seven Big Ten games all must-wins for Iowa to have any chance of making the 12-team playoff.

This is where Kirk Ferentz and Iowa usually fall short, as do most teams in this position.

No disrespect to the Ohio State coaches, but the biggest factor in Ohio State’s long-standing success, and in some cases dominance, is having superior talent.

It’s no big mystery that teams with better players usually win.

That’s why whenever Ohio State loses to somebody other than Michigan, and sometimes Penn State, it’s called an upset.

Iowa’s 55-24 victory over Ohio State in 2017 at Kinnick Stadium ranks among the greatest upsets in program history because nobody saw a 31-point beat-down coming.

And would they have seen it coming?

But that’s the beauty of sports in that you just never know.

Kirk Ferentz is long overdue for a signature win, and Saturday’s game would certainly count as one.

But it won’t be easy because as Kirk Ferentz pointed out Tuesday, the gaps and the windows of opportunity usually aren’t as wide and don’t last as long against Ohio State because of its superior athleticism.

The Ohio State players have a tendency to pursue a little faster, jump a little higher and cut a little sharper than players from other teams.

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara is the only Hawkeye player with a victory over Ohio State.

But it happened in 2021 when he was Michigan’s starting quarterback.

McNamara was asked on Tuesday as someone with a win over Ohio State what is his message is to his current team.

“How I approach it is really like every week from a personal standpoint,” he said. “For me to play my best, I have to do everything I can to put the team in the best position to win, and I have to do the best I can as a leader to help get myself and the guys to that point.

“And I think whether we’re playing Ohio State or anyone, those are three things that I have to accomplish going into every single week.”

Two of Iowa’s best players – Kaleb Johnson and tight end Luke Lachey – are both Ohio natives, but neither was offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes.

“People look at us to lose, and I look at that as motivation,” Johnson said. “So, if I do well and my team does well, we’re going to win.”

And should that happen, Kirk Ferentz will have addressed one of his shortcomings.

Then the challenge becomes winning the remaining seven Big Ten games.