By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football players, sometimes, are boring and predictable.

But once I explain myself, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz will consider it a compliment.

Nine members of the Iowa football team met with the media on Tuesday, and the topic brought up the most was the magnitude of Saturday’s game between the surging Hawkeyes and No. 6 Oregon at Kinnick Stadium.

The media tried all sorts of ways to entice the players into acknowledging that the importance of Saturday’s game goes far beyond just because it’s the next game on the schedule, which is often a go-to line for the Iowa players.

And while it certainly makes sense that the media would push that narrative, the players for the most part didn’t take the bait, even though a victory would keep 6-2 Iowa in the hunt for a spot in the 12-team playoff, while a loss would eliminate Iowa from the hunt.

The game will also be televised by CBS, which means You Tube subscribers can watch it, and FOX Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff will also host its pre-game show in Iowa City.

So there’s a lot on the line with this game, but that still isn’t enough for senior defensive tackle Aaron Graves to admit that it’s more important than any other game.

“In terms of the magnitude of each game, we really approach each game the same,” Graves said Tuesday. “So in terms of preparation and being ready to go, it’s doesn’t matter if we’re playing UMass or Oregon. They level of intensity shouldn’t be dictated by our opponent. So we just need to come out and play Iowa football.”

Kirk Ferentz couldn’t have said it any better.

A big part of the Iowa culture under Kirk Ferentz is to avoid getting caught up in the pre-game hype and to show equal respect to all the opponents.

“He’s very much what’s the challenge at hand right now and what can we do to best face that,” graduate defensive end Ethan Hurkett said of his head coach.

The challenge at hand right now for Iowa is enormous as it tries to stay in playoff contention.

Kirk Ferentz always stresses the importance of living in the moment and taking it one game at a time, and never has that been more important than this week.

“I think we try our best to treat everything the same because every week is its own sort of thing, obviously,” Hurkett said. “But the preparation has to stay the same. During the week is when you’re going to win these ball games and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Sophomore running back Kamari Moulton echoed those sentiments when asked if the hype surrounding Saturday’s game is being discussed amongst the players.

“You definitely know that’s it’s a big game just knowing what’s happening,” Moulton said. “But I don’t think we really see it as that. We just see it another game to show what we’ve got and prove that we can be one of those teams.”

Junior linebacker Jayden Montgomery was reminded about all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Saturday’s game, but he didn’t seem too interested.

“I think we’re just more focused on us and the things that we can control,” Montgomery said. “All those things are good and nice. But ultimately it comes down to how we prepare and how we play on Saturday. So it’s not a huge deal for us. We’re more just focused on how we can go out and compete on Saturday.”

Sophomore left tackle Trevor Lauck might only be a first-year starter, but he spoke like a poised veteran when asked Tuesday if it’s hard to treat the Oregon game as just another game with so much on the line, and with so much attention from the media.

“I feel like that’s one thing coach Ferentz is really good at is we don’t hype up games more than others,” Lauck said. “We just treat it the same every week in practice. Just take it day-by-day and Saturday will come. We know it’s going to come, We just got to worry about today’s practice, today’s reps and Saturday will come, and it’ll be fun, hopefully.”

Lauck’s family and friends, on the other hand, are more willing to embrace the hype.

“Of course, they’re a little bit different. But that’s outside noise,” Lauck said. “Even though I love my family, when they’re hyping it up, you’ve just got to be like, ‘yeah, it’s going to be fun.’ Try and downplay it as much as I can. But yeah, they’re going to hype it up, but to us, it’s just another game.”

The Iowa players deep down know that Saturday’s showdown isn’t just another game.

They hear the outside noise and they know what’s at stake.

They just choose to downplay it publicly because that’s how it’s always been under Kirk Ferentz.

But even Ferentz acknowledged that facing Oregon at a sold out Kinnick Stadium will be “really special and rare.”

“That’ll never get old,” Ferentz said. “At least I don’t it will. If it does, that’s probably when it’s time to pack it up.

“Any time you get a chance to go against a premier team, which these guys are, it’s a great measuring stick. You realize a lot of things can go wrong. Coaches have a better ability of doing that than your players. But when it’s all said and done, it’s just great to have an opportunity to play.”

Some might say that Iowa still is suspect as a playoff-caliber team since its four wins in Big Ten play have come against teams with a combined record of 5-17 in conference play, with Minnesota winning four of those games.

But Iowa also has come the closest to defeating No. 2 Indiana, which hung on for a 20-15 win on Sept. 27 at Kinnick Stadium.

Oregon suffered its only loss this season to Indiana, losing 30-20 in Eugene, Oregon.

And it could be argued that Iowa put up more resistance against Indiana than Oregon did.

Iowa has lost 11 straight games against ranked opponents dating back to the 2021 season, but Iowa also has defeated seven top-10 opponents at Kinnick Stadium since 2000.

So you could go back and forth with reasons why Iowa could win on Saturday, including it’s way overdue for a signature win, or why Oregon will likely prevail.

“I’m excited. I think this is a game growing up you dreamed of playing in as a kid,” said Iowa graduate quarterback Mark Gronowski. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fun game and at Kinnick especially, a sold-out crowd.”

Gronowski has played in big games before.

He led South Dakota State to two FCS national titles as a four-year starter before transferring to Iowa.

But the challenge he faces on Saturday will be at different level, on a bigger stage, and with even more at stake than an FCS national title.

If Gronowki starts to feel too much pressure in the hours leading up to Saturday’s game, he might want to talk with Aaron Graves or Trevor Lauck about why this is just another game on Iowa’s schedule.

And while it’s hard to believe that the Iowa players really feel that way about Saturday’s game, it’s even harder to get them to say otherwise.