Mike Hlas, CR Gazette –
Ten Things you absolutely must know about the Iowa State and Iowa football programs:
1. Iowa’s 18-17 win over Northern Illinois last Saturday was its 31st game under Kirk Ferentz that was decided by three points or less. Iowa is 3-4 in 1-point games, 5-3 in 2-point games, and 6-10 in 3-point games.
2. Since Ferentz became Iowa’s coach, Iowa State is 3-0 against the Hawkeyes in games decided by three points or less. The Cyclones won 17-14 in 2001, 15-13 in 2007, and 44-41 in triple-0vertime last year.
3. For some balance, the Cyclones scored 5, 3, and 7 points,respectively, against Iowa in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
4. Ferentz is the fourth-longest tenured coach in FBS, behind Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech, Gary Blakeney of Troy and Mack Brown of Texas. All four are 1-0 this season.
5. Iowa State’s Kirby Van Der Kamp placed five of his nine punts against Tulsa inside the Tulsa 16-yard line. His 43.8-yard career average is the Cyclones’ all-time best.
6. Iowa is one of six FBS programs with three or more Canadians.
7. Iowa State has 51 players from Iowa, 51 players from California, Florida and Texas combined.
8. Ferentz didn’t chew gum during the Northern Illinois game. He said the gum that was placed in his locker Saturday for his chewing usage was “petrified.”
9. Iowa State scored 38 points Saturday against Tulsa. That’s a total you’d take every week, but it ranked only sixth-best among the nine Big 12 teams that played that day. Oklahoma, by the way, scored the fewest points of all Big 12 teams that played in Week 1, with a 24-7 win at UTEP. TCU didn’t play.
10. Former Hawkeye quarterback/assistant coach Chuck Long is part of the Big Ten Network broadcasting crew working the ISU-Iowa game. Long passed for 10,461 yards and 74 touchdowns at Iowa. He averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt in his career.
Older Iowa fans don’t need to be told about Long. Younger fans should just know this: He was as good or better than anyone that has ever played that position for the Hawkeyes.
