From the Missouri River to the Mississippi River and the 310 miles in between in Iowa, Saturday is a big day for college football fans.
Iowa State will play against No. 21 Iowa in the latest CyHawk Series matchup, a rare rivalry game that happens early each season. Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz hopes more people would recognize it.
“It’s probably a little bit underappreciated outside of our state in terms of the intensity of the rivalry and the way the players go after it each and every time,” he said. “It’s really a good football game.”
The Cyclones (1-0) and Hawkeyes (1-0) have played each other 70 times since 1894 and every year since 1977 (except the 2020 pandemic season).
Iowa leads the series 47-23 and has won seven of the last eight games. Ten of the last 12 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including all six since 2017.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said that despite all the changes in college athletics recently, he hopes games like these will always continue.
“Rivalries, in-state rivalries and neighboring rivalries, that makes college football really special,” he said. “I still believe those things are major factors in high-level college athletics.
People want to watch rivalry football games and great games. That’s what this game has certainly stood for over the test of time.”
