Cyclones, Hawkeyes battle has 'extra meaning' heading into national spotlight game

ESPN's "College GameDay'' will be there, as will a sellout crowd of 61,500. If you're looking for a ticket, it'll likely cost you $350 or more on the secondary market to sit in the lower level and $200ish in hillside standing areas. And parking lots will open at 6 a.m., giving tailgaters plenty of time to reach a fever pitch before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

When 10th-ranked Iowa faces No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, the Hawkeye State will be on center stage in the college football world in this nationally televised game on ABC. It's the only matchup between Associated Press top-10 teams this week and the first time the Cyclones and Hawkeyes are both be in the top 10 when meeting in the Cy-Hawk Series.

"Yes, there is an extra meaning to this game,'' Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. "That's what makes it special, man. It's a rivalry game. It's special to be a part of that.''

Added Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz: "I've always thought this series is a good thing for our state just in general. This is one week where people in the state, a lot of people, are talking about football.''

Saturday's rivalry game — the Hawkeyes lead the series 45-22 — matches two programs that have many similarities but enough differences to keep things interesting. Both teams like to run the football — ISU with first-team All-America Breece Hall, and Iowa with Tyler Goodson, an All-Big Ten selection last year. They're stingy on defense, with Iowa ranking sixth nationally and Iowa State 25th in points allowed in 2020.

The contrasts come when the programs are compared historically. Since 1981, when coach Hayden Fry and his Hawkeyes broke the Ohio State-Michigan 13-year stranglehold on Big Ten championships, Iowa has won five conference crowns, three under Fry and two under his successor, Ferentz. The most-tenured active coach in FBS, Ferentz, 66, has guided Iowa to 17 bowl appearances. Two head coaches in 43 years is remarkable stability.

Campbell, 41, is in his fifth season leading a program that has had eight head coaches since Fry took over at Iowa. ISU is searching for its first conference championship since the 1911 and 1912 squads won titles in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the predecessor to the Big Eight.

With Campbell, though, the Cyclones have national aspirations and opened the season No. 7 in the AP poll. They went 9-3 last year, beating Oklahoma 37-30 in Ames before falling 27-21 to the Sooners in the rematch in the Big 12 Championship Game. A 34-17 rout of Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl gave ISU the No. 9 ranking in the final AP poll.

"There is a pride about being a Cyclone right now,'' said Campbell, who might be the hottest coaching commodity in college and pro circles.

Ferentz takes pride in what the game means to a state that ranks 33rd nationally in population.

"One of the reasons to me it's amazing that you have two teams that are ranked because you think about a state of 3 million, I can't imagine there's anything even close to this right now,'' he said. "Maybe there is. But there is no Wisconsin State, Nebraska State.''

For all his success at ISU, Campbell hasn't beaten Iowa. He's 0-4 vs. the Hawkeyes, losing 18-17 in 2019 and 44-41 in 2017. "At times, we have played well, yet in some of the critical moments we haven't been able to execute, and they have,'' Campbell said.

The Cyclones survived a scare in their opener, edging Northern Iowa 16-10, while the Hawkeyes battered then-No. 17 Indiana 34-6. Those results are in the past for Hall, who rushed for a nation's-best 1,572 yards and 21 TDs last year. He's embracing Saturday's challenge.

"I invite those big expectations and that pressure. I thrive under that,'' he said. "Whenever the biggest moments come up, that's when I show up the best. I'm ready for it.''

An entire state is, too.