Iowa Hawkeyes Football

Iowa's Brandon Snyder set the tone for a physical Week 8 matchup against Wisconsin with a vicious hit on Corey Clement early in the first quarter Saturday.

Before the Badgers running back reached the sideline on a run to the left side, the Hawkeyes safety leveled him with a bone-rattling hit. Clement picked up three yards on the first-down carry, but the drive ended with a missed field goal.

Clement shook off the blow and led Wisconsin to a 17-9 victory with 134 rushing yards and a touchdown on 35 carries.

Take a look at Iowa's first points on the day against Rutgers: a 36-yard throw from C.J. Beathard that George Kittle took into the end zone.

Desmond King is one of the top cornerbacks in the country. He led a very talented Hawkeyes defense to a Big Ten West title. 

Bleacher Report's Stephen Nelson asks College Football Analyst Michael Felder what makes King one of the top corners in the country. 

As the Iowa Hawkeyes make a push toward the College Football Playoff, head coach Kirk Ferentz signed a contract extension Tuesday that will keep him in the position through 2026. 

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports tweeted Iowa's press release, which noted Ferentz's previous contract ran through the 2020 season:

Iowa extends Kirk Ferentz’s contract through 2026. pic.twitter.com/L4f9AM8EmP

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) September 6, 2016

According to Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports, the new deal bumps up Ferentz's annual earnings to $4.5 million.

Ferentz has been Iowa's head coach since 1999 and holds a career record of 128-87.

The 61-year-old Michigan native enjoyed his best campaign as a head coach last season, leading the Hawkeyes to a 12-2 record and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

If not for Michigan State's late, game-winning drive in the Big Ten title contest, Iowa would have qualified for the CFP.

Iowa entered 2016 ranked No. 17 in the AP Top 25 poll, and it defeated the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks 45-21 in its season opener last weekend.

While the Hawkeyes tend to get overlooked in the Big Ten behind perennial powers such as Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, Ferentz has led them to bowl games in seven of the past eight seasons.

Ferentz was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time last season, and with Michigan being the only preseason Top 25 team on Iowa's schedule in 2016, he has a great chance at another strong season.

    

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard is on the mend after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia.  

Continue for updates.

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Report: Beathard Expected to Recover in 6-to-8 Weeks

Tuesday, Jan. 26

According to HawkeyeReport.com, the signal-caller went through the procedure last week in Philadelphia, and he is expected to be back in six to eight weeks, in time for spring practice. Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register confirmed the report Monday.

Beathard enjoyed a strong junior season for the Hawkeyes in 2015, as he threw for 2,809 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, while rushing for an additional 237 yards and six scores.

Iowa went 12-2 under Beathard's guidance, and it was just one defensive stop of Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game away from taking part in the College Football Playoff.

Per Rob Howe of HawkeyeNation.com, Beathard's father, Casey Beathard, revealed that the Franklin, Tennessee, native played through groin-area discomfort for much of the 2015 season after suffering an injury against the University of Pittsburgh in Week 3:

He's always been that kind of guy. He's just such a competitor, he never comes out. He won't come out because I think he's afraid he’s going to lose his job. I think at times he was in a lot of pain. ... Iowa's training staff was great all season. And they didn't overlook it by any means. None of us knew. We thought it might be one of those things that would hamper him all season until he gets rest.

Despite undergoing surgery so recently, Casey believes his son will be fully healthy in the near future, according to Howe: "(Dr. William Meyers) said that the next day (after surgery) he wanted him walking a mile. That was good news. He's still getting around a little slow but things already are going well. (Meyers) said if (C.J.) had to play a game in six weeks, he should be ready to play. Luckily he doesn't have to."

Iowa figures to lean heavily on Beathard after a career year in 2015, and the fact that he was able to pull it off at less than 100 percent gives plenty of reason for optimism heading toward the 2016 campaign.

The Hawkeyes should once again be favored in the Big Ten West, and another undefeated regular season ahead of the Big Ten Championship Game is very much within reach.

Offensive struggles ultimately sunk Iowa in the title game as well as the Rose Bowl against Stanford, but a fully healthy Beathard figures to help make the Hawkeyes a far more complete team in 2016.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

The teams that battled for the Big Ten Conference title on Dec. 5 in Indianapolis went on to lose their bowl games in similarly embarrassing fashion. Similar, but not equal.

As bad as Michigan State's 38-0 Dec. 31 loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl was, it doesn't hold a candle to what Iowa Football did in the Rose Bowl. And it's not even close.

Get blown out by Alabama? The Crimson Tide were supposed to roll, anyways. But to fall behind 35-0 in the first half and lose by 29 points in what the Big Ten (and the college football powers that be) clearly feels is the most important game on the season, that's hard to sweep under the rug.

https://twitter.com/thejackwang/status/683072473491869701

Nothing about New Year's Day went right for the Hawkeyes: They gave up a 75-yard touchdown to the most prolific, all-purpose player in FBS history on the game's first play. But plenty of other teams were victimized during the 2015-16 season by Stanford Cardinal quarterback Christian McCaffrey. He did most of the damage but not all of it.

It wasn't McCaffrey that caused Iowa to average 1.4 yards per carry, drop wide-open passes throughout the first three quarters or throw a pick-six down 14-0 in the first quarter. He also isn't the reason Iowa was relegated to focusing on not getting shut out in the second half, accomplishing that goal with a meaningless three points late in the third quarter.

That is in the sad field goal hall of fame.

— Adam Kramer (@KegsnEggs) January 2, 2016

Much credit goes to Iowa for continuing to fight even when the judges had tallied their scorecards. The fourth-quarter TD pass from Hawkeyes quarterback C.J. Beathard to wide receiver Matt VandeBerg earned as big a cheer as anything McCaffrey or the Cardinal did, which shows how important a strong performance and effort was to the Big Ten and how unfortunate it was that such an ovation didn't come until garbage time.

A game as revered as the Rose Bowl isn't used to such moral victories, and it does its best to keep itself sequestered from the rest of the growing list of bowl games.

The Rose Bowl is the "Granddaddy of Them All," a game so rich in tradition and pageantry that it turns its nose up at the thought of giving up the best time slot on the best day of the year. It has a parade, a Beef Bowl and a permanent place in college football history. Wins and losses in Pasadena, California are often as memorable as any other.

It was a huge big deal for Iowa when it earned the Rose Bowl bid, its first since 1991. That was something head coach Kirk Ferentz lauded when he told USA Today's Nicole Auerbach "if this is the consolation prize, then what a deal it is for both of us."

The Hawkeyes faced skepticism throughout a perfect regular season, and after losing narrowly to Michigan State for the Big Ten title, they were tabbed by the playoff selection committee over Ohio State for the league's prime bowl bid.

"Ohio State was better, the committee made an immediately questionable ranking choice, and the greatest bowl game was a dud this year because of it," Jason Kirk of SB Nation wrote.

The Rose Bowl was a reward for an amazing year, a chance for Iowa to top it off with a signature win in a showcase game.

But that invite came with a seemingly unspoken expectation: Don't make us look silly. Don't go out there in front of a Hawkeyes-heavy crowd during what's sure to be the highest-rated New Year's Six game and invalidate the 2015 season.

Not just for Iowa but for the Big Ten as a whole.

Ohio State had to carry the torch all alone last year—and did so swimmingly with an impressive run to the national title. When the Buckeyes were beaten by the Spartans at home in November, knocking them out of contention for the conference championship, it meant someone else was going to have to pick up the slack.

Michigan State couldn't bring the league another national title, but at least Iowa would hold its own in front of all our dignitaries.

Nope. Instead, Iowa will be at the forefront of the inevitable debate over who is the worst 12-win team in college football history. And since Michigan State is probably in that discussion as well, the Big Ten goes into the offseason, having lost any momentum it gained last year and maintained during the regular season.

Maybe MSU and Iowa just beat each other up too much in the Big Ten title game? #PositiveSpinFriday

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) January 1, 2016

Iowa managed to avoid the East Division's four best teams in 2015, getting Indiana and Maryland in the crossover games. But now the Big Ten is moving to a nine-game conference schedule, joining the Big 12 and Pac-12 in that area. And the Hawkeyes are set to play Michigan and Penn State on back-to-back weeks in November 2016.

That added game could help the Big Ten ensure its best (and most deserving) teams rise to the top by the end of the year. Or it could make it more susceptible to self-cannibalization and hurt future playoff chances. It happened to the Big 12 in 2014 and the Pac-12 this season.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

Earlier this year, a Big Ten head coach made a decision to name a starting quarterback that would prove to shape his team's path to the College Football Playoff.

And it had nothing to do with Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett or Braxton Miller.

While the eyes of the college football world were glued to Columbus—and to a lesser extent, Ann Arbor—when it came to teams selecting their starting signal-callers over the summer, the most important quarterback choice in Ohio State and Michigan's conference had already been made in Iowa City six months earlier. 

That was when Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz named C.J. Beathard the Hawkeyes' QB1, a move that went under the radar at the time but presented Iowa with more risk than many realized.

After a 12-0 run through the regular season, that gamble has paid off, as the No. 4 Hawkeyes find themselves one win in Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game away from unexpectedly crashing the College Football Playoff.

It's a position they may have never been in if not for Ferentz's decision to ditch the familiar and embrace the unknown.

"We felt like C.J. was the best fit for this football team at that time," Ferentz said of his decision to name Beathard his top quarterback at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

But even Ferentz would concede that the decision was much more complicated than that.

In Ferentz's first 16 years at Iowa, conservatism was the constant at Kinnick Stadium. The safe call was usually the right call, and the head coach rode that formula to a 115-85 record that included just one losing regular season.

With Jake Rudock, Ferentz had one of his securest options available—at least as far as quarterbacks have been concerned. In two seasons as the Hawkeyes' starter from 2013-14, Rudock completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 4,819 yards, 34 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, throwing just five picks in the 2014 season.

In that same year, Rudock's 133.5 passer rating ranked fourth in the Big Ten while his 61.7 completion percentage ranked second.

But the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, product's safer style of play wasn't translating to wins—at least not as many as Ferentz would've liked—as Iowa went 8-5 (with a loss to LSU in the Outback Bowl) in 2013 before compiling a 7-5 regular-season record in 2014.

With the Hawkeyes set to play Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl, Ferentz opened up a quarterback competition, giving Rudock the starting nod against the Volunteers, but also providing Beathard with significant snaps (Beathard played 49 snaps compared to Rudock's 19, per HawkCentral.com).

Beathard responded with a ho-hum 145-yard, two-touchdown, one-interception passing performance, but the Franklin, Tennessee, native showcased some playmaking ability by adding 82 yards on the ground in what was ultimately a 45-28 Tennessee victory.

Less than a week later, Ferentz named Beathard the top quarterback in the Iowa program moving forward.

"We had a very tough decision to make," Ferentz recalled on a Sunday teleconference. "They say, 'If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have any.' That's the old axiom. In this case, we did have two."

Three months later, Rudock announced he'd be spending his senior season elsewhere, transferring to Michigan.

It was a risk Ferentz knew he was taking, with Rudock, as a graduate transfer, able to become eligible immediately anywhere else—even within the Hawkeyes' own conference.

Up until last week, the 17th-year Iowa head coach's decision to let his two-year starter walk away could have come back to bite him, as the Wolverines remained in contention for the Big Ten East title until their final game of the regular season—thanks in large part to Rudock's strong play (64 percent completion percentage, 2,739 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions).

Then again, the Hawkeyes likely wouldn't be in the position they currently find themselves in had Ferentz not named Beathard his starter nearly a year ago.

With two years of eligibility remaining at the time, Beathard would have been a likely transfer candidate had his status moving forward remained unknown—something he hinted to Matt Slovin of the Tennessean leading up to the TaxSlayer Bowl.

"We'll see how the bowl game goes and then go from there," Beathard told his home-state paper.

As it turned out, the 6'2", 209-pound quarterback never had to seriously consider his options thanks to both Ferentz's declaration that he'd be Iowa's starter and Rudock's ensuing departure.

Still, Beathard was mostly an unknown commodity and had plenty of growing up to do when it came to playing quarterback at the college level.

"It's a big step going from high school to college. Especially the way our offense works, the quarterbacks do a lot at the line of scrimmage," Beathard said. "You have to know when you're [being blitzed] and get the ball out of your hands quick, when to take hits and all that kind of stuff.

"I had to show [the coaches] I was ready."

Through the first 12 games of the 2015 season, Beathard has done that—and then some.

Having completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,354 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions, the redshirt junior has shown a mastery of the Hawkeyes offense, reminiscent of Rudock's but with a greater ability to make something out of nothing when plays break down.

Adding 285 yards—including a long rush of 57—and six touchdowns on the ground, Beathard was named a second-team All-Big Ten selection in his debut season as a starter.

More than that, his ability has played a crucial role in taking a team that was an afterthought in the preseason and putting it on the precipice of the College Football Playoff.

"His confidence is growing. I think...I don't think, I know his leadership traits have really taken off," Ferentz said. "He really has played remarkably well."

Against a Michigan State defense that ranks 27th in the country and possesses more talent than any other that he's faced in his college career, Beathard may need to play his best game yet on Saturday. 

But regardless of what happens in the Big Ten title game—and beyond—it's already apparent that Ferentz's willingness to embrace risk has paid off in more ways than one.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.

It wasn’t easy. It never is with this Iowa football team.

That’s the reality of this unexpected 2015 season, a year that began with Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz on the hot seat and might end with a most unlikely College Football Playoff berth.

Let this sink in: The Iowa football team is just three victories from winning the national title.

— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) November 28, 2015

The Hawkeyes aren’t flashy. They might not be as talented as other teams in the national title conversation. But they play with effort. They play efficiently. They don’t make mistakes, and that’s why they’re 12-0 and one step away from a playoff spot after Friday’s 28-20 win at Nebraska.

“They play hard,” Ferentz told ABC’s Olivia Harlan on air following the game. “I’ve said it all along. I don’t know how good they are, but they play hard and they play together. It’s a lot of fun to be with them every day.”

Iowa is going to win in Nebraska without converting a single third down. That is an amazing stat.

— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) November 27, 2015

Nebraska outgained Iowa 433-250. The Hawkeyes didn’t convert a third down all day (0-of-9). Quarterback C.J. Beathard completed just nine of 16 passes for 97 yards with a touchdown. But aside from a Desmond King muffed punt that Nebraska turned into a touchdown, Ferentz and Co. didn’t do things to hurt themselves all day long.

You can’t say the same for the Cornhuskers, who committed eight penalties for 95 yards, including multiple silly personal fouls. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw for 296 yards, but he also tossed four interceptions.

Iowa linebacker Parker Hesse tipped an Armstrong pass and returned it four yards for a touchdown, giving the Hawkeyes a lead they would never relinquish.

The Hawks had an answer for everything Nebraska did. After the Huskers cut the lead to 21-17 in the third quarter, tailback Jordan Canzeri rushed 68 yards down the left sideline—running what looked like the same play as a 29-yard touchdown run earlier in the quarter—for a dagger of a touchdown and a two-score lead.

One year after blowing a 17-point second-half lead to the Huskers in Iowa City and falling 37-34 in overtime, Iowa simply looked more polished and disciplined than its western neighbors. Friday put the memories of 2014’s ugly 7-6 finish to rest for good. For those tuning in for a first look at Iowa, they got exactly what those who have followed more closely have received all year: smart, hard-nosed football.

“We look at it one week at a time, and we just try to prepare and play our best on Saturday,” Ferentz said. “These guys have handled it week by week. You start to stack them up and good things happen.”

Now it’s time to face reality: Iowa is one win away from the College Football Playoff. The Hawkeyes and Clemson are the only remaining FBS unbeatens, and it’s all but impossible the selection committee would jump a one-loss team over the Hawkeyes at this point in the season, given their current ranking.

Iowa will face either Michigan State, Michigan or Ohio State in Indianapolis. The Spartans will clinch the East title by beating Penn State on Saturday. If Michigan State falls, the winner of the Michigan-Ohio State game would reach Indy.

I seriously think Iowa could beat Michigan State. I really do.

— Chris Childers (@ChildersRadio) November 27, 2015

The Spartans stunned the Buckeyes in Columbus last week but did so without their best player, senior quarterback Connor Cook, who sat with a shoulder injury. If Cook can’t go, Iowa’s chances of winning increase significantly.

Michigan has had an outstanding first season under Jim Harbaugh’s watch, but the Wolverines are quarterbacked by Jake Rudock, who has 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions this season. Rudock, of course, was encouraged to transfer from Iowa by Ferentz after Beathard passed him on the depth chart.

Iowa’s staff would surely have a book on Rudock, and Michigan’s struggling run game and run defense, which has given up multiple big plays in the past two weeks, is also enticing.

Ohio State, with its NFL-caliber talent across the board, from Ezekiel Elliott to J.T. Barrett to Joey Bosa, is the most intimidating foe. Its fast-paced scheme could seriously test Iowa’s opportunistic defense. But at this point, do you count Iowa out against anyone?

The Hawkeyes aren’t polished or pretty, but they’re 12-0 and 60 minutes away from playing in the College Football Playoff. It’s well past time for America to embrace that reality.

Only rivalry weekend and conference championships stand between the culminating College Football Playoff rankings, which will set the Top Four for the second annual postseason tournament.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Tuesday’s release will be the CFP committee’s fourth round of rankings, and as season’s end inches closer, the true colors of the 12-person panel are coming into clear picture.

Like last year, much emphasis has been placed on strength of schedule and record, which is shaping up for a tasty argument between independent Notre Dame, last week’s No. 4, and upward Oklahoma, which can win the Big 12 this weekend.

Undefeated Iowa is expected to crack the Top Four, and its probable opponent in the Big Ten Championship Game, Michigan State, should make a stir following its upset of defending national champion Ohio State last weekend.

Iowa’s season-long ascension in the AP poll has largely run akin to its ranks among the CFP committee, and SportsCenter shared a graphic on the Hawkeyes' continued rise:

Rise of the Hawkeyes.

Iowa steadily climbing the AP Poll as the College Football Playoff nears. pic.twitter.com/C6ixcl95Wi

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 23, 2015

The Hawkeyes jumped three spots to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and coaches poll released Sunday. As one of just two remaining unbeatens, along with No. 1 Clemson, Iowa seems all but assured to be included among the committee’s projected four this week.

Where it’ll get interesting is if Iowa jumps Notre Dame in the process, as it did in Sunday’s inconsequential polls.

Notre Dame, blemished by a respectable 24-22 loss at Clemson in Week 5, is believed not to control its own destiny, as JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago speculated on the committee’s ultimate decision:

The worry for Notre Dame still surrounds Oklahoma. Yes, they lost to Texas, a team Notre Dame throttled by 35. But selection committee chairman Jeff Long has teased the Big 12’s impressive strength of schedule down the stretch as potentially altering the rankings ...

Plus, if Oklahoma is the clear-cut Big 12 champion, that could negate Notre Dame’s common opponent advantage. That common opponent vs. conference champion vs. strong finish question is a precedent that has not been set by the committee in only Year 2 of the playoff.

Oklahoma remains the big question mark. The Sooners can win the Big 12 with a road triumph over AP No. 9 Oklahoma State this weekend, which would cap three straight wins over ranked teams within their conference. 

FiveThirtyEight, driven by non-biased statistics, likes the Sooners’ chances and gave them a 55 percent shot of reaching the Final Four and a 22 percent chance to win it all, tied with Alabama as the favorite.

The Big 12 was snubbed last year for weak nonconference scheduling and lack of a conference title game when then-No. 3 TCU dropped to fifth in the final week to make room for Ohio State, which won the Big Ten title game 59-0 over Wisconsin. 

The early CFP polls indicated the Big 12 was en route to another similar outcome when one-loss Alabama was included in the initial four ahead of Baylor and TCU, both unbeaten and at the time with the nation's top-ranked offenses. It was a clear message from the committee regarding strength of schedule that will likely be heeded by the Big 12 moving forward. 

Teams that control their own destiny are Clemson, Alabama, Iowa and Michigan State. Florida fans will argue should a one-loss Gators team defeat Florida State and Alabama in consecutive weeks, winning the SEC crown in the process, it would deserve a spot. 

But that all seems a tall task given head coach Jim McElwain likened his team’s energy to “dead fish” following Florida’s 20-14 overtime win over 2-9 Florida Atlantic in Week 12. And, as Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com noted, the committee won’t take kindly to such a narrow win in a proverbial cupcake game:

#Gators win 20-14 over FAU but after today it’s hard to see them in the top 10 of the playoff rankings next week

— Edward Aschoff (@AschoffESPN) November 21, 2015

There’s been no shortage of intrigue along the way, and Tuesday should be no different. 

Winter storm Bella is sweeping through the Midwest, and it has left quite a mark on Iowa's Kinnick Stadium.

And by mark, we mean a thick blanket of snow—8-9 inches to be exact, per the Weather Channel's Jonathan Erdman.

Time lapse of the snow removal in Kinnick Stadium from 6pm to 9:15 am #hawkeyes #until @hawkeyefootball https://t.co/IqLKtOextB

— The Iowa Hawkeyes (@TheIowaHawkeyes) November 21, 2015

Snow plows clearing the frozen tundra for Purdue at Iowa pic.twitter.com/DRVqCRhoRU

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 21, 2015

Tremendous job by our facilities crew all night to clear the field and make it safe for the players. 👏 pic.twitter.com/7DEa8qo1jv

— HawkeyeFBNotes (@HawkeyeFBNotes) November 21, 2015

Fortunately, the grounds crew was able to clear the field before the Hawkeyes kicked off against Purdue.

❄️❄️❄️ | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/z5rtBVLNNz

— #SwarmKinnick (@kinnickstadium) November 21, 2015

[Iowa Hawkeyes, Twitter, h/t For The Win]