The Iowa Hawkeyes went into Ames as underdogs facing a media darling as the #9 Iowa State Cyclones entered the matchup ranked for just the second time in the history of the Cy-Hawk series. But for all the hype surrounding the Cyclones following their best year in program history during a pandemic-impacted 2020, the Iowa Hawkeyes sucked the wind out of the ISU sails on Saturday.
The offense has still not shown much to be terribly excited about, but Phil Parker’s defense took the national stage provided by ESPN’s College Game Day (which coincidentally spent significant time heaping praise on ISU defensive coordinator John Heacock and the Cyclone defense) to jump into the conversation as the best in the country.