Following Iowa's 20-13 win over in-state rival Iowa State yesterday, we're back with our weekly update on Brian Ferentz's contract objectives.
Before we get to that though, it's worth pointing out that the win marked a milestone 200th victory for head coach Kirk Ferentz. 188 of those wins have taken place with the Hawkeyes, and he had 12 previously while leading Maine.
But back to why you're here reading this piece, as for the offensive performance, the Hawkeyes started off promising with scoring drives of 70 and 80 yards on their first two possessions to go up 10-0.
However, in the possessions that followed, they but struggled.
In what was has become almost customary, the Hawkeye defense was able to help out with the scoring again yesterday.
With under 5 minutes left in the first half, the Hawkeye defense got on the board with a pick-six to extend the lead to 17-0. After the Iowa lead extended to 20-3 heading into the fourth, the Cyclones put together a 10-point fourth quarter, scoring with 2:53 left to cut the lead to one-possession.
Through their first two weeks of the season - against Utah State and Iowa State - the Hawkeyes offense has failed to eclipse the 300 yard mark of total offense. Last year in their first two games the offense failed to hit the 200 yard mark.
For the program, the win marked the seventh win in the last eight meetings of the series, as the Hawkeyes avenged their 10-7 loss to Matt Campbell and the Cyclones last season.
As a reminder, the school and Brian agreed to a new contract back in February following a disappointing 2022 season offensively for the Hawkeyes.
The new amendments to his contract dropped his pay from $900,000 annually to $850,000 for the 2023 season, and to keep his rolling two-year deal now requires the team to average at least 25 points per game this fall and win at least 7 games.
Failure to meet those objectives means that his contract will end on June 30th, 2024.
If Iowa is able to hit those standards, he would be eligible to receive a one-time lump sum bonus of $112,500 and his salary would get bumped to $925,000 for the 2024 season.
We will continue to provide updates on the objectives of Brian's contract each week throughout the season.
