IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kirk Ferentz’s record-setting 144th win at Iowa could not have been more emblematic of his tenure in Iowa City. There were times when every play on offense looked like a struggle — especially early on. But they kept grinding, finally breaking through with a win powered by mental toughness, the running game and a punishing defense.

Nate Stanley threw for 108 yards and a touchdown, Ferentz passed mentor Hayden Fry as Iowa’s all-time leader in wins and the Hawkeyes rolled past Northern Illinois 33-7 in a season opener on Saturday. Fry, who counted Ferentz among his assistants for nearly a decade, went 143-89-6 in 20 seasons before Ferentz took over in 1999.

The often-stoic Ferentz couldn’t hold back his emotions as the seconds ticked down, sharing a tearful embrace with his son, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. “I’ve just enjoyed coaching … there’s a lot of luck involved, too. Because everything pretty much in my whole career has happened by chance. I swear to God it has,” Ferentz said. “I never had a master plan or a list of things I was trying to accomplish. But the commonality is that I’ve just been around really good people.”

It was a signature Ferentz win, with the Hawkeyes running for 209 yards while holding the Huskies to just 211 yards overall.

The Hawkeyes were missing their starting left and right tackles against one of the better Group of Five programs in America in their opener. The goal was survival, not style points, and in that regard Iowa did what it had to do. But Iowa’s defense was so dominant that its offense had time to find its footing.
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Iowa hosts Iowa State on Sept. 8.