Hawkeyes’ Kirk Ferentz named Big Ten Coach of the Year

Iowa will make its first championship game appearance, while Michigan State earned championship game berths in 2011 and 2013.

When the fifth-ranked Spartans face the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes in Saturday’s showdown, a berth in college football’s playoff will nearly certainly be at stake. So did Jim Harbaugh and MI. If Clemson and Alabama both win then the top four should be Power 5 conference champions, including Oklahoma, and the victor of the Big Ten championship game-either Iowa or Michigan State. He goes out of his way to remind his players about how he went out of the local market to recruit them and hometown teams didn’t even take the time to do so. If two teams have similar resumes like Ohio State and Stanford then the conference title would be used as a tiebreaker.

The Spartans are making their third appearance in the Big Ten title game in five years, but they rarely make major news on national signing day.

The spread offense craze never really caught on at Michigan State and Iowa. Iowa’s 2015 recruiting class was ranked 51st in the nation by Scout.com, right between Syracuse and Rutgers.

Ferentz was previously named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2002 (when Iowa went 11-1 overall, 8-0 in the Big Ten and won a share of the league title), 2004 (when Iowa went 9-2 overall, 7-1 in the Big Ten and again won a share of the league title), and 2009 (when Iowa went 10-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten and narrowly lost out on a Big Ten title).

Michael Geiger kicked a game winning field goal as time expired against his home-state team, the Ohio State Buckeyes and flat out said after the game it meant more than just your average, run-of-the-mill game winning kick.

“They’ve always been a great football team, very consistent”.

Click below to hear from quarterback C.J. Beathard, center Austin Blythe, offensive tackle Boone Myers, fullbacks Macon Plewa and Adam Cox, running back Jordan Canzeri, receiver Tevaun Smith and linebacker Cole Fisher. They also have Urban Meyer who is a coaching legend.

This will be one big matchup without much pregame animosity.

Ferentz’s Hawkeyes have a flawless 12-0 record following the conclusion of the regular season, the first 12-win season in program history. However, Iowa’s notable wins came against the Wisconsin Badgers and Northwestern Wildcats.

But Ohio State closed the regular season with a display of dominance few programs can match, dismantling rival MI 42-13 in the Big House and finally looking like the high-powered outfit the selection committee seemed to be waiting for all along.

“We fought through it, ” Spartans defensive end Shilique Calhoun said.