Nebraska football fans might be worried about Colorado but that doesn’t mean we can’t all have a little fun because of Iowa’s continued struggles.
The Matt Rhule era of the Nebraska football program has not gotten off to the start Husker fans wanted. That’s not great.
That doesn’t mean we can’t revel in the misery of our biggest rivals. And while Rhule is in his first year and has a hefty rebuild on his hands, Brian Ferentz has been around the Iowa Hawkeyes for a while now.
In fact, he’s been around the Hawkeyes long enough that there are certain expectations around how he’ll continue to stick around Ames. After the Hawkeyes first game against a sub-par opponent, things aren’t looking great for ole Brian.
Nebraska football fans likely remember that Ferentz signed a new contract this offseason that included several bullet points. Ferentz had several things he needed to do to keep his job as the offensive coordinator of Nebraska football’s chief rival.
The new additions to his contract dropped his pay from $900,000 annually to $850,000 for the 2023 season. More importantly, to keep his rolling two-year deal, the Hawkeyes have to average at least 25 points per game this fall and win at least 7 games.
Nebraska football rival not off to a good start
When looking at hitting those averages, it’s a safe bet that Hawkeyes fans saw Utah State as one of those teams where they could score much more than 25 points. It would allow them to start off well above the average.
Brian Ferentz had other ideas.
While Nebraska’s offense didn’t look like any great shakes, they played a better team in Minnesota. And Marcus Satterfield isn’t coaching for his job. At least not yet.
Iowa looked like it was going to have an offensive explosion on Saturday as they scored a couple of quick touchdowns to go up 14-0. But then the revamped, Cade McNamara-led offense did what Iowa does.
After leading 17-7 over the Aggies at the half, Ferentz’s offense scored just one more touchdown and Iowa won 24-14.
Is this honestly the beginning of the end for Brian Ferentz? It sorta looks like it. And that might actually not be a good thing for Nebraska football.