The Quad: Big Ten Notebook – A Chance to Restore Respect

Football trophy

Trophy blogging on the Web

TROPHY GAME: The first of 15 trophy games for Big Ten teams takes place this weekend, as Iowa and Iowa State play another installment of their in-state rivalry for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

Iowa State captured the trophy last year. It’s no Paul Bunyan’s Axe, but, hey, it’s only Week 3. Given the flooding disasters the state of Iowa has endured recently, Kirk Ferentz, Iowa’s coach, said the crowd in Iowa City could be particularly feverish for this year’s edition.

This rivalry might not get a lot of attention outside of Iowa, but the dislike runs deep, as Ferentz learned quickly the first time he experienced it.

“It took me probably to about pregame warmup to figure out where we stood with the fans at Ames,” he said.

Originally blogged by Mike Ogle (New York Times).