Iowa Football: Kirk Ferentz moves into 4th place for most Big Ten wins

Iowa Football coach Kirk Ferentz moved into fourth place for most coaching wins in Big Ten history with a victory over Michigan State.

Kirk Ferentz now stands alone. With a victory over Michigan State on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, the Iowa Football coach moved into fourth place for most wins in Big Ten history (163). Ferentz surpassed former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, whom he was tied with entering the day.

Only Bo Schembechler (194), Woody Hayes (205) and Amos Alonzo Stagg (232) have more Big Ten wins than Ferentz. The Hawkeyes defeated Michigan State by a final score of 49-7 to give Ferentz his 163rd career victory.

Ferentz is already the winningest coach in Iowa Football history, having passed the late, great Hayden Fry (143). Fry has the sixth-most wins in Big Ten history and was coach from 1979-1998.

Ferentz, who took over for Iowa in 1999, is in his 22nd season as the Hawkeyes’ head man. He’s currently the longest-tenured head coach in all of college football. Ferentz has an all-time winning percentage of .609.

It was an all-around team win for the Hawks on Saturday afternoon, as Iowa finally put together a clean game on offense and had three takeaways on defense. Iowa led 35-0 at halftime and continued their dominance in the second half.

Running back Tyler Goodson had a career day, rushing for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 71-yard rush early in the third quarter and was the catalyst for Iowa’s offensive success.

Iowa now sits at 1-2 after three games this season. The Hawkeyes lost their opening two games to Purdue and Northwestern by a combined five points.

It’s unlikely Ferentz will surpass Schembechler for third-most wins. Ferentz would need to win 32 more games to unseat the former Michigan coach, which would likely take at least four more seasons of coaching. For now, Kirk Ferentz stands alone in fourth place.