Iowa football fans blasted Kirk Ferentz's decision to try a 66-yard field goal that was blocked and returned for a touchdown vs. Penn State.
Longtime Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz has made a career out of trusting his teams' defense and special teams to keep games close and then to go capitalize with winning plays along the way or late.
Throughout his career, Ferentz has typically operated in a conservative manner, opting not to roll the dice in fourth-down situations where others might.
That's why Ferentz's decision to let senior kicker Drew Stevens attempt a 66-yard field goal just before halftime in a game his Hawkeyes were leading 10-7 at the time was so shocking. Stevens had already pulled a 46-yard field goal try wide right in the opening half and he left his initial 66-yard try well short as Penn State called timeout to ice him.
Still, Ferentz gave Stevens a chance from way downtown and the result was disastrous. Against a Penn State team with an interim head coach and backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer under center, Iowa trotted Stevens back out only to see his 66-yard field goal try blocked and run back 35 yards by Elliot Washington II for a touchdown.
BLOCKED FG + @PennStateFball SCORE 🚨
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 19, 2025
Elliot Washington II gives the Nittany Lions the lead at the half 👀
📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/BQOwz7GQGc
That gave the Nittany Lions a 14-10 halftime lead.
Naturally, Iowa fans were not pleased with the sequence.
That was perhaps the stupidest, most predictable series of events for Iowa in the history of the program
— Ty Schmit (@tyschmit) October 19, 2025
That was uncharacteristically STUPID.
— On3 Hawkeye Images (@webcentrick) October 19, 2025
Kirk Ferentz will never do that again.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) October 19, 2025
He was never going to make that kick. Penn State given a gift and Penn State leads Iowa 14 - 10.
— Joe Hugen (@Joe_Hugen) October 19, 2025
I wouldn’t trust a Drew Stevens to save a game to save my life as of recent. The kicking game has been Iowa biggest liability.
He missed one earlier… didn’t come close in the warm up kick he got but yet we thought that was a good idea… WTF
— 𝖡ꓰ𝐴𝑺🝨І𝐸 ꮋ𝘖𝐘 (@beastiehoy33) October 19, 2025
Not ideal
— Tom Kraft 🐤🐥 (@k6tmk6) October 19, 2025
Idk pic.twitter.com/uEteOHoeDa
— Lucy Rohden (@lucy_rohden) October 19, 2025
For someone as conservative as Kirk is in every facet of the game…that decision is just mind-boggling. That’s the riskiest thing you can possibly do there. https://t.co/hF7uomWFXl
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) October 19, 2025
I can't fathom special teams this year for Iowa. It's been so inconsistent.
— Sean Bock (@SBock247) October 19, 2025
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football fans blast coaching decision to try 66-yard FG
Category: General Sports
