I told Jared DeVries I wanted to talk to him about the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry, and this is what came back through the phone: “I didn’t know there was a rivalry.”
The former Hawkeye and longtime NFL defensive lineman is being facetious—kind of. This is a stance many in the black-and-gold camp have taken over the years: just because the Cyclones say it’s a rivalry doesn’t mean we have to acknowledge it. To Iowa State fans, that attitude is the same disrespectful song they’ve heard for decades, just a different verse.
But this time, there is no avoiding the “R” word, no downplaying this showdown, no use labeling it anything other than what it is: the biggest game in the history of a contentious series.