For the first time in 12 years, former ISU coach Dan McCarney will be on the road during the Iowa-Iowa State game.

The former head coach, now the defensive line and assistant head coach at South Florida, will be on a recruiting trip when his two former teams square off tomorrow.

“I’ll be sure to get close to a television,” McCarney said.

McCarney, who was a member of the Hawkeyes’ coaching staff for 12 seasons after playing for them, broke Iowa’s 15-game winning streak against the Cyclones with a 27-9 victory in 1998. The victory, McCarney said, ranks among his favorite wins ever.

“It was one of the great memories and experiences I’ve had in all of my years of coaching,” said McCarney, a former defensive and offensive line coach for the Hawkeyes.

That memory became possible when cornerback Kevin Wilson blocked a Hawkeye punt attempt on the 13-yard line. Three plays later, running back Darren Davis ran in for a touchdown.

“It [the Wilson block] set the tempo for the series,” McCarney said. “We were able to rise up and make a play.”

It was a play that later sent Hawkeye fans headed out of Kinnick Stadium with 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, one of McCarney’s favorite memories of the series. The sight become familiar to Hawkeye fans the next several years, as McCarney’s Cyclones defeated Iowa four more straight times.

“It was shocking, it was amazing, it was surprising and it was gratifying,” McCarney said. “Iowa State had been knocked around for so many years.”

McCarney, who later went on to win one more game against the Hawkeyes, often brought the Cy-Hawk Trophy into team meetings to motivate his players.

“He knew the ins and outs of this rivalry, and I think he did a great job of motivating,” said senior wide receiver Todd Blythe.

Now, McCarney is as far away from the rivalry as he has ever been.

“I sure miss coaching that game,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest rivalries in all of college football.”

When McCarney reflects on that September day in 1998 when Iowa was a 29-point favorite, he said what he misses most about the annual game is the matchup with Hawkeye counterpart Kirk Ferentz.

The two coached together from 1981-89 at Iowa.

“It’s a real, real healthy rivalry, and I think it starts at the top with the two head coaches,” he said. “Kirk and I have a fantastic friendship and a mutual respect for each other, not just coaching together, but coaching against each other.”