University of Iowa Football

Media Conference
Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Kirk Ferentz
COACH FERENTZ: A couple words about Tyler (Sash).
We all learned about the medical examiner's report this
morning, and you know, obviously regarding his death,
his passing has been a very, very sad thing and our
thoughts continue to his family and all of his friends.
Very sorry to learn about the news there.
I know Steve updated you on the ticket situation, and in
reference to that, just want to again say what a great
crowd it was Saturday. We had a great homecoming
crowd. And for our four games, the environment on the
field has been fantastic.
So we are appreciative of our fans. Just really
appreciate their support. They have been great on the
road, at home. And hopefully we'll continue to be
supported as we go along and looking forward to a
good contingent up there in Chicago for this game.
Referencing last weekend's game, certainly it was
great for the fans to be able to witness such a special
performance by Jordan, he did just a fantastic job. I
think that's a neat side game there.
Going back to last week, hard fought win, hard fought
Big Ten win, and we expected that going in. As I said
Tuesday, Illinois is a much improved football team on
both sides of the football, especially up front. I think
Coach Cubit has done a great job with that team and
they played extremely hard the other day. There was
nothing easy about that.
At this point we are really happy to be 4-0 in Kinnick.
That's certainly something that is important to us, and
right along with that, we have had four games that have
basically gone down to the last possession or next to
last possession. I think that's something, two areas
that we didn't maybe fulfill our expectations last year,
our goals.
So we're off to a good start. We still have a lot of
football ahead of us, we know that. But those were
both positive things for us and we are pleased to see
that.
And then needless to say, very, very happy for Jordan
and the recognition he's received. That's our fourth Big
Ten award player, and as all of you saw out there, he
really ran hard so just a phenomenal effort on his part

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and he's a little sore and tired right now but he'll be
ready to go.
It was a good win and now just like every other week,
we had to move on and we had to do that starting
yesterday. Captains are Drew Ott and Jordan Lomax
defensively, Austin Blythe and C.J. Beathard on the
offensive side.
Medically, four guys that didn't play, we had obviously
Boone Myers and LeShun, they were all out. We
expect them to continue to be out. Ike Boettger had to
leave the game, and we are not optimistic he'll be
playing.
And then last night, unfortunately it was confirmed after
he went for tests that Drew did tear his ACL. So he's
going to be done here. It was a great win for us, but
the worst part about coaching football is dealing with
injuries.
I've said this many times, but we get firsthand exposure
to just how hard these players work on a year round
basis, and they are doing it to have 12 opportunities.
That's about all anybody's guaranteed as a college
football player, so they work extremely hard to have
those 12 opportunities to go out and perform and play
with their teammates, and any time that's taken away,
it's just a tough thing.
So it's a tough deal for Drew, certainly. He's a
tremendous young guy. He's done everything he
possibly can, and especially tough because he just
fought back from that elbow injury, he's been playing
less than 100 percent, pretty close last week and now
this happened. As good as it was on Saturday, to get
the victory, I think probably all of us had a little tough
feeling on Saturday night just in expectation that this
may not turn out well. That's where it's at.
Drew will have that addressed here in the near future.
He's going to obviously stay with us and I'm counting
on him to be a strong team leader. I know he will. But
it's a tough thing and it's just part of the game,
unfortunately.
So that was last week. And I said last week, you have
to move forward each and every week and that's kind
of where we're at right now. Our next challenge is

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twofold. We have to go on the road again and we're

playing a very, very good Northwestern football team,
5-1 record and they have good players. They are a
veteran team. Their newcomers are playing really well
for them and their veteran players are playing
extremely well.
They are very well-coached. That's typical of
Northwestern, certainly and also characteristic of them,
they play extremely hard and they play well. So that's
kind of it, and all three phases I'm talking about.
The thing that stands out to me about them, they
obviously play very, very well on defense. They have
got two very prominent wins beating Stanford in the
opening game, beating Duke, and both those teams as
it stands right now, those are the only losses they have
on their resum. I think that gives you the indication of
the strength of this Northwestern team.
It's going to be a big, big challenge for us. We'll head
up there Friday, and hopefully be ready to go on
Saturday. It's going to take a great week of preparation
and we'll have to be at our absolute best at 11:05.
With that, I'll throw it out to questions.
Q. Do you have to get another running back
involved or can you keep riding Jordan?
COACH FERENTZ: We'd like to and we're going to
have to; I expect we're going to have to. We're
preparing that way. Next man in and next man ready.
Right now it's twofold. It's Akrum Wadley and Derrick
Mitchell. Both those guys are fully healthy now, so I
imagine we'll see at least one of them on Saturday, that
would be my guess.
Q. Parker Hesse for Drew is next man in, he got
some valuable experience against Iowa State, how
do you see his progression?
COACH FERENTZ: We beat a very good Pittsburgh
team with him playing every snap. He's worked hard.
I'm glad we made the move back in December. I think
every snap is certainly important but he's coming
along, doing a good job. And to Pat's point earlier, I
think we are going to have to get more guys involved in
the rotation. Nelson will probably play a little bit more
also. He got in there a little bit Saturday and we'll just
keep him along. He's been playing.
So, that and Bud (Melvin) Spears is a veteran guy, a
senior, and we'll do it by committee if we have to.
Fortunately we still have Nate doing a great job at the
other end, so it makes it a little bit easier to shoulder.
But when you lose a guy like Drew, not only an
excellent player but also a very strong leader for us; it's

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a big void. But this team has done a good job of

handling adversity. They have done a good job of, if
we are hurting a little bit here, other areas pick up the
slack a little bit, and that's a positive of the team so far.
Q. When you say mix in, is it physical preparation,
is that more important than mental preparation or
is it a combination?
COACH FERENTZ: I think they are both really
important. The only thing you can't do for a player, we
talked about this with C.J., is you can't give him game
experience, because it's still different.
So you do your best in practice and you learn from
every opportunity being at practice or game
competition. But getting out there and actually playing
-- in this case, we were lucky in some ways that Parker
has played as much as he has, so he won't be
overwhelmed by that part of it. He'll have a big
challenge this Saturday and he'll have more of it ahead
of him.
Q. The offensive line prep this week, do you stick
with what you did last week or do you move guys
around?
COACH FERENTZ: The options are limited, which
means a couple guys are going to have to do more
than one thing. We saw that on Saturday, James
jumping out there at right tackle. We'll just have to
keep practicing several guys at several spots, because
depending on where the water starts coming in the
boat, that's where we've got to make the repairs and
shift guys.
Those guys have done a good job at that. It was a
tough on-the-job training for a first year guy, but I
thought he really settled down and did a great job.
He's going to be a really grat football player for us.
He's already doing a lot of good things.
Q. Pretty amazing, James Daniels came here at 17
years old, just turned 18. How fast is his growth?
COACH FERENTZ: It's impressive. I think you guys all
know, I'm not a big fan of this coming out of high school
early. I still think kids probably ought to go to the prom,
maybe see their classmates graduate and go with
them, which he did. He drove back for all that stuff. It's
a credit to him. Not surprising if you get to know
James. But to me, that's the way it ought to be. And
then you go to college at some point.
And he came in here early, and one of the reasons I'm
fearful of it, I think it's an awful lot. It can be
overwhelming for a young person to try to come in
here, especially when you're going to try to play Big
Ten football. The best thing there that was reassuring
to all of us was the fact that LeShun was here, so he

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had a great mentor built in that way.

Even if LeShun had not been here, not so sure James
wouldn't have done just fine. Did an outstanding job in
the classroom this first semester. Really practiced well.
He just seems to handle things pretty adeptly, so that's
a rare trait.
Q. How did he draw that straw to go outside, as
opposed to some of the veteran guys who were
inside?
COACH FERENTZ: It's next man in. Again, we work
combinations in practice. You're always hoping the roof
doesn't -- the proverbial roof doesn't collapse. It was
pretty close the other day.
Q. With the news of Randy Edsell and Dan
McCarney losing their jobs, are you comfortable
with this midseason stuff, its almost like the NFL?
COACH FERENTZ: I think that's kind of the sign of the
times unfortunately. I'm not a fan of it necessarily. But
I don't know all the details either. So it would be really
probably wrong for me to give any commentary on
what happens in a specific school.
But in a perfect world, yeah, I think you'd rather see
that not take place, for everybody involved. But all that
being said, too, you've got to be realistic. The world we
live in is changing daily. We see that in recruiting
firsthand and it's true I think on every level, and that's
one more example of it unfortunately.
Q. Your quarterback plays with reckless abandon,
the way he runs, and he looked pretty banged up
after the game. How is he feeling right now?
COACH FERENTZ: We have a lot of guys who are
banged up right now. That's two really physical games.
I alluded to that last week; I thought both their lines
looked a lot better on tape. First game, they really
played better, and their defensive group was rough and
tumble.
We've got a lot of guys banged up right now. I'm not
going to give you a count, but we have more than a
couple. It's that time of year. We'll find a way to get
through this game and then we'll go from there but
hopefully everybody will be able to make it for the
game.
Q. Do you try to caution him at all -- out-of-bounds,
slide, things like that?
COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, we've been encouraging
that, but he's got a competitive spirit, too, which
sometimes pulls him in the other direction. But you
have got to play the way you are, but certainly there are
some times -- and I think he's done a better job of that
in general terms -- this year of getting out-of-bounds or

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getting down when it's not necessary to do something

else.
But thinking about the touchdown run and the corner
down there; he had his eyes on that pylon. Those are
the kind of things that you have to really admire about
C.J.
Q. Tyler Wiegers, do you feel confident in him and
who would be his backup?
COACH FERENTZ: On the game field, we're confident
in him. That's our motto. Tyler is gaining ground.
And on that whole topic, it goes back to the line or the
other things. The biggest thing is, if this was April, I
would be really concerned about a lot of things, or
August 1, I would be still concerned. But we've had ten
weeks of practice. I think we've seen a lot of growth
with a lot of players on our team, not just guys that are
out there playing on Saturdays.
So a lot of guys are growing and for us that's really
critical because we don't have the depth that maybe
some schools do, some programs do. So it's really
important if our backups and guys behind the backups
are not growing and improving, we are going to hit a
void.
And thus far, we've been lucky to have a guy like
Parker jump in and do such a great job. We've had
guys pick up the slack; Cole Croston at the offensive
tackle position. So that's something you hope is going
on at all positions.
But going back to Tyler, he still has not had that game
experience. So whenever he does get out there, it's
going to be different, and if it's at the end of the game
and we're able to, that would be great. But you don't
have that many chances during the courses of the
season, especially in our conference. You just don't
get many opportunities.
Q. A lot of coaches talk injuries a lot, not making
excuses, but they go on and on, you always take a
different approach, is that because of your next
man in philosophy?
COACH FERENTZ: It goes back to what I said earlier.
The few things I would rather not have to have
exposure to are discipline issues and injuries. Injuries
more so because usually discipline is the unfortunate,
usually somebody makes a bad decision, an immature
decision, bad decision, bad judgment.
So at least there's something, usually it's brought upon
yourself, you kind of get what you deserve a lot of
times. But injuries, they are usually nobody's fault. It's
just the way it is. It's part of football and it's part of any

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sport for that matter. If you're competing and doing

something that's really hard to do. And this is a
collision sport.
There's not always fairness in life, and there certainly
isn't in sports when it comes to injuries. That part is
really hard. All that being said, we all know that. I'm
older now, but all of us that have ever played realize
there's a chance you could be injured. So we all sign
up for it and we choose to do it.
Really to me, it's counterproductive to dwell on those
things. I can assure you this, Drew will be a great
leader for us this Saturday. He won't be playing, but
he'll be there on the bench with guys encouraging
them. He was doing that the other day. That's just the
way he is. That's the way he's wired and built. If you
can't do something well in one area, then you find
another way to help out. That's how we want our guys
thinking for sure. Drew will be a great example that
way.
It doesn't do any good to cry about what you don't have
and what could have been and all that stuff. It's really
kind of counterproductive. So there's really no sense
talking about it. I know our guys get the best medical
care possible and that's really important. We've got to
push on, too.
Q. Is there anything new with Jake Duzey?
COACH FERENTZ: He's climbing the ladder. That's
good news. He looks better every day, and one day
may not look as good as the next, but he's climbing the
ladder. I can say the same thing about Tevaun, I'll tell
you that, but he's not going to be ready. He may be
dressed out and warm up and that type of thing, just
like we did with Jake a couple weeks ago. But based
on what I'm seeing now, I think we have a realistic shot
of getting him back after the bye, which would be great.
Q. About coaches getting fired midseason, what do
you think it says about Universities. I imagine you
preach to your players not to quit, but universities
are saying were not going to let you finish.
COACH FERENTZ: I won't disagree with that. It's kind
of like speaking for other people. You don't always
know what other people are going through and
experiencing, and I don't pretend to know all the
details. Especially this time of year, like I'm not really
good on current events right now. I'd get killed in a
game show.
In general terms, I agree with you wholeheartedly. We
talk to our players all the time about sticking it out,
pushing through. You face adversity, you work through
it. But again, I'm not passing judgment on anybody.
I'm not there. I don't live there.

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Q. C.J. said during the game that he didn't even

know who was playing offensive line.
COACH FERENTZ: Probably better off that way. If he
thought about it, it might have unnerved him a little bit.
Q. Can you talk about shuffling guys in and out,
and Brian got an award this week.
COACH FERENTZ: Times have changed. You know,
somebody threw that on my desk. I don't know Brian
was too concerned about that quite frankly.
But to your point, we try to practice with that in mind.
But it's not realistic to think James Daniels is going to
get 60 percent of reps at that position because he's
trying to learn the guard position, too. But we are
getting a little thin right now, so whoever is available.
We try to keep our guys flexible at all positions. Some
guys really are not very good at that and then you just
leave them in their spots and try not to rock their world.
We talked about Cole Croston back earlier in camp,
and Cole for whatever reason just seems very
comfortable left or right, Ike Boettger has that ability.
So if you have a player that has that kind of flexibility;
and we try to practice that way just in case scenarios
take place, which inevitably they do, so at least there's
not panic out there.
Again, thing I was most pleased about with that whole
group was the way they settled down that fourth
quarter. That drive was really pretty, and it came at a
great time.
Q. Is Brian Ward the next, next man in?
COACH FERENTZ: He's one of them. We have
several candidates right now. I don't mean it
disrespectfully to those guys but I hope we don't have
to see them on Saturday. Hope we don't have to go
five.
Q. I think Jerry Kill said this week that -- more
years than any years he's coached -- he's not
alone. Is this any different than it's ever been?
COACH FERENTZ: The only way I would reference it,
and I don't like talking a lot about the whole thing. The
only reference I would make there, and I shared this
with our team. I think in 2002, we had one starter get
knocked out. My memory's not perfect, but what I do
remember was a pretty clean year.
Then you go to 2004, not so clean. Go to 2009, not so
clean. So that's more of the norm or standard than it is
the other way. If you have a year like 2002, then you're
living right. It's just one of those lucky years, you're
fortunate to have them.
To me you always have to expect turbulence. You have

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to expect adversity. That's part of this game. It's kind

of like if we go to Chicago and think it's not going to be
windy or it might not rain or something like that, then
shame on us. Something's probably going to happen.
Q. Have you settled on a third QB and do you see
any more freshmen jumping into the offensive
line?
COACH FERENTZ: No, and third quarterback is kind of
a toss-up. We are hoping we don't have to go down
that street.
Q. C.J. says he expects to play this week, is there
any doubt C.J. could play Saturday?
COACH FERENTZ: Count on it, yeah. I'm counting on
it, absolutely.
Q. With Drew, his injury, kind of a weird time line
with NFL prep. What do you see there?
COACH FERENTZ: There were a couple scouts at
practice today that are veteran guys. The one thing
I've told them about Drew, all year long, is he's better
than you think he is. There are some players I can
describe that way.
I'll go back to Aaron Kampman, for whatever reason,
didn't get invited to the combine. I've never called the
combine, I've coached for awhile, but I did that year
and told the guy they were making a mistake. I've been
to the combine five or six times. Every now and then
you get a player like that. You've got to watch a lot of
tape to appreciate a really good player like him. He's
not flashy, but he's just a really good player.
So where I'm going on that whole thing is he will get
that opportunity. They recognize what kind of football
player he is and what he's already done in his career.
This doesn't help the case at all, but if there's anything
good about these things, the outcomes are fairly
predictable. He'll be full strength, if not more so.
Speaking of Kampman, Kampman has gone through
that injury, as has Chad Greenway.
It's a big pothole. It's unfortunate. The thing that's
unfortunate is it's the senior year, that's what amplifies
it from my vantage point. It's not going to derail him.
He'll get an opportunity and he'll do very well. I'll be
shocked if he's not on somebody's roster a year from
now.
Q. Jordan Canzeri, did he turn down your his initial
scholarship offer?
COACH FERENTZ: I don't remember that. I don't
remember getting jilted like that.
Q. Realized he turned down a Big Ten offer when

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his dad told him he had made a mistake, do you

remember that?
COACH FERENTZ: He didn't just jump in our laps, I
can tell you that. Probably was like I was in 1981:
Iowa? Ironically, I had been here, but as a little kid.
It wasn't necessarily a slam dunk. And I said on the
teleconference earlier, Andy Talley, who I used to
coach against, I couldn't beat him as a coach, but I've
beaten him on two recruits, Jordan Canzeri and Mike
Daniels. We hit two pretty good ones there. I think
Jordan was overwhelmed with us initially. He was
happy when Villanova and UCONN jumped in, too, at
the end.
Q. Northwestern's Justin Jackson has more carries
than any other back in the country. Are they
playing differently because of his durability? They
seem to be a little bit more downhill.
COACH FERENTZ: They are doing a good job in the
running game and he's a big part of it. Two things, they
have a new quarterback, and then he's a really good
player and the guys up front are doing a good job. It
doesn't take much room for him. I was watching him
last night and I'm thinking, how did he get through
there, but he did and came out running.
He was a good back in high school, as was the
quarterback. We liked both of those guys a lot and we
couldn't even get a date. That's the way it goes
sometimes.
Q. Northwestern seems always haveyour number
in certain years. What is it about Northwestern?
COACH FERENTZ: Not to be disrespectful, but I think
sometimes we have a perception problem here. Like
some people are living in the 80s.
I was here in the 80s and I talked about Wisconsin
being this way. When I left here in '89, we would have
played Wisconsin three games in one day, forget about
a doubleheader. Tripleheader, we would have signed
up for it in a heartbeat. Things have changed there.
I think a lot of people maybe fall victim to remembering
Chuck Long throwing for 17 touchdowns in that one
game, whatever year that was, '84 or '85. They weren't
very good. And Kidd's dad played there then. I made
a joke last night about that it was a good place for him
to go as a punter because he got to play a lot. But that
was the 80s. I mean, this is a whole different era. And
they are honoring the '95 team and that's so historical,
just like '81 was a historical moment in the Big Ten, and
certainly for Iowa football.
You go back to '95, it started before that, but that was
kind of the -- okay, they did and they have been really

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good since that time. They have had a few exceptions,

but I have a ton of respect for Gary Barnett. I knew
Gary when he was an assistant. We used to recruit
against each other. What he did there is phenomenal.
To me it's very similar to what Barry did at Wisconsin.
Since that time, Randy Walker was an outstanding
coach. Pat is a really good coach. And they have
really good players and they really play hard, and they
have got good coaches. They have great stability. I
look at them as a very tough out, and hopefully they
look at us the same way.
But I think some people fall victim, like back in the 80s.
Those days are long gone. That stuff is ancient history.
I think there's a little of that stigma sometimes. Some
of those games they beat us, they were pretty good.
Wasn't like we were terrible, but they were really good.
They have had a lot of players -- think about some of
those guys that have played well at left tackle.
Q. Seems like you have a good program set up
where guys learn a couple years and get in and
make some havoc.
COACH FERENTZ: Colin (Cole), going way back, he
was the exception, we were thin. He played as a
freshman. But then Jonathan Babineaux, guy who
moved around a little bit and settled in, did a great job.
So we've really been fortunate, had a lot of good
players in there.
Last Friday saw Mitch (King), just told the story about
as good as we were in 2004, we were trouble in the
spring of '05 and moved Mitch from linebacker. Had no
idea what he was doing but got to the ball three out of
every four plays. Obviously learned how to play that
position.
Different ways to get there. But to your point, Jaleel is
really growing. Again, it's one of those where we have
seen him practicing better and better. But you're
waiting to see what he does on the field. He had a
really good game on Saturday, and he has been
playing really well for us. Both he and Nathan have
made a good combination, and for us, the way we play
defense, that's really important.
That's one of the underlying stories. Our linebackers
are playing well, but they can't play well if those guys
up front aren't doing their job. So really proud of him
and really happy for him.
Q. How important is pass protection for your
running backs to see the field?
COACH FERENTZ: That's usually the last thing a back
learns typically. It's a hard thing to do. Most backs
don't have to block in high school. That's just kind of
the way it is, so when they have to learn it and do it, it

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takes some work and skill. Jordan's done a great job,

and those guys have both improved behind the scenes.
They are getting there. We have confidence they will
play well.
Q. Coach when Northwestern got blown out last
weekend did you think maybe this doesnt look
good for us?
COACH FERENTZ: No, I don't think at all. To me,
Michigan is a really good football team, starts there.
And then sometimes, we have all been in games where
you have a good football team and sometimes it just
doesn't work, one of those things.
All you have to do is look at their body of work and
every other game they have played, they have looked
really good. They have looked good in their Big Ten
games and they have looked good against Duke and
Stanford, two really good teams. That one, almost
throw the film out. Michigan is playing really well right
now and they were clicking on all cylinders the other
day.
Other thing to be mindful of, there was not a lot of
points against the defense there. They scored on
special teams, the pick return, those types of things.
So their defense is still -- they are salty and really
playing well, high level right now.
Q. Last year when they came here, pretty much a
toss-up coming in, kind of like what happened at
Minnesota. Is there much or anything you can take
away from that game for this one?
COACH FERENTZ: To me, no -- for our game? No, it
just is one of these things where everything clicked and
it didn't for them so it was a perfect storm. So you can
take it and toss it out.
It will be more like the year before. To me that's more
representative where two teams battled, went into
overtime and we were fortunate to come out ahead.
That to me is more indicative. We caught them last
year and they nailed us in 2012. The truth is
somewhere in between. Like that 2013 game, to me
that's what we are looking at here.
Q. How has their defense evolved in past years?
COACH FERENTZ: Theirs or ours? I think they are
very veteran, very veteran. If you look up on -- their
guys charted on the wall there, returning starters in
red. You think it was Wisconsin or Nebraska. A lot of
red up there on that wall. More importantly they are
good players and those guys are really playing at a
high level.
As I alluded to earlier, the guys that have stepped in
are doing a nice job also, and that's something you

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never minimize. But clearly, clearly their older guys are

giving them good leadership. They are playing hard,
setting tempo.
I mean this -- hopefully it's a compliment, hopefully
they are not mad at us. But they look like one of our
good defenses. When our defenses are good, they are
not overly fancy, but they just keep coming at you and
they make it tough for you and you have got to earn
everything. That's what they look like. That's what we
faced two years ago, too, whatever the score was, like
10-9 or 13-10. Just yards were hard to come by.
You've got to almost methodically be perfect, and that's
hard to do offensively because they don't give you
anything easy.

Rev #2 by #177 at 2015-10-13 20:25:00 GMT

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