Ferentz on the win over the Gophers
A game can really change on a dime and potentially alter the outcome. For the Hawkeyes and the Gophers, it changed late in the third quarter when Iowa stopped a long Minnesota drive and then turned around and flipped the field almost immediately and scored to essentially close out the game. Following the victory, Kirk Ferentz discussed that series and the rest of the important plays in Iowa's second straight victory.
OPENING STATEMENT
Obviously extremely proud of the football team and the way that they competed. They continue to improve and I am really proud of those guys to have the opportunity to bring Floyd back with us. We are thrilled about that.
As Tyler (Linderbaum) just got done saying, there are things we have to continue to work on and get better at, but the big thing is we are getting better and that has been our focus.
I think overall our guys showed up tonight and they played tough and they played hard. They did a good job up front and that was a focal point for us. We know we had to be successful up front if we were going to have a chance to be successful in this football game. Part of that is just Tyler Goodson, who had a career high tonight, and Mekhi did a good job too.
The other significant things was in the third quarter they had that long drive and for our guys to dig in and get a stop and keep them off the scoreboard was a big turning point. Then the offense came back and responded.
A lot of highlights with Jack Koerner and Moss and Tory (Taylor) continues to punt the ball well. A lot of really good efforts out there and most importantly, a collective team effort and I am really proud of our football team.
Q: What is it about the outside slant zone run play that has been so successful the last couple games, like with the 45 yard run that Tyler Goodson had at the end of the third quarter?
FERENTZ: Hopefully we are getting better as we move on. Every week is a challenge. The guys did a good job up front. We ended up going with the same lineup that we went with last week and the guys practiced well and did a good job with the execution. Our fullbacks are part of that too, with them fitting in and making the block. I know on one of them right in front of our bench, Tyrone Tracy made a really good block which helped the ball go further down the field.
Q: Your defense did a good job, for the most part against their bigger star players. What did you think they did best today?
FERENTZ: We are certainly growing there. Week one, two, three, and four. I thought we had a big challenge last week to stop the big play and those guys did a good job of that. Coming into this game, Minnesota is a very veteran team on the offensive side. Not just veteran, but really talented and a veteran offensive line. Their skill guys are really good with three good receivers and their running back is as good as you will find and the quarterback does a really good job. It was a total team challenge for us and I have always believed going back to Norm (Parker) it takes 11 guys to stop a good offensive football team. Not one guy is going to do it and I think that’s what we saw today. The guys are continuing to grow and it starts with stopping the run. When people run the ball at will against you it is hard to be successful on defense. I think our guys did a really good job there and that was a good starting point for us.
Q: Can you talk about what was going on at the end of the game with both teams calling timeouts at the end?
FERENTZ: They called a timeout to get a look at what we were doing and reconsider, so we just wanted to make sure that we got a good look at what they were doing. No sense taking them on the bus with us, right? You guys remind us about that a couple of times over the last 22 years. I figured we’d take Floyd with us and leave the timeouts here.
Q: How important was it to get two big wins after starting 0-2?
FERENTZ: Every week is a challenge. Every time you lose a game you have to worry about the guys because they are young. Those of us that have been around the game for a while realize that there will be ups and downs during the course of any season. It’s not always wins and losses, but you are always dealing with something. You have to worry about that with any football team or football player. I am really proud of the guys because even after that first loss they worked hard and improved. Unfortunately we were a point short against a good team, but they kept working and they were never deterred this season. We have a full off day tomorrow. That’s one nice thing about playing a Friday game. We are going to have to go back to that same principle on Sunday because there’s a lot of football left and we still have a lot of improvements to make.
Q: You mentioned Tory Taylor earlier, it seemed like they started every drive on their ten yard line. How important was field position?
FERENTZ: I can’t say enough about Tory. He seems to be totally unfazed by the weather. Unfazed by everything. He is doing his job really well and I can tell you I wasn’t sure a month ago that he could do plus 50 punting because this was all new to him, but he sure has a feel for it. His kicking and putting the other team in bad field position in the last two weeks has been a big factor in our success. It’s been a huge advantage if you can make a team work with a long field.
Q: It is almost better now to not have a full week of preparation based on the short week the last couple of weeks?
FERENTZ: I’ve actually been joking this coming week will be a normal week and it’s going to feel abnormal because of the past two weeks. But, that’s college football right now and I guess it’s fitting that we are in a Covid era where everything is just different. One thing we have always believed is that with short weeks it’s a real test of maturity and their ability to focus because you can’t practice normally. So it amps up the necessity to make every rep in practice count and then in the meetings make those count too because we can meet. You never know how its going to go, but for two weeks in a row our guys have been wired in. Hopefully we are not ready to have a parade because we have a long road ahead of us and we need to keep focused on what we need to do and keep moving forward.
Q: Spencer Petras had a rough couple of quarters there. What were you thinking? Did you ever think about a change? After that he settled in.
FERENTZ: I never thought about changing. You live and die with everything that goes on out there. That’s just the way it is. With a new quarterback there’s always going to be some growing pains. I will remind everyone, it’s a new quarterback without the luxury of spring practice, which is huge. Talk to anyone who has played quarterback, that’s major. That’s part of what you are seeing right now. I think I speak on behalf of every coach and player on the team and you just heard Tyler speak about it, we have great confidence in Spencer and we have great confidence in Alex too. We are just going to keep pushing forward and there’s no doubt that we have confidence in Spencer and we have confidence in Alex as well.
Q: You now have 11 straight games with an interception. How important were those today?
FERENTZ: The turnover and takeaway ratio is critical. If there is one stat that means something, not every year, but over the years, that’s one that’s big. We don’t necessarily have a turnover drill, but our guys are aware of it. Usually turnovers come because guys are playing hard and hustling, so it was great to see that tonight. Our defense has done a good job of getting the takeaways and keep them down on the other side of the ball. If we can keep that ratio that gives us a chance to be successful.