Sept. 15, 2004
- Inside Iowa: Does it get any better than last weekend?
- Krause family gifts $5 million to Kinnick
- Learn more about the renovation of Kinnick Stadium
- Purchase your Iowa Football tickets online
- Learn more about “The Patch”
Head Coach Kirk Ferentz is going to be keeping an eye on quarterback Drew Tate as the nationally-ranked Hawkeyes take on Arizona State Saturday night in Tempe, AZ. The coach doesn’t want his field marshal to fall victim to dehydration and cramps for a third straight week.
“We’re not going to let him call audibles in terms of hydration,” Ferentz said. “We’re going to be keeping a closer eye on him.”
Tate missed the second half of the season opener against Kent State and required three bags of intravenous fluid and suffered from severe cramps after playing in near 90-degree heat. The temperature was slightly cooler when Iowa (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today; No. 16 AP) defeated Iowa State last week, but Tate did suffer from cramps that made passes more difficult.
“He was cramped up a little bit, but I wouldn’t say that was the major thing,” Ferentz said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
The coach says he’s recalled only a few hydration problems in the past and praised the system that Paul Federici, the head athletic trainer, and strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle have in place.
“Our plan has been good and we have not had a lot of hydration problems through the years,” Ferentz said. “The guys who have had some issues a lot of times has been the result of personality issues.”
According to Ferentz, that seems to be the case with his energetic and young sophomore quarterback.
“Drew’s pretty wired,” he said. “That’s the way he does things. We have to keep a close eye on him, and that’s ironic because of where he grew up playing football there’s a lot more heat and humidity.”
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“I’ve been to Arizona a few times and from my understanding the sun still goes down. The sun plays a major role. You factor out the humidity and the sunlight, then I don’t think it’ll be too different from the past two weeks.”
Head Coach Kirk Ferentz on Tempe’s climate
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Tate is a native of Baytown, TX, and should be used to the heat, but the coach is quick to point out that the weather the past few weeks has not resembled the weather during the preseason camp. That difference may have lead to some on-field adjustments.
“This has been a very unusual preseason,” Ferentz said. “We’ve had more summer weather in the last two weeks then we’ve had during the summer really, or at least during the time we were practicing.”
Tate says that he understands why he’s being asked all the time about his hydration.
“It happens,” he said. “Once it gets corrected then nobody will ask anymore. You just have to keep going, that’s all.”
Tate, who has thrown 29-of-44 passes with two interceptions for 356 yards and three touchdowns through the first two games of the season, says he may have to quit watching the Iowa defense in between series.
“I like to watch our defense, but I probably just need to talk to Coach (Ken) O’Keefe and the other players,” Tate said. “I probably just need to settle down and sit down on the bench between series, get some water and cool off and think of other things.”
Ferentz says that he really isn’t too concerned about the dry heat and expected high temperatures on Saturday.
“I’ve been to Arizona a few times and from my understanding the sun still goes down,” he joked. “The sun plays a major role. You factor out the humidity and the sunlight, then I don’t think it’ll be too different from the past two weeks.
“It’s not going to be an excuse if we don’t perform out there.”
CAPTAINS
Offensive lineman Pete McMahon will be a captain for the third straight week, and wide receiver Ed Hinkel and defensive lineman Tyler Luebke will also make return appearances at the front of the swarm. Linebacker Chad Greenway is also a defensive captain for this week’s game.
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“I think it’s a real tribute to the staff. I’ve been in situations where you take a key person out of a leadership position and sometimes it’s interesting to watch the dynamics of what takes place. But we have a great team on our staff. Those guys have been tremendous and they’ve really worked together and the players have been great too.”
Head Coach Kirk Ferentz on his defensive staff
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ALBERT YOUNG OUT FOR SEASON
Redshirt freshman running back Albert Young is out for the season with an ACL tear, an MRI on Monday revealed. However, the tear resembles that of running back Marcus Schnoor’s, who suffered a similar injury in week one, and does not have complications.
“You hate to see anyone get injured once let alone twice,” Coach Ferentz said of Young, who suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2003 season, “but nobody ever said that things would be fair.”
Young will have to undergo surgery to repair his knee.
“One of the hardest things all of us deal with is injuries,” Ferentz said. “Most people don’t realize how difficult it is. You take it for granted when we say a guy is having surgery, considering we talk about it so commonly. But nobody sits around dreaming about being injured and having an operation and being in a cast. But if you’re going to play the game, then that’s one of the risks involved.”
Junior Marques Simmons is now the backup running back to senior Jermelle Lewis.
NORM PARKER OUT OF HOSPITAL
Defensive coordinator Norm Parker was released from hospital on Monday, but he will not make the trip to Tempe at the weekend, Coach Ferentz reported. The senior staff member is still recovering from surgery to correct a vascular ailment.
Ferentz said that his defensive staff has been working “amazingly well” considering the circumstances.
“I think it’s a real tribute to the staff,” he said. “I’ve been in situations where you take a key person out of a leadership position and sometimes it’s interesting to watch the dynamics of what takes place. But we have a great team on our staff. Those guys have been tremendous and they’ve really worked together and the players have been great too.”
Parker is “hopeful” to return to work on Sunday said Ferentz.
“I think he’ll be the most awake guy in the group, I’m sure,” he said.
Barry Pump, hawkeyesports.com