Sept. 28, 2010
Complete Coach Ferentz Press Conference Transcript (Sept. 28)
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — For 61 years Joe Paterno has been at Penn State and for 61 years opponents knew what to expect from the Nittany Lion football program. University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Saturday’s game between top 22 teams will be no different.
“Pull out the same script from any year we’ve played them,” Ferentz told a gathering of media Tuesday at the Hayden Fry Football Complex. “They have a bunch of excellent players and they’re well coached. It’s the most stable program in the country; all you have to do if you want to talk about Penn State is look at the last five years — 51 wins in that time period, a couple BCS bowls, a Big Ten championship.”
Both teams enter the Big Ten Conference opener with 3-1 records. The game matches the league coaches with the two longest tenures at their current school: Paterno is in his 45th season as head coach at Penn State; Ferentz is in his 12th season as head coach at Iowa.
The same old script isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Hawkeyes when these teams — and these head coaches — get together. Ferentz is 7-2 all-time against the Nittany Lions, including wins in 2009 (21-10) and 2008 (24-23).
“Coach Paterno is the leading all time winning head football coach in college football (397-130-3)and that didn’t happen by accident,” Ferentz said. “There are some common dominators: one thing they don’t do, they’re never going to beat themselves. They’ve had that in check for a long time. They’ve always been very, very good defensively. They typically can threaten you with running backs that can hurt you with the run game. They take care of the basics. They have good players and are very well coached. It’s hard to slip something in on them.”
Iowa’s Homecoming game will kickoff at 7 p.m. and be broadcast by ESPN. This is Iowa’s 99th Homecoming game and the Hawkeyes are 52-41-5 in those games.
With a bye week following Saturday’s conference-opener, Ferentz said he would “do what it takes” in terms of playing starting running back Adam Robinson. Robinson averages 96.2 yards per game with six touchdowns. His backups are Brad Rogers (9-66-0) and Marcus Coker (10-60-0).
“This week 45 or 50 carries if that means we win,” Ferentz said. “I’d buy that. He’s got all week to rest and we’re going to do what it takes.”
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“It’s an eight week race, a long race. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get the first one, but it makes it that much tougher; I’m just speaking from a historical standpoint. The conference appears like it’s going to be strong and very balanced. I think everybody felt that coming in.”
UI head coach Kirk Ferentz
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Six of the 11 Big Ten member institutions are ranked in the top 25 (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State). A 1-0 start in Big Ten play would be a welcomed edge in one of the most-balanced conferences in the nation.
“I look at them all independently; every one of them is going to be very, very important,” Ferentz said. “From what I can tell right now, I anticipate them all being tough. It’s a long race. It’s an eight week race, a long race. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get the first one, but it makes it that much tougher; I’m just speaking from a historical standpoint. The conference appears like it’s going to be strong and very balanced. I think everybody felt that coming in.”
A similarity between Iowa and Penn State is their stingy defense. The Hawkeyes are tops in the nation in total defense (227.5 yards per game), Penn State is 18th (275.8). Iowa is fifth in scoring defense (12 points per game), Penn State is eighth (12.8). The Nittany Lions are the least-penalized team in the country (17.5 yards per game).
“That’s almost every year they’re right there,” Ferentz said of Penn State’s discipline.
For a second week in a row, Iowa’s kickoff coverage will once again be burdened by a top return specialist. Penn State’s Chaz Powell is eighth in the NCAA with a 33.2-yard average on six returns.
Iowa enters the game ranked 17th by the Associated Press and 18th by USA Today. Penn State is ranked 22nd and 20th. Ferentz isn’t fooled by September rankings.
“We were ranked what going into Arizona? You guys know that better than I do,” Ferentz said. “We were underdogs to a team ranked 18th. I’m a little mathematically challenged anyway, but I think that’s a pretty good snapshot of what rankings in September mean in my mind. We’ll know in a month or so what is what, who is who.”
The Hawkeyes were ranked ninth and 10th by the polls and fell to the host Wildcats, 34-27, on Sept. 18. Ferentz doesn’t think his team carries the favorite role this weekend, either.
“I’m not sure why (Penn State would) be considered the underdog. Again, I’m looking at a team, they’ve won 51 games in five years and they don’t give up points,” Ferentz said. “Our biggest margin of victory in this series is 12 points back in ’03 (26-14). We’ve had tough games with them or we’ve gotten nailed pretty good. I’m expecting this thing to be a real 60 minute game and hopefully we’ll be in there in the fourth quarter.”