Oct. 12, 2010
Complete Coach Ferentz Press Conference Transcript (Oct. 12)
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Iowa-Michigan football game Saturday is shaping up to be a slippery situation. No, rain isn’t in the Ann Arbor forecast for Oct. 16, in fact, it is expected to be sunny and 60 degrees.
The slippery part centers around Wolverine quarterback Denard Robinson and the fact Michigan is still simmering from a deceptively lopsided loss to rival Michigan State a week earlier.
Some say Robinson has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate and his 1,223 passing yards and 991 rushing yards through six games support that claim. At his weekly Tuesday press conference in the Hayden Fry Football Complex, University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz compared the stress Robinson puts on a defense to the way former Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle-El terrorized Big Ten opponents from 1998-2001.
“They put the same kind of pressure on you,” Ferentz said. “They’re different players but they put the same kind of pressure on you and they’re the catalyst of a very explosive, high-powered offense. That was true when Randle El was at Indiana. They were a very tough team to defend, and I think Michigan is the same way.”
Iowa was 1-3 against Indiana during the Randle-El years, winning 42-28 in 2001 and losing the first three games by a combined 26 points. The Hawkeyes are 1-0 against Michigan with Robinson in the lineup, although he relieved starter Tate Forcier a year ago when Iowa escaped with a 30-28 victory at Kinnick Stadium. Robinson rushed nine times for 49 yards in that game and completed 3 of 4 passes for 30 yards. He was intercepted by Brett Greenwood at the Hawkeye 31 with 46 seconds left, halting a fourth-quarter Wolverine comeback.
“He’s a very dynamic football player, very explosive player, and with that offense that they give you, it presents an awful lot of challenges,” Ferentz said. “They try to spread the field and basically have an extra man on the field because they’ve got a guy that can not only throw it, but he can run the ball. He’s very dangerous.”
Dangerous and elusive.
“Even if you think you’ve got him, you may not have him,” Ferentz said.
That thought carries extra meaning into Saturday’s game between the No. 14/15 Hawkeyes (4-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) and No. 24 Michigan (5-1, 1-1). It would be easy to look at last week’s result for the Wolverines — a 17-point loss at home — and enjoy a false sense of confidence.
Michigan is third in the nation in total offense (533.7 yards per game) and sixth in rushing offense (297.3). Robinson leads the Big Ten and is second in the nation in rushing (165.2) and total offense (369.0).
Even if you think you’ve got them, you may not have them.
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“No one guy is going to defend him. It’s like any good offensive team, whether you’re playing a proficient passing team or an option team, but if you’re playing a team that’s good offensively, you’d better rely on your whole defense.”
UI head coach Kirk Ferentz
on Denard Robinson |
Last week Michigan led 10-7 late in the second quarter and trailed by just one score at halftime. Robinson threw for 215 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 86 yards and another score.
“It’s funny that you heard what a tough game it was for (Robinson) and he had 300 plus yards offense,” Ferentz said. “Most people would be celebrating that, and there was a lot of doom and gloom, at least I heard on the networks. That just kind of puts it in perspective. It wasn’t like they just shut him down. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us.”
Even if you think you’ve got them, you may not have them.
This is an Iowa team — more specifically an Iowa defense — that thrives on challenges. The last time such a bally-hood offense or offensive weapon stood in the way, the Hawkeyes emerged with a 24-14 victory against No. 9 Georgia Tech and its potent triple-option offense in the FedEx Orange Bowl. Iowa prevailed then with team defense and if they are to prevail on the road Saturday, they will have to employ and execute that strategy.
“No one guy is going to defend him,” Ferentz said. “It’s like any good offensive team, whether you’re playing a proficient passing team or an option team, but if you’re playing a team that’s good offensively, you’d better rely on your whole defense.”
The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense (10.2 points per game), second in rushing defense (63.2 yards per game) and fourth in total defense (242.2 yards per game).
The teams have split the last six meetings with Iowa snapping a three-game skid last season. Michigan is 8-2 in its last 10 home games against the Hawkeyes.
“I read somebody cited this last week that we’ve lost eight of our last 11 in Ann Arbor,” Ferentz said. “There’s a good reason for that, probably the fact they have a good team when you go up there, and I think this game would fall in that category.”
Even if you think you’ve got them, you may not have them.
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“I thought it was pretty big the last time we were there. How much bigger is it, 3,000 people or something like that? 110, 113, really doesn’t matter. Big is big.”
UI head coach Kirk Ferentz
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On the medical front, linebacker Jeff Tarpinian has a chance to play, but he is not listed on the two-deep roster. Troy Johnson is listed as the starter at middle linebacker and his backup is true freshman James Morris.
“Troy Johnson is fine, so hopefully he’ll be able to go and play the whole game,” Ferentz said. “James Morris stepped in and did a great job (against Penn State on Oct. 2), and we’re at that point of the season where you’re going to have some other guys step in and get it done. I think that’s certainly a position like our running back position right now where we’re just going to have to count on young players coming in and doing a good job for us.”
The last time Iowa had a two-game winning streak in the series was 2002 and ’03, when Fred Russell was in the backfield for the Hawkeyes. Russell’s name surfaced again because for the second straight press conference, Ferentz said he’s willing to use sophomore Adam Robinson as the primary back from here on out, just like Iowa used Russell in those years.
“It would be the Fred Russell Plan, where he was our primary ball carrier,” Ferentz said. “We’ll have to play other guys, there’s no question about that. But if Adam can go, he’ll go, and if we have to rest him during the week, we’ll do that. We’ll do whatever it takes. But it’s not unusual or abnormal to just feature one guy back there.”
Kickoff from a sold out Michigan Stadium (109,901) is 2:36 p.m. (Iowa time). The game is televised to a national audience by ABC and ESPN. Some places report the newly renovated Michigan Stadium can hold nearly 113,000 fans.
“I thought it was pretty big the last time we were there,” Ferentz said. “How much bigger is it, 3,000 people or something like that? 110, 113, really doesn’t matter. Big is big.”
Big stadium, big game…Big Ten football.