4th-Quarter Production Will Be Key for Iowa

Sept. 23, 2012

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz expects his team’s string of close games to continue the rest of the season, making performance in the fourth quarter of games paramount.

“The thing for us is to do a better job, particularly in the fourth quarter of games and find a way to be victorious,” Ferentz said Sunday during an exclusive interview with hawkeyesports.com “We did that in our opening ball game and as we look forward, that is going to be a decisive factor in how the season goes.”

The Hawkeyes (2-2) open Big Ten Conference play against undefeated Minnesota (4-0) on Saturday inside Kinnick Stadium. Kickoff is 11 a.m. (CT).

“They are playing very, very well right now,” Ferentz said of the Golden Gophers. “They have a staff in its second year and it looks like everyone is playing with a lot of confidence. They have done a great job. It will be good to be back in Kinnick, but that in itself won’t win the game for us.”

During the four-minute conversation, Ferentz talks about balanced offensive production, kicker Mike Meyer’s record-breaking performance on PATs and a huge fourth-quarter field goal, improved production from the wide receivers, and the continued success of the ground game.

“A month ago we weren’t sure what our run game was going to be or who our backs were going to be,” Ferentz said. “Neither Mark (Weisman) nor Damon (Bullock) are veteran players at this stage, but they have shown they can do some good things out there on the field.”

To watch the entire Sunday conversation with Ferentz, click HERE.