KIRK FERENTZ: Thank you. Good afternoon to everybody. A couple words about this past weekend, and then we’ll talk about the Iowa State game.
First of all, it was good to get out on the field and compete. I think every team goes through it where everybody kind of has a clock going, an internal clock, and after a while, probably about ten days out, everybody is anxious just to turn it over to the season. So good to get out there.
Obviously, it was a hot day. Great to play in front of fans and just a lot of anticipation, anxiety, anxiousness. Good to get the first one out, that’s for sure, and most importantly, happy to get the victory. Good starting point for us.
Came in Sunday, which gave us an opportunity to look at the film and hopefully learn from any errors that we made, both physical and mental, and maybe as much as anything, just understand the value of little details — all coaches are trying to get corrected during the course of camp that kind of reinforces some things.
The only thing I mentioned briefly after the game is the various swings within a game. Certainly, we had some situations we could have responded to better on Saturday. If we’re going to have a successful team, we’ll have to do a better job with that. Hopefully that’s a learning experience on top of it. So all part of the deal.
Every Sunday is a real opportunity to learn and, most importantly, hopefully grow as you move forward. That’s the challenge that’s in front of us right now. We’re going to need to grow and improve fast because we have a tough contest on our hands playing Iowa State this week.
Joe Evans, Luke Lachey, Jay Higgins and Cade McNamara will be our captains; same as last week.
Needless to say, this is a rivalry game. It’s a big game in our state for good reason, and rightfully so. It’s a good thing for the state certainly, but with it comes a lot of intensity. It’s going to be a great environment on Saturday, just like it is either in Kinnick or their place.
You can count on that, and I think you can count on, if you look at the last five games, it’s basically been five points per average between the two teams. All games have really been contested. Comes down to playing good, clean football. I’d expect more of that this week.
Again, a lot of talk, a lot of excitement around the state, I’m sure. The key thing for all of us performers, the guys that are performing out there, the guys who are competing, coaches the same way, just focus on what we can do to be best prepared because that’s what it’s going to take. That’s kind of where it’s at.
Their team looked good on Saturday. They had an impressive win over a Northern Iowa team that we have a lot of respect for as well. They have a lot of new players, but some things didn’t change. They look very well coached. They play extremely hard. They’re very sound, no turnovers. They’re plus two on the turnover rate, made some big plays that gave them a lot of juice out there and helped lead them to their victory.
They are an impressive football team. Two new quarterbacks, they both played well. They have multiple receivers that are good football players. Looks like four or five backs that are really capable. A lot of tight ends, like four or five, that contributed and did a good job. Veteran up front, very strong up front. Defensively they’ve been really good and stopped one of the top teams in their conference. Basically since ’18 they’ve been playing good on defense.
They have a new kicker, had an impressive field goal. Punter did a great job, two big punt returns on top of it. They’re doing a great job on special teams as well.
All that being said, we just have a lot of respect for them. It’s like every year, we’ll have to play at our best to have a chance to come out ahead on this thing.
We’re on the road, but we still do have a kid captain. I want to mention Nile Kron from Iowa City. Young guy has had 11 surgeries thus far, just started first grade. As I’m told, his smile lights up the room. Just want to wish him our best and certainly we’ll be thinking about him this weekend too. Great to have him.
Q. After evaluating the play of the offensive line and the run game, was it a matter of mostly gaining points and missed opportunities more than it was physical errors that are beyond correction?
KIRK FERENTZ: I didn’t see a lot of physical stuff, but more it was a tough preparation for us defensively. We felt pretty good about what to expect of their offense, a lot of returning players, and certainly the system that Coach Anderson has had with him for quite some time.
Then on defense we didn’t know what to expect and got some looks almost maybe, I don’t want to say we weren’t prepared for, but there’s some things we might have done differently maybe in retrospect had we known what to expect a little bit more.
All in all, we saw a lot of good things out there. Nothing that can’t be improved upon and fixed, so nothing too bad.
Q. Do you expect more production from the run game this week considering you do know Iowa State a little better than you expected last week?
KIRK FERENTZ: The challenge is they make it really tough to run, and they’ve done a great job of that. It’s kind of ironic, you think of the front, I think people refer to it as the three-three stack. You think of that being like a pass to spread offensive front, but they do a great job of getting three guys to the ball.
The one thing about them, which I can say this, the last five years they’ve really tackled well at all positions, and you can’t say that about every football team. In fact, there’s some you can’t say that about at all. They’ve done a great job of that. They’re great at getting guys free to the ball, and then they don’t miss tackles.
Q. Seems like pass protection took a step up. What do you think kind of led to that big jump from last year to this year?
KIRK FERENTZ: It’s kind of like I’ve been saying. We’re a more mature group now. We’re a little bit more experienced and more capable. It’s pretty much the same guys, throwing Rusty Feth on top of it, but same guys that have been here. They’ve been able to practice a little bit. They’re a little older and stronger. We’re a more physically mature team at that position especially.
I think that’s a big part of that. Especially line play in both lines, that’s a really big factor.
Q. Will it be a similar rotation with the offensive line this week as we saw last week with Elsbury in at right guard?
KIRK FERENTZ: We’ll see how it goes this week. Right now, if we’re playing six, seven, eight guys, we’re doing it because we feel they can go on and compete, not because we’re fishing around to find something that might work.
But the guys you saw Saturday did a capable job, and hopefully they’ll all continue to improve as we go.
Q. Specifically about Logan Jones, you talked about how he deserved a medal last year for kind of being thrown into the fire. Post-game he talked about just how much more confidence he has making those pre-snap calls. Just from your evaluation, how far would you say he’s come and how important is it for him to maintain that level of confidence he has right now?
KIRK FERENTZ: It’s just going to come because he’s earned it. It’s the whole group really. We knew it was going to be tough last year. I knew it was going to be tough for him, although as I said before, sometimes you get lulled into sleep because he does so well in practice. But it’s still different being out there in a game in front of fans and competing when there’s a shot clock going, all those things that make the game a little more stressful and trying.
I thought he did a good job last year with it, but there’s nothing like experience. Linderbaum is a better player in his last year than he was his first year starting. It would be the same thing. I’m not trying to compare the two guys, but they are wired a little bit the same and there’s some similarities between them. That’s a compliment to Logan because he operates at a high level. He’s really mature, very serious about it, and he’s got a lot of pride.
That’s very true at every position. If you have a guy with those attributes, it’s a good thing.
Q. You talked about the new quarterbacks and running backs. Going back to the summer and the gambling investigation, how much has it impacted this game when you think of the players that aren’t going to be playing?
KIRK FERENTZ: I don’t know. The guys that aren’t there aren’t there. I can’t speak to their side. I can speak to ours. We’d be a better team with our guys out there. I’m sure they feel the same way.
The reality is they aren’t, so we’ve all had ample time to get ready. It’s not the same, but for a coach or for the team, it’s the same as if somebody is injured. Somebody else is going to step in there and play. From what I could tell on the film, those guys really did a great job. All the guys that we saw there Saturday looked like they were confident and playing very well. They had total control of the game in all three phases.
Q. As the head coach of the Maine Black Bears, did you ever think you’d be on the doorstep of 200 wins?
KIRK FERENTZ: No. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen once I left Maine, but it was a good experience, a really good experience. Learned a lot fast.
Q. What does that number mean?
KIRK FERENTZ: Not a heck of a lot really, quite frankly, other than I’ve been doing it for a while. It means I’ve been around good players and good people and in a good place. I’ve been really fortunate that way. At least I’m smart enough to know that.
The only reason I know is because somebody reminds me of it, not frequently, but occasionally. Right now all I know is we’re 1-0. That’s nice. That’s the best we could be. We’ve got a lot of work in front of us, that’s all I know.
Q. Luke Lachey was good last year. Do you see him taking it to a higher level this year?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yes, it’s the same discussion with Logan or the whole group. If a player is doing right, they should get better. Linderbaum will be a better player this year than he was last year, I’m sure of that.
Good players just keep getting better. Even when they get older and their skills start to deteriorate, that’s why you’ve got a brain. If you’re thinking right and thinking about how you can get better and improve, there’s so much to be said for experience if you’re doing it the right way.
Luke’s a great young guy. He’s starting to feel it. Last year he started taking off, and he’s done a great job in the out of season. We expect him to play well. If we’re going to have a chance, I say it all the time, our best guys, our most experienced guys have to play better than they did a year ago or we’re going to be in a bad place.
Q. Can you talk about Utah State throwing different looks defensively to slow the run game down? Was there other things you saw fundamentally your guys could do differently?
KIRK FERENTZ: Not differently, but you can always do better. I was pleased with a lot of things we saw, but just things didn’t mesh the way you want them to. Part of that is — it’s hard when you’re really — we were throwing darts last week.
I told you Saturday, it’s a little weird watching MAC film when you’re playing somebody from the Mountain West on Saturday. I’m watching Bowling Green and Buffalo Tuesday night. It’s kind of weird. That’s out of my comfort zone, full disclosure. I like to know who you’re playing.
As the season gets on, it’s a little bit easier because you have this year’s team playing. Not that you know what’s going to happen Saturday, there’s always something that’s going to — there’s always a monkey wrench or two. That’s part of football. But at least you know who the guys are and you can kind of project things and put a little bit better plan together.
Last week you’re throwing a lot of darts, that’s just the way it is. I can’t say I’m sure they were doing that because they weren’t. It’s not the same situation.