Coordinators News Conference Transcript | Oct. 28

LEVAR WOODS: It's great to be a Hawkeye. I can say that, first and foremost, go out and beat Minnesota, keep Floyd home, and then on top of that, even better surprise or better news on Sunday evening, our special teams analyst Brock Sherman and his wife Crystal welcomed a brand new baby girl, Elena, into the world, so it's been an exciting time around here in building and got a new member of the Hawkeye family, so we're proud and really excited for them.

Talking about special teams and kind of where things are at, happy with where we're at. Guys have been working. Guys have been competing. They've shown up every single week. I think you guys have seen that on tape, how they compete, they fight, they battle every position across the board. At times we've been dominant, and there's times also where there's a play here or there, something that we could be a little bit better. So that's the focus this week is trying to improve and trying to see where we can be better and how we can do that. Is it scheme? Is it personnel? Is it a new face that comes in?

When you look at our units, they're a mix of some veteran guys, some guys that are up and comers, and then some guys that are brand new faces. I think we saw that last week at Minnesota.

Happy with where everyone is at. Happy with what's going on. The veteran group, you're looking at Rexroth, Harrell, Nwankpa, Hall and Lutmer, guys that are out there busting their butt every day not only on defense and offense but also in regards to special teams.

Some of the up-and-coming guys, you see guys like DeLong, who's been here for a couple years doing a really good job for us, Van Kekerix is another guy that keeps showing up from week to week, so those guys are doing an excellent job.

Alex Eichmann, maybe not getting the reps he wants on offense as a receiver, but doing an excellent job for us an special teams. Bryce Hawthorne is another one in that world, Hayden Large, guys that continue to contribute for this football team.

Some of those new faces, we all saw KJ Parker last week, which is fun. It's kind of been the last couple weeks in the making for him. Really excited for him. An awesome young kid, great future, high energy, just trying to find the best places for him. Preston Ries, Derrick Weisskopf, Cam Buffington stepped in there, as well.

A good group of kids, a good mix of kids. Some of them are men. Some of them are actually married with wives now. But again, it's a great group, and I think they love each other. They compete. They scrap. I don't think there's any better picture for a team that loves each other and cares about each other than the Penn State game a couple weeks ago. Found a way to pick each other up and get the job done.

Again, happy with where everything is at, and continue to push forward down the stretch.

Q. I feel like there's nobody in this country I'd rather talk to about punt and kick returners than you. You've played alongside Tim Dwight, you played against Devin Hester, Brian Mitchell, Dante Hall, and then now you've coached Ihmir, you've coached Charlie Jones, you've coached Cooper DeJean, and the list goes on and on. Now you have Kaden Wetjen. In what ways does he have similar skills and traits as some of those great players you've competed against and have coached, and in what areas is he possibly unique to where he is maybe better than even a few of those other guys in those areas where he's been able to be so successful?

LEVAR WOODS: Yeah, I think right off, another name you left off is Antwaan Randle El, who was a quarterback in college, who was an unbelievable competitor as a quarterback and then I faced him as a punt returner and he brought one right back against us. I think I was with Detroit at that time, and he was in Pittsburgh.

Another really good returner, but with Kaden -- the sky's the limit for him. One, he's fearless, which you have to be to be a returner, especially a punt returner because there's not much time you have to make a quick decision, people are bearing down on you right away. He's built low to the ground, which helps him because he's sturdy, he's not going to go down on the first hit, and I think he does a great job making decisions and judgment.

It didn't always happen that way. It wasn't that way at the beginning. He had to work. He had to put in his time. I think he's a very unique story in that when he came here, he was fast and he was going 100 different directions fast but never the right direction, and I think he put in the time and he learned and he studied, and it's become a thing for him.

I talked to our players about the three levels of people. There's people that are interested, that kind of show up, I'm kind of interested, yeah, sounds good. I'm committed, hey, Coach, I'm here every day. Or there's people that are obsessed. They're kind of all the different ways, the tricks, what more can I do. I think Kaden is in that world, in the obsessed world, and he continues to do that each and every week, and he's surrounded by 10 guys every day that go out there and bust their bust for him, and they love him and they want to get him to the end zone, and you saw that on Saturday.

Those people were so excited for him. It's been fun to watch because he's become an electric playmaker. He's become dominant at what he does. You can feel the crowd anytime he's back there. I can hear it through my headset. All of a sudden you hear the crowd just roar on their feet through a headset and people are talking on that. It's fun to watch for sure.

Q. I want to continue on with Kaden when it comes to his fearlessness. I think that's the first thing that pops off when you watch him on tape and in a game. How important of a factor is that for a returner? On top of that, when do you know if somebody is fearless when you're auditioning guys on kick return, on punt return? How much of it is just their natural approach to it, and how much can you teach, and is it even possible to kind of build on they might have a skill set but they don't have that fearlessness?

LEVAR WOODS: Sure, I think a lot of it is decision making, so you can find out how people make decisions. We do that through drills, put guys in competitive situations, put guys out in front of the crowd at spring game or the kid scrimmage when there's 20,000, 30,000 people out there. Everyone can do it off JUGS and it looks good and the offensive linemen are catching punts off the JUGS, and the linebackers, oh, it's great, hey, I can do this, Coach, and then all of a sudden you put them out in front of a crowd, and all these people are talking and you get nervous, right. So you can see that. That's one way to test guys.

Another way is through drills, competitive but controlled drills.

But then the reality is you just have to watch a guy and you have to know a guy, and you see him on offense, you see him on defense, you see what he does in those elements, and then can he do it.

Going back to the decision making, you can teach kids how to make decisions, a way to make faster decisions. Some of that stuff, though, is innate. There's a guy sitting back there in the defensive room right now, Desmond King, who there's some stuff he had that was innate. Now, he didn't have the same speed that Kaden had, the breakaway speed -- you forgot Desmond King. Micah Hyde, forgot him, too. (Laughter.)

Anyway, I actually did tell both of them, Desmond and Micah, I was like, man, I wish I was coaching you guys right now, we'd be so much better. You guys would have each five touchdowns.

Anyway, back to what I was talking about then. Again, there's some stuff you can coach and some stuff guys got to have. I think Kaden has got a good mix of both. It wasn't easy at all and it hasn't been easy and it's still a work in progress and there's still more he can improve on, but he's playing very confident right now, and again, he's a dangerous weapon back there.

Q. Wanted to ask about KJ. You mentioned him in your opening statement, but it was either a couple weeks ago when we first saw him in 32 and everybody is like, who the heck is that. I guess when did his potential start to show to you in just playing special teams from the get-go because he was a guy we heard about as a receiver and now he's on special teams, so I'm curious how it all materialized?

LEVAR WOODS: Yeah, we saw some of his athleticism and play making last year as a freshman on the scout team. You saw some of that. That sounds good when someone is showing you a card and here, run this line, do this, do that, that's easy to do. It's easy to see those things. But then when a kid has to put in -- he gets put in the game, he has to make his own decisions, see his own reads, it's a much different deal. KJ has been a work in progress over fall camp and into this season and he's done a really good job. He'll be the first to tell you I gave him a tongue lashing like nobody's business last week in practice, but he took it and he made the corrections and he improved and he goes out in the game and does it and does it well and makes two huge plays, almost blocks a punt, guy shanks it off 13 yards, sets up a score for us, and then the other one was a huge block for Kaden's touchdown.

You can coach kids and you can try to put them in the best position, you can teach them and show them, but at some point they've got to go out and make the play, and I think KJ did that. He took the coaching and he's improved.

He's a great kid, great energy. The sky's the limit for this kid not only on special teams but also on offense, and if he ever wanted to play defense, I think he could do that, too. Special teams is sort of a mix of that for him. But he has a bright future.

Q. I wanted to have you step into dad mode for a second. You and your former teammate Jerry Montgomery are the first Hawkeyes to play for Kirk as a head coach and then have a son play for him as also their head coach. Just wondering about that special dynamic because as a dad I know it takes a lot to want to send your son off and trust them with a program like that. For you to be able to send him to a head coach that you know so well and that you played under, that's something that not many people in the country get a chance to do, but just the special relationship that you're able to build between you and Mason and Kirk as well.

LEVAR WOODS: I think it speaks to the culture here at Iowa. Rarely do you go to a place where a coach has been there five years or 10 years, talking about 26 years, so it's a completely different deal here at Iowa.

Again, most people don't have those experiences. Robert Gallery was here this past weekend, Steinbach last weekend, Considine was here. You just go back to guys that played here a long time ago and the head coach is still the same, so it's very rare. So start with that.

Then you have the experience with Coach Ferentz, he was my head coach, came in during a time of transition, completely changed this place, changed the culture, changed a lot of things and also kept the things that needed to be kept kept.

That's a great way to approach it. But the things that I heard from him as a young guy when I used to have hair, curly hair, and I tell kids this all the time, we used to sit in seats not as comfortable as the ones they sit in but it was over in the old building, and the messages are the same, going back to his first press conference in 1998. The same messages.

To me, those are things that you want for your son. You want the consistency. You want people to hear the messages that you heard, that helped shape you, that helped turn you into the person you are, and we're lucky to have that here with Coach Ferentz.

Jerry, I'm sure speaks the same way and feels the same way. Jayden, his son, it's fun to be around him. I call him Jerry probably three, four times a day. Some of that's on accident, some of that's on purpose just to mess with him. But it's a very unique place here. It's very cool to be here and just be in those kind of situations.

There's going to be more players' sons that have come through this place, too, so it'll be fun.

Q. When you see Rhys punt in warmups, and we've seen it happen, they're booming, but it doesn't seem like it's translated as much in the game. What needs to get better, I guess, going into November with your punting?

LEVAR WOODS: I think some of this, too, if you watch Rhys and you know Rhys and you've been around him, he's young still. He's young and fairly inexperienced compared to other guys that have played the position and other guys that have played the position here, there still is that maturation process as a human being, and he's going through that, and he's fully capable -- the sky's the limit for him.

We have not seen his best at all, so that's encouraging. That's exciting. That's what drives you as a coach and as a competitor because we want to get that out of him.

Then to get him to the point where he's consistent and feels comfortable doing it every single time. I know Tory went through some of the same stuff. You go back to he came in 2020, did really well; he couldn't tell you how he did well. You go into '21, maybe not the same. There were flashes, sort of like with Rhys, there's flashes that you see, but I think it's just consistency over time.

I see that through all specialists. Look at Drew Stevens. He came in and set the world on fire year one. '89 percent field goals, three 50-yard field goals. That gets you to the Pro Bowl in the National Football League. Then he comes in year two and it's good one day, next day -- up and down. There's some of that going on with young players.

It's not just that position, but it's youth. My job as a coach is to get him to where I know he can be and be consistent, and his job as a player is to do that same stuff.

Again, we'll just continue working, and that's what this week is for, and expect more out of them. Expect more out of myself, too.

Q. Only five more guaranteed games with Kaden. Sam has been his backup this year. He's also a senior. What's your depth like in terms of younger guys at that kick and punt return position? Do you feel like you have the next guy in that lineage on the roster right now? And what does it take to find and then develop that?

LEVAR WOODS: I think if you know us and you watch us, there's someone else on this team. There's someone else out there. KJ Parker is one I'll throw out. You mentioned Sam. I think McNeil can do this. There's other guys out there. Zach Lutmer, because we've all seen him, right? We all saw his touchdown. It looked like a punt return to me.

So there's guys on our team right now. I'm sure during recruiting we'll find someone else that we feel like could do that, so we'll just continue to develop them and continue to put them in those drills I mentioned before and in those situations trying to test them and put them back there.

Again, same thing with Kaden. Kaden, it took a while for him to get put in there, and really his opportunity came through injury. There's a couple other guys, I would say Jackson Naeve is a young guy that no one has ever seen or heard of but he continues to do a good job in practice, but we haven't tested him yet. We haven't put him out there. We'll just continue to do that.

Q. I wanted to ask, I know the punt return game and everything is a big thing, but Drew Stevens just broke the school's record for career made field goals. Obviously he's had his ups and downs throughout his career, but how have you seen him develop the consistency to be able to break that kind of record?

LEVAR WOODS: I think you hit the nail on the head with Drew. It's a unique story, along with Kaden. Very talented. I'll say Drew was going 100 miles an hour in 100 different directions in his way, as a kicker would go. I mentioned his first season already. Then you have a lull in his second year, right, up and down, inconsistent.

Then he comes in and battles his way back in year three and has another really good year. Again, that puts him on par -- I've done the studies and all this stuff. It puts him on par with the top 10 players at his position in the National Football League. So I think he's that kind of player, that kind of talent.

You guys can look at all the stuff because I'm sure you will at some point. But my point is I think that's the mark of the person, who he is. He's a competitor. When he first came here as a freshman he was 165 pounds. He'd go out there and we'd all look at him like oh my, this guy, wait for him to kick this, and boom, the ball would jump off his foot.

So you could tell there was a competitor, there was a tiger in there somewhere just waiting to get turned loose. I think for him, it's been every single day trying to be consistent, trying to get better, trying to improve at what he does. He does it very quietly, doesn't say much, at least around me he doesn't. I'm sure he's a different personality away from me.

But I'm proud of that kid, as proud of any guy I've ever coached because of how he battles and how he competes.

Again, he hit probably the highest of the high and the lowest of the lows you can hit at that position, and he's fought his way out of it.

So I believe in that guy. I believe in him wholeheartedly. I know his teammates do, too. I know Coach Ferentz does. So he continues to show us in practice, so we continue to put him in situations.

Q. One of the more impressive things about the return game is the blocking that takes place. Can you kind of take us inside how you build that as a team and execute in those blocks?

LEVAR WOODS: So it's going to sound simple. It's going to sound simple to anyone that's ever played here in the last probably call it 10 years has heard of these drills. So you hear of avoid zone compete and you hear avoid zone compete on an angle, then you hear combat zone. Ask any of the players now, some of them will get squeamish when they hear combat zone because they know it's physical and they know one guy is going to win, one guy is going to lose, one guy is probably going to get run over. There have been a bunch of guys that have come through here that have gotten run over, prominent players that are playing on Sundays that have asked me to take the video off the server and I refuse to, because it's what football is. It's combative. It's competition.

We simplify it down to those three drills. If you can do those three drills as a cover man or as a blocker, again, that's kickoff coverage and kick return, if you can do those things, then you can go out and compete, and that's how we build our unit. That's how we build our system. Then we put it all together and we try to simplify it to that because if you don't, the field is 120 yards long, 53 and a third wide, and oh, my gosh, I have to block this one person on this huge field, when the reality is you have to block that person in a five-by-five box. So if you can do that, then you can help our unit.

We have guys that do it and do it well. We have more than the guys that are playing because our guys have bought in and are really working hard, but only 11 guys get to play right now.

But I feel like our guys understand. I feel like they're working hard at it. You go in the punt return game, there's the pressure piece of it, then there's the holdup at the line of scrimmage piece. Again, all stuff that we drill in competitive fashion. Then there's the trail phase where you have to make a decision, can I still make a block and finish on this guy or do I have to pull off like KJ, going back to him. First he rushes the punter and then all of a sudden realizes he can't catch up to everyone else, so the rule is if you can't be smart, turn around, find someone else, and he found the punter and put him right on his back. To me, that's how you finish. That's how you score touchdowns.

It takes guys to understand all that, and I think our guys are doing that right now. We've just got to continue doing it, continue working at it because there's more out there for us.

Q. How do you find an 11 for a return, 11 for coverage beyond just running drills and seeing who rises? I imagine it factors in who's not on the two deeps or maybe you have to ask to see if a guy can get some reps for you. What do you look for in finding Matthew Slater-esque mentalities of just embracing special teams?

LEVAR WOODS: I go back to it is those drills. People think it's not those drills. It is those drills. Like that's the opportunity for you to show us. Then we also watch all the offensive plays, the defensive plays. We watch the tape. Hey, he would be really good at this, he would be really good at that. Hey, this is very natural to him, which we've tried to do some things with players that aren't natural to them, and it doesn't always end up well.

So we just try to find out what they're natural at and what they do well and then continue to build on that and try to relay it from offense to special teams or defense to special teams and just try to keep it as simple as possible so guys can go fast.

When they go fast, they know what they're doing, they go fast, and they love each other, they care about each other, they compete, it's fun to watch. I'm telling you, that's what you guys are watching right now. It isn't like anything magical, mystical. It's hard work. It's understanding what you're doing each and every day and guys pushing each other and guys competing and guys wanting to win. Then also guys caring about each other.

Q. Curious about the future of the kicking game because obviously this is Drew's last season. You have Caden Buhr. Do you think you'll look in the portal or high school ranks to bring guys in? How do you feel like Caden Buhr has come along? Where do you see the future of that room once Drew is gone?

LEVAR WOODS: Yeah, the future, man, I'm trying to focus on these next games so I can't tell you I'm going that far right now, but Caden, I think he's done a good job. Part of his plan was to come here early, to get in the mix and be with Drew, train with Drew. I think he's done a good job with that. You guys saw him in the spring game. You saw him in the kids day scrimmage. He's done a really good job, and he's been put in some situations -- I don't think Drew could have handled as a freshman, if you will. I think Caden has done a good job with it.

Again, I go back to the youth and inexperience, inconsistencies, things like that that we have to continue to build on, but very happy with him. Glad he's here. Just continue to build with him.

He's gotten one rep so far. In one rep he went in as a kickoff against I think UMass and did a really good job with it. Like better than I thought he could do.

So there's something in there with this kid, and I really like him, and I'm glad he's here.

PHIL PARKER: Just want to say thank you guys for coming out today. There are two things that happened. I heard there's only one bye week next year, so I only have to do this one time. (Laughter).

The good thing about it is I'm first so I have to be off in 15 minutes, so that's another good thing.

Anyways, just to give you guys a couple notes, the last bye week we did a lot of evaluation stuff. We did some tweaks a little bit of how guys were preparing. This good three weeks over here, the last three weeks is a little bit different. Physically, guys were improving, and now this is a good time to have a bye week to look over some things in the self scout and then also preparing for the Oregon game in two weeks.

But I think our guys have been playing well. There's a lot of improvement at a lot of different positions. Very happy the way they've been -- the takeaways have gone up a little bit in the last three games, which I think is a good benefit of our kids working hard, and letting the plays come to you and make the makeables that you can, and I think they've done a good job in that.

Obviously we've been close on a couple of those takeaways over there getting them down to the 1-yard. We finally got one in the end zone last week with Lutmer's catch.

But overall, I think our guys are working hard, and they've been working hard all the way through camp and all the way through this eighth game that we played, and we're looking forward to the next four, which is going to be challenging.

Nowadays in college football, you see it all over, it's week to week, and you have to make sure you keep your guys focused and they're looking forward, and obviously they didn't practice today, at least the starters didn't, and then tomorrow we'll get them up on the field and do a little bit more prep, a little bit of maybe the Oregon game a little bit, but just going back to get their fundamentals. I'll open it up to any questions anybody has.

Q. Wanted to ask about Zach Lutmer. I know he was a guy you mentioned a couple years ago and now we've continued to see him ascend and arguably be one of the best defensive backs in the Big Ten. How have you seen him doing that, and especially this season?

PHIL PARKER: Yeah, it's interesting. He's a very quiet kid. He has great athletic ability, good footwork, and he sees things faster than a lot of other people. That comes from repetition, and when you start going out into the recruiting road, you look for those guys that play multiple sports like he did, played different positions, quarterback, plays basketball, does all those things.

He has the ability to diagnose plays a little bit faster, and he has been improving. Great kid to work with. Doesn't say very much. He's been very productive for us.

We've been moving him around to a lot of different positions. I think he can play five positions, so I'm very pleased the way he's working.

Q. I've seen more disruption out of your front four, your defensive line the last three weeks since the first bye. Is that schematic or is that more them applying the fundamentals that they've been taught and improving in that area over the second part of the season?

PHIL PARKER: Well, I think it's twofold there a little bit. Obviously they're getting more work up front. That's helping them. They're starting to understand the game a little bit more. Could be based on who you play, what we're doing in the back end, how can we cover guys up to let them get to the quarterback. Some guys get rid of the ball a little bit faster so it's hard to disrupt him, but I think it's a combination of both things. They're growing, they're improving, like we want our kids to do every week at every position, if we can keep on improving every week and always taking the standard up, and I think that's what's been going on with everybody, all 11 positions.

Q. Wanted to ask you about Montgomery and his play so far, what you've thought of his play, and does Jaden Harrell get that starting spot back when he's fully healthy or do you continue on with Montgomery?

PHIL PARKER: I think Montgomery has done a great job. He's stepped in. He's been one of those guys in there. He's been in the program, understands what he has to do. He's been very productive, like the way he's plays. When Harrell has come back and he's in full go, he still has a knee brace on him, so it's a little bit harder to move with him.

But I think you never take something away from somebody. Usually guys go out there and earn what they deserve to play, and the more he gets more comfortable and to that point, then we'll make that decision when it's there.

But going back to Montgomery, he's done a hell of a job for us, and we're pleased with what he's done. It's hard to do when you're really like the quarterback of the defense and making all those front adjustments, coverage adjustments.

Q. Curious about the secondary with Coen, Xavier, Zach, T.J. and Deshaun. Why do you feel like they're playing at the level that they've been playing at?

PHIL PARKER: I think the preparation, what they've been doing. Obviously it's over a period of time when we started in August to now. There's so many different reps. The connection with guys, understanding how to go out and practice and prepare.

You could go out there and try to be perfect, and that's what you try to do in practice so you can have a chance, and then you start seeing things, it's contagious when somebody keeps on pushing guys.

I think the group of guys that we have, they just keep on pushing themselves. It's not like, hey, you're in front of me or I'm behind you or anything. It's about the success for the team. I think that's the way everybody looks at it, and that's the beauty about coaching. When you see that, sometimes it starts running itself. When you go into meetings, they already watched most of the film already and they know what they did wrong and they know what they did good and they know what they have to do to improve it, and I think everybody is talking -- when you start going into it, there's only four more games left, right, of the regular season, and they got to a point, we got to a position where -- we're 6-2 right now. The only thing that really matters is the next one because everybody just remembers the next game that you play.

I think they look at it like that as hey, how can I get better. I've been very pleased the way they've been handling the whole situation of the rotation with some guys or just guys going out and how they practice. It's fun to watch them practice. You don't have to coach effort and toughness, and I think the more they get to understand the game and get in the right positions, then you start seeing a little bit more violent tackles, more turnovers, the opportunity to get the ball back for our offense.

Q. What have you seen with Max Llewellyn over his career and where have you seen him grow the most as a player?

PHIL PARKER: I think he's starting to understand the game a little bit. Instead of just doing one thing that he likes to do, I think he's growing maturity-wise and understanding what he does -- there was a play that happened a couple weeks ago that we practice, and we practiced it because we didn't know if he was going to peel on the back or not. Amazing thing, it happened in the game and he peeled on him. A little bit later, but it was like his learning process of understanding what he has to do within the defense.

I think he's a hard worker, great team player, and just like the way he hustles. You go watch some of these guys go practice every day, as a D-lineman you go out there and you're hitting somebody every play, not like a DB where you're hitting them every five or six plays. Those guys are going on, they have to take a challenge of an offensive lineman on and then they've got to get to the ball, and just their effort is unbelievable what they've been doing.

Q. When it comes to T.J. Hall, he's battled ups and downs his first few years, but it seems like he's taken that next step into being a truly kind of pretty elite corner for you. Was there a moment in this past offseason where you could tell he's starting to piece everything together? On top of that, you lost a lot of leadership from last year's group, and it seems like T.J. has stepped into that leadership role as one of the guys you kind of needed to step up?

PHIL PARKER: Yeah, I think he's done a great job. Mid-season last year it probably wasn't going real well for him, and the way he battled through those challenges he had and the way he goes about his work. I see him all the time in our building. He's always talking football, always trying to understand, and he's always positive with the other kids, the players.

It's unique, and he is playing at a high level. It seems like every time we go out there, he's playing better than he did the day before practice and obviously the games he's playing better. I'm very pleased the way he's gone about it and the leadership that he's given to the back end.

Q. Buffington is very impressive to us, obviously has physical traits, shown up so far. How can you implement a freshman like that into the plans in November beyond what he's doing now?

PHIL PARKER: Well, obviously he's playing on a lot of special teams, and he had a chance to get on the field last week. But he's been working hard, and there's opportunities this week where he's practicing. He's taking No. 1 reps over there. We're going to rest a couple guys that are working a lot more rep-wise and special teams and regular time on the field.

But he's a guy that keeps on growing. He's going to be a very good player, and the more and more chances he has to get reps out there, it's just going to increase his chances to get out there.

I could see him going on the field. I critiqued him a little bit on the interception. He caught maybe two or three of those in practice like that, nice and clean in his hands and stuff, and that one right there, he kind of body caught it in his body a little bit, so I asked him, how come you didn't catch it like the other one? So he was a little bit off on that. But it was good for him to get in there, and it was made by somebody else who was making the other play in front of him, and then he just reacted.

It's not like I'm surprised because I've seen him do it in practice. So that's the great upside to see these kids. We have a lot of young freshmen guys that are in that category that can help us.

Q. Talking about the three linebackers who came in together, I feel like they're always going to be kind of connected is Buffington, Weisskopf and Preston Ries. Those three guys, I'm curious about their development so far. You talked about Cam already, but the other two, how they're coming along as true sophomores right now?

PHIL PARKER: Well, you see a lot more probably on special teams. The things that you guys probably don't get to see as much is the mentality, the attitude, the intensity that they play with in practice. A couple of those guys we have to kind of calm them down a little bit in the middle of practice. It's good, but we're practicing against our own guys.

But I'm very pleased the way all of them are working, and they both all have that attitude, intensity and energy and want to compete on every snap. That's hard to do. It's hard to find those guys that want to do it every single play and do it -- I hate to use the word "violent," but it is violent the way some of these guys are playing, and you just see the potential growing and growing day by day.

They're really going to be a good fit. They're going to be really good football players, and they might have a chance to help us in the next couple weeks here.

Q. I want to take you back to the last time a top-10 team came to Kinnick, Indiana. At least from your perspective it seemed like you were dialing up more zero pressure, man coverage and sending five or six guys. It seems like that's more of a high-risk, high-reward strategy against a top team. You have Oregon coming up; what did you learn from that Indiana came, and do you feel like that is -- maybe it's too basic, but do you feel like that is something defensive coordinators have to lean on is more high-risk, high-reward stuff against a really good team?

PHIL PARKER: Well, if you want me to call Dan I'll call him and let him know. But no, just going to your point, every game is different in how they're playing the game. Obviously their personnel is going to be different than the ones we've faced.

Obviously there's times and risk and reward about bringing pressure when you have to, and I'm very selective when I try to do that, and I try to plan it out but sometimes it doesn't work, and nobody really knows what I called, so I can get away with that.

But I think it all depends on how well you feel your guys are and feel comfortable with how you're playing. I think it really determines on the game day. You can have a plan, but that plan might change during the game. Can we get to the quarterback, how fast is the quarterback getting the ball out, what do they want to do, do they want to run the ball more. We have to be more precise and pick and choose when we want to come after somebody.

I think just going out there and looking at it reverse-wise, Indiana went out there, and I think they gave those guys a little bit of confusion with a young quarterback that was first year starting, I believe, so it kind of changed some of how they defended them as an Indiana defense defended Oregon's offense.

You pick up little things, but I don't think I'm going to change the way I've been working for the last I don't know how many years, but it runs out. But I'm going to be the same with how we do it.

Basically when you pull out blitzes, and Norm always used to say it's about the guy that's blitzing is the major thing. Do you have a guy to go and can he catch the guy; not chase the guy, can he catch the guy.

Scheme-wise, you try to make a free guy come free once in a while, but they're pretty smart and they can get rid of the ball fast.

Q. With Iowa going 3-0 in that three-block stretch from the first bye week to now and you've got Oregon right after, do you prefer having an extra week of preparation, whether it be to rest up some players or to start figuring out what you want to do maybe a little bit sooner against this kind of opponent? What are your personal opinions?

PHIL PARKER: Well, I'm kind of a routine guy so I'd like to have no byes and just keep playing, but there's a bye. It gives us an opportunity, it gives our kids an opportunity to rest a little bit, refresh, and I think it kind of worked out perfect. You have five, you have three, and then there's the home stretch in there. I think the guys needed it. It's a wear and tear on your body. It's a physical game. It's a wear and tear every day in the weight room. You go all the way back to January to now, these kids have been working really hard.

They have a bye week, too, so does that give them a chance to adjust what they're thinking. I don't know where their advantage comes besides they've got to travel here and we don't; we're already here.

I think it's all going to be played in between the white lines, the strategy. I think the biggest thing is how do they take advantage of this week and how do they prepare to be ready for the game. That's the most important thing. How do they process. I think we have a lot of mature kids that understand what it takes.

Let me tell you, I said it earlier, any team can beat you, and you just don't know what play is going to make the difference. So let's make sure that you focus and try to play your best on every play, whatever it is. Awareness is a big thing that I think some guys just don't understand the awareness, how fast. They could speed up the game. Some guys don't speed it up, like Minnesota wasn't going to the line that quickly and fast, fast-paced.

These guys, I can see them switching gears a little bit and trying to get us off pace not lined up, and I think they've seen that happen to some other teams already that were watching that didn't actually get lined up before the ball was snapped.

I wouldn't want you guys to go into Chicago unaware when you're in traffic at 3:00, 4:00 in Detroit or Chicago. You'd better have your head on a swivel and be ready at all times.

Q. I wanted to ask you about, continuing the Oregon discussion a little bit, I'm sure you've already looked at them. What makes them tick? They're averaging 40 points a game. They lead the big tone in explosive plays and run offense, yet they have some of the better -- they have one of the better freshmen in the country, a great tight end, quarterback is a first-year starter there. What do you see from them that makes them tick, and what are you going to have to concentrate on the most besides fundamentals, of course?

PHIL PARKER: Yeah, obviously they can execute. They have some -- you start looking at their personnel, they've got probably about three or four backs that are really good backs and highly touted backs. The receivers are a couple of young freshmen and they're playing and they can run and they're fast. So you worry about that. The two tight ends are dynamic, and a big offensive line. They have the whole package. It's well funded, if I can put it that way.

But they're very talented. The quarterback I did see -- I sat there on the sidelines watching Moore playing at Martin Luther King. He was at the same high school with Kenny Merriweather, so I've seen him before, and he's definitely a good player and he's going to be hard to defend, and the guys that he can throw it to are scary. You have to be fundamentally sound, you have to be prepared, and you have to play tough, physical -- we've got to play with 11 guys playing their best at all times.

 

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

TIM LESTER: I want to start out by really thanking the Iowa Hawkeye fans. Maybe I was just too nervous last year to realize the environment in Kinnick was quite what it is. I came from Lambeau, which is a pretty special environment, but the last two weeks it's been an unbelievable advantage -- I'm still in a box up there, and the sound comes through the windows, and what an atmosphere for our football team. It's been a lot of fun, so thank you to them.

I want to thank the seniors. We have a special group, Logan Jones, Beau Stephens, Gennings Dunker, Wetjen, Gill, Sam, Seth in the wideout room, Mark's in my room, obviously, Hayden Large, Addison Ostrenga in the tight end group. We have a great group that's kept our guys focused on just getting better each week.

Heading into the bye week, huge week for us, for the young guys, KJ Parker and Nathan McNeil, guys that need reps. Their time on task, muscle memory is a real thing, and this is our week older guys get to rest a little bit, still hopefully do some individual and get a little bit sharper on the things that we're working on, so hopefully we have a good week.

Today was a great day. Tomorrow will be another one.

But overall the group has done a great job of focusing on winning during the week. We always say you can't win on Saturday if you don't win during the week, and we've been getting after it on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and we're going to have to continue doing that because we have a lot of things to improve on, but I'm happy with just the way they're going about their business.

Q. I realize you only have four games left, but what is a realistic expectation for where this passing game can go from here over the next month? Obviously we'd love to see 350 yards, but what's realistic for you right now?

TIM LESTER: Yeah, that's a good question because it depends on who we play, what they're giving us, what our match-ups look like. I really felt going into the Indiana game we were climbing, and obviously one injury in particular slowed that up a little bit.

But I feel like we're getting back, we're getting healthy again. We're throwing the ball more accurately than we did last week.

But we have to keep at it. The plays haven't changed. We came close on a couple big ones last week. I am calling it the same way.

It also depends on how the game goes. We had two interesting games where we had a 30-point lead and with 10 minutes left in the third -- so that changes things when you get in a shootout kind of like Rutgers, it's a different style of game. So I want to see them continue to improve and run the routes with the right technique, quarterbacks getting through the progressions like they should, getting to their launch points. They're doing a really good job of getting to their launch points. We took two sacks last week, both on the quarterback. Had a chance to throw it, hesitated and ended up taking a sack when the ball could have come out. Our line was doing a great job, so he knows that.

That's the fun part about coaching Mark is you rarely have to correct him. He normally tells me what I'm about to say, like I have to hit that. You're like, yes. Because I was about to say that.

So it's fun to have a guy that really gets it and is trying to improve and understand what is we're trying to do. We have to continue to get better doing it.

Q. I think the last time we met with you, you kind of hinted that something was going on with Hecklinski, that he was on the move up the charts. What have you seen from him? How would you characterize that race at the backup position right now?

TIM LESTER: It's close. They're both young, right, but he had had a really good day. The day I talked to you, he had had a phenomenal day, and he had a great Wednesday of that first bye week.

Just understanding the offense, seeing where the ball needs to go, having the confidence. He has great anticipation. He hasn't had to use it much thus far but still has a lot to learn. Made some mistakes today but made some huge throws today, as well.

You know, his anticipation is something that is natural to him, and he needs more reps. Running the plays where we get the coverage we want, understanding the timing of it and where to put the ball. Whereas Hank, who's had a great day today, he needs to work better on when plays break down. Hank is really good when the picture is clear -- it's everything that every young quarterback goes through, and they're all a little different, and you're trying to get them to the same place.

But Heck has done a great job. He's been relaxed when he went in there. RPO decisions have been solid. I wanted him to dump the ball off on the inverted triple option, but he chose to run it in, which is fine, which is weird because I would not have bet that he would not have passed that up and took it himself.

He was pretty excited to get in the paint, so it was fun to see. But he's continuing to get better, and they're competing.

This is a big week for them. Today was a good day, and tomorrow will be another one.

Q. With such an established offensive line and probably one of the most dominant run blocking, you finally have your full plethora of running backs back. With so many different guys that you can go to in the running back room with that offensive line, does it take pressure off the pass game to progress as quickly as you'd like it to do and give some of the younger receivers a chance to breathe a little bit and actually go through the process of improving? How are you approaching that?

TIM LESTER: That's a good question. I would think every offensive coordinator in the United States would answer yes to that question. Anytime you can run the ball, it takes pressure off your pass game, period. Increases the chances of your play pass and movement game. I really feel like in the last couple weeks, Kamari has really taken steps as far as breaking tackles, falling forward.

I think we got shoestrung tackled in the first five weeks more than any team in the history of teams. If we blocked a 5-yard run, we got five. If we blocked a 4-yard run, we got four. We never blocked a 4-yard run and got 10.

We've just been starting to do that. X, and it's great to have Jaz back. When 2-yard runs or 4-yard runs become 8-yard runs, that gets you into 2nd and short. Everyone knows the playbook is wide open on 2nd and short. The answer is 100 percent yes. Obviously those guys up front are playing at a high level, so having that in your back pocket does make it a lot more fun to call an offense.

Q. From a physical perspective, physical traits perspective, has Mark changed what you're looking for in recruiting at all, and from an intangibles perspective, how rare is it to find a guy who has that desire to get better and has that leadership ability that he's shown through his eight games?

TIM LESTER: Yeah, it's extremely special, just the leadership qualities of him and when he stepped in the huddle against Wisconsin, because I wasn't sure if he was going to play, like we were going to win that game. Our guys were going to play so hard for him because he was out there gutting it out and probably not feeling great but he was out there anyway.

Recruiting-wise, I've had a lot of quarterbacks that can throw the ball that are smart, that learn how to play on time. I've had some that were quick enough to go get a 1st down. I've had some like Sully that runs like a wide receiver. I've never had one that runs like a fullback, though. This is the first. That's where it's unique because some of the -- we still use him on the edge. You saw the first touchdown. There's still things you can do because he can run well on the edges.

But probably not as dynamic as Sully was, but man, being able to run counter with your quarterback is super unique.

I don't know how easy those guys are to find. If I could find one, I'm all in. But they're definitely a unique group. It takes a lot of pressure off the offense in the red zone and on short yardage, which is a huge part. Gives us just more time to focus on his footwork, his timing. He got through his progressions a couple times, he'll be the first to tell you that we were off balance a little bit. The ball accuracy wasn't where we needed it to be, and that's something he can do. He's just getting comfortable. He's wearing a brace on his front knee now, which it's different to throw with that thing on. He's getting more comfortable with it.

I think it's just going to continue to get better.

Q. Curious about with Jeremy, he's only really been here for a few months. How have you seen him progress, I guess, from when he first got here to this point?

TIM LESTER: Really, I think one of the things that's unique about him is his timing. He gets rid of the ball quick now. He doesn't have to get his feet set. He can just blink and the ball is gone, which is different than Mark. Mark gets his feet set, gets it underneath him, so it takes him sometimes a little bit longer.

The biggest thing for him was time on task and understanding the play and where we're trying to hit it because once he understands the play, then his skills really show. Early on he was trying to run that play, the timing of the play, what he's looking at, what kind of RPO is it, what kind of check is it, run check wise. He had a couple run checks in the game I was proud of him, it's not something I think he's done a ton.

That's the biggest thing is the more he's around it, the more he understands where we're going and why we're going there and the timing of the whole thing, he's got an unbelievable hard count, he got them to jump on the first play.

He's starting to get comfortable with it, and then his skills can start showing you even more because he can start using them within the offensive structure, right.

That was his biggest thing is how long can he be around it because what he did in high school and at Wake is a lot different than here, so he's embraced it. He made a check out there today that was awesome. I don't think anybody that was in there with him knew the check, but it was the right check. He had to tell everybody what to do to get the play off, but it was impressive.

He's really coming along, which has been fun to see.

Q. When you came up with the concept here of the mid-zone run and you explained it to, I'm sure, Kirk and also to George and Ladell at the time, did you plan on teaching it to them for them to extend it to teach it to whether it was George, the linemen or Ladell or Omar to the running backs, or did you explain the concepts and let George decide, okay, this is what our aiming points are going to be, or did you work with them on that? How did that all come together?

TIM LESTER: It was a crazy couple months; I can tell you that. What a unique opportunity to come in here and work at a place like this with an offensive line like this with some tight ends and running backs when it comes to the run game.

But I was the only one that knew it. Obviously Coach had been around a similar system, so they knew it a little bit, but I had to teach everybody everything. So we sat in that staff room for oh, my Lord, hours on end, and I tried to teach them as much as I could as if I was the O-line coach, as if I was the tight end coach and the wide out coach.

It was long, and then we went through spring ball and we actually did install meetings my first spring. I ran them so we were all together, which doesn't happen anymore. We put a play in, Abdul takes a type, we all go our separate ways to really detail it up. But the first spring it was just me in a room trying to hit everybody at the same time so they could hear from one voice.

Then as soon as spring ended, we went up to Green Bay because they were ready to go ask the pros. I couldn't get that deep like Luke Butkus or some of those guys. They get into it. I think we had better questions by that point because we had already kind of gone 15 practices against our defense. Bud had a lot of good questions. I hate when they spin away, like what angle do you have them take on this backside cutoff, stuff like that.

It was really just all of us in a room communicating about what they've done. We had tons of film from all different places. A lot of it was from our system. But I've been running this run scheme for a bit, so I had some old Division III film I showed them as far as our aiming points and why I liked the aiming points the way they are.

Then you explained it to Dunk, and Dunk was like, I get to go through that guy? Yeah. He's like, this is awesome. I'm like, yeah, you don't have to position block him, go through him. So that actually fits him beautifully, this run scheme, at least the mid-zone does.

So yeah, it started off as a group. I think I did the best I could before we went up to Green Bay, and we made little adjustments. I have two unbelievable offensive line coaches here. George has done a phenomenal job getting that group to where it is now, and of course Coach Ferentz is sitting at the end of the table, so it's pretty unique to be sitting in a room with guys with that much knowledge in the run game, and they've added things to it, which has been good, so it's been fun for two seasons to -- you have to stay ahead of the curve because guys are doing different things and it seems like sometimes we see adjustments to every defense for our outside zone scheme because you don't see a lot of it.

So you kind of prepare for one front and then you get this totally safety standing in the middle of the box last week, which they had never shown, but there's some new stuff we have to adjust to on the fly, and we've just been together long enough that we're doing a better job of making the adjustments, in game, too, because we are seeing -- not every day, but we are seeing some unique stuff because those five guys up front and those tight ends, they're blocking at a pretty high level right now.

Q. Two-parter on Mark: In some rewatches, it kind of seems like his throws that he misses are overthrows maybe a little bit late. How do you adjust to that? Am I correct when I say that?

TIM LESTER: Sometimes, yes.

Q. The second part, I know you said you offered the opportunity to check into plays last year, didn't really happen. Is that gratifying for you to see Mark do that, and maybe why does he have the confidence --

TIM LESTER: You saw him in and out of a ton this weekend. He went into one, into the one and then reracked the other one. I'm like, we just went into a play, out of a play, back into a play. Him and No. 3, they were literally staring at each other, like what are you going to do. He'd back up and he would go like this and then he'd come down and he'd do this, so we can go all day. He ended up picking the right one because the guy spun to the middle and we ran counter.

We had a deceptive play that he got out of and then turned it back on, and I wish he would have just stayed out of it because the safety was messing with him and the safety won that one.

But yeah, it's been a lot of fun to watch his knowledge of the run game and being in control -- it started at Rutgers; he was on it. It doesn't mean you're going to gash him when you run at their weakness, but the more you do it, when you hit it, you're going to hit it. Two-yard runs or 4-yard runs, he just was able to get us into plays.

Give credit to everybody when you're calling two plays in the huddle. Those guys are all dialed into which way when you're going on, off, to rerack it. So that part is fun.

As far as the passing game, yeah, the biggest thing is he sailed two corner routes, kind of locked out of his front knee. He has to balance that front knee out. He's leading his back hip really well right now because that's the healthy one. He's actually playing lower, which I like. He has a ton of power. We have to control that front leg. He's getting more and more comfortable with the -- you have to twist. You have to rotate through that thing. When he gets it locked out, it sails. He has such a strong arm, it never comes down, it just keeps going. I think one of those corner routes might have landed in the stands, was like two weeks ago.

Then when he bends it too much, then he ends up being low. So he has kind of a low and high thing going on right now, which we can fix. It's just time on task.

These are things that weren't issues pre, and they're showing up a couple times now, and as soon as he sees it, we talk about it, we drill it, and it's gone. I'm kind of hoping that's the same process that we go through with this.

But then he throws some great ones. He's scrambling, he's using his legs. That 3rd down was -- they played zone, he had to progress through, got out, phase 2, phase 3, and then found Jacob Gill, did a great job with the scramble, plus vertical, there's one on top of him, snap back, 1st down, that's the first time in seven years since I've been here. Even though we've been practicing scramble drill trying to get better at it.

There's some things that are really coming along, and there's some things that we've got to continue to work on.

Q. Just wanted to ask about what Warren and Billy have brought to their roles, particularly Warren and his cut-offs and what they do to prep every week.

TIM LESTER: It's awesome. I just came out of the meeting. We've been in there for about an hour and a half, of just Billy and Warren's presentation. They've been watching Oregon since last Wednesday, and so they summarize everything we're going to see, they make cut-ups, we all sit and watch together, and we'll start game planning probably tomorrow on it.

But having someone two or three days ahead -- it's unbelievable -- like last year we'd start watching on Sunday night and then you'd have to put a game plan together which you've only watched like an hour or two of film, which feels horrible inside, and then you start -- really you start getting settled with the defense. I was the same way as a quarterback. It got to the point on Tuesday and Wednesday if I closed my eyes, all I saw was this defense, and I knew the number in 9 and 11 and 42. I knew where everybody was. That's the only thing that was in my head. The problem is by that time our week of practice was over, and it's like, do you really want to put one play in that you think is going to be really good.

So they've been able to speed all of us up by having all that information on day one. They have their ideas out there that have obviously been thought through many, many times from two really smart dudes. It's helped us. I think it's helped the scheme. We've been able to add our things to it and make adjustments to tie plays together. They actually meet before they present where they can tie the run and the pass together, the shifts, the motions to make plays look like plays and then I'll normally add a couple more things.

It's been working how I was hoping it would work, and they've done a phenomenal job. It's great to have Warren in the room because when we're talking about if something comes up or have they ever done this blitz with that coverage behind, if I don't know it, I can just turn to him and get the answer immediately.

Our room, it's a good room. It's great to have them in there.

Q. I wanted to ask about Reece getting back into the mix now that he had that weird injury two days before the first game of the year --

TIM LESTER: Weird is right.

Q. Obviously his height is a major advantage, particularly with this receiving room. How have you seen him get back into the swing of things through these three games?

TIM LESTER: Yeah, that injury hurt him. It's hard. He's worked hard to become a good receiver, right, and for some reason, he's a slow starter, so last spring, first two weeks of spring, he was getting his feet wet, and he wasn't getting separation. Then by the end of spring he was getting after people.

Then this training camp, same thing. First couple weeks he did not really stand out, and then man, he really hit it, and then he had the injury.

So he came back two weeks ago, and Coach Bud is all fired up. I'm like, it's going to be a week or two to get him back, to get him back-back, just to get your feet wet and the game slows down a little bit.

He does an unbelievable job in the blocking department. Like just having a guy, you're like, hey, throw it up. Great job by Mark going through the progression. We knew we had one-on-one back there, he put it up high and let him go make a play. Hopefully that's one of many.

I remember last year at Michigan State he had a dig that we kind of threw behind him and over, and then we threw him up a one-on-one, and he made a play, and I was like, here it is, like this is a guy. Then after that game is when we found out he was hurt and out for the rest of the year.

So I'm really hoping for his sake -- he's worked so hard to get to this point, that he can just start stacking games together because it's great to have that height.

Dayton is another guy that's long that can go. Talk about the young guys, KJ Parker is a guy who's super dynamic. You finally got to see it, which is good, on special teams, which is huge, and he's just going to continue to get better and better.

The young guys are -- and then they have the four seniors in the room that know what they're doing and they all bring their own -- something different to the table. But they don't bring height to the table, and the two young guys do.

It was great to see him go out there and make a play, and hopefully that's one of many.

Q. I wanted to ask about Logan Jones who just got honored with a national recognition today. He's a guy who came back in this room this year with lots of experience already. Talk about how much that helps having a guy like that stepping in already with some experience and leadership ability, how much that helps the rest of that offensive line room.

TIM LESTER: I mean, I can't even think of the right word. For a center to have that much experience -- we put a lot on him, and what he's doing athletically up front for us and identifying fronts is really special, but what he does for the protections -- I don't know if I'd say Mark is in charge. I always say the quarterback is in charge, but we let our center do a ton, and Mark can trump if he needs to and say I'm going to overtake this, I see something different, but it's not like you ever have to do with that LoJo. He's on it. He sees all the multiple fronts. He gets us where we need to be, communicates with the quarterback and the running back to let them know what we're doing. That part is pretty special, and what he's doing post-snap, coming off the ball, climbing to the second level. We ran that reverse last week just so he could get out and run in front. He told me, if I'm going back in, I want to run the reverse. I said, we'll run it first play. Sure enough, he got out in front -- he loves that play because he gets to pull. Centers don't get to pull much and get in space, but he wanted it, and it's his favorite play.

But yeah, what he's doing for the whole group is really special. He's like the quarterback out there. You have Mark and LoJo in the middle and they're making a lot of decisions for you, you've got to feel pretty good about us getting into the right call at the right time, especially with some of the multiple fronts we're seeing. He's on it, he's making calls, and really making it easier for our offense to have success.

Q. I wanted to ask about the first drive last Saturday against Minnesota, big topic of conversation, why does Kirk always take the ball first. You watch any football broadcasts and the play-by-play broadcaster will say, well, here come the scripted plays. I'm curious, take me up in the booth; is there really 15, 20 plays you have that you know you want to run first? Obviously you didn't have that same success on the opening drive against Penn State; what changed on this one? What did you learn from this opening drive that you can take forward into the final four games?

TIM LESTER: Hmm, that's a good question. It was definitely scripted. That's the easy answer. Normally I've had as low as 11 and up to 18. It really depends how many slots I have left on my call sheet. I think last week it was like 15, 16.

Now, those are 1st and 2nd down calls. Everyone is different depending on what we're trying to see. There's certain times I want to see if they have an unbalanced check. I have to get that done in the first 10. I want to see in 11 or 12 in certain formations how they're going to play us. Definitely want to move the pocket as fast as possible. Want to get the D-line, start to get them tired as fast as I can, try to get them sideline to sideline.

So there's a lot of different things that go into that. But last week I just thought our guys did a great job executing. The first play we ran that play for a reason. We wanted to see what the Will linebacker did, we wanted to send a message to them that if they tried to fit this certain run play that way, you couldn't, and Mark pulled it, they covered him, and Mark ran for eight yards, which we knew if they covered it well, he'd be free to go get some yards.

The Wej screen was -- obviously we've been running that play fairly well. Gets harder and harder to hide him, but he's starting to become better, a better wide receiver, which is fun. But we ran that same play last week and we ran the bubble to him, so this time we brought him back underneath. The lineman did an unbelievable job of getting downfield.

But I come off that script on 3rd down in the red zone, so I think of that first 15, on that first drive we probably used -- you guys probably know how many plays it was. It goes fast for me up there. Probably we used six of them, six or seven, and then we go to the 3rd down, I go to the 3rd down calls, we hit the 25-yard line, I'm in a different box and I go back to it.

There was a game last year, it was Minnesota last year, I think I had like 20 openers, and I didn't even get -- at halftime I wasn't done with them because you end up in the red zone and you're not even in the openers. It's just open field, first 10, first 15, whatever it is.

Nothing better than scoring on the first drive. Guys did a good job -- that 3rd down was huge. I wish we would have hit the play pass because we felt pretty solid about that thing. We just didn't execute it well enough.

I think our guys are going to get better and better. Last year we deferred a lot. I know Coach likes to take the ball, and it's exciting for us because especially when you're playing a team that you know they're going to defer. There's like a 95 percent chance we're taking the ball. Like we know it going in. I think our guys are excited about it, and we've just got to come out and be focused right away and come off the ball, and I think we did a good job of that last week.

 

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