Kirk Ferentz News Conference Transcript | Oct. 20

KIRK FERENTZ: Good to come off the bye week. It was a good mix, last week of giving us a chance to work the younger players, also keep the older guys, the guys with reps a little bit, keep them active but also spell them a little bit and get them going. Thought we had a good balance and good time away as well. Everybody got a chance to get a little break and recharge and all that kind of stuff.

As we sit here right now, we're exactly halfway through the season. It's kind of interesting. Five straight weeks of normal game weeks, then a short week, and we've got the same thing as we get started here moving ahead, and certainly a lot of work to do as we keep pushing forward here.

Captains will be the same four: Montgomery, Lutmer, Lee, and Ostrenga. Tyler Brown is still out. He's going to be out for a while. Trent Wilson has a lower leg injury. I don't think it's too serious. I don't know if he'll be ready this week, a backup linemen.

Moving into this week's game. Minnesota are 2-1, just like we are, in Big Ten play. Good football team. Also, they're coming off a bye, so a little bit unusual that way.

They're a veteran team. I think they have nine seniors on the defense. Then offensively it's basically all seniors and juniors with a couple of exceptions, but a veteran team, big team, physical team, and very well-coached. They play extremely hard. We'll have our work cut out.

Defensively, veteran, good safety play. Those guys are really active in their scheme, good linebackers, do a good job covering a lot of ground. Then their veterans are very effective up front, big guys that can rush the passer and also play the run. Good group there.

Quarterback's a veteran player. I think this is his third year straight playing. It feels like he's been there quite a while. Really good football player, got good receivers, I think two very good backs, and a good group of tight ends. Their offensive line is big. I know they're getting Joe Moore midseason honors as well.

Good group of specialists. The punter and kicker are both seniors. The snapper is the younger guy. They have a veteran senior punt returner and a true freshman, I believe, kick returner who's a really dangerous player too.

They're good in every area. They really are. They're very well-coached, active, play hard. It's going to be a tough game for us up there. Certainly playing on the road, it's a big part of it. Playing on the road in a Big Ten game is always a challenge, and obviously you have a trophy involved too, and that always makes it more meaningful in Big Ten competition.

We know we have a challenge on our hands, and still working hard to try to get ready for that. Got another day of preparation, and then close out the week as we go from there.

Kid Captain this week, we have 14-year-old Kaelyn O'Brien from Jesup. She'll be the person we're going to honor this week. Three years ago she woke up and basically couldn't talk and had trouble walking. Parents took her to the hospital, local hospital, they brought her down to the Stead Family Hospital and discovered she had a mass on her lung. Very unfortunate there. It's a rare complication of Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Long story short, they did chemo on her, and she's done a good job coming back. Had to relearn a lot of things she was doing earlier, and the biggest thing is the cancer is in remission now. She's doing really well, active in sports and doing a great job. Coincidentally has a birthday coming up on Saturday as well. So hopefully we can do that justice. It will be great to have her on our minds certainly.

Going back to Saturday's challenge, I think anybody who's paying attention last week, more so than ever, I think in college football it's week to week. That's really the challenge is trying to get ready every week. We have six Big Ten games left, and you look around our conference, clearly anybody can beat anybody. What we need to be doing is really focusing on what we're doing at this point.

I think we've done some good things certainly in the first six weeks, but we have a lot of room for growth right now, and that's going to be necessary if we're going to do a good job this Saturday, and that's really where our focus is right now.

Q. I think we know how much equity matters to you within the program, the day-by-day work. You have two quarterbacks that have gone on the road in tough environments and pulled out wins. Whoever you go with at quarterback on Saturday, how do you balance continuing to instill confidence in them but also understanding that, as you've mentioned, you have depth at quarterback. I don't want to use the phrase is the leash going to be shorter if they don't perform, but how do you kind of maintain that balance of instilling confidence and maybe looking to make a change?

KIRK FERENTZ: We'll handle that as we go. Did I put up the depth chart? So Hecklinski will be our starter Saturday.

Since the start of the season, it's been even. What's good for us is they've both done good jobs and both won on the road in tough circumstances. So that gives us a lot of encouragement. I think we have two good quarterbacks, which a couple years ago we couldn't say that.

With all due respect to the guys that have been playing, but we have guys that have proven they're able to go out and do some good things. Like our team, I think both of them have a lot of upside. So it's kind of exciting.

We'll just play it as it comes. It's good to know you have two guys that have game experience, and not only game experience, but positive game experience. I feel like our team is really confident in both guys.

Q. How have you seen this offensive line progress over the last six weeks, and how did they use that bye week to develop even more chemistry down the rest of the stretch?

KIRK FERENTZ: The biggest thing for them last week was not to have any contact. These guys work pretty hard for six weeks, and obviously four weeks before that, so it's really ten straight weeks of them going pretty good and seen them progress each and every week.

I know there was some concern a couple weeks ago about our run game and all that stuff, but it's going to be like everything. It's going to go up and down during the course of a season. I think you have to be careful about jumping to conclusions.

Again, we're pretty young in terms of game experience as a team, and the line's the same way. We have two guys that were one-year starters, and the other guys really had no significant game experience coming in. The good news there is if we're doing things right, we'll improve. But who you play and the competition, what they choose to do against you all factors into that.

Pleased with the progress so far. Again, like our whole team, I think if we're doing things right, we'll keep getting better. That's going to obviously help our cause if we'll do that.

Q. I want to clarify this for a second. I remember at the beginning of the season you talked about this is going to be more of a first at-bat type deal rather than starting. Have we returned to that point? How do you guys want to manage getting both of them on the field just knowing that Lester had said that he expects to see both Hecklinski and Brown take some pretty significant and meaningful snaps this part of the year?

KIRK FERENTZ: We'll play it as it comes. The number one thing we're trying to do right now is when we take the field, we're going to try to win the game. That's what you practice for and work for, going back to January.

We'll just play it by the situation, but our plan right now is to start Jeremy and just see where things go. Again, it's a good feeling to know we have two guys that have proven themselves when they've been out there. Neither of them have played ten years either. There's a lot out there to be had. So we'll just play it by ear.

Again, we feel really good about both. Obviously you can only start one. It's not like you've got two guards, left guard, right guard. We have to play one out there. I wasn't trying to be coy with the either/or, but for clarification, Jeremy will start, and we'll kind of go from there.

Q. What is it that led you guys to the decision to start Jeremy? And then also is Hank at 100 percent? How is he doing health-wise?

KIRK FERENTZ: Hank is 100 percent. He could have played the last game, emergency, but I don't think it was a smart play to play him, and probably would have -- not endangered him or they wouldn't have cleared him, but probably would have set him back for a while. He's perfectly healthy. A little sore last week, and having that bye week came at a good time.

As a determining factor, it's kind of like the first time. It's not a coin toss, but it's awfully close. Both guys, you can make an argument either way that makes sense. We just decided that was the best thing at this time to do, and we'll just keep playing forward here.

Q. I'll get off the quarterback topic for you.

KIRK FERENTZ: Although it's a lot better than a couple years ago. Was thinking about when we went to UCLA, and the official said your third quarterback is number whatever it was, and I nodded like, yeah, I got it. Got off the field, and I'm like who the heck is that? It was Kyler Gerardy just for the record. A freshman defensive back was our third team quarterback.

It's not funny, but it's funny.

Q. Some of the younger players got more reps and work. Did anybody kind of jump out at you in this last week that maybe you could utilize the last six games of the year?

KIRK FERENTZ: We'll see. That's one thing I told them, tried to share with our guys, we have guys sitting in the room right now that are going to be working with pads on and getting some good work in that probably will be playing somewhere here in the next six weeks.

I don't know who they are, injuries and stuff like that typically dictate that, but you just never know. Especially with reduced rosters, rosters are a little tighter now and less flexibility. So everybody's got to be ready.

No, pleased with the younger guys and the way they're working and what they're doing. See some really good things there, but I don't know if there's anybody that's going to be like, oh, boy, a big surprise for us. It would be good if it happens. We'll see how it goes.

Q. Why did you decide on Hecklinski?

KIRK FERENTZ: It is really close. Jeremy played really well last time out, but then do you discount a quarterback bringing us back for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter in a tough, hostile environment against a very good defensive football team?

You can build a case for both players because they're both really good guys. They're both, I think, potentially really good quarterbacks. We've seen our team have success with both guys.

At this given point, we just feel like it's the best thing to do forward, but we have confidence we have two really good players there.

Q. When did you decide it?

KIRK FERENTZ: We had some discussion last week, but there was no pressure to make a decision, so no need to. At some point you have to communicate with the team what we're going to do. The players involved, basically. Team is good either way. They're ready to go.

Q. The defensive line, a lot of turnover from last year to this year, but it seems like they started to figure some things out between Ohio State and Washington. How much of that is maybe the blitz from the linebackers because I know Cam and Jayden and Preston Ries have been really effective. How much does that impact what, say, like a Bryce Hawthorne is able to do now as compared to earlier on in the season?

KIRK FERENTZ: That's a great point right there at the end. Two things I would just say. It's like the offensive line and like some other positions too where we're clearly a work in progress. We're not where we want to be yet, but we're making it work and getting some things done, but we're not there yet.

Then you supplement it with the linebackers, just a way to give you a little bit more octane out there without going out and recruiting new players or bringing somebody off the streets, which you can't do in college football. So I think we're taking what we've got and really trying to be smart with it, and I think the guys have done a great job with that.

Bryce is a good example. Last year Bryce was a good player. Right now he's playing at a really high level. I can't remember how many snaps he had last year, about 280, 300, something like that, as opposed to like 600. This year he'll be at 600 probably when it's all said and done, just because he is a veteran player and he can do that now. He's playing more decisively with a lot more confidence year two. That's the beauty of experience, which we're badly lacking at some other spots.

But we're racing against the clock here, and that's the biggest goal for all of us with all the guys that haven't been playing a lot of reps. Hopefully we'll keep pushing forward here.

Q. You've talked in the past about why you like to receive the opening kickoff, it's something you can control. You reasonably assume the other team is going to want to kick. How much of that equation is that when your offense goes out there, they're the one with the ball, they can kind of dictate things and set a tone a little easier than maybe a defense can set the tone when they're trying to react to what the offense is doing?

KIRK FERENTZ: We've chased our tails a little bit on this one as a staff and had some discussion in the first half of the season, in one particular game about maybe we considered doing the other. Long story short, we lost the toss. The other team deferred, so we ended up getting the ball. So it was a moot point.

Over the course of the summer, somebody came up with some evidence that actually documented why it's good to take the ball right off the bat, and it's a long story how it all came about and all that kind of stuff, not to bore you too much.

The bottom line was this: The numbers are fairly even, but in close games decided by under a touchdown, the percentage went up a little bit. It all kind of goes back 20-some years ago. That's just kind of my gut thing is let's take the ball and go. We were doing that before we could even make a first down, so it probably wasn't very smart then.

Almost more of an attitude setter a little bit. No real good scientific evidence for you, but we'll see what happens. We'll still play it by ear.

I will give you one distinct memory, which still haunts me. 2003, Michigan State, we're playing up in East Lansing. It's a significant wind. So we kick it, I think it was Smoker drove it 80 yards, burned about nine minutes off the clock. So the burnt clock into the wind, touchdown, 7-0, we're losing and get the ball with six minutes left in the first quarter with the wind. We probably went three and out, I can't remember that part of it.

will counter and say in '08 kicking the ball to Penn State was smart because we got the ball back on the 30 and scored about two plays later. You know, it's one of those games. I clearly don't know what the hell we're doing on this stuff.

(Laughter).

Anyway, I can't document it. I wish I could.

Q. What kind of message do you send to your players this week when you talk to them about evaluating Minnesota because at their best, when they played at Washington, they played really good. Against Michigan they played really good and then Purdue they could not have played worse.

KIRK FERENTZ: Right.

Q. Also, when they went to Purdue, you could tell there was almost an it's just Purdue kind of attitude with the way they played. What kind of message do you tell them and how they evaluate the film and the results in order to prepare them for this game?

KIRK FERENTZ: Two thoughts on that then I'll answer your question. One side thought, the just Purdue thing, which is kind of a commentary on last weekend. When my kids were all younger, it's the old -- I was guilty of the same thing when I was a little kid. When you play Little League games, right? The Cubs beat the Tigers, and then the Tigers beat the Reds, hey, we beat the Tigers, so we'll naturally beat this team, and you end up losing by 10 runs. That kind of thinking gets you beat.

What I was going to say about Purdue, last year they got my attention. When I watched them on film, I know their record wasn't good, but I saw a team that had the potential of becoming good because of the way Coach Odom does a really nice job, must have a really good staff there because they look like a good outfit and they looked really good against Minnesota. They played very well and executed very well. They're a well coached team.

Then the bigger picture is last weekend is a great illustration, if anyone is paying attention -- I'm thinking more about our players than everybody else -- but it's just week to week because you can't make it make sense if you do comparative scores.

The moral of the story is you had better be ready this Saturday and just worry about this Saturday. I know the whole world wants to worry about what's out there, and we're really starting to fuel that fire now because you've got the playoff shows coming out sometime in the next four weeks, I'm sure, and all the chatter is about what's going to happen in December.

The best advice I can give our guys is let's just worry about Saturday because we'll have our hands full up there. We've seen them play good football, like that Washington game, like you go right down the list. That's what we've got to get ready for.

Q. I looked it up, I couldn't figure out who said it, but I feel like you hear it on TV all the time, like announcers will say, oh, you can only get up for three games a year emotionally. Have you heard that before? You know what I'm talking about?

KIRK FERENTZ: I heard it this morning on the radio, not the TV. Don't tell Dan Gable that, don't tell Bill Russell that, Michael Jordan that. I don't think they'd buy that strategy, but go ahead.

Q. The reason I ask is you would expect Minnesota to get the quote, unquote, best shot after what happened recently and your record against P.J. and vice versa. You guys' approach is obviously very steady. What are your thoughts on that emotional aspect to a game like this?

KIRK FERENTZ: One observation, it seems like we're always on the -- every game, wherever we go -- I'm thinking about Rutgers two years ago, it was a blackout. Maryland, that one night game out there on a Friday, it was going to be whatever it was. How are we always the targets of those games? I don't understand it.

Yeah, it's pretty simple. I try to assure our players that we have 12 games, and everybody has the same opportunity. In this case, ironically, both of us had a bye week. So we had 13 days to get ready. So we both have the same amount of time, same amount to get ready.

I would like to think for a college athlete or a coach, you've got 360-plus days in the year. You've only got 12 where you're going to get a chance to compete. If it's baseball of 162, I'd buy that argument a little bit better, but our opportunities are so limited. So if you can't get ready to play for those 12, shame on you, you probably should be doing something else. That's how I look at it.

The objective of each and every week is to be at your best. That's the only way to do things. Again, you think about any great competitors, I just cherry-picked a couple of my favorites, but that has to be your mindset.

Then the other part is understand that you have to be your best. I had a great time last week watching some baseball games, watching -- I'm a certified Brewer fan now. I'll join the fan club if they have one, send in my 10 bucks, but they're fun to watch. They came up short how many years in a row? Three, something like that? Didn't seem to bother them. They just kept playing, and they're doing a helluva job right now.

Both those teams, you can say that about both of them. They're thinking right and staying focused on what's in front of them.

Q. Was curious with Xavier Styles, how you've seen him kind of develop since he got on campus and what he did to earn that starting opportunity? Also, I know you said Tyler Brown is out. Styles, do you expect him to start again versus Minnesota?

KIRK FERENTZ: Kind of ties in with what Tom asked earlier about who's going to -- we've liked Xavier. Didn't think he was ready. Anyway, with Tyler out, we have to find an answer. He and Anthony have both been competing.

We just made that decision that last game to throw him in there and see what he'd do. He really flashed at some good things. Some detail work to take care of, which is what you'd expect any time a new player goes in. He's only been here however many months, ten months on campus, so he's still has some finer things.

His knowledge base compared to like Zach Lutmer's is a little bit different. Like his attitude and the way he runs around. He made a good showing for himself that first time out, so we'll keep building on that. We're going to keep working with Anthony too because he's going to be a good player.

The thing that both those guys are fighting is newness to the system and just all the intricate details. Luckily, we've got Zach back there to help quarterback some stuff and carry some of that burden. We liked what we saw. Just even standing on the sidelines a couple weeks ago, just him flashing around, you can just get a feel sometimes, like this guy is trying to make some plays and get involved and be active. Be curious to see where it goes. It's all in front of him right now. Same thing with Anthony. He'll get his chance.

Q. I'm sorry to go back to the quarterback, but when you guys are making that decision for Jeremy to start, you can make the argument that you guys had 263 yards rushing the ball against Washington. Hank really hasn't -- the offense, the rushing offense wasn't there. I guess how do you kind of -- when you're having those conversations, how do you kind of take everything into context and make a decision? Like how do you kind of prioritize the what-ifs versus what's actually out there on tape?

KIRK FERENTZ: Again, like a lot of stuff doesn't matter to me. I do, every week I look at the turnover ratio stuff, and I look at penalties. I look at those two things for the conference and obviously us.

Outside of that, it's kind of like that. Then we may pick some stuff out, like this team against that team, what it will look like, do that a lot. In terms of those big numbers, those have more validity in November, but I'm just going to make a prediction. Some of the teams we run the ball against, they're probably going to end up in pretty good shape defensively up front, and you're probably going to have a hard time finding people to run the ball against them too.

You have to weigh and balance all that stuff. Jeremy didn't play a flawless game last time out, but it was a pretty clean game. Then I go back to what I said earlier. Could he have done what Hank did at Michigan? We'll never know. That's what the truth is. The good news is both of them have done really well with their opportunities. I'm not sure there is a right answer. The only way for us to find out is for us to push forward right now.

I live in the belief that maybe fantasy football, but I think we'll be successful with either guy in there. We'll play it out and see how it all goes. That's assuming everybody else is doing their job, too. It's more than just the quarterback. Everybody has to help him out. It certainly helps us if we have a good run game.

You go back to whatever it was when we did have a good run game and Hank was in there. It all kind of balances itself out, and we'll know more at the end of the season.

Q. I wanted to ask about Zach Lutmer. I know he had some issues with health coming out of camp, not a 100 percent. He shared with us today that he's feeling significantly better. How much do you think -- and he'd probably agree with me when I say that he probably didn't play to his standard so far this year in the first half of the year. How much does health help him get back to that? And he also mentioned overthinking plays. So I guess how do those two things come together and help your defense perform better because he's one of the better defensive backs in the Big Ten.

KIRK FERENTZ: I have a smart friend who sends me stuff to read every now and then. One of them was about a guy who's a dove hunter. I know nothing about it, but he's really proficient about it. Somebody went up to him, do you shoot with one eye or two eyes? One eye open or two eyes open, and the guy had never thought about it. He started thinking about it, and he couldn't shoot a dove anymore, which I wouldn't even know how to start to thinking about shooting a dove.

But the thing is sometimes you do overthink. It happens to certain football players, especially when they're looking to press a little bit. We're all striving to be as perfect as you can in your performance, but you can't squeeze the bat, I guess, is the best way I can put it. You have to have a little confidence.

Then part of that is Zach was probably over -- or a little bit not as experienced maybe as we've been. So I think he was maybe overcompensating, trying to do a little too much sometimes mentally. I think sometimes good players, and especially veteran players, start to feel like I have to be perfect on everything, and you can't be. So there's a fine balance you have to find there.

Then the other part is the physical factor. He does so much -- on special teams, defensively -- and he's in there all the time. So he's one of those guys you do have to watch real closely and pull him back because he wants to go. He cramped up in the one game. I think that's part of both. I think it's him going hard plus putting the pressure on himself to be the best he can be.

Yeah, I think he's in a really good place physically right now. I think he's been playing really well anyway. Hopefully his best football is out in front of him. We certainly are going to need him. We really count on him. He's a great leader and a great young guy.

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