Well folks, it’s week 4 and the Hawkeyes are headed on the road to face the Michigan Wolverines. Are the Wolverines good? Are they bad? Nobody knows! But the fact that the game is at the Big House does make things significantly more challenging for a relatively unproven squad.
It’s an important week, not only in that the Wolverines — or if nothing else, the environment of playing Michigan at the Big House — will be quite different for this Iowa team than playing Iowa State at home. It’s especially
significant as it will also mark the first time this year that we’ll see Hank Brown as the designated QB1 for the entire game. Yes, we saw him the entire time against Iowa State as well, but now he’s actually earned the title. So, how many incompletions are allowed before we start calling for Heck to step in?
I kid, I kid…or do I?
Jokes aside, I do think Brown is the correct choice at this point in the season to be top dog. The offense just never looked as fluid when Hecklinski was in, no matter if it was first or second stringers. Brown might continue to struggle with the downfield shots, but he has yet to make a huge mistake under center and is helping his team put points on the board on a consistent basis, so that’s good enough for the job in my book.
Anyways, you’re not here for my opinion, you’re here for my opinions about the opinions of head coach Kirk Ferentz from his weekly press conference, so let’s get into that, shall we? Check out the full transcript HERE and my observations below.
Let’s start with injury news:
KIRK FERENTZ: On the injury front, things are looking fairly optimistic. Everybody appears to be working their way back. Kamari and LJ (running backs) and DJ (tight end).
We are hoping to get them back and see where that goes, but we’ll know by the end of the week.
That sounds positive! Especially on the Kamari Moulton front. Iowa will really need to get the run game going if it wants to control the game against Michigan, and Moulton is the best option for that. Maybe not the end of the world if he doesn’t play, but he’s certainly someone you want to see play if he can.
On the run game note:
Q. In a game like this that’s supposed to be really physical, how important is it for you guys to establish the run early and not just in terms of successful runs, but just showing the defense that you’re still willing to do it throughout the game?
KIRK FERENTZ: We have to be in the way we function. It’s going to be tough for us to be a good football team if we can’t run the ball, but that being said, like I’ve said before, anybody can take the one run away if that’s what they choose to do, so you better have a counter to it. Unless you’re an option team, you better be able to throw it a little bit effectively, too.
The challenge is their coverage is tight, and it’s tough, very competitive, play a lot of man coverage. They stay with you, so we are going to have to be working hard to get open. Then we have to throw and catch, and you have to protect first, which again, these guys are very aggressive up front.
A mixture of guys or guys on the edge look like pro guys, and guys inside, they’re kind of built like a pro defense. Quick, aggressive guys on the outside and big, strong guys inside. Those guys inside are really, really athletic, too, so it’s going to be a challenge for us.
I’ve been really pleased with how many passes Tim Lester has been calling on first down, but an Iowa team under Kirk Ferentz is always going to need a solid performance from the run game in order to take care of business against good teams. The team’s performance against Iowa State will not cut it against Michigan. Everyone will need to on top of their game, and this is where you really need Moulton available and at full capacity if you can. If this turns into a game that Iowa has to win through the air, I feel better about it than I have in the past, but it’s still wouldn’t inspire a bunch of confidence, either — the team just isn’t built that way.
Now let’s talk QB:
Q. Kind of a two-parter about Hank. You obviously removed the “or” on the depth chart between him and Hecklinski. What gives you that vote of confidence going into a big game like this on the road for a first-time starter? How do you prepare him to play in front of 107,000 people that are cheering against him?
KIRK FERENTZ: First of all, it’s like every other position. We evaluate it day by day, week by week. You guys have seen the game production from all of our guys out there. We see them every day, so that’s a little bit different perspective.
Again, I just can’t emphasize enough, both quarterbacks have really done a good job. Hank has played well enough to be the starter, and that’s kind of how it worked out, but again, it’s a long road. Got to be ready for everything.
Then preparation, whether it be for him — he’s probably the most critical because he plays the position that impacts a lot of things and has got a lot on his plate.
But yeah, one thing about playing in this conference, you’re going to be in a really tough environment this week. We’ve got several of them in our conference that are really challenging. I’d say all of them are really. They all present their different opportunities and challenges.
So all you can do is pump the crowd noise like everybody else does, but it’s still not quite the same. What you can’t duplicate is the emotions that take place. When things are going against you, it gets really crazy. When it goes the other way, it can be a good thing.
But try to remind our guys, it’s not noisy every snap typically, but when it is, you got to really be wired in and concentrate. Again, it’s tough to duplicate it. You can try, but it’s not quite the same. Then a little different when all the other stuff is going on too.
GUYS DID YOU KNOW THAT WE DON’T SEE THE PLAYERS IN PRACTICE EVERY DAY LIKE KIRK FERENTZ DOES? THIS IS NEW INFORMATION TO ME!
Otherwise, not much meat here from Kirk on how Brown is preparing for the weekend, or how he thinks his new starter will perform. All we can ask for is good game management, I suppose, and mistake-free football. Connect on a few deep shots too and then maybe we got something going. But all eyes are definitely going to be on the quarterback this weekend for Iowa.
Well, the quarterbacks and the defense:
Q. Obviously Michigan has talent all across the field. I know their offense probably hasn’t been what they thought it would be, but you face a dangerous runner like Bryce Underwood, RPOs, a couple of good running backs. I guess how do you coach your defensive line, especially a younger and more inexperienced defensive line, to balance doing their job on a play-by-play basis but also understanding the “I” discipline because if Michigan’s offense tries to trick you, Underwood has the mobility to be dangerous in the open field?
KIRK FERENTZ: It really gets down to everybody has to try to do the best they can and playing what their job is, their responsibility.
There was a game, two weeks ago against Oklahoma, where they let him or somebody else outside. If you do that, they’ve all got the ability to get out there and do damage. In his case, he can throw it as well as run it, but he’s a dangerous runner too.
So it gets down to team execution because they’re really well-coached, they’ve got a good scheme and got good players at all the receiver positions, tight ends. Not to mention obviously their line and quarterback and back.
It’s a tough challenge, but it just gets down to team defense and being really believing in our system and then trying to play the best they can.
The defense remains one of the biggest questions about this team for me. It’s not that they’ve played poorly but also they haven’t been as good as they’ll need to be against a versatile Michigan offense. I’m no professional but finishing tackles seems to be a bit of an issue. Let’s hope they have had a good week of practice and continue to improve, because I think this game will need to be close for Iowa to have a shot on the road.
Q. I wanted to ask about your defense. UTEP was able to force a couple of turnovers against Michigan. Is there any added emphasis on forcing turnovers knowing the style you guys — both teams like to play? With the youth and inexperience on that side of the ball, what are they leaning on in terms of just togetherness, and how did they approach that kind of game and that kind of environment?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, so a couple of things. On the turnover takeaway thing, that’s one stat. I’m not a big stat guy necessarily, other than winning. Winning is important, which leads to points allowed, points given up. Then the other stat that really over time — outside of ’09, we violated this rule — that the ball security, you know, just winning the turnover takeaway margin. If can you do that, historically that’s a pretty good thing to do.
We practice takeaways. We practice ball security every day, but there’s really no magic panacea or whatever. It was good that was one of the positives the other day. We finally got two takeaways in a ball game, and we held on to the ball successfully offensively and special teams. We were plus-2 the other day. I think we’re plus-3 on the season right now.
That’s encouraging, but it’s just a matter of — you know, it’s like anything that happens in football. Usually it’s good fundamentals and playing hard, and then if somebody opens the door a little bit, maybe you can take advantage of it. That’s something we’re hoping to do at all times.
Then, you know, playing against a really — we’re going up. We haven’t faced an offense with this kind of octane and juice. We have to get everybody playing. Success to good defense is typically great team defense, and if some individual can rise up and make a great play, that’s great, but if everybody takes care of their job, those things kind of happen organically typically.
Seeing some turnovers against UNI really was a breath of fresh air. One thing I think the defense has done a solid job of pressuring the quarterback in all 3 games this year, so hopefully that continues this weekend and Underwood can make a mistake. But Kirk is right here that team defense is going to be important against this team. Thankfully, Phil has good tape of how teams have kept it close against Michigan and I believe in him to get a good gameplan going.
Let’s end with this:
Q. I was just hoping to get more clarity on what you guys are doing with punt returner. Evan has been back there. Reece has been back there. I know you said if Zach was fully healthy at the start of the season, he would have been that guy. Are you looking at it as a case-by-case basis type thing, or do you want to settle on one guy being that returner?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, so we’re kind of in the same boat you are trying to figure it out as well. Let me dovetail to one omission I made on the depth chart thing with Tyler Brown. That was me. I kind of half-assed it, quite frankly.
Sunday night, and it was thrown on my desk. With all due respect, I am not quite as focused on that as maybe some other stuff. So I wasn’t trying to be sneaky or anything like that.
Tyler is healthy, and we expect him to start, and he is our starter if he’s healthy. He’s doing a good job.
The Zach situation, if Zach had been healthy going into the season, he would have been the starter, and he’s healthy, but he missed some time in camp, and we’re trying to keep him on a pitch count. At some point I could see us working him back in. I don’t know when that’s going to be.
Then to your point about Saturday, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a look at Evan, learn more about him. It’s only the second year he’s been in college, so he’s a young player, too. We all see some positives in him just like you have. I thought for the most part he did a pretty good job the other day, so it would either be him or Reece, but we’re still undecided, too.
NEW CONTROVERSY ALERT! WHO WILL END THE SEASON AS IOWA’S PUNT RETURNER? It’s somewhat concerning that this isn’t locked down yet, but if I’d have to guess, I’d put my money on Reece Vander Zee being the primary guy simply because he isn’t afraid to call for a fair catch and field the ball. The last thing Kirk wants is for a special teams play to go wrong, so in my opinion, he will always go with the guy who plays this situation the safest, even if it costs big play potential.
Should be a telling game this week about who this team is. Hopefully it’s a fun one. GO HAWKS!
