13 minutes with Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz after the 38-21 win against Troy
The head coach began with an amusing reference to a narrow 24-21 win over Arkansas State in 2009.
IOWA CITY – Kirk Ferentz opened his press conference after Iowa’s 38-21 win over Troy on Saturday night with an amusing slip of the tongue that, for anyone listening with an open mind, actually provided the perfect basis for putting that result in perspective.
Ferentz initially wanted to thank another member of the Sun Belt Conference, Arkansas State, for a hard-fought performance. But then Ferentz caught himself and smiled.
“Arkansas State? Jesus, I’m having a flashback,” Ferentz said. “That’s exactly how it felt 15 years ago. Troy came here and they came here to win.”
Yes, Iowa’s 2009 football season, which ended with the highest national ranking (No. 7) of any in Ferentz’s last 25 years, ended with a nail-biting 24-21 win in Week 5 against an Arkansas State team that was 4-8 that season.
More: Iowa football can be really good and really bad in a flash. The Hawkeyes need to find consistency.
Troy did what teams looking for an upset must do. The Trojans struck and scored. Three times, to be exact, for touchdowns of 62, 63 and 77 yards. Fortunately for Iowa, those uppercuts did not result in a knockout.
Not a single Iowa team that completed a special season showed up in September looking like a finished product. Not the 2002 team (which lost to Iowa State), not the 2004 team (which was trounced by Arizona State), certainly not the 2009 team, and so on and so forth.
Ferentz knows this. Objective Iowa fans who know their history know this.
The Hawkeye teams, which are remembered as very good teams, get better and better as the season progresses.
“For us, it’s a development path. And there will be ups and downs,” said Ferentz. “And of course you want to get out of your lows without suffering too serious injuries.”
Yes, any Hawkeye fan reading this can at least agree with this next quote from Ferentz, right?
“It would be nicer if we were 3-0.”
Iowa was favored by 22 or 23 points on Saturday and won by 17. That is hardly a reason for the panic that currently prevails.
“It’s a 60-minute football game,” said left tackle Mason Richman. “We just had to rally in the locker room (we were down 14-10 at halftime) and go out there … and perform a little bit better.”
Iowa’s Mason Richman talks about Kaleb Johnson and the offense after the win against Troy
The fifth-year left tackle had a strong day on the ground in Saturday’s 38-21 win over Troy.
So far, Iowa football has been less predictable this year. The offense is more explosive in the run game. The defense is being attacked further back more often and has not adapted. The special teams are sorely missing Tory Taylor and will have to compensate.
Scores of 10-7 and 12-10 and 15-6 and 13-10 (all last year’s scores) made for a predictable viewing experience, but they may be a thing of the past. Most college football teams play a lot of back-and-forth, high-scoring games. That’s OK. Iowa fans probably aren’t used to that.
Iowa, which begins Big Ten Conference play this Saturday at Minnesota (6:30 p.m., NBC), has learned a lot about itself in three non-conference games. Much of it is encouraging.
Video: Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson talks about dominant start to junior season
Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson discusses various topics following Iowa’s win over Troy.
No. 1: Iowa has Kaleb Johnson, the other teams don’t.
Johnson is built differently and was on offense right away for the Hawkeyes. His teammates have seen him work harder than ever, and it’s paying off. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior had runs of 39, 19 and 33 en route to an afternoon of 25 carries, 173 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson has 61 carries for an FBS-best 479 yards (7.9 avg) in 10 quarters this season.
In fact, the entire offense has been scoring big runs every week (5.9 yards per carry as a team). That was a hope for Tim Lester’s offense, and so far it’s come true. Iowa has racked up over 200 rushing yards in every game (including 284 on Saturday).
“It’s something we have to be proud of and keep getting better at,” Richman said. “It’s not that we can only get to 200, we can always get to more.”
No. 2: The Hawkeyes have negotiated a red zone plan with Brendan Sullivan.
After problems at the goal line against Iowa State, an adjusted approach was used against Troy. In four snaps with backup Brendan Sullivan at quarterback from the 7-yard line and closer, Iowa scored two touchdowns – including a 2-yard touchdown by Addison Ostrenga on the Northwestern transfer’s first pass as a Hawkeye. These plays were rehearsed on Wednesday.
That trait can be a lasting advantage for the Hawkeyes. Iowa also added a sixth lineman to the goal line package in Kade Pieper, a variation of the four-tight end set we saw last week. That’s something to build on.
“Minnesota is going to look at this and think, ‘He’s going to run the ball now,'” Johnson said of Sullivan. “He’s an all-around QB.”
No. 3: The elephant in the room when it comes to defense.
Almost everyone in the secondary has been the victim of big plays over the past three weeks. TJ Hall and Quinn Schulte were hit hard on Saturday. Xavier Nwankpa and Sebastian Castro took big hits against Iowa State. Even John Nestor had a humiliating moment against Illinois State. Jermari Harris was the saving grace for the Iowa secondary on Saturday, with a 28-yard interception return touchdown in the third quarter that extended Iowa’s lead to 24-14.
Defensive coordinator Phil Parker, who makes his living NOT allowing big plays, usually knows what to do and will leave no stone unturned to put the best plan on the field on Saturday in Minneapolis.
“We have to address this really quickly,” Ferentz said. “Because this way it will be difficult to win games in the future.”
Video: QB Cade McNamara talks about Iowa’s offense and the win over Troy
Quarterback Cade McNamara discusses various topics after Iowa’s win over Troy.
No. 4: The team finds answers in the passing game.
Jarriett Buie and Kaden Wetjen recorded their first career catches Saturday, and both were big ones — Buie for 19 yards, Wetjen for 33. Kaleb Brown also caught his first pass of the season, an 18-yard pass on third-and-7 in Iowa’s 157-yard fourth. Wide receiver Jacob Gill (five catches, 44 yards) has become a reliable target. Freshman Reece Vander Zee (two touchdowns in the opener against Illinois State) had a drop Saturday but remains an up-and-coming player. Tight end Luke Lachey, like McNamara, still looks a little uncomfortable after a serious leg injury, but that should improve.
“We’ve learned so much about ourselves in these last three games,” said McNamara, who said he was in better form Saturday, completing 19 of 23 passes (82.6%) for 176 yards without a turnover. “We’re learning what helps us when we need a first down. How do we react when we react?”
“The season and how well we do will depend on how we handle success and adversity. And the better we get at that, the more I think it will pay off.”
Harris, a sixth-year senior who has been through a lot, offered some great perspective to close out this conversation. He mentioned that Notre Dame lost at home to Northern Illinois a week after beating Texas A&M on the road. And on Saturday, the Irish beat Purdue 66-7. Success rarely comes in a straight line.
Nothing comes by itself. Iowa has always understood that. Under Ferentz, Iowa lived that for over 25 seasons,
“If you’re consistent in what you do, they’re the best. They’re consistent in their approach,” Harris said. “Over time, they get better at that approach. Then … it becomes second nature. And before you know it, you’re having an amazing year.”
Video: Jermari Harris of the Iowa football team on his pick-six in the win over Troy
Defensive back Jermari Harris had a pick six in Iowa’s win over Troy on Saturday.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has worked for The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network for 29 years. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s texting group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
