Obviously our attention turned to Minnesota, a really good Minnesota team. They’re 7-3 and playing on a roll. They, too, have a strong defensive football team. They’ve run the ball extremely well.
Our conference is full of really good backs. Just seems like everywhere you turn there’s some really exceptional backs. And Minnesota’s back is probably the most proven veteran of the group. And overcome hardships, injuries, et cetera. And he’s just an impressive guy.
A veteran quarterback. They’re big and physical on the offensive side. They do a good job running the football and good job with the play-action, et cetera. So good on that side also.
And special teams are good, two good specialists do a good job. And they’ve got a lot of starters involved on special teams. They really play hard on special teams.
So the success they’ve had, it’s earned for sure. And bottom line is we’re going up there, it’s a November road contest, a rivalry game, and we’ll have to play our best to be in this thing.
A lot of respect for them, 20 wins in the last two regular seasons. Subtract the COVID year, so they’ve done a really good job.
Q. When you look at Mo Ibrahim, who’s overcome a lot of adversity. He tore his Achilles after 200 yards in three quarters against Ohio State. What special gifts does he have that makes it challenging to compete against him down in and down out —
COACH FERENTZ: Like all good players, you have to defend him every play and until the whistle blows. He’s just tough, hard nosed. He’s not exceptional size to where — he’s fast, but I don’t know if he’s like a 4.3 or anything like that, but he’s just a tough football player.
I’m not saying the same as Michigan’s running back, but there’s some similarities to me. Looks like maybe there’s nothing there and next thing you know he’s got a 5-, 8-yard gain. If you don’t tackle him get him down he’s not quitting.
Same thing, bigger question, when you think of him coming off the ACL and the way he did it. As I recall he announced that pretty quickly that he was going to be back for another year and he’s a really veteran player. Got a lot of respect for him. This guy’s a winner.
Q. Minnesota’s secondary is probably among the best in the conference. What sticks out about them and how do you guys, after maybe a little bit of a rough patch offensively, how do you get that momentum and what are you planning to do against Minnesota?
COACH FERENTZ: We just go back to work. They’re a veteran group. That’s a big part of it. Usually when you have a veteran group, it gives you an edge. And all their guys back there have played a lot of football, and good football, not just played football. But they’re good football players.
And they’re aggressive. They’re physical. And their whole defense, I hear people talk about our defense in these mid-week press conferences, I kind of throw it right back at them. They clearly have an identity. I don’t want to say they’ve morphed into it, but you can see a developmental process over the last three, four years in what they did.
The bottom line is they play it really well. They know what they’re doing. There’s not a million things going on but enough to keep you off balance. And from my vantage point it looks like their players really understand what they’re being asked to do. And consequently they play fast.
And they’re aggressive and physical and tough and it’s going to be a challenge for us. Last year they had the ball 40-plus minutes. And it’s a complement to both sides, their offense as well as their defense.
Q. You mentioned this year first overall in the NCAA in third down percentage offense, second in defense. How do you combat that especially with a team that’s so good at controlling the clock?
COACH FERENTZ: You’ve got to try to take advantage of your opportunities. And so each and every week there’s a challenge out there. And statistics matter, but they — still, about this game, and you just never know how things are going to go. But obviously our guys are aware of what we’re going up against.
I don’t want to say it’s every week in our conference, but it’s more than once, we’ve got a defense-minded conference if you look at it. I haven’t done a study of all conferences.
But to your point we’ve got several teams that are nationally ranked when it comes to points given up, a lot of the critical statistics defensively. I don’t know if it’s our weather or whatever, but we’re just kind of geared that way a little bit more than track-meet football.
Q. What can you do to establish the run going up against another formidable defensive front?
COACH FERENTZ: We know where they’re going to be. I’m pretty sure of that. I’m sure they’ll have a wrinkle or two. I really admire them. They’re that way in all three phases. They have a clear identity. They’ve morphed into that, and they’ve had great success doing what they do. So I think wrinkle here, wrinkle there, that’s football, but ultimately the game will get decided most likely with the team that’s most solid fundamentally.
The turnover takeaway battle is going to be important. And just handling whatever conditions that are out there and expect them to go the whole game. That’s probably what it’s going to come down to.
Q. Tanner Morgan is a quarterback you know well. But his stats are still kind of up in the air. Are you prepared for seeing for both quarterbacks in the situation, what are you seeing out of the freshman?
COACH FERENTZ: We tried to recruit him. We were very impressed with him. Obviously we were unsuccessful. He’s done a good job. He’s played two, three games now.
My guess it’s not going to change a lot, what he chooses to do. What you do lose is that veteran leadership and also the composure that Tanner Morgan has. He’s a really good quarterback. He’s done a lot of good things in the conference, very experienced. So I guess given the choice, you’d always rather go with the younger guy, but sometimes watch out what you ask for. Look out there because he’s a good player.
hawkeyesports.com
Our conference is full of really good backs. Just seems like everywhere you turn there’s some really exceptional backs. And Minnesota’s back is probably the most proven veteran of the group. And overcome hardships, injuries, et cetera. And he’s just an impressive guy.
A veteran quarterback. They’re big and physical on the offensive side. They do a good job running the football and good job with the play-action, et cetera. So good on that side also.
And special teams are good, two good specialists do a good job. And they’ve got a lot of starters involved on special teams. They really play hard on special teams.
So the success they’ve had, it’s earned for sure. And bottom line is we’re going up there, it’s a November road contest, a rivalry game, and we’ll have to play our best to be in this thing.
A lot of respect for them, 20 wins in the last two regular seasons. Subtract the COVID year, so they’ve done a really good job.
Q. When you look at Mo Ibrahim, who’s overcome a lot of adversity. He tore his Achilles after 200 yards in three quarters against Ohio State. What special gifts does he have that makes it challenging to compete against him down in and down out —
COACH FERENTZ: Like all good players, you have to defend him every play and until the whistle blows. He’s just tough, hard nosed. He’s not exceptional size to where — he’s fast, but I don’t know if he’s like a 4.3 or anything like that, but he’s just a tough football player.
I’m not saying the same as Michigan’s running back, but there’s some similarities to me. Looks like maybe there’s nothing there and next thing you know he’s got a 5-, 8-yard gain. If you don’t tackle him get him down he’s not quitting.
Same thing, bigger question, when you think of him coming off the ACL and the way he did it. As I recall he announced that pretty quickly that he was going to be back for another year and he’s a really veteran player. Got a lot of respect for him. This guy’s a winner.
Q. Minnesota’s secondary is probably among the best in the conference. What sticks out about them and how do you guys, after maybe a little bit of a rough patch offensively, how do you get that momentum and what are you planning to do against Minnesota?
COACH FERENTZ: We just go back to work. They’re a veteran group. That’s a big part of it. Usually when you have a veteran group, it gives you an edge. And all their guys back there have played a lot of football, and good football, not just played football. But they’re good football players.
And they’re aggressive. They’re physical. And their whole defense, I hear people talk about our defense in these mid-week press conferences, I kind of throw it right back at them. They clearly have an identity. I don’t want to say they’ve morphed into it, but you can see a developmental process over the last three, four years in what they did.
The bottom line is they play it really well. They know what they’re doing. There’s not a million things going on but enough to keep you off balance. And from my vantage point it looks like their players really understand what they’re being asked to do. And consequently they play fast.
And they’re aggressive and physical and tough and it’s going to be a challenge for us. Last year they had the ball 40-plus minutes. And it’s a complement to both sides, their offense as well as their defense.
Q. You mentioned this year first overall in the NCAA in third down percentage offense, second in defense. How do you combat that especially with a team that’s so good at controlling the clock?
COACH FERENTZ: You’ve got to try to take advantage of your opportunities. And so each and every week there’s a challenge out there. And statistics matter, but they — still, about this game, and you just never know how things are going to go. But obviously our guys are aware of what we’re going up against.
I don’t want to say it’s every week in our conference, but it’s more than once, we’ve got a defense-minded conference if you look at it. I haven’t done a study of all conferences.
But to your point we’ve got several teams that are nationally ranked when it comes to points given up, a lot of the critical statistics defensively. I don’t know if it’s our weather or whatever, but we’re just kind of geared that way a little bit more than track-meet football.
Q. What can you do to establish the run going up against another formidable defensive front?
COACH FERENTZ: We know where they’re going to be. I’m pretty sure of that. I’m sure they’ll have a wrinkle or two. I really admire them. They’re that way in all three phases. They have a clear identity. They’ve morphed into that, and they’ve had great success doing what they do. So I think wrinkle here, wrinkle there, that’s football, but ultimately the game will get decided most likely with the team that’s most solid fundamentally.
The turnover takeaway battle is going to be important. And just handling whatever conditions that are out there and expect them to go the whole game. That’s probably what it’s going to come down to.
Q. Tanner Morgan is a quarterback you know well. But his stats are still kind of up in the air. Are you prepared for seeing for both quarterbacks in the situation, what are you seeing out of the freshman?
COACH FERENTZ: We tried to recruit him. We were very impressed with him. Obviously we were unsuccessful. He’s done a good job. He’s played two, three games now.
My guess it’s not going to change a lot, what he chooses to do. What you do lose is that veteran leadership and also the composure that Tanner Morgan has. He’s a really good quarterback. He’s done a lot of good things in the conference, very experienced. So I guess given the choice, you’d always rather go with the younger guy, but sometimes watch out what you ask for. Look out there because he’s a good player.
Kirk Ferentz News Conference Transcript | Nov. 15
hawkeyesports.com