As always, these are rough quotes and notes from Kirk Ferentz during his 8 minutes on the Big Ten Teleconference with the national media this morning.
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Opening Statement
We were obviously very pleased with last week's game. It was a hard fought win against a tough football team and went down to the wire obviously. Certainly a special moment for Marshall Koehn, something he's earned and worked extremely hard for, so nice for him to be recognized for his efforts. On top of that, we had Brett Greenwood here to be our honorary captain and that was very special. Now we turn the page to North Texas and working hard on preparing for them this week.
Q: What will it be like to see Dan McCarney back at Kinnick?
KF: It's interesting, since I've come back here I've had an opportunity to coach against a lot of former associates and it's not something you really look forward to. Dan and I have coached against each other several times with him being at Iowa State. With Dan, I go back to my first nine years here as an assistant and I sat literally right next to Dan every day and developed a real appreciation for him as a coach. He's done a great job everywhere he's gone.
Q: Dan has some unique circumstances having grown up in Iowa City, played at Iowa, and coached at Iowa.
KF: Yeah, Dan went to City High. All of our children went there, so a big part of our life too. He had a great career at City High and played at Iowa and coached his first 15 years at Iowa, so a big part of his background certainly and he's gone on and done a great job elsewhere since leaving here.
Q: Were you guys having a debate about even attempting 57 yarder on Saturday?
KF: No, it was an easy decision. The trick was getting the ball there. Desmond King did a great job ad libbing on the return and CJ and the offense did a great job of advancing it, especially CJ on the last play keeping one eye on the clock. Marshall certainly has a strong leg, no surprise to us that he could get it there, but certainly another thing to make it under those circumstances.
Q: What is Marshall like off the field? Is he getting a little cocky now (laugh)?
KF: No, he's a humble guy. He's always had a strong leg. Consistency was an issue early in his career, but he did a great job last year and really picked it right up this year. Everybody really happy for him because of the kind of person he is.
Q: You mentioned the play CJ made, which impressed me. What did you learn about him in that situation?
KF: I would echo what I said about him last week after the Iowa State game. The thing that stands out about him is just his poise. He's only started 4 games for us, but shows a lot of poise, so it's a real credit to him in that regard.
Q: Hey Kirk. I'm doing a story on programs that have weathered through seasons where their defense is outstanding but their offense kind of holds them back. How tough was it for you in '07 dealing with that and what do you say to a team in those situations?
KF: I'd actually go back to my first year here at Iowa. In the 13 years prior to 1981, only two teams went to the Rose Bowl up until Iowa in 1981. We had an outstanding defense that year. Very tough, determined defensive team with a great punter in Reggie Roby. If the offense just didn't turn it over and could get close enough for a field goal, we could win and it was good enough to get us to California. We were like 117th in rushing. Couldn't run the ball at all hardly, but played outstanding defense and special teams. Point to make to your team in those situations is the whole idea is to win games, doesn't really mater how you get it done. It's all about true teamwork.
Q: Could you talk about what you see in North Texas?
KF: It's a tough preparation on one hand because they've changed a little bit defensively. We're trying to get a beat on what they're doing defensively and they've played two teams that are dissimilar to what we do offensively. Then offensively, they have a good quarterback in Andrew McNulty and they're going spread the field and make us defend every bit of it both run and pass, so it's going to be a challenge for us.
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Opening Statement
We were obviously very pleased with last week's game. It was a hard fought win against a tough football team and went down to the wire obviously. Certainly a special moment for Marshall Koehn, something he's earned and worked extremely hard for, so nice for him to be recognized for his efforts. On top of that, we had Brett Greenwood here to be our honorary captain and that was very special. Now we turn the page to North Texas and working hard on preparing for them this week.
Q: What will it be like to see Dan McCarney back at Kinnick?
KF: It's interesting, since I've come back here I've had an opportunity to coach against a lot of former associates and it's not something you really look forward to. Dan and I have coached against each other several times with him being at Iowa State. With Dan, I go back to my first nine years here as an assistant and I sat literally right next to Dan every day and developed a real appreciation for him as a coach. He's done a great job everywhere he's gone.
Q: Dan has some unique circumstances having grown up in Iowa City, played at Iowa, and coached at Iowa.
KF: Yeah, Dan went to City High. All of our children went there, so a big part of our life too. He had a great career at City High and played at Iowa and coached his first 15 years at Iowa, so a big part of his background certainly and he's gone on and done a great job elsewhere since leaving here.
Q: Were you guys having a debate about even attempting 57 yarder on Saturday?
KF: No, it was an easy decision. The trick was getting the ball there. Desmond King did a great job ad libbing on the return and CJ and the offense did a great job of advancing it, especially CJ on the last play keeping one eye on the clock. Marshall certainly has a strong leg, no surprise to us that he could get it there, but certainly another thing to make it under those circumstances.
Q: What is Marshall like off the field? Is he getting a little cocky now (laugh)?
KF: No, he's a humble guy. He's always had a strong leg. Consistency was an issue early in his career, but he did a great job last year and really picked it right up this year. Everybody really happy for him because of the kind of person he is.
Q: You mentioned the play CJ made, which impressed me. What did you learn about him in that situation?
KF: I would echo what I said about him last week after the Iowa State game. The thing that stands out about him is just his poise. He's only started 4 games for us, but shows a lot of poise, so it's a real credit to him in that regard.
Q: Hey Kirk. I'm doing a story on programs that have weathered through seasons where their defense is outstanding but their offense kind of holds them back. How tough was it for you in '07 dealing with that and what do you say to a team in those situations?
KF: I'd actually go back to my first year here at Iowa. In the 13 years prior to 1981, only two teams went to the Rose Bowl up until Iowa in 1981. We had an outstanding defense that year. Very tough, determined defensive team with a great punter in Reggie Roby. If the offense just didn't turn it over and could get close enough for a field goal, we could win and it was good enough to get us to California. We were like 117th in rushing. Couldn't run the ball at all hardly, but played outstanding defense and special teams. Point to make to your team in those situations is the whole idea is to win games, doesn't really mater how you get it done. It's all about true teamwork.
Q: Could you talk about what you see in North Texas?
KF: It's a tough preparation on one hand because they've changed a little bit defensively. We're trying to get a beat on what they're doing defensively and they've played two teams that are dissimilar to what we do offensively. Then offensively, they have a good quarterback in Andrew McNulty and they're going spread the field and make us defend every bit of it both run and pass, so it's going to be a challenge for us.
