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 certainly thrilled to get the victory on Saturday. It was hard fought. We had a great crowd here for Homecoming. Played a tough Illinois, so glad to get the win and happy to see Jordan Canzeri's efforts recognized. Now we move forward and have a tough challenge traveling to Northwestern this week. Playing on the road is always a challenge, but even more so when you played a tough, well coached team like Northwestern. They've been impressive watching them on tape.
Q: What has impressed you the most about the way Jordan has handled his new role?
KF: LeShun Daniels got hurt in the Iowa State game and Jordan had to carry the load from that point on in that game. Our plan was to rotate two backs this year, but LeShun hasn't come back fully healthy yet. Jordan's not the biggest guy, but he plays with a lot of heart and a lot of determination. Really showed that on Saturday, especially on that last drive. Beyond that, the responsibility he feels towards our entire football team, he's doing whatever he can to help us win games. He's a tremendous young man who has battled through some injuries over the years, so it's great to see his perseverance rewarded.
Q: Was there ever a time when you thought he might not get to this point health wise?
KF: You just never know. He had an ACL surgery and that knocks a year off, but he came back from that. Last year might have been even tougher because he just never had a prolonged period where he was healthy and able to play like he's capable of.
Q: When you talk to players, do you throw out the 38-0 loss Northwestern had last week and just look at it as a 5-1 team?
KF: I think anybody's that played or coached, you have days like that. Michigan is playing great football right now and sometimes it's a perfect storm. Sometimes it's not indicative of where two teams are. If you look at their other games, this is a really good football team. Built with a great defense. Historically, when they've experienced any disappointment they've bounced back strong too.
Q: The last 10 years you've played 5 games against Northwestern separated by a score or less. Is that kind of indicative of this rivalry?
KF: Yeah, I can go back to my first year here in '99 and it came down to a goal line stand. That's kind of how it started out and Pat was on that staff. There have been a couple that have gone the other way, but the majority of them have gone right down to the wire. That's what I think of when I think of this rivalry.
Q: What made you guys recruit Jordan Canzeri out of high school?
KF: I'm chuckling because it's kind of vintage us. It's probably safe to say we're not on the Christmas card list for Coach Talley at Villanova. It was the end of the recruiting season and we were still looking for RB prospects. Jordan was a guy that came to us. I don't know where we got the tape, but we did. We thought he was being under recruited. I mentioned Coach Talley because we took Mike Daniels away from Villanova too. Sometimes that's the art of recruiting.
Q: Desmond King was a guy that had a lot of interceptions in high school too. How instinctual is he as a player at cornerback?
KF: Desmond was a MAC recruit until we ended up offering him in January. He's not a 4.3 guy and quite frankly I thought he might be a safety, shows you what I know, but what really stood out is what he did with the ball once he got it. Kind of like Micah Hyde in that regard. Desmond is doing a great job for us. He got thrown into the lineup two years ago and played, then came back and played okay last year, but didn't take a major step forward, but now he has taken that step and playing really well for us right now.
---
Opening Statement
We were certainly thrilled to get the victory on Saturday. It was hard fought. We had a great crowd here for Homecoming. Played a tough Illinois, so glad to get the win and happy to see Jordan Canzeri's efforts recognized. Now we move forward and have a tough challenge traveling to Northwestern this week. Playing on the road is always a challenge, but even more so when you played a tough, well coached team like Northwestern. They've been impressive watching them on tape.
Q: What has impressed you the most about the way Jordan has handled his new role?
KF: LeShun Daniels got hurt in the Iowa State game and Jordan had to carry the load from that point on in that game. Our plan was to rotate two backs this year, but LeShun hasn't come back fully healthy yet. Jordan's not the biggest guy, but he plays with a lot of heart and a lot of determination. Really showed that on Saturday, especially on that last drive. Beyond that, the responsibility he feels towards our entire football team, he's doing whatever he can to help us win games. He's a tremendous young man who has battled through some injuries over the years, so it's great to see his perseverance rewarded.
Q: Was there ever a time when you thought he might not get to this point health wise?
KF: You just never know. He had an ACL surgery and that knocks a year off, but he came back from that. Last year might have been even tougher because he just never had a prolonged period where he was healthy and able to play like he's capable of.
Q: When you talk to players, do you throw out the 38-0 loss Northwestern had last week and just look at it as a 5-1 team?
KF: I think anybody's that played or coached, you have days like that. Michigan is playing great football right now and sometimes it's a perfect storm. Sometimes it's not indicative of where two teams are. If you look at their other games, this is a really good football team. Built with a great defense. Historically, when they've experienced any disappointment they've bounced back strong too.
Q: The last 10 years you've played 5 games against Northwestern separated by a score or less. Is that kind of indicative of this rivalry?
KF: Yeah, I can go back to my first year here in '99 and it came down to a goal line stand. That's kind of how it started out and Pat was on that staff. There have been a couple that have gone the other way, but the majority of them have gone right down to the wire. That's what I think of when I think of this rivalry.
Q: What made you guys recruit Jordan Canzeri out of high school?
KF: I'm chuckling because it's kind of vintage us. It's probably safe to say we're not on the Christmas card list for Coach Talley at Villanova. It was the end of the recruiting season and we were still looking for RB prospects. Jordan was a guy that came to us. I don't know where we got the tape, but we did. We thought he was being under recruited. I mentioned Coach Talley because we took Mike Daniels away from Villanova too. Sometimes that's the art of recruiting.
Q: Desmond King was a guy that had a lot of interceptions in high school too. How instinctual is he as a player at cornerback?
KF: Desmond was a MAC recruit until we ended up offering him in January. He's not a 4.3 guy and quite frankly I thought he might be a safety, shows you what I know, but what really stood out is what he did with the ball once he got it. Kind of like Micah Hyde in that regard. Desmond is doing a great job for us. He got thrown into the lineup two years ago and played, then came back and played okay last year, but didn't take a major step forward, but now he has taken that step and playing really well for us right now.
