---
Opening Statement
Good afternoon. Appreciate everybody being here.
Needless to say, happy to win this past weekend and be 2-0 at this point. Going into the game we knew it was going to take great effort and great focus on our part to be successful. Certainly we knew we were going into a challenging environment. It was hot. Fan base that's really engaged. A veteran team that's extremely talented. We knew what the challenges were.
I thought our special teams were really big in our success certainly. Starting with our specialist, Tory did a great job. Happy to see him recognized by the Big Ten. He just did a great job affecting field position all day long for us.
Certainly Caleb did a nice job out there, field goals, kickoffs. Charlie Jones continues to play really well, too. Happy about those guys.
Our core players are doing a nice job, making a difference in the game. That was good.
Defensively, for the most part we played really well. Lapse before the half, gave up a big play, which was really costly. Didn't finish the game out real well either in the fourth quarter.
Offensively there was some good effort, some good plays. Certainly we don't have the consistency we need right now. That will come hopefully. Part of that, too, is certainly a credit to Iowa State. Their defensive ballclub has been really good. They're a tough group to move the ball against. Consistency is tough to come by when you play them.
Shifting gears right now with Kent State coming in. First and foremost, just compliments to their program. Coach Lewis has done a really good job. I think one stat that really stood out to me was the fact that last year that was only the second time they've had consecutive back-to-back winning seasons since the '70s. That's a long gap. Coach James got that started out out there. That's a big gap.
I think it just tells you a little bit about what the coaching staff has done, their vision coming in, more importantly the player buy-in to that vision. They've done a really good job there certainly over the last couple years.
They're an offensive-minded attack group. Coach Lewis, that's his background. Up-tempo, RPOs, they've got a good line, the line coach is a coach I've known for a while, Coach O'Boyle, good skill players.
Certainly the quarterback is an outstanding football player, a big part of what they do. He really kind of makes them go. Not the same as when we played Mississippi State a couple years ago, not the attack, but similar in that that quarterback was the catalyst of that football team all season long. Certainly you can see it right now with this guy.
Definitely another multiple front team. Give you a lot of different looks. They're unique compared to the teams we're used to playing. Kind of like we've had three very different preparations now. That's a challenge for us.
On top of that I think you probably noticed they're great in the takeaway column. They're second in the country I believe right now with takeaways. Just tells you a little bit about their ball hawking ability. They're opportunistic defensively, both corners have three picks. Pretty impressive right there.
Special teams, same thing, an aggressive approach. They're very, very aggressive. Their players, you can see they've bought into what they're selling in that regard. So three different phases that play well and present some challenges.
George Barnett on our staff has been in that league the last seven years or so. Their feeling going into this year was this team would be a leading candidate for the team of the year. They certainly felt the quarterback was as good a player as there was in the conference. That's what we're up against this week. It will be a challenge for us.
Captains are the same four as we had last week. Tyler Linderbaum, Matt Hankins, Jack Koerner and Spencer Petras, and add Ivory Kelly-Martin as the fifth captain. He got enough votes to be a captain. Adding to the mix, that's a good thing.
Injury-wise I think we're fairly healthy. Guys nicked up coming out of the game, as you might imagine. Kyler Schott is working back, started working back last week, got some work in last week. He'll play some this week. I don't know how much, but he'll play some. Good to get him back in the team. Certainly will be a good thing.
Last but not least our kick captain this week, I don't want to say her name incorrectly, Galilea Gonzalez. Young lady who is a 10-year-old. Had heart surgery her first week after birth. She is a healthy 10-year-old right now. She is from Cedar Falls, so I am guessing Jack Campbell might be her favorite Hawkeye on that one. Good to have her with us this Saturday.
I'll throw it out for questions.
Last edited:
