Kirk Ferentz talked to the press Tuesday. Word of warning: This one is even more useless than usual. I didn't think that was possible. (As always, transcript and video over at Hawkeye Nation.)
Let's Set the Tone
This was posted, mid-presser, by someone in the room:
.@ChadLeistikow asks specifically about the disappointment of the O-line being Iowa's big problem right now. Looking for answer about the line.
— Todd Brommelkamp (@ToddBrommelkamp) October 15, 2019
"It's frustrating anytime we don't do well."
If it were any more generic that answer would be labeled in black and white
The obvious story coming out of the last two weeks is the play of the offensive line. The interior line was eviscerated against Michigan, and again this week against Penn State. In all honesty, it's the worst I've seen an Iowa line play since the disastrous 2012 campaign, and maybe even as far back as 2000. Kirk Ferentz is an offensive line guy. His son, the offensive coordinator, was previously the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. If there is one thing this team should do well, year-in and year-out, it's offensive line play.
Leistikow has been writing about the offensive line since Saturday, in terms as favorable and deferential to the Ferentzeseses as possible. His premise -- that it's the players and not the coaches -- is the basic framework from which Kirk Ferentz bats away every criticism, however modest, of his own performance. Leistikow's question ("It has to be disappointing to see the offensive line let you down the last couple of weeks?") wasn't hostile, or based on a falsity, or in any way deserving of rejection. He met Ferentz on Ferentz's terms Tuesday, and this is the answer he got from Kirk Ferentz: "It's frustrating anytime we don't do well."
Kirk tipped his hand a bit in response to a question on how he keeps his team from "the 'sky is falling' mentality that happens with fans and some of the media," which is the closest thing to a planted question I've ever seen at one of these:
I glanced at a headline, two things in the last five days in the papers that were interesting. Won’t go into the one. Nothing special, whatever.
Nothing special, whatever.
On Monday, Iowa puts out a depth chart every week that means basically nothing. There is rarely anything in the Tuesday press conference that is any more informative than that, particularly during a losing streak: Kirk does his "we didn't play well enough to win" routine after one loss, but gets increasingly defensive and vapid with every succeeding loss after that. It's how we ended up with "That's football" after the 2014 finale: He'd simply run out of ways to not answer questions about losing.
So why are we even having these weekly press conferences, then? What's the point of this? Let's have Iowa publish a depth chart Tuesday, Kirk can talk to Dolph about his favorite color of dress shirt and post it on Youtube, and we can all just comment on that on our blogs. I like blue shirts. Kirk and I are in the blue shirt camp.
Injury Report
Cole Banwart is out for the season after ACL surgery from an injury last Wednesday. Kristian Welch, who was taken out of the game Saturday for an undisclosed injury, is "nicked up a little bit" but should play. Kyler Schott won't be back until after the bye week (which is November 2, following Purdue and Northwestern). Hankins is back at cornerback.
Redshirt Watch
Our old friend @PlannedSickDays noted this on Twitter two weeks ago:
Redshirt Tracker. I think maybe it's interesting that Kelly-Martin didn't step on the field? pic.twitter.com/qtjEL56EH9
— PlannedSickDays (@PlannedSickDays) October 7, 2019
Ferentz confirmed Tuesday that Iowa is considering a redshirt on Ivory Kelly-Martin, given the play of Tyler Goodson:
I think right now we would be smart to try to protect Ivory if we can. But we’re also trying to win this year. It’s kind of we’ll stay flexible on it. Yeah, we’d sure like to not waste a year of his eligibility if we can.
He wouldn't rule out a redshirt for Julius Brents or Kaevon Merriweather, either. Both of those players have been fighting injuries all year.
Justin Britt is not redshirting. "We’ve made the decision he’s playing. That’s not a discussion any more."
Reasons to Quit
Let's catalog all the reasons given Tuesday why Iowa can't score points on offense, shall we?
- "Bottom line is they made some critical plays that we weren’t able to make. Credit to our opponent."
- "There’s a handful of plays out there that we weren’t good enough in executing to give ourselves a chance."
- "We haven’t done much in the takeaway department"
- "Certainly, our red zone execution is going to have to improve a little bit."
- "That’s one thing about football, it tends to rotate." (Insert Iowa passing game joke here)
- " Your opponent, whatever it may be, schemes."
- "Yeah, if we’re not protecting the quarterback, it’s going to be tough to operate the way we want to operate."
- "Just like running the football better, that’s paramount on the list."
- "The only thing I’d throw out there, we’ve played two pretty decent defensive football teams. History or time will bear that out. What I saw with my own eyes, I believe it."
- "There are things mentally we could be doing better."
- "There are physical limitations on everything."
- "The things that are correctable, footwork, whatever it may be, those are things we can work on during the week."
Funny how that list doesn't include scheme, given that Iowa hasn't finished in the national top 50 in offense since 2006 and has run essentially the same thing in the thirteen years since, through three coordinators, seven quarterbacks, and Lord knows how many offensive linemen, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends who all weren't able to coach or execute it at a level allowing for Iowa, a Big Ten program, to finish in the top 50 of the nation.
Useless Sound Montage
Honestly, pretty much the whole thing, but these two really stood out:
- "Targets right now, I’m not sure what it is any more, I’m pretty sure it’s not what it used to be. I think that’s probably healthy. We’re all for player safety, but it seems like we’re at a point where we were getting too ticky-tack on that. I think the other night maybe we were leaning the other way a little bit, which is okay."
- "Because I show up somewhere doesn’t mean things are going to get better, for the record. It’s not that easy. In fact, it may work conversely. You can make that argument." Oh, I have, Kirk. Believe me, I have.
