Ferentz see positives in early bye week

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz thinks a bye week this early in the season can be a positive for what he calls a young Hawkeye team.

"I felt it was going to be a positive for us," he said Tuesday during the Big Ten coaches teleconference. "We have a pretty young football team. We've graduated a lot of really good players over the last two years, so we're a team that's clearly in a developmental mode right now, probably a little bit like we were back in '08.

"This comes at a really good time for us. I think we know a lot more about our team and personnel now than we did a month ago and gives us a chance maybe to re-think what we're going to do and how we're going to move forward."

As always, a bye week also provides an opportunity for injured players to heal.

"The nice thing it does, whenever our bye week comes, it gives guys who are nicked up a chance to get back and get healthy," Ferentz said. "We've got a couple guys in that category, so that's a positive.”

Read more about what Ferentz had to say today at http://thegazette.com/category/blogs/on-iowa/