Ferentz radio: Good timey and new Kirk

Radio was the bomb back in the 1980s. I remember living in central Iowa as a preteen and waking up at like 3 a.m. to tape a heavy metal album off KGGO. I still hear songs from circa 1987 and think of the West Burlington swimming pool. Yes, a picture of one of those 80s-era ghetto blasters accompany this post. I still have one, and I still have a box of audiocassettes in my garage. I drag them out when I clean that garage.

Who knows if Kirk Ferentz still has a ghetto blaster from that era. He might still have a record player and a stack of Allman Brothers albums for all I know. My guess is probably not, but he's probably not the one in his house to toss them out, either.

Good times are here again on Ferentz radio. A 3-0 start has fans stoked entering this weekend's game against North Texas.

Rough start from Gary Dolphin off the bat calling the Mean Green 'the Green Wave” and saying Dan McCarney left Iowa for Notre Dame before coaching at Wisconsin and Iowa State. But I'm confident he'll 'Shake it Off” like Taylor Swift and Ryan Adams sing.

Dolph says the defense is farther ahead than he thought it would be. I agree.

Dolph calls North Texas 'the Green Wave” again. Ooof. Tulane just called and wants its nickname back. Not sure the rebound will happen this week.

He adds that cornerback Desmond King could have been named the Big Ten's defensive player of the week. I'm sure he was in that discussion.

Ferentz will wear a patch on left side of his shirt this week that will read 'Coach to Cure MD,” which will try to raise funds to attack a genetic form of muscular dystrophy. Coaches often wear sneakers in basketball games for 'Coaches vs. Cancer,” another worthwhile cause.

Dolph goes over the Big Ten schedule while he waits for phone calls. Finally, Jim from Jefferson starts it off. Calls it a 'great victory” and 'very impressed with Dillon Kidd” and his punting.

Dolph mixed up who had the 64-yard punt, corrects himself and then gets confused. It's understandable if you're a 'Gunsmoke” fan. One's a Marshall and the other's a Dillon. (Actually, they both did.)

Anthony of Des Moines asks who has the longest field goal in Iowa history and why Iowa isn't ranked in the top 25? Dolph says last year's standings impact this year's rankings. Get to 5-0 and you have a point.

Bob from CR says the environment was electric and encourages fans to buy tickets 'because it's an exciting, young football team.” Calls it one of the two or three games he's attended.

'Is it me or is this team fun to watch?” Dolph asks. 'This quarterback is worth the price of admission.”

Dolph says field goal reminded him of Daniel Murray's field goal against Penn State in 2008. Yeah, pretty close.

Dolph said Ferentz said he was thrilled with the attendance and atmosphere for Saturday's game. Dolph never saw a final number for Saturday's attendance but guesses it's 67 or 68. The box score says 63,636.

John from Des Moines asks if there were people on the field had socket wrenches on the field after the game. Dolph doesn't know (neither do I).

Kirk walks in and snorts. Kirk is ready.

Dolph starts with a response about the atmosphere. Kirk says it's one of the best he's been a part of. 'Electric atmosphere,” he says. 'It was loud on the field, unbelievably loud.”

Dolph hits the trifecta on Green Waves. Now Katrina from 1984 wants her band back plus some green.

Kirk touts McCarney helping turn around Wisconsin and putting ISU on the right track. They're friends from way back with a mutual respect. He's coached against several former co-workers over the years. He doesn't like it.

Steve in Alta clarified the wrench issues and says Desmond King shook hands with Tyler Boyd after the game to show good sportsmanship. They'll be facing off for paychecks fairly soon.

Ferentz on King returning a squib kickoff from the 3 to the 30-yard line before Koehn's field goal. 'That could have been a bad situation where we would have had to take a knee,” Ferentz said. 'We're definitely looking at overtime if the ball's inside the 10.”

Tommy in Des Moines checks in. Wants to talk about Yogi Berra. Tommy's a Yankee fan. Then Tommy asks if C.J. Beathard is the best QB in the Big Ten.

'I hope you're right. I have no idea,” Ferentz said. 'A tremendous young man, very humble. Tough-minded.”

Caller likes linebacker Cole Fisher, calls him a great story, and likes safety Jordan Lomax. Also, wants to know how to stop Pitt's blitz.

When reviewing the game, Ferentz accidentally calls Pitt's D 'Michigan State.” Freudian slip. Understandable.

Ferentz said Pitt would blitz two off the weakside or two up the middle. Pitt was very aggressive and threw some other blitzes that he hadn't seen. He called it 'a great challenge for our team.” Usually you pick up the blitz with backs and tight ends or try to throw around them.”

Ferentz was thrilled that so many former players came back for the game and to support Brett Greenwood as honorary team captain.

Todd from Des Moines: 'When that field goal was made, that was one of the best moments of my Hawkeye career.” Todd uses we a lot, but I don't think he's a player.

Kirk's worried about jinxes when kicker Marshall Koehn's impressive stats get mentioned. Koehn has drilled 15 of last 16 FGs going back to last year. This year, he's booted 11 of 16 kickoffs into the end zone. Yeah, he'll make some cash if he keeps that up.

Dolph gets 'Mean Green” right. I knew he would. Golf clap,

J.J. from North Liberty says fans in the concourse were still singing the 'Iowa Fight Song” 15 minutes after the game. I can vouch for that. It was challenging going from the press box to locker area because fans were still celebrating. Organic moment. You can't buy those as a fan. If you can bottle them up and sell them, you'd be a millionaire before taxes.

Ferentz praises his OC: 'I thought Greg Davis called a great game.”

Ferentz says North Texas' defense is aggressive. 'A real good test for us.” Not sure how North Texas will play because the Mean Green haven't played a team like Iowa.

Caller praises Iowa's conditioning, and Ferentz said that area is much improved along with attitude.

'We did not finish well a year ago consistently,” Ferentz said. 'It's important that we finish games out.”

Bubba from Primghar chimes in.

'It was so loud, my ears were ringing,” Bubba said. 'In the last 10 years that was the best I heard it for that long.”

Asks about defending Pitt WR Tyler Boyd.

'Like a box-and-one defense in basketball?” Ferentz asks.

Boyd caught 20 passes for nearly 300 yards against Iowa the last two years. He's a first-round pick next year when he leaves early.

'I'm glad we're not playing him again,” Ferentz said.

Justin and his whole family are taking the train to their first game. He says Iowa shouldn't play Drew Ott and rest him up for Wisconsin.

Ferentz said both Ott (dislocated elbow) and running back LeShun Daniels (ankle) 'are both doing better (but) not saying 100 percent. ... Drew wasn't very effective (last week) and neither was LeShun.

'I think we're further along right now. We're trying to be as smart as we can.”

Ferentz said the medical staff has to clear players before coaches decide to play them. Says RB Derrick Mitchell is healthier than he's been since training camp and much healthier than either Ott or Daniels.

'Hopefully we're over the hump,” he said.

Ferentz couldn't say enough good things about running back Jordan Canzeri whether it's his character off the field or his execution on it. But he said he was most impressed with Canzeri's pass blocking.

Tight end Jake Duzey has 'practiced more extensively this week.” Ferentz said Duzey 'might get in there on Saturday” but adds that he doubts it. Duzey dressed for last week's game but did not play. He suffered a torn patella tendon in the spring that required surgery.

Barry the Badgers fan asks Kirk what thinks about traveling up to Camp Randall Stadium next week. It's Iowa's first trip to Madison since 2009.

'I haven't given it one thought,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz then asks, 'That wasn't Barry Alvarez, wasn't it?” We all wish.

Pat from Kalona praises Dolph calling Iowa football games saying, 'I hope you keep on doing what you're doing.” Pat talks about subpar seasons the last two years. Ferentz doesn't agree on the 2013 portrayal and thought it was a good football team. He reiterates that last year's season finale at Kinnick Stadium against Nebraska was disappointing and 'I covered that territory about 800 times.” That's probably getting old for him by now.

'I still don't know how good of a football team we've got, but I like this football team,” Kirk adds. 'I think we're on the right path.”

A.J. coaches O-line and D-line at Clear Lake and grades the same positions when he watches Iowa and says they're improving. Kirk says that Clear Lake has a pretty good coach (former Iowa and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Jared DeVries).

Mike in Iowa City likes sticking with the running game and said Canzeri did find some creases later in the game. Mike adds, 'I think Coach Davis has finally started to silence some critics.”

Kirk agrees. 'I thought he called a super game.”

Ferentz loves the running game but Pitt had a stout defense. 'You don't want to be hardheaded,” Ferentz said. Kirk then said he can sub a short passing game for a running attack, too.

Ellen in Jefferson was driving out of Des Moines when Koehn's 57-yarder swished. She said she was surprised she didn't drive into a ditch and adds that her granddaughter graduated from North Texas but she's rooting for Iowa.

That's it from this week's radio program. Next time, it'll have a little more spice with Iowa-Wisconsin.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com