Ferentz on Big Ten teleconference

Kirk Ferentz talked on the Big Ten teleconference this morning.

Here we go:

On corner B.J. Lowery (broken wrist) and OL Nolan MacMillan (recovering from sports hernia): "Unfortunately with Lowery, I just hear this morning that he's going to need a couple more weeks. We were hoping to get him back this week, but right now it looks like he's going to be held out here for a few more weeks. With Nolan, he made progress last week and was able to practice a little bit and hopefully we'll continue to move him along as the day or this week goes on."

(Lowery could help in dime. Right now, nickel looks like LB Anthony Hitchens time. MacMillan could help at guard, which turned into three-way rotation at times last week. I think Matt Tobin, Brandon Scherff and Adam Gettis get a once over this week. Maybe MacMillan helps there, but I wouldn't expect a savior. He hasn't played since Michigan last season, which is nearly a full calendar year. He did start six games until that point, though.)

Question on bye week and it coming so early this season: "First of all, you have no choice, so you just take what you're given. That being said, some years it means more than others, but this is one time where back in the summer, I felt it was going to be a positive for us. 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. 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. We've got a couple guys in that category, so that's a positive."

(It's a good time for a reset. I'm not sure how much "re-thinking" will happen. They've already done quite a bit of re-thinking.)

On Penn State RB Silas Redd: "I haven't even thought about it and I haven't looked at one play of them this year, but I can tell you this, we saw him last year, so it's no secret he's an excellent football player. They had a really good back who played there the last couple years -- it seems like they always have a really good back -- when Redd showed up on tape last year, it was like, 'whoa, this guy is really good.' I have no idea what his stats are. I'd go out on a limb and say that he's probably doing pretty well and that comes as no surprise. He's a top-notch running back."

(Redd is eighth in the Big Ten in rushing with 75.8 yards a game. He averages 4.9 yards on 62 carries, which is very good.)

Comment a little bit on the development of your WR corps, it seems to be a strength for your team this year: "We've had a couple good stories and that might be as good as any we've had. We all felt fairly confident that James was going to play well at quarterback, only because we had him in the program and we saw him in game action two years ago and felt good about what he did last year. That was a positive. The bad news was coming out of camp, I wasn't sure we'd have anybody who could catch the ball consistently outside of Marvin McNutt. He was our only really experienced guy coming back. If there's anything I'm pleased about it's probably the development of that group overall. Even the guys who aren't playing are suddenly catching the ball the last couple weeks and doing it at a different level than they had prior to that. Happy about the development and the progress, that being said, we've got a long road ahead of us. You can look at the last couple of weeks and say there's some potential there."

(Here's what Ferentz said about Keenan Davis at the end of spring: "He needs to play like a starter. It's his time. He's been here for two years, he's certainly capable. I think he's willing, and he has done some really good things in practice." Davis is sixth in the Big Ten with 4.8 receptions a game and fifth in yards with 71.5. Kevonte Martin-Manley had a toe injury that slowed him late summer and into early camp.)

On running game and Marcus Coker: "Marcus is a guy who really had a tough year last year in the first part of it and then got involved after coming back from an injury. He did a lot of good things for us and finished up on a strong note. And then, unfortunately, he was not at full speed most of camp. So, he didn't really look very good in our first game or two, but I think the last couple of weeks, we've seen him start to climb back. Obviously, we're going to need him to be with us. Our next task, besides getting him back to full speed, would be to find some relief for him. We need to help him out a long the way. That's going to be the next challenge and that will probably take some time."

(As far as Coker's health goes, read this post after the TTU game. He definitely had something going on with the shoulder. Is it ongoing? I don't know. I thought he was terrific against Iowa State, OK against Pitt and then was better against ULM. As far as relief, I think the redshirt came off Jordan Canzeri because of what they saw out of Damon Bullock. Bullock ran east-west and had a fumble. Then, there's Canzeri, north and south. Ferentz and Coker used the word "aggressive" and "decisive" in comments after last week's game (see post here). I think that's the directive from the top down at RB.)

On Pitt comeback and what it did for Vandenberg, the offense and, really, the whole team: "That was hardly our plan going in, but sometimes those things happen. It's like anything else, you have two choices. So, the guys kept competing. That was the first good news and then the second part was we really closed the game out. We played pretty well in the last 18 to 20 minutes of that game. The idea is to play a full game, but at least in those 18 to 20 minutes, we looked like a football team. It wasn't just the offense, obviously they had to score, but we got off the field on defense and finally played well on special teams. We had been horrendous in that game and really inconsistent overall. It's a positive step and I think we took another step last Saturday, but we've got a lot of steps in front of us to make right now. The good thing is we're taking steps. If you're moving forward a little bit, at least you give yourselves a chance."

Does James need games to solidify that belief: "I don't know if I'd say he needs them, but it certainly doesn't hurt. James, you can only evaluate him on what you see in practice. He's been pretty much the same and he's pretty much the same now in his six starts since he's been here. He has a good demeanor. He keeps his poise and just keeps his focus where it needs to be. As a result of that, he's played pretty well so far. We all think he's capable of playing better. That's the task that's out there for him."

(Vandenberg's dad, Toby, is an emergency room doctor in Keokuk. I'm sure some of that focus has trickled down to James. Plus, Toby was a good college QB himself. Born for this, maybe?)

How much do you converse with Brian?: "He's probably the only person I talk to during the season, quite frankly. I probably talk to him more than my wife, which says I don't talk to my wife very much. We'll talk a couple of times a week, that's it. Mainly, it's a father-son thing and we do the same thing.

What was he like Sunday? (Brian Ferentz is the TE coach for the New England Patriots, who fell in a thriller at Buffalo): "Like anybody after a loss, you're looking for answers."

(Brian will be a coach at Iowa at some point. I don't know when, but it will happen. Of course, my out there is if he's doing too well in the NFL, but it's my sense that he'd be a fantastic fit in a college environment. Think of a combo between Kirk and Bret Bielema, all the good parts of both. Yes, you want that.)

The last five quarters Iowa has played defensively, maybe found something that wasn't there against Iowa State: "At least in the Pitt game, our issues were different kinds of issues, if you will. In our week 2, we didn't tackle well, week 1 or week 2. And then week 2, we just did a horrible job of containing the football. That's going to be trouble against anybody. If you're playing a good team, then you're really in trouble and that's where we found ourselves. We haven't completely solved that issue, but at least we're getting a little bit better. We're aren't still tackling the was maybe we need to, but at least we're improving a little bit. The big thing two weeks ago was we gave up big plays, which is not a good thing, either. You name the three bad things on defense, don't tackle, don't contain and give up big plays. A lot of times, they go together. Pitt had a couple of plays that were well-conceived and they executed them very well and we gave up a couple very easy big plays. Our issues have been been a little bit different every week, but at least on film you can see us playing a little bit better and there's reason to think that maybe before the season's up that we might have a decent defense here."

(I agree.)

Wanted to ask about secondary. Are all the moves from last week's game going to be permanent? And then second part, can you comment on Jordan Bernstine and him seeing the field his senior season?: "Yeah sure, it's actually been two weeks since we reconfigured things a little bit. Moving forward, unless something happens, that's our plan. I think right now, I don't want to say we're settled in, but we're not planning any major changes. Jordan has been a great story for us. We need great stories every year and we usually get a couple. He's a fifth-year senior. He had a very difficult, challenging injury two years ago [broken ankle], that really knocked him out of the whole season. It was a pretty nasty injury and he's come back now. Had a good spring. Really was moving around well and doing a lot of good things and has just continued on. Unfortunately, week 2, he had strep throat. Just read about an NFL player who had that and had to miss a game this weekend. He ended up missing the second game, but has come back and started the last two and has played very well. I would add, too, that he's playing very well on special teams. He's doing a lot to really help our football team right now."

(Bernstine is playing like the toughest kid on the playground right now. He also seems to be having fun. Got a few Twitter questions last week about his NFL viability. I think he's got a definite shot. Durability and size for the safety spot will be the caution flags, but you can't deny the speed with which he's playing.)