Depth Chart Monday: Short week vs. a bye

IOWA CITY — Iowa seemingly spent about 0.0 seconds enjoying the Big Ten West Division trophy last weekend. Every position group and maybe every class and maybe everyone connected to the program snapped a picture with it in the lockerroom, but that click of the cellphone camera was about as far as the celebration went.

They had hats and T-shirts, too. Maybe the players at some point this week will remember where they put them.

Even going into the No. 5 Hawkeyes' victory last week over Purdue, head coach Kirk Ferentz already beamed in on the hyper-preparation the short week going into Friday's game at Nebraska demands. Iowa (11-0, 7-0 Big Ten) will try to complete perfection just six days after clinching the Big Ten West and earning a spot in the B1G title game Dec. 5 in Indianapolis.

While Iowa was clinching, Nebraska (5-6, 3-4) was chilling. A schedule fluke gave the Huskers a bye last week (something to do with Nebraska traveling to Rutgers the week before because the Scarlet Knights had Army on the schedule last week). So, short-week Iowa has a shot at a perfect season in an intense Memorial Stadium environment (87,000 and it will be filled) against a team that should be healed, healthy and hungry, with a shot to drop an undefeated Iowa and clinch a bowl trip while doing it.

That was part of the thinking for Iowa holding its West Division celebration in the lockerroom. The message from Ferentz has been a consistent, 'This isn't finished.'

'We're not downplaying it,' Ferentz said. 'It's a significant accomplishment to have an opportunity to play in Indianapolis. It's really thrilling for all of us, and we're really pleased about that.

'But at the same time we're six days out from playing again, and we're playing a team that's been sitting back all week watching us. We've got some ground to make up tomorrow.'

Ferentz was asked twice about West Division trophy celebrations during the Purdue postgame. And twice his answer ended with him basically looking at his watch.

'We're going to have to make up for some lost time,' he said.

Does Ferentz have a complaint with the Big Ten scheduling mechanism? Short week vs. bye, you can probably draw your own conclusions on how Ferentz might feel about that (spoiler: No coach is going to be cool with that). You might also conclude that might be a reason why the West trophy never left the Iowa lockerroom.

'We have to focus on Nebraska, knowing that this was a team that upset Michigan State,' cornerback Desmond King said. 'They have the capability to do that.'

Last season's Nebraska result was when all sorts of vitriol broke out in regard to the Iowa program. The Hawkeyes faded and fell in overtime, 37-34, after watching a 17-point lead in the third quarter evaporate. This is when Ferentz said 'That's football,' something he's said numerous times this season, but, of course, it's a completely different setting.

The Huskers fired coach Bo Pelini the next day and Nebraska athletics director Shawn Eichorst offered this evaluation of Iowa: 'In the final analysis,' Eichorst said, 'I had to evaluate where Iowa was.' Asked to elaborate, he added, 'I'm trying to look at who are championship-caliber football teams at that moment, and how competitive we were in those games.'

Ferentz was obviously aware of the environment and the whiplash difference between that 2014 Kinnick Stadium finale vs. the Huskers and last weekend's snow game and lockerroom trophy celebration. When the Hawkeyes walked off the field last November, its record at Kinnick since 2012 dropped to 10-11. With last week's 40-20 victory over Purdue, Iowa finished 7-0 at Kinnick for the second time under Ferentz and first time since 2002.

As you would imagine, Ferentz put the blame for last season's Nebraska result on the Hawkeyes' doorstep.

'It wasn't their fault,' Ferentz said. 'It's like a lot of things that happen, and I've said that forever. One good thing about sports, it's not like real life; pretty much you get what you deserve. If you go out there and don't play, you're probably going to get nailed, and it's just as simple as that. Sometimes you get away with it if you've got the best players and all that stuff.

'So that's to me what sports are all about. And that wasn't our opponent's fault. For us to turn the ball over in that red zone, to tee up their first touchdown, not cover a punt, that's ownership. That was really the issue there.'

Maybe it's not so much short week vs. bye week and healing that one last year-old wound.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com