Ferentz on Iowa's 12-0 victory against Minnesota

Iowa closed out the regular season with a 12-0 victory against Minnesota Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. It was a day dominated by defense and turnovers for both teams. The Hawkeyes finishedthe regular season 10-2 and await a bowl invitation, possibly to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 in Tempe, AZ.

Here are some quotes from Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz on the Minnesota game and the 2009 season:

"Win 10 games in any conference is significant. Week in and week out, this team has played competitively. We've had some close wins and some close losses. I'm pretty confident we'll be a better team if we play in January."

On Vandenberg: "Today was a tough day for him. They did a  pretty good job of disguising (their defense). We never got in a rhythm offensively. I probably won't get any questions about quarterback controversies. We'll save that for another time."

Iowa defense? "Our guys really have done  a great job. They've been resilient. One thing to talk about, another when it's hitting the fan."

Senior Class? "Great year off the field. I don't want to jinx this. From a football standpoint, lot of people wondering where we were going  coming out of East Lansing. Our approach always has been to analyze what's going on and take steps to improve. Great coaching staff and great group of players."

Injuries? "We all share the load there. When everybody works together, good things can happen. If they go back and look at what they accomplished ... look at our first game, that was a tough game for us. Road schedule ... we might have played our best on the road in defeat (Ohio State)."

Injuries/Robinson? "We're not far away there. Wegher not exactly full speed now. End of the day only stat I'm worried about now is 10 wins."

Assessment of season? "I enjoyed out of season last year because of the guys we're working with. I'm going to enjoy this week, I promise you ... We weren't good enough (two losses) those days. Maybe in that Northwestern game, maybe we could have overcome what happened. You look at results because that's the world we live in."

"No regrets. I don't know what else we could have asked our players to do."

"Last 2 years, we have not had a lot of easy games. Every week's a challenge. We got our money's worth this season."

Best defense of Ferentz Era? "Don't know it's the best. This season has been very similar to '04 where constants were more on the defensive side. For us to get to 10, it was going to take that. All about pieces fitting together; you lean toward your strengths."