Raw Chicago: Kirk Ferentz Part 7

Here, we're talking fourth quarter woes from '10, veer into Indiana 2001 (huge game) and chasing mobile QBs (PERSASTRONG), how running QBs could affect Iowa's defense this year and the sustainability of Iowa's schemes and recruiting.

INTERVIEWER: Last year, fourth quarters, when it comes down to a two-minute drill, I don't know what the percentage is, 50/50?

COACH FERENTZ: It's not 50/50. Historically, I'd say it's probably less than that.

INTERVIEWER: More like 25?

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, it's closer that way than 50, so you know, and I'm not minimizing that. But you know, one thing you want to do is just be careful about not oversimplifying what the issues are. Sometimes it's two minute drills. Sometimes it's two minutes defense. One minute. And then I'd also say, there have been a lot of games, a couple that are very prominent in my mind right now, and we'll share with the team. And a lot of times it's what you do in the first half. You squander some opportunities that are there for you, but you're not ready to go. And in the last two minutes you're thinking back to those first couple of series where you had where you just really did a poor job. You know, we wouldn't be in this situation right now if we had done better there. And I can think of two games right off the top of my head like that. So it's, and there are a lot of things that go into it. But I can tell you we've spent a lot of time this season looking at that. And clearly, we have to do better. And you know, from every standpoint, coaching and playing, it's critical.

INTERVIEWER: like the Wisconsin game … That time out.

COACH FERENTZ: That was a critical mistake. And we've addressed that and hopefully we'll be better moving forward. If we're not, then we're not doing our job.

INTERVIEWER: And people realize that you guys actually do think about these things.

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, yeah.

INTERVIEWER: And then defense. I think it was fourth quarter ... I don't know what you can do to fix that except to play better.

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah. And one of the biggest plays I think this year was that play before the fake one. You know, it just, take that game right there. I think that game itself, that fake punt, then we couldn't stop them. We just mismanaged the time out and you need to take it back to that play that happened. And if not for that play, none of this stuff --

INTERVIEWER: Like 12 yards …

COACH FERENTZ: That's going to be a sack or an incomplete. It's a Hail Mary. It's like, poof, throw the ball up in the air. Sometimes that's football. So all those other things all of a sudden become awfully important. But any one of those things, you know, probably would have given us a much better chance to win the football game, so that's what makes football interesting. We can do a lot better job in a lot of areas. That's one thing that's really a recurring theme.

INTERVIEWER: … [Dan Persa and his ability to improvise]

COACH FERENTZ: You know, I haven't read a lot about that, but to me, maybe with the exception of Randall El, I don't know any quarterbacks we've played against in 12 years that played any better than he did in that game. I think he's a heck of a football player. He was playing … That makes it tough, too. I remember Randall El. I was chasing him around in 2000, 99. You know, another Kodak moment I remember Kampman, it was like third and one or fourth and one, and he runs off to his left and Kampman had him. … and just as he's going down, the ball comes out and catches the guy and first down, and they took it down and they scored. And one of the biggest plays that we've made in 12 years was Bob Sanders and tackled him on the third down forcing him to …on the fourth.

INTERVIEWER: That was a huge game though. [Indiana '01]

COACH FERENTZ: A huge game. I think that was one of the turning points for the whole next ten years. And that was a huge play in a huge game. We were really struggling at halftime in that game. So that's one of the biggest moments. But my point is, that was a guy that was too tough to defend. And the guy in the fourth quarter in 05 over there, it was a pretty good performance on his part. So sometimes your opponent has something to do with that, too. And I think in Burse's case, I mean, go back and look at that last play. You know when he got hurt. Look at that, the execution of that play. I think it was … It looks like it's bad coverage.

INTERVIEWER: He was right there.

COACH FERENTZ: And I was sitting next to Dom Capers and watching the play that Randy Moss made, in a red zone drill, and the guy is like all over him and Moss sticks his hand up and Dom Capers looks at me and says, so what do you tell the corner on that one? So what do you tell them? You know sometimes that happens. Jump higher. Grow five inches.

INTERVIEWER: …

COACH FERENTZ: Sometimes great players make great plays. … quarterback …

INTERVIEWER: …Michigan … Ohio State. You're losing Wisconsin. You're adding Purdue, which is …. Nebraska is …

COACH FERENTZ: They're an option. [Nebraska]

INTERVIEWER: I know their quarterback runs a lot. Does that cause any sort of consternation in your approach?

COACH FERENTZ: No. You can't think, I don't pretend to be an expert on other conferences, but if you look at conferences, like the Big 12 has really changed in a lot of ways. If you look at our league, you have teams that are “spread” to throw it and teams that are “spread” that run it. And then you've got a “conventional or traditional” team like Wisconsin and Michigan State. And so every week is a different preparation. So you say you're just going to be a nickel team. That's not going to be a good idea against Wisconsin, I can tell you that. So you really have to do just what's best for you.

One of the great challenges in our conference is being able to play against all the variety of the offenses we see. Nebraska will be a whole different, you know, we got to see them against Missouri last year. That will be a whole different-- It's probably, you know, I'm not saying it's like Illinois, but it's probably the closest thing right now to what we have. Their quarterback runs very well. A very dynamic offense. And it's very different than playing Michigan State or Wisconsin. Again, I think it's interesting, if you look at the teams that win consistently, you've got to do what's best for your team. That's why people do what they do.

INTERVIEWER: Is it sustainability, too? The way you guys run things? If you get good lineman, the state of Iowa, … that's probably a strength for you guys.

COACH FERENTZ: And I think if you look at the various thought process, I think Wisconsin is part of that. And that's worked pretty well for us.

INTERVIEWER: You're not gonna get … And not only Iowa, but Michigan, too.

COACH FERENTZ: Exactly. And we tried to get [Illinois QB Nathan] Scheelhaase and we couldn't.

INTERVIEWER: But you're not …

COACH FERENTZ: We'll do whatever we have to. But we are going to play tight ends I promise you. Never say never. But I'm pretty sure we'll never drop our tight ends. But I remember getting ready for Penn State in '99. We had three senior tight ends and all of a sudden boom, boom, boom. Friday we're putting in a personnel group that we call three wides.

INTERVIEWER: You've had …You ended up with some weird guy that year …

COACH FERENTZ: Well, we had Thomas … and Wheatley and then you had Jed Dull from Sioux City. He did a nice job.

INTERVIEWER: What year was that?

COACH FERENTZ: Our first year in 1999. Colin is what you're thinking about. So Brad Banks …

INTERVIEWER: How much did Brad's ability to … Like the Purdue game. Does that give you another option?

COACH FERENTZ: It does, yeah. There's no question about it. You know, if you have a guy who can run, that's a good thing. I would never be against that. But then, remember that time when Brady wanted to come back to college and go to Iowa. Nobody ever described him as a running quarterback, so you know. In a perfect world you'd love to have a guy that can run and …

INTERVIEWER: ….[PERSASTRONG]

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah. If he wants to transfer, we'll take him, for sure. He's a good quarterback. He just happens to be able to do both. That's the neat thing about college. Guys have a chance to be good in a lot of different ways. And he's good in his own right. You know, Chad Henne played very well at Michigan. He's just a very different type guy. And Drew Breese. I don't remember Breese being a big runner, but boy, could he throw. Still can. You know, good quarterbacks are good quarterbacks regardless of what their strengths might be. We just want to get somebody to help move the team.