10 Takeaways: Excitable Boy they all said

1. Can't beat them, well, flip the script

— Scroll to the bottom video and go to about 1:35 for the question and answer that you might find interesting.

I asked Kirk Ferentz about rugby punts. Man, he used to hate these. And I totally got it. The punter looks as though he's going to take off and run and you STILL can't hit him. It's like a run-punt option and I just don't agree with it. That was Ferentz's problem with it, too.

So, there it was Saturday night. Marshall Koehn ran forward and wide a few steps to the right and unleashed a rugby punt.

I asked if that was a 'can't beat 'em, join 'em' moment.

I think you'll find Ferentz's answer worth listening to.

Here's the print version: 'Yeah, it's a new me. It's as simple as this: You just get back to everybody that left the stadium back there in November, everybody, players, coaches, every fan that we have, and we have the best fans in the world, everybody left saying, hmm, you know, really? OK. So, you go through a little period like that, and the bowl game wasn't much fun either.

'So you go back and look at everything. Yeah, we were wide open. We had an open mind back in January, more so in February, March, April. What can we do to be better? I don't think we look totally different right now as a football team. But if we can make some tweaks and little changes that are going to help us and be advantageous, then, yeah, we're open to it.

'It's all about moving forward. So that's kind of what we've all, and everybody has made great contributions, all the guys on the staff. So that's what it's all about. That's what we ask our team to do, too.'

2. CJB said he was going to run . . . I wrote this in the middle of the summer, when all of you guys were on vacation in Fiji or the Wisconsin Dells. I can't remember which.

Anyway, I distinctly remember asking Iowa QB C.J. Beathard about running the football and risks and rewards. Here's a clip (this isn't really a clip, per se, but this is from that post):

The bottom line with Beathard and running the ball is it won't be metered. It probably can't be. Everyone involved wants to win, whatever it takes, so, if Beathard's running ability is a plus, you'll see it.

'I definitely think it's going to be a big thing in our offense,' wide receiver Tevaun Smith said. 'When no one is open, he'll be able to scramble and make people miss. Hopefully, he'll be behind the line of scrimmage and be able to throw the ball 40, 50 yards, when guys are kind of contained and trying to go for him. That's definitely going to be good for our offense.'

Now, it's June and the Hawkeyes are in their first week of summer conditioning and will soon begin 7-on-7 drills between the offensive skill players and the linebackers and defensive backs. Whether or not Beathard runs this fall hasn't been a huge point of discussion. Still, in Beathard's mind, he believes he has the green light.

'You've got to do whatever you've got to do to win,' Beathard said. 'If running the ball and using my feet is part of that, that's what I'll do.

'If that's what the defense gives you, that's what you have to do.'

The Iowa GameDay Live Twitter account tweeted it over the weekend and I just checked it out (I believed them, I just wanted to see for myself, that's just how I'm wired). Beathard does indeed lead Big Ten QBs in rushing with 142 yards. You're going to giggle when you see who Nos. 2 and 3 are: Ohio State's Braxton Miller counts as a QB here and has 125 yards. No. 3 is Ohio State QB Cardale Jones with 115.

3. So, here's the 'Excitable Boy' part

— So yes, I'm a Warren Zevon fan. 'Excitable Boy' is a song and an album he released in 1978. Zevon was an incredible lyricist and a musical genius, gone way before his time. I also promised not to Chris Berman with old musical references all of the time.

Anyway, it leaped into my brain because of this Ferentz quote about CJB running the football:

'The biggest thing is he's learned to try to go down or get out of bounds at a smart time. He hasn't always demonstrated that, and he's taken some hits that were not so smart, and even on the one sneak he didn't get down. He gets a little excited out there. That's okay, that's what makes him good. But he's doing a nice job really. He's in good judgment of when to and when not to.'

4. We probably don't talk to the punter enough — When you ask Iowa sports info to interview the punter, it's either because he's doing really, really well or because he's not. Today was a little of both for senior Dillon Kidd.

Kidd leads the Big Ten with 49.8 yards a punt, but he also had one blocked last week. Still, it's a work in progress. You remember Iowa punter last year. Special teams coach Chris White said it was Mission 1 in this offseason. Assistant coach Seth Wallace has installed a punt shield formation. Some tightening needs to be done.

More on Kidd's offseason journey tomorrow. He took the need to improve very much to heart. Check out the interview here:

5. Quickie health updates

— Still, not much to say here.

The new thingie is Beathard's hip. He said today that he'll play, but he is sore and having treatment done on his left hip. He said he felt as if he pulled something when running for a 9-yard TD in the first half last weekend.

Senior DE Drew Ott remains questionable with a dislocated left elbow. KF: 'If he can play effectively, we're going to let him play. That's what he wants to do. Certainly that's what he wanted to do Saturday, but he really couldn't use that elbow effectively, so it didn't look like Drew out there.'

On RB LeShun Daniels (ankle): 'LeShun couldn't drive off of it to be effective enough, so I think we're gaining ground there.'

I think Ott might try it. I think Daniels will play and maybe get 15 or so carries.

The TE Jake Duzey (who dressed and went through warmups last week) update from Ferentz was this: 'We knew he wasn't going to play in the game, but we wanted to get him back in the routine of going through pregame, being in the hotel, all those types of things. So it was great to have him out there and get back in the swing of things. I doubt he'll go this week, but we're moving closer and we're all pleased to see him get more involved.'

6. Weight stuff

— Offensive tackle Ike Boettger and DE Parker Hesse are two different football creatures, but both are on similar paths as far as their bodies go.

Boettger came to Iowa as a prep QB who was going to transition to TE and then ended up at OT. Hesse played high school QB at Waukon, came to Iowa as an OLB and is now a DE.

Boettger is closing in on 305. Hesse weighed 244 last weekend. Boettger is a sophomore, so he's closer to where he might end up. Hesse is a redshirt freshman, so you might see one more big spike in his weight (he came to Iowa at 218).

Right now, neither has been told about a cap on their weights.

7. No 'ragrets'

— Kicker Marshall Koehn regrets nothing from his totally emotional and spontaneous and, eventually, cheerleader-trampling sprint up and down Kinnick Stadium after booting the 57-yard gamewinner on Saturday.

I know there's a picture out there of Koehn, just after the kick, where he's making 'metal fingers.' You know, 'metal fingers,' that forefinger and pinky raised thing that people do at heavy metal concerts.

Metal Fingers.

8. It was always good, and even when McCarney was at Iowa State — You know all about North Texas coach Dan McCarney and his ties to Iowa City and Iowa and Ferentz. (Here's a Mike Hlas column/post you should read.)

Of course, Ferentz and McCarney remain very close. It worked even when McCarney was head coach at Iowa State and Ferentz was beginning his run as Iowa's head coach in 1999.

Well, it kind of worked. Ferentz was asked if the Iowa State-Iowa thing changed their relationship.

'Absolutely. I mean cats don't like dogs, right?' he said. 'I mean, not that they don't like each other, but it's just natural. We're not going to be buddy-buddy, and that's just how it goes.'

Ferentz added that he hates coaching against friends. He hated the 2011 Insight Bowl against Oklahoma and Bob Stoops.

9. TE Henry Krieger Coble factlet

— Sometimes, Ferentz drops some very interesting thoughts that kind of get lost. I liked this one today.

'I've told pro scouts over the last five years nobody has made more tough catches in practice than Henry.'

10. Feren-aissance (renaissance, but with Ferentz in front of it)

— This caught my eye from the Iowa game notes this week: Head coach Kirk Ferentz has 118 wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference, one shy of tying Barry Alvarez (119) for ninth in conference history. Alvarez won 119 games in parts of 18 seasons at Wisconsin.

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