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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 11, 2010

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa Â– 3
Iowa State - 7

COACH FERENTZ: Just needless to say, we're thrilled with the win. You know, I got to tell you, I didn't see that coming by any stretch. Our team really came out and executed very well right from the start. Again, I didn't see that coming.
We haven't practiced overly in an exceptional fashion the last two weeks, but we seem to play a little better on Saturdays, which if you have to choose, that's how to do it. It was one of those things.
Our guys really played a good football game. We're thrilled to death to get the win. It was good to get some guys back in the lineup, guys like Jeff Tarpinian, Jewel Hampton, Prater back there on the outside, just get those back involved. It was one of those days.
We feel fortunate. We're thrilled to get the win. We'll enjoy this one today and get back to work tomorrow.

Q. Two drives to start were picture book drives.
COACH FERENTZ: It's been a long time since we've done something like that. I couldn't even tell you, 2002, quite frankly. Kind of felt like that a little bit at the start of the game. We certainly don't want to repeat that second half.
Part of that is having an experienced quarterback. Rick has done a great job for us. Everybody seemed to be executing out there. It was certainly good to start out that way.

Q. You said you were expecting a closer ballgame earlier on Tuesday. Do you think you guys played better than you were expecting or was Iowa State not as challenging as you thought?
COACH FERENTZ: I didn't see it coming. I thought it was going to be an even game, I really did. I felt that way going to bed last night and waking up this morning.
It just seemed to be one of those days where we really had it clicking. I can't put my finger on it. I can't sit here and say our execution was outstanding this week. It wasn't bad, I'm not saying that. We left some things out there on the practice field.
It's a good sign. Those things don't happen too often. I think Iowa State is going to go on and have a good year, no doubt about that in my mind. I'm just happy we had it going today.

Q. On the defensive side, Klug was a monument in there.
COACH FERENTZ: Those guys have been working hard. They're playing with confidence right now certainly. We got Broderick back in, Lebron Daniels coming along a little bit. He's starting to grow up, too. We're getting some guys in there. It's nice to have six guys rotating through. It was nice at the end to see a young guy like Dominic Alvis make a play, too. Karl and Adrian have both worked extremely hard, working well together. I'd say the same thing about Christian Ballard. We've got three seniors up front that give us a good start.

Q. How much was this about domination in the trenches today?
COACH FERENTZ: The way it played out, you know, it looked like our guys up front did a good job on both sides of the football, especially in the first half. I'm pleased as could be about it.
Again, I didn't see that coming. I didn't think we had that kind of edge. We feel pretty good about our defensive line any game we go into right now. I haven't seen our next 10 opponents on film. Those guys are good players. They work hard. They practice very well. It was the same way back in the spring.
Probably the surprise right now would be on the offensive side. I think we've done a little better maybe than I would have predicted back in August.
It's only two games. We're 2-0. That's all it means. At least it's a good start, a positive start. Plenty of things to coach off of tomorrow, too.

Q. You have a lot of work time with Jewel Hampton.
COACH FERENTZ: It was good to get him out there. He hasn't played in over a year now. I think he was a little frustrated he didn't get some of the holds he would have liked to have had. Maybe missed a cut here or there. The whole thing is getting him back with us.
That's the first live work he's had. We haven't tackled him, as you might guess, since he's had the injury. Good to have that out of the way now. I think he can move forward. There's no question, I think we have a good 1-2 punch when those guys are running together.

Q. Is today a good example of there are enough touches for both Robinson and...
COACH FERENTZ: No doubt about that. We're not worried about that in the last. We want both guys to be involved. Adam has done a tremendous job. He's really given us a spark. What a great effort he gave us today. It was good to see the receivers, the ball got spread around there, too.
Allen Reisner came up with some big plays. Allen has done that consistently in a quiet way, consistently for a couple years now. We're really counting on him to have a great year, too.

Q. The receivers blocking downfield, pretty physical.
COACH FERENTZ: Anytime you get the long runs, somebody is working downfield. That's really important. That's guys getting it a little bit, understanding that everybody has a role to do on every play. The more guys that buy in, the better off we're going to be.

Q. Is there a better way to start a rivalry game than the way you did open the opening drive?
COACH FERENTZ: I'd like to do that in every game, rivalry or not. Again, we haven't done a lot of that in the last couple years. Can't remember a lot of games going that way.
That was great to see. Just hope it continues.

Q. Do you feel any sympathy for Iowa State?
COACH FERENTZ: I don't know if we're in the sympathy business. They aren't either. They don't want any. They really don't need any. They're going to be fine. They've got a good football team, a good staff. You know, we'll do the same thing they're going to do: get up tomorrow and start working to the next one.
It's one game. But, you know, we'll all move forward tomorrow.

Q. Thoughts on kickoff coverage today?
COACH FERENTZ: Pretty bad. Our punt return, punt coverage, was pretty poor, too on that one. If you want to start out (indiscernible) today, it was our coverage on three of those two kicks and a punt. If we make a habit of doing that, we're going to be in trouble.
I'm not quite sure what the problem was, but we'll see that tomorrow and go to work on that. We got to do a lot better job. That's just not good.

Q. Coach Parker's situation right now?
COACH FERENTZ: Norm, as most people know, he's diabetic. He was having some back pain I guess it was on Thursday. Yesterday the doctors looked at him. They just decided they needed to admit him to the hospital. We thought there was a shot he would be out sometime this morning and be able to rejoin us. He wasn't able to. That's the bad news. Bad news, he wasn't there. Good news, everything I've heard so far, at least there's nothing major going on and hopefully we'll get him back here in the next couple days.

Q. Brett Greenwood, another interception.
COACH FERENTZ: Brett has played tremendous football for us since he got thrown in the lineup back in '07. He's kind of like Allen Reisner, kind of quiet, steady, doesn't say a lot, do a lot to draw attention to himself. Boy, he plays good football. He's an integral part of our defensive success.
It's great to have two guys back there at the safety position that, you know, know what they're doing and they help get everybody else straightened out. We had a younger safety later in the game, and it cost us a touchdown. We didn't get lined up properly. Hate to give up uncontested plays, and we did there.

Q. (Indiscernible).
COACH FERENTZ: We just played our defense. Guys are working hard up front. Starts up with the pass-rush. They were working hard. If they weren't getting there, at least they were trying to disrupt throwing lanes, that type of thing.
Our guys, you know, they played the defense. Guys in the back end did a nice job. It was great to see Tyler Nielson get that pick. That was a pretty play. When everybody is doing their job, good things are going to happen. That's kind of what it was today.
Thank you.

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