‘It’s a new six game season’: Kirk Ferentz shares message to team entering the bye week

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared his message to the team as the Hawkeyes embark on a “new six game season.”

After six games have gone into the record books, Iowa (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) looks about like most thought the Hawkeyes just might.

Offensively, it’s still a chore for this team to move the football and to score points. Defensively, Iowa once again looks like one of the Big Ten and nation’s best. The hope is that some form of offensive changes happen during the bye week, but don’t hold your breath on any of that.

After the Hawkeyes’ latest contest, a 9-6 loss at Illinois, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz addressed what the immediate message was that he shared with his team entering the bye week.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve got six tough opponents and that’s something that came up this week. There was a headline about, you know, all of a sudden this looks like a tough game. And I just told our players, I said that—and it’s no offense to anybody, but it’s just kind of a reflection of the way people look at the world. They already know in the offseason who’s going to be good and who isn’t.

“Football unravels itself and the seasons unravel themselves. My message to our team was that you shouldn’t be judging anybody until you start preparing for those people and see what they actually look like at that given time. So, we’re sitting here right now. We’re 3-3. We’ve got a week to figure things out best we can. We’re not going to get, you know, cavalry’s not coming, so we’ll try to figure out what we can do and do more effectively and then brace up for the next six weeks. But, we knew they were all going to be tough and that’s how I look at it moving forward. We do have some strengths on our team. We’re going to have to shore up whatever weaknesses we have and see what we can do. It’s a new six-game season and we’ll just take it a week at a time,” Ferentz said.

Iowa returns to action on Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. CT on FOX when it travels to Ohio State.

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‘He’s a good football coach’: Kirk Ferentz defends offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked for a defense of his son as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator after the Illinois loss.

Iowa heads into its bye week on a two-game losing streak after stumbling on the road at Illinois, 9-6. Afterwards, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked to share his defense of current offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.

“He’s a good football coach. I thought Greg Davis was good in ’14. He got killed and we ended up, you know, having a pretty good year the next year, so, you know, he’s a good football coach. We’ve had three good coordinators now in my opinion and we’ve got to play better. We have to do what we can to help our players. As coaches, we have to do better to try to help them and we’ll try to move forward. It’s easy to point fingers and just call people out. I don’t think I’ve ever operated that way in 23 years and don’t intend to right now,” Ferentz said.

Brian Ferentz and the Iowa offense’s performance has been a common critique of the Hawkeyes dating back to the end of last season. It intensified throughout the spring and offseason and it feels as if it’s at its boiling point within the fan base now.

The media and fan base wants answers for why the Hawkeyes have scored seven or fewer points on six different occasions within the past calendar year. Ultimately, the fan base wants change from an offense that currently ranks 127th out of 131 teams nationally in scoring offense and dead last in total offense.

Asked if he would reconsider an in-season coaching change as Iowa heads into the bye, Kirk Ferentz pointed to the Hawkeyes’ success from last season as one reason why it’s unnecessary.

“Making the change? No, no, no, no. I mean, we won 10 games last year. I don’t know if you’re aware of that, but…so, I look at that, and we’ve won a lot of games since 2015. So, you know, we’re not doing well enough right now. I think that’s fairly obvious and we’re going to work on solutions, figure out what we can do to get better,” Ferentz said.

It’s not as though Kirk doesn’t acknowledge Iowa’s offensive shortcomings, he’s just not going to be making any wholesale changes following the Illinois loss any time soon.

“I’ll just say like every season’s a new season. Every team’s a new team and these guys have a good football team. So, and we knew that coming in. We knew that. Got a lot of respect for them and so it’s a loss. It’s a tough loss, but, no, we are who we are right now and we can’t change dramatically but hopefully we can find some ways to be more effective. To the point earlier, I think you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand we need to score more points,” Ferentz said.

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‘We’re going to work on solutions’: No, the Iowa Hawkeyes probably aren’t

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz says he and the staff are working on offensive solutions, but the Hawkeyes probably aren’t.

Iowa (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) lost on the road to Illinois, 9-6. For the first time since 1989, Illinois can celebrate wins over both Iowa and Wisconsin. The Illini grabbed their first win over Iowa since 2008 and the first in the last nine meetings.

Afterwards, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was singing Bret Bielema and the Illini’s praises.

“You know, they played an outstanding game, so, really, both defenses played pretty well. Tough to swallow, but we didn’t do enough to win the football game, make the plays you need to and credit to them. They were able to do that. We’ll head into a bye week 3-3 and just reassess things and try to take advantage of that and get ready for the second part of the season,” Ferentz said.

Ultimately, Ferentz is right on Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten). The Illini are improved. Still, after the way Saturday night played out, that’s no solace for Iowa fans, nor should it be.

It was more of the same from the Hawkeyes. The defense allowed just the three field goals on 12 Illini drives, forcing six punts and coming away with a pair of turnovers.

The first was a forced fumble by defensive back Riley Moss that Seth Benson recovered to set Iowa up at the Illinois 5-yard line. The second was a Quinn Schulte interception that temporarily wiped away an Illinois scoring chance and kept the game tied at six apiece.

Iowa couldn’t punch in the Moss forced fumble from the 5-yard line and instead actually lost four yards. That string of plays started with a short-arm miss on a pass from quarterback Spencer Petras where running back Leshon Williams would have gone into the end zone from the flat if it had been thrown where he could receive it comfortably.

It’s also worth pointing out that it came on the heels of another Illinois turnover on a muffed punt which Jack Campbell secured that set the Hawkeyes up on the Illini 35-yard line. Of course, the Hawkeyes went three-and-out ahead of the Moss fumble, setting the stage for the Tory Taylor punt to pin Illinois deep and arrange the ensuing circumstances.

The Schulte interception had Iowa backed up to its own 1-yard line, and, with this offense, expecting a first down would have been a foolhardy bet. Naturally, the Hawkeyes held to form, promptly picking up just five yards and going three-and-out before paving the way for Illinois’ game-winning, nine-play, 26-yard scoring drive that painstakingly included a tease of a scoop-and-score fumble return touchdown for Moss that wasn’t to be.

With the game tied at 6-6 and Illinois playing its backup quarterback in Artur Sitkowski, Iowa could do nothing offensively in the second half and punted five straight times before Illinois twisted the final dagger.

All of that offensive futility happened while the Hawkeye defense pounced on Illinois’ backup quarterback, holding the Illini to just 147 yards of total offense, coming away with those two aforementioned turnovers and keeping run-heavy Illinois to just one drive in its final nine that lasted more than 3:38 in time of possession. Again, there were plenty of chances for Iowa to be successful.

Instead, 13 drives netted six points. Along the way, Iowa showcased an inability in the red zone and out-trick played itself from comfortable field goal range. After a pair of completions to wide receiver Nico Ragaini and tight end Sam LaPorta of 15 and 32 yards in the first half’s final minute  drove Iowa from its own 35-yard line to the Illinois 18, the Hawkeyes inexplicably tried a reverse that lost nine yards to Ragaini and ultimately led to a 45-yard field goal miss from Stevens.

“They’re great when they work and when they don’t work, they’re not so great. Obviously their guy did a good job getting up the field and containing,” Ferentz said of the reverse that blew up in Iowa’s face.

At some point, one wonders if the Iowa defense will simply lose interest in having to constantly prop this team up.

“These guys care about each other. That’s not just an offensive thing, defensive thing. These guys care about each other and everybody’s part of the team. I think they all understand there’s a bigger picture here,” Ferentz said of how they keep defensive players’ spirits up.

All of this is to say, it wasn’t any kind of a shock that Iowa stunk offensively once again, finishing with eight punts, just 222 yards of total offense and a pair of Drew Stevens field goals.

Asked again why there still hasn’t been offensive improvement, Ferentz responded with the following.

“It’s a fair question. I mean, 9-6 game, you can probably say both offenses were a little bit lacking, but that’s disappointing. I’m not sure we took a step forward tonight. I felt like we did last week with the offense. Tonight, not the case and credit to Illinois. They were part of that, but then we’re going to play other good defenses, too, along the way,” Ferentz said.

Here’s where it gets particularly frustrating for Hawkeye fans: Iowa is entering its bye week and has two weeks to reset things offensively if it so chooses. Now would be the prime opportunity for an in-season change of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Ferentz, or a chance at several weeks to comfortably navigate a switch to backup quarterback Alex Padilla.

Iowa won’t explore that path. It can’t explore that path. That would be disloyal. And even though Iowa is a national laughing stock offensively that has scored seven points or less six times in the past calendar year, at least the Hawkeyes can hang their hats on their loyalty en route to a losing season.

Instead, Ferentz points to Iowa’s 10 wins that its defense gift wrapped from last season as part of the reason why an in-season change of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz is unnecessary for this season.

“Making the change? No, no, no, no. I mean, we won 10 games last year. I don’t know if you’re aware of that, but…so, I look at that, and we’ve won a lot of games since 2015. So, you know, we’re not doing well enough right now. I think that’s fairly obvious and we’re going to work on solutions, figure out what we can do to get better,” Ferentz said.

Kirk also added this when pressed for what his defense of Brian Ferentz as Iowa’s offensive coordinator would be.

“He’s a good football coach. I thought Greg Davis was good in ’14. He got killed and we ended up, you know, having a pretty good year the next year, so, you know, he’s a good football coach. We’ve had three good coordinators now in my opinion and we’ve got to play better. We have to do what we can to help our players. As coaches, we have to do better to try to help them and we’ll try to move forward. It’s easy to point fingers and just call people out. I don’t think I’ve ever operated that way in 23 years and don’t intend to right now,” Ferentz said.

So, the plan is for the Hawkeyes to stick with the offensive coordinator that currently has Iowa with the nation’s 127th scoring offense and dead last nationally in total offense. And don’t expect to see a different quarterback get a look either.

“Right now, I don’t think that was the problem tonight. I mean, as I stood there and watched. In fact, I thought Spencer did some good things. Missed a couple throws and that’s probably going to be every quarterback every game. Yeah, my guess is that’s what we’re going to be doing, but we’ll talk about everything,” Ferentz responded when asked if he would reevaluate the Hawkeyes’ starting quarterback in Petras.

The question fans and media keep coming back to: genuinely, how is Iowa this bad offensively?

“I think part of that showed tonight. We’ve got some issues up front right now. We’re young and inexperienced. Again, I thought we made progress last week in that regard. Tonight, not so much. We couldn’t run the ball very successfully and then protect when we have to. But, it’s not all on them. It’s a team thing and right now we’re certainly more experienced on the defensive side and that’s showing. So, we’ll keep working and work through it,” Ferentz said.

On Iowa’s inability to run the football effectively, it doesn’t sound like there’s many tangible answers on how to fix the offensive line any time soon either.

“We’ll just try to reassess and see what we can do and try to get them to play a little smarter. We made improvement I thought last week. Not sure. We’ll look at the film, see what it looks like, but, you know, handle it like every week and just try to move them forward,” Ferentz said.

Maybe a quarterback with more mobility could help open things up in the run game and lead to success. Maybe a different vision or play sequencing from the offensive coordinator could help this offense. Iowa’s players and its fans will get neither.

“I’ll just say like every season’s a new season. Every team’s a new team and these guys have a good football team. So, and we knew that coming in. We knew that. Got a lot of respect for them and so it’s a loss. It’s a tough loss, but, no, we are who we are right now and we can’t change dramatically but hopefully we can find some ways to be more effective. To the point earlier, I think you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand we need to score more points,” Ferentz said.

Everyone knows Iowa needs to score more points to stop hanging this defense and program out to dry, including its head coach, but, yet again, misplaced loyalty appears it will win out instead of doing what Kirk’s contract says he should be doing, which is trying to best position his team to win football games.

It’s Kirk’s program and he appears to have stability where he can pretty much do whatever he wants. Even if that means forcing his players and the alumni through a season where he understands he’s not putting the program’s best foot forward. Just stop telling everyone and acting like you’re working on solutions when it’s clear you’re not.

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I’m tired of watching Iowa Hawkeyes football

Iowa has officially broken our writer Jacob Keppen.

This is not going to be a nuanced analysis of Iowa football where I try to find the bright side of a 9-6 loss to a fellow conference competitor. I will not be scouring for potential positives for the future, and seeking ways that Brian Ferentz can improve this offense so that Iowa can still contend for the Big Ten West.

No, that is not what this piece is about. This piece is a man frustrated with the six weeks of abysmal football that he has watched, feeling absolutely broken by the worst offense in football. You did it Iowa, I hope you’re happy. You’ve absolutely broken me. I’m tired of watching Iowa’s offense bumble about trying to get the ball in the end zone.

You already know the result heading in to Saturday, yet you convince yourself every week that it will be different. “This is the week where it finally all clicks!” In the back of your mind, though, you know it is just lies you’re planting in your head to try and get excited for a program that is completely out of touch. A program that increasingly becomes more and more unlikable with every press conference.

I don’t think anything expresses just how backwards Iowa is as an offensive unit (heavily emphasizing how offensive it truly is to fans) than this sequence shared by CBS Sports reporter Shehan Jeyarajah.

This is embarrassing, demoralizing, and whatever other adjective you want to use to describe the sunken feeling in your stomach every time you watch Iowa.

Everything is wrong with this Iowa offense. Everything! The quarterback cannot get the ball to the receivers accurately and cannot make the right reads. The Ferentzes have arranged the perfect dysfunctional marriage of an offensive line that excels in allowing a ton of pressure and a quarterback who shrivels under it. Don’t expect playmakers to be able to completely bail Iowa out either. The line is so bad this year that the backs can’t even do it.

Brian Ferentz offense is the football equivalent of an over-exaggerated shrug. The lack of innovation and creativity just oozes from the start. It’s like he lacks any confidence in himself or any of his players to get the job done.

The worst part is nothing will be done as a result. With the nepotism involved, don’t expect to see any changes this season or beyond. Ferentz doesn’t make coaching changes anyway, much less to his son. I just wonder what happens during the weekly coaching meetings.

Do they just say “Ah well, we’ll get them next week. We’re almost there!” It seems that Kirk Ferentz is keen on riding the past success of last year, even though the offense absolutely stunk then and the team was embarrassed on the national stage by Michigan.

How do you think Thanksgiving goes in the Ferentz household? Does Kirk pat Brian on his back? “You’re doing a bang up job son!”

I’m sorry if I’m extremely frustrated, but it goes further than a horrible 9-6 loss. Everything involved with Iowa football is just fundamentally broken. Nothing on this offense is set up for success. Not the players involved currently, and the scheming and playcalling hasn’t set up any success in years.

The part that infuriates me, and that should infuriate any Iowa fan, is that things will never change. The idea of things getting worse before they get better just doesn’t seem to apply when you know changes won’t be put into place to get better.

Everything surrounding Iowa football just feels so meaningless.

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Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 9-6 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini

What does the report card look like for Iowa following the Hawkeyes’ 9-6 setback at Illinois? Let’s take a peek.

Much of this will likely feel like a broken record. Ultimately, that’s because it is. It’s the same song and dance for Iowa.

In the Hawkeyes’ 9-6 loss at Illinois, Iowa’s defense was largely terrific. Meanwhile, its offense was once again largely anemic.

“So, we’re sitting here right now. We’re 3-3. We’ve got a week to figure things out best we can. We’re not going to get, you know, cavalry’s not coming , so we’ll try to figure out what we can do and do more effectively and then brace up for the next six weeks.

“But, we knew they were all going to be tough and that’s how I look at it moving forward. We do have some strengths on our team. We’re going to have to shore up whatever weaknesses we have and see what we can do. It’s a new six-game season and we’ll just take it a week at a time,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said following the Hawkeyes’ defeat.

Without further ado, pull up a chair. Class is in session.

Gallery: Iowa Hawkeyes stumble at Illinois for the first time since 2008

For the first time since 2008, Iowa lost at Illinois. Here’s a look at the upsetting night that was through this photo gallery.

Iowa had every opportunity to turn it into an ugly win. Instead, Illinois snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Hawkeyes and won with backup quarterback Artur Sitkowski taking the majority of the night’s snaps for the Fighting Illini, 9-6.

Afterwards, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was singing Illinois’ praises.

“I’ll just say like every season’s a new season. Every team’s a new team and these guys have a good football team. So, and we knew that coming in. We knew that. Got a lot of respect for them and so it’s a loss. It’s a tough loss,” Ferentz said.

There’s plenty of questions for the Hawkeyes to sort out during their bye week as they gear up for a road trip on Oct. 22 to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.

In the meantime, here’s a look back at the frustrating night that was against the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Everything Kirk Ferentz said after the Iowa Hawkeyes disappointed again in 9-6 loss at Illinois

Here’s everything Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said after the Hawkeyes’ frustrating 9-6 loss at Illinois.

It’s disappointing times for Iowa Hawkeyes fans at the midway point of the season. Iowa (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) fell at Illinois (5-1, 2-1), snapping the Hawkeyes’ eight-game winning streak over the Illini in an embarrassing 9-6 loss.

Needless to say, the Hawkeye faithful on social media was less than pleased with the performance. At the midway point of the season, it’s already Iowa’s second game without an offensive touchdown and it’s the fourth game with one or fewer offensive touchdowns.

Really, that number might as well be five games with one or fewer offensive touchdowns, too, because the second touchdown against Michigan came with the game out of reach and the Wolverines seemingly content to let the clock wind.

At any rate, it was another offensive showing to forget about. Afterwards, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed the loss and what’s ahead for the Hawkeyes entering the bye week.

Social media reacts to the Iowa Hawkeyes’ latest offensive nightmare, 9-6 loss to Illinois

Illinois snapped its eight-game losing streak against Iowa. Social media reacted to the latest offensive nightmare from the Hawkeyes.

Iowa went into Champaign, Ill., looking to extend an eight-game winning streak over Illinois that dated back to the Hawkeyes’ 30-14 win over the Fighting Illini on Nov. 15, 2014.

Instead, Iowa saw that stretch of success snapped and the Fighting Illini grab their first win over the Hawkeyes in their past nine tries. Illinois snuck past Iowa, 9-6, thanks to a trio of Fabrizio Pinton field goals of 27, 37 and 36 yards. The final Pinton field goal was sent through with 2:49 remaining.

Initially, it looked like Illinois would never have that chance at the game-winning field goal. But, a scoop-and-score Iowa fumble return touchdown for Riley Moss was wiped out following review after it became clear that Artur Sitkowski’s elbow and forearm was down before he lost possession of the football.

Then, as was the case throughout the night, the Hawkeyes’ offense couldn’t deliver with the game on the line. Looking for a game-tying field goal or the go-ahead touchdown, Iowa drove to its own 47-yard line, but starting quarterback Spencer Petras was hit as he threw and intercepted by Illinois’ Matthew Bailey.

The Hawkeyes actually got one final chance even after that. Iowa’s defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Hawkeyes exhausted all of their timeouts to preserve as much of the game clock as they could and Iowa got the football back at its own 16-yard line with 1:12 remaining.

After a 13-yard connection from Petras to Nico Ragaini and a defensive pass interference on Illinois moved the football to the Iowa 42-yard line, the Hawkeyes went backwards from there. Petras was sacked for a loss of seven, the Hawkeyes picked up holding and false start penalties and then the last-gasp lateral effort wound up with a final lateral out of bounds.

Along the way, there was plenty of social media reaction to another offensive night that had Iowa fans scratching their heads. Here was the best reactions to the Hawkeyes’ loss on the interwebs.

Everything Kirk Ferentz said ahead of Iowa-Illinois

Here is everything Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said while previewing the Hawkeyes’ matchup at Illinois with the media.

Iowa travels to Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini come Saturday night in prime time at 6:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. After a tough home loss versus No. 4 Michigan, the Hawkeyes are hoping to get back into the winner’s column.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz broke Bret Bielema’s Illinois Fighting Illini and touched on a number of topics in his weekly press conference. Here was everything Ferentz had to say ahead of the road battle against the Fighting Illini.

ESPN’s FPI gives Iowa Hawkeyes a 39.9% chance in matchup predictor versus Illinois Fighting Illini

ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Iowa Hawkeyes a 39.9% chance in its matchup predictor to win at Illinois.

Illinois has nearly matched its win total from all of last season with still seven games remaining on the Fighting Illini’s remaining schedule. Bret Bielema’s current squad was so good against his old squad last week that the Wisconsin Badgers decided enough was enough and fired head coach Paul Chryst.

Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) looks vastly improved from its 5-7 finish a season ago, and, like everybody else in the Big Ten West, the Fighting Illini appear primed to be a legitimate factor in the division race.

It all starts for Illinois offensively with the nation’s leading rusher in running back Chase Brown. He’s already racked up 733 rushing yards and five total touchdowns on 120 carries this season. Syracuse transfer quarterback Tommy DeVito hasn’t been spectacular but he’s been solid for Illinois, completing 107-of-153 passes for 1,121 yards and nine touchdowns against just two interceptions.

Meanwhile, the offensive shortcomings of Iowa likely have contributed to flipping what some of the numbers look like surrounding this football game. Back in July, ESPN’s Football Power Index gave the Hawkeyes a 67.8% chance to go on the road to Champaign, Ill., and walk away a victor.

Now, it’s a completely different story. ESPN’s FPI actually has Illinois as the favorite, giving Iowa an updated 39.9% chance to top Illinois. Again, this is a reflection of Illinois’ improvement and the struggles Iowa has had offensively.

The Hawkeyes are still looking to find more offense. Iowa managed two scoring drives last week against Michigan, though the final scoring drive came with the game out of reach and the Wolverines simply looking to make the Hawkeyes chew up as much clock as possible.

Despite continued frustrations on the offensive side of the football, there have been some offensive silver linings for those looking closely the past few weeks. Iowa finally has a trio of running backs it feels good about and the Hawkeyes look like they have one of the top tight end duos nationally. Starting quarterback Spencer Petras is also coming off his best statistical game against the best defense Iowa has seen thus far this season.

It will take all of those pieces working together in cohesion for the Hawkeyes to improve their record to 4-2 and the all-important 2-1 mark in Big Ten play late Saturday night at Illinois.

Entering Illinois week, here’s what the rest of Iowa’s ESPN FPI matchup predictor numbers look like for the remainder of the 2022 season.