Tag: Spencer Petras

‘There’s no magic formula’: Kirk Ferentz mentions 2000 Penn State game as model for resiliency

When discussing how to keep the offense’s confidence high, Kirk Ferentz pointed to the 2000 Penn State game as a model of resiliency.

After registering just eight first downs and 158 yards of total offense that netted one field goal against No. 2 Ohio State, Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) continues to search for any kind of offensive footing.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked how they keep confidence high for the offensive personnel when the unit is one of the nation’s worst and has devolved into a national laughingstock.

The Hawkeyes’ 24-year head coach pointed back to one of his first seasons leading the program for an answer on how to break through offensively.

“We have really good people to work with. I think we have good coaches on our staff and most importantly good players and that has been a commonality 30-plus years during my career at our place so it starts there. And there’s no magic formula. You just keep banging along and you’re never sure when things are going to break through.

“I’m standing here right now just thinking about going to Penn State in 2000. I don’t think anybody would have called that shot, but that was really the first time we played collectively like a winning football team, a winning Big Ten football team. We didn’t do anything magical during that course leading up to that game other than just try to, you just try to practice well and try to get better each and every time out there. I don’t think that formula ever changes in sports. I know more football than I do anything else, but, you know, so that’s the course we’ll stay on and we’ll see where it all takes us,” Ferentz said.

Leading up to that 2000 game versus Penn State, Iowa had gone just 1-10 in Ferentz’s first season leading the program in 1999 and were just 1-8 to start 2000. That was a combined 2-18 record and there weren’t many signs that things were magically about to start getting better.

Still, Iowa stayed the course and, sure enough, the Hawkeyes topped Penn State on that Nov. 4 day in 2000 by the final tally of 26-23 in two overtimes. Then, Iowa won the following week over then-No. 18 Northwestern, 27-17, and finished with a one-score loss against Minnesota.

Of course, Iowa enjoyed its first very successful season under Ferentz in 2001 when the Hawkeyes finished 7-5 before ripping off 11-2, 10-3 and 10-2 marks in 2002, 2003 and 2004. So, the track record for trusting with and sticking to the day-to-day approach and eventually getting results is something that exists for Ferentz dating back to the beginning of his Hawkeye tenure.

Against Ohio State, it was the first time this season that backup quarterback Alex Padilla saw extended action. While it didn’t result in improved results and Iowa hasn’t committed to Padilla taking over in place of Spencer Petras yet, the hope is that it signals that Iowa is committed to whatever changes it will take to improve the offense over the season’s final month and change.

Ferentz admitted following the blowout defeat that Iowa doesn’t have a simple answer right now offensively.

“Well, we’re not playing well enough. I can’t give you an answer. If I had that answer, you probably would have seen something today. Part of the credit goes to our opponent today. They’re a really good defensive football team. Much improved. I don’t want to say much improved. Much improved statistically, but they’re a good defensive football team. We felt that coming in watching their tape and feel that way now after seeing them in person. So, I don’t have the answer or we would have scored more points today and we’ll just keep pushing forward and trying to find a better solution,” Ferentz said.

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Kirk Ferentz snips at reporter after Ohio State loss following Brian Ferentz, Iowa offense questions

Questions about Brian Ferentz and the Iowa offense’s performance created a testy exchange between Kirk Ferentz and a reporter.

The 2022 season just isn’t going well right now for Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten). After three straight losses, the Hawkeyes now have a losing record and they are in the Big Ten West cellar.

Questions about the Iowa offense’s ineptitude and inability to improve continue to ratchet up after the latest dismal performance. The latest was a 54-10 drubbing from No. 2 Ohio State that featured just eight first downs, 158 yards of total offense and had Hawkeye fans once again in a tizzy.

Fans finally got a look at backup quarterback Alex Padilla to start the second half after starting quarterback Spencer Petras was benched, though it certainly didn’t go according to plan. Padilla promptly fumbled the exchange with center Logan Jones on his first snap and threw an interception to Buckeyes safety Tanner McCalister two offensive plays later. Padilla finished just 5-of-10 passing for 32 yards and didn’t lead a scoring drive.

Starting quarterback Spencer Petras led one drive that ended with a 49-yard Drew Stevens field goal, but he threw an interception on the first play of the game, fumbled away the football on a sack and threw a pick-six to Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. Petras ended his day just 6-of-14 passing for 49 yards.

Afterwards, Cleveland.com reporter Doug Lesmerises asked Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz why he is willing to make an in-season quarterback change but not an in-season evaluation and change of his offensive coordinator, his son Brian Ferentz.

“Well, I think you’re talking about two separate job descriptions and two separate areas of responsibility. I know people do it. I know it’s been done. It’s been done this year. Again, it’s just not my preference. My preference has been to play it out, and there’s evidence to show that it’s worked pretty well in the past, so we’ll play it out and then we’ll do our assessments and our evaluations when everything’s over. The season’s not over, so, when the season’s over, we’ll make an evaluation I think is best for our program,” Ferentz said.

He didn’t stop there. Lesmerises was jumping right into another question about the lack of offensive production for Iowa.

“You have one of the least productive offenses in the country, do you—,” Lesmerises said before being interrupted.

“I’ve noticed that, yeah,” Ferentz interrupted.

“Everybody’s noticed it,” Lesmerises responded right back.

“Well thank you, yeah,” Ferentz snipped.

“Do you believe that you’re putting the Iowa program in a bad spot by having that kind of production on one side of the ball that’s run by one of your family members?” Lesmerises asked.

“It’s got no bearing on who the person is, alright, and it’s just a matter of who is coaching our football team. Okay, the guys on our staff are guys I think that have demonstrated success. They’re good people and we’re going to keep pushing forward. I don’t feel like we’re doing anything wrong,” Ferentz said.

Lesmerises had one final question. Would that end-of-season evaluation of Brian Ferentz be the same as the rest of Iowa’s assistant coaches?

“We’ve, I’ve tried to treat everybody with consistency on our staff past and present. Same thing with players. I’ve had three family members play as well in our program, and, you know, they’ve got to earn everything they get. Just like coaches do,” Ferentz said.

As the local and national chorus continues to grow that Iowa is in need of offensive changes immediately, some are wondering if serious damage to the Hawkeyes’ program might have already been done. In the meantime, the only immediate fix is a nice performance against Northwestern this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. where Iowa opened as a double-figure favorite.

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‘I just think at that point it was the best thing to do’: Kirk Ferentz on QB change, Alex Padilla’s play

Kirk Ferentz shared thoughts on why Iowa finally switched to quarterback Alex Padilla and how he feels Padilla played at Ohio State.

To start the second half, Iowa fans saw the long-awaited quarterback swap to backup quarterback Alex Padilla. After falling to No. 2 Ohio State 54-10, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared why the Hawkeyes finally made the switch to Padilla.

“Just, yeah, cumulative. I just think at that point it was the best thing to do and, you know, but, again, it was a tough situation for either quarterback probably for an assessment,” Ferentz said.

Spencer Petras exited the game 6-of-14 passing with a pair of interceptions—one that was returned for a touchdown—and just 49 yards. He led one first-half scoring drive that ended with a 49-yard Drew Stevens field goal.

Unfortunately for Iowa fans, Padilla didn’t do any better. The 6-foot-1, 200 pound native of Greenwood Village, Colo., native completed just 5-of-10 passes for 32 yards and the Hawkeyes were shutout in the second half.

Two of his first three snaps from scrimmage to start the second half resulted in Hawkeye turnovers. The first snap was a fumbled exchange between he and center Logan Jones and then an off-target pass for tight end Sam LaPorta was deflected and intercepted by Ohio State safety Tanner McCalister.

“Well, you know, the snap thing, I’m a line coach. So, you know, everywhere I worked, they always blame the center, but I blame both guys. You can’t win games if you can’t get the center exchange. I know it was practiced at halftime, those two guys, and they practiced in practice. And then, the other one, there’s nothing you can do there. I mean, nothing Alex can do. But, again, it was a series of issues today. Not just those two plays,” Ferentz said.

Asked how he felt Padilla handled himself following the two early turnovers, Ferentz had this to say about the

“Well, you know, I thought both quarterbacks tried to compete and do their best out there, and so we’ll look at the tape tomorrow and see what we can do, but Alex as I’ve said has practiced well and he’s totally invested. Just like Spencer is. Again, it was a tough situation for him to enter the game, so we’ll just take a look at it tomorrow and see what we think,” Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes haven’t made a determination on who will start this week versus Northwestern just yet, or at least Iowa isn’t sharing that information with the release of its weekly depth chart. Both Petras and Padilla were listed atop this week’s depth chart.

After falling to the Buckeyes, Ferentz said he and the staff would need to look at the film before making any decision on whether Petras or Padilla would start against Northwestern.

“Well, we’ll talk about that tomorrow, but again this is a tough assessment, too. Tough opponent and things weren’t going real well. You’re looking up at a score that’s a little bit lopsided. That makes it even that much tougher. We’ll see what the film looks like and go from there,” Ferentz said.

Iowa hosts Northwestern at 2:30 p.m. from Kinnick Stadium on Saturday for a Homecoming date. It’s the 12th time that the Hawkeyes have hosted Northwestern for a Homecoming game. Iowa is 7-4 in those games against Northwestern and 16 of its last 21 Homecoming contests dating back to 2000.

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5 takeaways from Ohio State’s rout of the Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa’s loss inside the Horseshoe had some interesting twists and turns. What were five of the biggest takeaways from the Ohio State rout?

Second-ranked Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) looked the part in dismantling Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) in the second half. The Buckeyes handed the Hawkeyes a 54-10 blowout loss. In the process, Ohio State racked up the most points on a Kirk Ferentz-coached Iowa team.

Still, if you watched this game, you understand that’s probably not the greatest indication of how the game played out. Let’s take a look at the five key takeaways for the Hawkeyes.

Gallery: Iowa loss at Ohio State highlighted by defense, quarterback swap to Alex Padilla

Iowa’s latest offensive nightmare finally featured a quarterback change. Here were the best photos from the Hawkeyes’ loss at Ohio State.

Finally, at long last, Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) made the quarterback change. Whether or not it’s a permanent or longterm change remains to be seen. Still, it didn’t affect much positive change for the Hawkeyes’ offense at No. 2 Ohio State.

Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla combined for five of the Hawkeyes’ six turnovers inside the Horseshoe. They also combined for zero offensive touchdowns. Iowa finished with just eight first downs, 158 yards of total offense and one scoring drive that ended with a Drew Stevens 49-yard field goal. The Hawkeyes converted 1-of-13 third-down conversion tries.

“Offensively, protection issues right off the bat in that first quarter and turnovers are tough to overcome again no matter who you’re playing. So, weren’t able to establish anything consistent and, you know, made a quarterback change at halftime. As I said about that situation early, I’m not so sure it’s, you know, real fair to assess that whole thing right now either just based on the overall play, but we’ll go about that tomorrow. Just thought at that time it was the best thing to do for all parties involved,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said afterwards.

Now, Iowa will turn the page to a home date next weekend against Northwestern where the Hawkeyes will look to erase a three-game slide. In the meantime, here’s a look back through Iowa’s day that involved the quarterback change fans were waiting for through these sensational photos.

Report card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 54-10 blowout loss at Ohio State

Iowa surrendered a Ferentz-era high 54 points in the blowout loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here’s the postgame report card.

Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) has a losing record for the first time in 2022 after No. 2 Ohio State started slow offensively but found its footing after recess en route to four second half touchdowns and a 54-10 blowout victory.

The 54 points are the most any Iowa team has surrendered since the 1995 season, which means it’s also the most points a Hawkeye team has allowed under head coach Kirk Ferentz. It speaks to the explosiveness of the Buckeyes and how offensive ineptitude will eventually turn into a landslide against one of the nation’s best teams.

While it’s the latest result in what is morphing into a potential season to forget, the marks aren’t all failing grades for the Hawkeyes. Pull up a chair. Class is in session.

Social media reactions: Iowa Hawkeyes fans suffer through blowout loss at Ohio State Buckeyes

Iowa fans struggled through the Hawkeyes’ 54-10 loss at Ohio State. Here were the best reactions on social media from media and fans.

If you can believe it, there was some promise early for Iowa at No. 2 Ohio State. In fact, the Hawkeyes led 7-3 after Joe Evans sacked Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, jarred the football loose and then picked it up himself and rumbled 11 yards into the end zone.

As has typified the Hawkeyes’ end to last season and all of 2022, though, the Iowa offense was the defense’s undoing. The first play from scrimmage saw a Spencer Petras pass intercepted by Ohio State safety Tanner McCalister. Before the first half was finished, Petras was sacked and fumbled to end another drive with a turnover and he threw a pick-six that Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg ran back.

The Hawkeye defense did all it could in the first half to keep Iowa close. For one reason or another, four different first-half Ohio State drives started in Iowa territory. Those four possessions all ended with a Buckeyes field goal.

The long awaited change at quarterback finally came to start the second half for the Hawkeyes. After Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell picked off Stroud to set up the Hawkeyes’ first offensive possession of the second half, in came backup quarterback Alex Padilla. It did not go well.

The first offensive snap from scrimmage for Padilla in 2022 was a fumbled exchange between center and quarterback that Ohio State pounced on. Padilla was intercepted on Iowa’s next drive and finished just 5-of-10 passing for 32 yards. Iowa didn’t score in the second half.

Naturally, the national media, local media and, of course, Iowa Hawkeyes fans had plenty to react to during what wound up as a 54-10 blowout loss at Ohio State. Here were the best social media reactions from Iowa’s frustrating trip to the Horseshoe.

Has the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive line done enough for Spencer Petras?

With the bye week behind us, has the offensive line allowed for a fair evaluation of quarterback Spencer Petras?

It’s a question that has to be asked. Has the offensive line done enough for Iowa starting quarterback Spencer Petras? Has it afforded Petras the amount of time he needs in pass protection to operate effectively?

Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Ferentz said after the South Dakota State game that he felt Petras had sufficient time to throw for the most part against the Jackrabbits.

“What percentage (of blame), it’s hard to say frankly. I felt like after watching the tape, the majority of that game we had ample opportunity in the pocket to deliver the ball and do what we needed to do as far as making the read and getting the ball to the correct guy on time. So was the protection perfect? No, but if you’re waiting around for perfect protection, you’re not going to be happy with it ever,” Ferentz said.

Petras finished by completing 11-of-25 passes for 109 yards with an interception against South Dakota State. Enter now Iowa’s seventh game of the season and some of those same offensive problems still exist for the Hawkeyes.

Last week Ferentz was asked if he felt Petras still had adequate time to throw through six weeks or if it was a different story now.

“No, that’s not always true. Just like it wasn’t always true in the South Dakota State game. I thought with the exception of two plays in that game that he had adequate time to throw. I think we could point to plays in any of the other five games where maybe he didn’t have the time, but that’s the reality of playing the position.

“You are going to have some of those instances. Now, you look at the other night. I would say there’s probably four examples where he is just certainly not going to have time to get the ball off. Unfortunately, one of them was on our last non-desperation type play. We’ve got an in-cut breaking open at about the 40. Is he going to get in field goal range? He is going to be pretty darn close. Unfortunately, that’s one of those plays where you don’t even get a chance. You couldn’t have thrown that on the plant if he wanted to, and that’s a hitch and throw. There’s opportunities in the game to overcome some things with timing. There’s other times when there’s not.

“I don’t know if that answers your question well enough, but it’s yes and no. You look at other times. I think one of the hardest things to evaluate as a quarterback, what is the affect of what each play is having on you as the game goes on, right? There’s a cumulative effect that comes from being under duress or being hit. And, unfortunately, it is going to manifest itself from time to time when you would prefer it doesn’t,” Ferentz said.

According to Football Outsiders, Iowa’s sack rate ranks 126th nationally, allowing sacks on 10.2% on what it categorizes as non-garbage time pass attempts. That includes a 10.3% standard downs sack rate, which ranks 126th nationally, and a 9.8% passing downs sack rate, which ranks 99th nationally.

Football Outsiders’ run game numbers for Iowa aren’t ideal either. The Hawkeyes’ opportunity rate is just 39.6%, which ranks 124th nationally. Opportunity rate measures the percentage of carries when four yards are available, or when the offensive line does its job. In a similar disappointing fashion, Iowa’s stuff rate—percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage—is at 22%, which ranks 119th.

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Iowa fan simulates Hawkeyes quarterback battle via NCAA Football showdown

One Iowa fan set out to see how the Spencer Petras-Alex Padilla quarterback battle would play out in an NCAA Football simulation.

While it may have been the bye week, fans still got their weekly dose of Iowa football, and this time the Hawkeyes literally couldn’t lose their game.

Fueled by Iowa fans raising $600 for the UI Children’s Hospital and Hurricane Ian relief in Florida, Twitter user Cody Hills (@ByCodyHills) booted up the old NCAA Football video game and set out to find who truly would lead Iowa the best. Could he answer Brian Ferentz’s question about the upside of starting Alex Padilla?

The premise was simple enough. Iowa’s roster was imported with both teams featuring the same usual starting lineups. Team Padilla donned the white away uniforms, Team Petras rocking the black and gold.

Petras won the toss, and like Matt Hasselbeck, said he wanted the ball and was going to score. Of course, Petras was intercepted on his first pass of the simulation. Ouch. The senior starter would be picked off by the Iowa defense three times. Cornerback Riley Moss would actually pick off both quarterbacks, while safeties Kaevon Merriweather and Quinn Schulte caused the other two Petras turnovers.

We might have to question where video game Drew Stevens’ loyalty lies. The kicker made both of his kicks for Team Padilla, but missed his lone attempt for Team Petras. I’d call shenanigans, but a 55-yarder is a tall task to ask of the freshman. We found out his maximum range at least, not even coming close to connecting on the long attempt.

Overall, yeah, it wasn’t pretty for either quarterback. Petras finished 18-of-31 passing in the 27-14 loss, throwing three picks to only one touchdown. Alex Padilla had a much better completion percentage at 78%, completing 18-of-23 passes, but he did not throw a single touchdown. Neither quarterback threw for over 200 yards.

The main takeaway? Whether it is in real life or in a video game simulation, the Ferentz offense still doesn’t work! Both passing games were atrocious, and no match for a stout Hawkeyes defense. At least Kaleb Johnson looked good running the ball.

If we are going off of video game logic, which seems pretty sound to me, Padilla offers the benefit of game management. He didn’t make nearly the same mistakes Petras did in this game, and it should be noted that Petras has more picks than touchdowns this season.

Either way, boy, the offense is in trouble no matter who is at the helm. Even a video game about as outdated as the Iowa offensive scheme can tell you that.

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‘What’s the upside?’: Brian Ferentz shoots down the idea of a QB change to Alex Padilla

Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz had some interesting words about Iowa’s quarterback situation between Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla.

The bye week is the perfect opportunity for a team to self reflect on their season thus far, and to try and root out any internal issues presenting themselves on the field. You get a whole week off to try and fix some key issues, getting your team on track to be at their best for the home stretch of the season.

For Iowa, it’s a bit harder than identifying one issue, as offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz alluded to in his bye week press conference, transcribed in full here by Hawkeyes Wire managing editor Josh Helmer. There really isn’t a root cause. Iowa has to really “look at everything.”

In reality, pretty much everything is a mess with Iowa’s offense. Nothing has been good enough, and it hasn’t really been for the past few years now. We are just seeing the worst version of the same bad offense that has been trotting out over the past few seasons.

Of course, the question about changing quarterbacks was always going to come up. Fans were ready to make a change midway through the first game against South Dakota State, and the sentiment around the fanbase in Iowa City hasn’t really changed since.

After pretty much as bad of an offensive performance as you can get, only scoring six points against Illinois and failing to mount a game-winning drive, of course the media was going to present the question at this press conference. It led to some rather interesting answers from the Hawkeyes’ OC.

When first asked the question, Ferentz recognized the potential success of change for change’s sake. It has worked for other teams.

“I don’t disagree with the philosophy of changing for change’s sake. I think it has been effective for people. I think it exists in the world. It’s like any philosophy. You can point to times it’s successful. You can point to times it’s not successful. Just like sticking with somebody, right? That’s going to cut both ways at some point as well. It’s not a philosophy that we adhere to,” Ferentz said.

It is a weird point, considering a couple of questions later he stated that he is “not interested in making a change for change’s sake.” Pretty much, Ferentz claims that the quarterback position is like any other spot on the team. They evaluate and ultimately roll with the guy they feel gives them the best chance to win, which in their minds is Spencer Petras.

“But right now the best way I can describe the quarterback position is this: It’s like any position on our football team. We’re evaluating everybody all the time on everything. The quarterback position is very simple. Who can do the job the absolute best?

“What are we looking at? We’re looking at metrics. Not just games. Practice. You’re talking about decisions, reads, timing, location, all those things. The good news with the quarterback position it’s very tangible. There’s not a lot of gray area when you are grading those factors.

“So the reality is we do like Alex. We would feel comfortable with Alex in the game. We feel like he is a good player, but the reason that Spencer is our quarterback is we feel like he gives us the best chance to win,” Ferentz said.

All of that was fine, well and good. That is, until this response was unearthed a few questions later about Padilla. In a video that has gone viral on Twitter, Ferentz deflected a question on the downside of bringing in Padilla by asking, “What is the upside?”

Yikes!

I can’t even imagine how Alex Padilla must feel listening to that.

Ferentz puts a lot of stock in knowing what Petras provides for the team, and how he fits their system. A lot of the upside that Padilla would bring is in terms of mobility, which is a point that Ferentz shot down in the presser.

“I understand that question. Let me explain it this way. The passing game is a system, and the system is built on timing and location in the zone coverage world or if we’re dealing with man-to-man coverage, matchup leverage throws,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz would go on to use examples of timing being a heavy part of their system from the past game before making a pretty definitive statement on the topic.

“You are looking at those things and saying that’s improvement. That’s what you like. That’s what you are looking for. But if that answers your question, I don’t know that the mobility — just having a guy running around, I’m not sure that’s going to solve any of our issues. You’re not going to be any more open just because a guy is running around,” Ferentz said.

That all sounds great, if the current system was working and if the quarterback was excelling in the system. As we’ve seen in the past week, throughout this entire season, and over the past few seasons, neither statements are accurate. The offense has largely been a mess since Ferentz took over as offensive coordinator and quarterback has not been a top tier position for Iowa during that time either. You can read more about the offensive woes under Ferentz here.

I don’t think anything said in this press conference about the quarterback situation and how Iowa views everything should surprise anyone at all. It should, however, be insulting to fans listening to the complete complacency in the current situation.

Through their words and actions, it seems that Iowa truly believes in what they are doing, and that with a few minor tweaks and some more time for cohesion, everything will be back to normal all hunky-dory. Everything is fine and the fans are overreacting! 

Don’t expect any real changes or innovations to be implemented over this bye week in preparation for Ohio State.

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