Kirk Ferentz
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says there is no obvious answer as to why his team has been so inconsistent. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 51-14 thrashing at the hands of Minnesota and take a 6-3 record on the road to Illinois. “This isn’t a video game, it’s not a deal where you just plug plays in or plug things in,” Ferentz says. He says it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen in high school, college or pro football and you have to just prepare and get yourself ready to go.
Ferentz says the most important things right now is for the Hawks to move on as he says players and coaches can’t sit around like the fans and the media and digest a loss, they have to move on.
This will be the Hawkeyes first game against the Illini since back in 2008. Ferentz says that’s due to expansion and he says it’s nice with the new conference divisions to play them, as he says it feels more natural to play a border state school.
Iowa needs to shore up its run defense as teams have exploited the perimeter. “We’ve given up more rushing yardage than we care to certainly, not only last week, but over the course of the season. That’s something we are going to have to shore up,” Ferentz says.
Illinois is 4-5 and coming off a bye week and Ferentz says they are a team that has been playing hard. Wes Lunt returns at quarterback, He has been sidelined with a broken leg suffered in an October fourth loss to Purdue. Ferentz says Lunt is a good thrower and has been playing his best football this year.