Kirk Ferentz (file photo)
When he was asked about his decision to put Marshall Koehn into the game against Pitt to rugby punt Kirk Ferentz joked, “It’s a new me.” Ferentz was referring to the changes he implemented following a disappointing 2014 season that ended with a three game losing streak.
So far, they are working.
Off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2009 the Hawkeyes could go 4-0 for only the fourth time during the Ferentz era with a victory on Saturday against North Texas.
The changes were the result of a 37-34 overtime loss to Nebraska, a game the Hawkeyes led 24-7 in the third quarter.
“Everybody left saying, really?”, said Ferentz. “You go through a period like that and you go back and look at everything. I don’t think we look totally different right now as a football team but if we could make some tweaks and little changes that could help us we were going to be open to it.”
Junior quarterback C.J. Beathard has played well to start the season and the Hawkeyes are averaging 191 yards of rushing. That’s 60 yards per game more than the first three games of last season.