Kirk Ferentz is a football coach but he is also a father. Ferentz became choked up during his Tuesday news conference while announcing that three Hawkeyes, including his sophomore son Brian, were undergoing season-ending surgery. Redshirt freshman Ma’Quan Dawkins and defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux were the other Hawks to have surgery. Ferentz says he feels badly for them and he says it’s the hardest thing you deal with in coaching to see a young man disappointed. He says he expects all of them to bounce back and make a full recovery. The Hawks are coming off a 19-10 loss at Ohio State. That game featured a revamped offensive line with freshman Mike Jones entering the line-up and Eric Rothwell moving to center. The offense struggled but Ferentz says in the end, two breakdowns in the punt game were the difference. Iowa hosts a Penn State team that is winless in the Big Ten. He says their record is misleading as they’ve played three very good teams and says the games have all been close.
