Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is not ready to call this a disappointing season. The Hawkeyes had their Big Ten title hopes dashed in a 21-17 loss at Northwestern last week and now prepare for a matchup with Ohio State that many expected to decide the conference title.

Ferentz says they can’t control what other people think and he says he wants the fans happy, as they all want to win, but he says you can’t worry about expectations. Ferentz says they play to win and try to do their best and if they “come up short, they come up short.”

Ferentz says they go into every season expecting to contend for the Big Ten Championship, and that goal has not changed and he says he tells that to the players before and during the season. The Hawkeyes have been good over the years of putting a tough loss behind them and responding with a good effort.

Ferentz says if they don’t move on, “then it will be ugly Saturday.” Iowa is 7-3 overall and in all three losses the opponent has put together a long fourth quarter drive for the winning score. Ferentz says Northwestern was able to drive on three series and they couldn’t stop them on third down.

Ferentz says just as big of a factor against Northwestern was the Hawks inability to convert on third down on offense. He says they put themselves in a lot of bad situations during the course of the game and made it tough to convert the third and longs.

Ferentz says the Buckeyes are playing their best at the right time of year and are on a roll with great momentum. He says they have tremendous players that are well coached and he says statistically they are almost intimidating.