Fans should hope that Saquon Barkley’s comments lit a spark
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football players were business as usual on Tuesday, as was their head coach.
They claim to have moved on from the Penn State debacle and are excited about the opportunity that awaits them on Saturday against second-ranked Michigan under the stars at Kinnick Stadium.
And they disagree with Penn State running back Saquon Barkley who basically accused the Iowa players of losing their will to compete in last Saturday’s 41-14 loss to the Nittany Lions.
“I actually didn’t see that until (Monday) night,” said Iowa junior linebacker Ben Niemann. “Obviously, that’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t think we had given up or anything like that. I don’t really agree with that comment.”
Barkley violated one of Kirk Ferentz’s unwritten rules as a head coach to never make accusatory or derogatory comments about your opponent.
“I'm not offering any commentary,” Ferentz said. “One thing I always try to be very careful of and really encourage our players to be careful of is speaking for other people. I think that's a really dangerous thing.”
If there is any panic, desperation or finger pointing within the ranks, the Iowa players hid it well on Tuesday while meeting with the press.
Junior linebacker Josey Jewell talked about staying the course, taking care of the little details and withstanding adversity.
“That’s actually how we’re trying to look at it right now, just stay the course, keep on going and try to give it our all every week and every day out in practice and try to be the best team we can possibly be,” Jewell said.
Ferentz brought up Iowa’s 44-7 loss to Arizona State in 2004 more than once on Tuesday, including in his response to Barkley’s comment.
“I didn't read that quote, but I'm guessing if you were at Arizona State after the game in '04, maybe you were, probably a few of their players probably said the same thing,” Ferentz said. “That was the worst beating I think I've been involved with, yet I think you look at the 2004 football team, first word that would come to mind for me would be heart. That was what that team was all about.
“In life, you have peaks, you have valleys. We all do, individually, collectively, and that's real life. That's just the way it goes, and if you go out and compete in sports against good oppositions, you're going to experience the good and the bad. Hopefully, the good. There's no guarantee there, but I guarantee you're probably going to go through the bad. And it really gets back to how do you respond; what's your day-to-day reaction to it?”
It makes sense that Ferentz would refer to the debacle in the desert 12 years ago because Iowa rebounded to finish 10-2 and as co-champion of the Big Ten in 2004.
As bleak as things might seem right now with the Iowa offense sputtering and with the defense starting to unravel, Ferentz hardly considers the situation to be a crisis.
And even if he did, he wouldn’t share that with reporters.
His message on Tuesday was typical Ferentz. There is no solution or cure for Iowa’s problems besides working on a daily basis to get better and trusting your approach to doing things.
The Iowa media often gets accused by Iowa fans of not asking Ferentz tough questions during tough times like now.
Somebody on Twitter actually challenged me to have enough guts to start Tuesday’s press conference by asking Ferentz why he hadn’t fired offensive coordinator Greg Davis yet and why he doesn’t bench his two starting safeties.
The problem with using that approach besides being unprofessional and rude is that it might get you tossed from the press conference or banned from future press conferences.
And it’s not as if reporters lobbed Ferentz a bunch of softballs on Tuesday.
He was asked if he has seen examples that would suggest that the team is staying unified rather than splintering.
“They've had two good practices thus far, and that's all you can ask for, and they're attentive in meetings,” Ferentz said. “Outside of that, there's not much else there. I think the guys are all committed to playing better. Certainly nobody was happy with Saturday.”
Ferentz was asked what his message would be to fans who are disappointed and concerned that the program is regressing.
“Well, I think everybody was feeling better a year ago at this time,” Ferentz said of Iowa’s 12-win season. “We were 9-0 and we had momentum; everything was going well. And the bottom line is usually it's the very little things, especially with our team historically.
“All I can speak to is the last 17-plus years, but historically it's a real fine line, and for us we really have to be doing everything right. We've got to be relatively healthy, and you know, you've got to make your own breaks in the course of the games, that type of thing.”
Ferentz finished his answer by again referring to the Arizona State loss in 2004.
“When I look at our team and look at the way they operate, all you can do as a coach is ask them to do their best, and I think our guys are doing that,” Ferentz said. “You know, the other night was very similar to Arizona State, only Arizona State was I think the most inept performance I've been around in 17 years.
“Those things are going to happen. Nobody likes it. You've got to get back up on your feet and push forward.”
Ferentz also was asked if he had changed any of the mechanisms on offense and if Davis still was calling the plays.
“No, our mechanics are still the same, and we meet collectively daily and coaches all go through the same process the players do,” Ferentz said. “Sunday we go back and review, talk about the what-ifs, those types of things, and then Sunday afternoon we flip it over and start moving forward on the next opponent. So we're still going the same way.”
Some Iowa fans probably will roll their eyes when they see what Ferentz said to reporters on Tuesday about correcting the little things, about staying the course and about going the same way.
It’s only natural to want changes when a team fails to meet expectations.
Ferentz has a great deal of pride, although, some fans say he is too stubborn for refusing to make changes.
Ferentz has made it this far by following a certain set of guidelines and philosophies and he isn’t about to let this season’s shortcomings or the threat of losing big to Michigan change his approach.
He might be forced to change his approach at some point, but we're not quite there yet.
Two months barely have passed since Ferentz's new contract was made public. He has 10 years of security and some fans will say that's the problem because there is is no sense of urgency within the program. They have accused Ferentz of being too comfortable and stuck in his ways, while his players were accused of quitting this past Saturday.
Being labled a quitter is about as bad as it gets for an athlete. So maybe Barkley did Iowa a favor by making his comments.
The problem is that motivation and preparation only go so far. Iowa also needs talent to compete with Michigan on Saturday.
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