By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For this confused member of the media, Kirk Ferentz’s press conference on Tuesday brought back memories of my struggle to understand algebra as a high school freshman.

But instead of trying to understand mathematical symbols and how to manipulate them, I left Tuesday’s press conference trying to understand Ferentz’s latest explanation for why tight end Noah Fant isn’t playing more, because what Ferentz said made no sense to me.

Ferentz had to realize that questions about Fant’s lack of playing time would be asked during Tuesday’s weekly press conference, and the media didn’t waste any time, considering the first three questions addressed that very topic.

Marc Morehouse from the Cedar Rapids Gazette started by telling Ferentz that he didn’t understand how a player with Fant’s resume doesn’t get on the field more because he feels that Fant is one of Iowa’s best players.

Fant has 17 touchdown receptions since the start of last season, including six this season, but he hasn’t scored a touchdown in the last four games and he only played nine snaps in the second half of last Saturday's 14-10 loss against Northwestern at Kinnick Stadium.

“No question,” Ferentz said of Fant being one of Iowa's best players. “I said the other night, we've got two really good tight ends, and it's rare to have that. But if you look at it, this year plus compared to last year, we're going about roughly the same ratio, amount of snaps.”

Ferentz then went on to say that fellow tight end T.J. Hockenson is a little more versatile than Fant, whom Ferentz described as being more of a specialist.

“He and T.J. are out there together at times, they're out there separately at times, and if they are out there separately, the lean is to T.J. probably because he's a little bit more versatile as a tight end,” Ferentz said. “I would compare (Noah) more to a specialist position. But nonetheless, he's an outstanding football player, and we've tried to get him the ball, and we'll continue to try to get him the ball.”

 

What’s confusing is that Ferentz considers Fant to be more of a specialist, and yet, Iowa rarely gives Fant a chance to be a specialist anymore.

Fant’s specialty is catching touchdown passes and making big plays as a 6-foot-5, 241-pound tight end with a 42-inch vertical jump and speed more common for a receiver.

The Omaha, Neb., native is what the Iowa offense so desperately needs as a down-field threat with a proven track record.

Or so you would think.

But then how do you explain Fant only playing nine snaps in the second half against Northwestern?

And doesn't Fant need to play more in order for Iowa to be at full strength?

That was my question to Ferentz, and his answer left me scratching my head.

“Nothing really looked very good last Saturday, quite frankly, offensively,” Ferentz said when asked if Fant needs to play more than nine snaps in a half. “There wasn't much we did that really did with consistency, so we went back and looked at everything and we'll try to keep him involved and get him involved. But he's a good football player. We're going to be a better team if we can get him the ball.

“He didn't play that many snaps against Indiana, but he had a lot of production, and that was coming off an injury and what have you. Snap count was pretty low, but his production was really high, as was T.J.'s, and we didn't get that kind of production from either of the guys the other night. Not putting it on them, it's just Northwestern did a really good job of making it tough on us the other day.”

Iowa is running out of chances to use Fant with Saturday’s game at Illinois the next to last game on the regular-season schedule.

There was speculation heading into this season that Fant would skip his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. And that speculation has intensified with Fant now having a diminished role on offense.

Fant is considered one of the top NFL prospects at his position, and he has the kind of skill set that would shine at the NFL Combine.

Football is certainly a complex game at the major college level, but it hardly is rocket science, although, sometimes it’s portrayed as being that complicated.

“We spend a lot of time evaluating our team, looking at our team, watching them — and then week-to-week trying to figure out what gives us the best chance to do those two things and obtain those two goals,” Ferentz said. “And it’s a little bit complex, knowing your personnel and trying to match your opponents’ anticipating things they’re going to give you.

“So depends on the plan. Injury situations of players also factor into it a little bit. Then most importantly once you get to the game, how the opponent chooses to attack you from there. Lot of things that go into it, and a lot of it is reactionary and kind of work from there.”

If football truly is reactionary, I have to wonder why Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz didn’t use Fant some as a receiver against Northwestern, especially with starting receiver Brandon Smith out with an injury.

Sophomore receiver Max Cooper also will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.

So why not slide Fant over to receiver where he could use his size to create mismatches, or at least, be a decoy?

Fant struggles at times as a blocker, so it makes sense to have Hockenson on the field for blocking plays.

But what doesn't make sense is having Fant on the bench on third-down passing situations, especially in the red zone.

And speaking of Brian Ferentz, he adds another delicate twist to the story as not only Kirk Ferentz's son and as the offensive coordinator, but also as the tight end coach. Brian Ferentz has more direct contact with Fant and more influence on Fant's playing time than probably anybody on the staff, including his father. 

So it's reasonable to think that Brian Ferentz is choosing to leave Fant on the sideline more than anybody could have envisioned heading into the season.

Fant didn't atend Tuesday's press conference and his teammates all tried to downplay the controversy while speaking with the media, which is to be expected.

Because what are they supposed to say under such delicate circumstances? Even if there was tension, sharing that with the media would be counter-productive.

“The tight end unit is a close-nit unit and there’s not getting caught up in that,” Hockenson said.

Kirk Ferentz also was asked on Tuesday to address speculation that there might be issues with Fant’s character or perhaps a vendetta against Fant.

"I haven't heard that,” Ferentz said. “I can assure you that's not an issue. Noah is a high-character guy. He's been tremendous with us. He's a great kid. So there's no issues there at all, and that's hardly the deal.”

So then what is the deal?

Why is a proven star with high character being reduced to a role player for a team that is struggling?

The reaction might be different if Iowa wasn’t mired in a three-game losing streak.

But the offense performed woefully for much of the Northwestern game, and yet, Fant was only targeted three times and caught one pass for zero yards.

“It’s not my place to question who’s in the game and who’s not in the game,” said Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley. “That’s totally up to the coaches. As far as hearing people say you should throw it to him more, you should do this and that, the defense really ultimately tells us where to throw the ball.

“You can game plan as much as you want and you can try and isolate on a certain person, but when the ball is snapped whatever the defense does, we have to react to it and we have to play off what they do. And sometimes, they can take away a certain person, or sometimes, they do something to give somebody else a better opportunity to make a play.”

The problem is that the Iowa coaches don’t seem very interested right now in game planning for Fant or devising ways to isolate him.

One of the most gifted and accomplished tight ends in the history of the Iowa program, which is known for developing star tight ends under Kirk Ferentz, is now a specialist who doesn’t get to specialize much anymore.

And much like algebra, that makes no sense to me.