Brian Ferentz blames lack of fundamentals for why Spencer Petras played so poorly in season opener
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Brian Ferentz has met with the media more during this young season than his offense has scored touchdowns.
The score in this case is 1-0 as Brian Ferentz held a zoom conference with members of the media on Wednesday, and four days after his Iowa offense failed to score a touchdown in last Saturday’s 7-3 victory over South Dakota State in the season opener at Kinnick Stadium.
Every Wednesday during the regular season, an Iowa assistant coach will have a zoom conference with the media.
Brian Ferentz was asked Wednesday if he drew the short straw and that’s why he was made available to the media despite the difficult circumstances.
“I happened to be up,” Brian Ferentz said. “And ultimately my responsibility is to stand in front of you guys and be accountable for what we do. So, there’s really nowhere to hide in my opinion. So, if I’m up, I’m up.
“And certainly, I wish it was after a better week. I wish I was coming out here and we’re talking about how great we were. But the reality is you could be somewhere in the middle there, too. So, this is what it is right now as some people I know would say.”
Even though it apparently was just a coincidence that Brian Ferentz was first on the list to be interviewed, he could’ve probably changed spots with another assistant coach and the media never would’ve known.
But he made himself available under tough circumstances and he made no excuses.

That deserves some praise because it would’ve been easy to have shielded Brian Ferentz under the difficult circumstances.
But instead, Brian Ferentz faced the fire, so nobody can accuse him of avoiding the heat or of hiding in the face of adversity.
That still won’t necessarily make his sputtering offense any better, or make his quarterback play any better, but at least Brian Ferentz was willing to make himself accountable to the media.
Brian Ferentz also didn’t make any excuses for the performance of fifth-year senior quarterback Spencer Petras in the season opener.
Brian Ferentz made sure to emphasize that football is a team sport and that everybody on offense deserves part of the blame for what happened last Saturday when Iowa was held to just 166 total yards.
“We all have a hand in it when things don’t go well,” Brian Ferentz said. “And the beauty of football is that it’s a team sport and I think the quarterback position is unique from this standpoint; you’re out there. It is a team sport. But you’re going to be the face of the offense and when things are good, you’re going to reap the rewards of that. And when things are bad, you’re going to shoulder the blame and that’s part of the responsibility of playing that position.
“And certainly, it’s part of the responsibility of coordinating the offense. So, when things aren’t going well, trust me, it’s my fault. The buck stops with me.”
But Brian Ferentz also made it abundantly clear that he was disappointed with how Petras performed last Saturday.
And how could not be?
No disrespect to Petras, but he performed woefully, completing just 11-of-25 passes for 109 yards and one interception.
Those numbers would be bad under any circumstance.
But Petras is a fifth-year senior who made his 20th career start last Saturday.
He should have the fundamentals down by now, but that wasn’t the case in the season opener when Petras struggled to be accurate, even on throws when the receiver was wide open.
“I felt like after watching the tape a majority of that game we had ample opportunity in the pocket to deliver the ball and do what we needed to do as far as making the read and getting the ball out to the correct guy or not,” Brian Ferentz said. “So, is the protection perfect? No. But I think if you’re waiting around for perfect protection, you’re not going to be happy with it ever. So, I would just tell you this; I think the solution is very simple. We all need to do our job better.”
That was perhaps Brian Ferentz’s most telling statement from Wednesday’s interview.
He was basically saying that Petras had numerous opportunities to make plays, but that he failed to do so mostly from a lack of fundamentals and awareness.
At least, that’s how I interpreted it.
Iowa was certainly shorthanded on offense with just two scholarship receivers having dressed for the season opener.
But according to Brian Ferentz, the problems at quarterback were mostly due to a breakdown in fundamentals rather than a lack of open targets.
The narrative since the spring was that Petras had been practicing well and making the necessary strides to lift his performance to another level.
Nobody on the team, according to the players and coaches, works any harder than Petras does, or is more invested in his team.
“I think that’s what makes Saturday so disappointing, certainly for him and certainly for any of us,” Brian Ferentz said. “And frankly, I do not think it was reflective of what I had seen in practice dating back to the spring.
“I think the gut reaction is to panic, but what you can’t do is that. You have to look at it and say this is a twelve-game season and what we need to do is find a way to improve from one week to two. And let’s make sure that some of those fundamental things that we had corrected and worked through in the offseason, we can go ahead and push those through in a game environment. And the reality is when his feet were set and he was delivering the ball the way he should, there weren’t issues. When the fundamentals weren’t quite there, there were issues.”
You notice a theme?

Brian Ferentz kept referring to a lack of fundamentals when trying to explain why Petras struggled in the season opener.
And yes, that is disappointing because Petras as a multi-year starter should be way above struggling with fundamentals at this point.
Brian Ferentz said Wednesday that the buck stops with him, but it really doesn’t.
The buck stops with his father, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.
And Kirk Ferentz wasn’t nearly as critical of Petras in last Saturday’s post-game press conference.
In fact, the head Hawk went as far as to defend Petras.
“Spencer has practiced well,” Kirk Ferentz said Saturday. “I thought he was doing a good job out there, but we didn’t support him enough.”
Kirk Ferentz also made it apparent that he never considered replacing Petras with backup Alex Padilla in the season opener.
Brian Ferentz was asked Wednesday what it would take to make a quarterback change, but not surprisingly, he avoided answering the question.
“I don’t want to get into hypotheticals,” Brian Ferentz said. “The goal every week is very simple. We’re trying to win the football game. And so, the decisions that we make throughout the course of a game, throughout the week, throughout the course of a season, they simply come down to what we feel gives us the best chance to win.
“And the reality is we’ve seen both quarterbacks play. Both guys have played well and both guys probably have times in their career they wish they had back.”
Padilla started three games last season when Petras was injured, and while Padilla had some positive moments, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and was replaced by Petras in the second half of the regular-season finale at Nebraska.
Petras also played the entire game against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, and he has been listed as the starter since spring practice.
Brian Ferentz might run the offense, call the plays and coach the quarterbacks.
But his father ultimately decides who plays quarterback.
I got the sense from listening to Brian Ferentz on Wednesday that his leash for Petras wouldn’t be as long as his father’s leash is for Petras.
Brian Ferentz didn’t throw Petras under the bus, but Brian Ferentz also didn’t try to sugar coat it.
His message seemed the be that Petras took a step back in the season opener, and that much of it was self-inflicted.
Some of the fans started booing in the second quarter of last Saturday’s game, and the booing persisted until the end.
Imagine what’ll happen if the offense goes three-and-out on the first two series against Iowa State this coming Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, or even worse if Petras were to throw an interception.
Over the last nine games, Petras has thrown just one touchdown pass and eight interceptions.
Iowa has only thrown three touchdown passes overall since defeating Penn State in the sixth game last season, and Padilla threw two of them.
Many of the fans would like to see a quarterback change, but that isn’t Brian Ferentz’s decision to make.
And right now, Kirk Ferentz doesn’t seem willing to budge.