By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz could have taken the bait at his weekly press conference on Tuesday and whined about having to play at Washington on a Friday night.

Because Ferentz has made it abundantly clear over the years that he is no fan of playing games on the West Coast, and he mostly put a stop to it until the Big Ten gave him no choice when Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA joined the conference in 2024.

Iowa also hasn’t played well in games on the West Coast, so it’s easy to believe that having to travel halfway across the country might have something to do with it.

But when asked what he has learned from previous trips to the West Coast and what adjustments he has made to help lessen the toll, Ferentz made no excuses and wasn’t looking for any sympathy.

“The bottom line is, again, there’s a lot of FCS Division II schools that are driving on buses back and forth,” Ferentz said. “I’ve got some good trivia for you guys, too. This summer I was re-reading Make the Big Time Where You Are, Frosty Westering. Pacific Lutheran won the Division III Championship in football. It just so happens Pacific Lutheran is in the Seattle area coincidentally. Five straight road games, 15,000 miles, and I doubt they were flying on a charter flight. It was probably commercial.

“I can give you another story about — I forget about this one. Maine in 1990, one of our former players was here for the game last weekend and reminded me. That was the longest ever away game in the history of two teams playing in America. I think it was 5,100 miles if you flew directly, which we didn’t because we’re low budget. We had to go to Portland on a bus. Then to Atlanta to Dallas to Honolulu, and it was a mismatch game, so we got our butt kicked. But we came back and won our first game week 6, I think it was, against Rhode Island.

“Good stuff comes out of that. So long story short, it isn’t that big a deal. We’re not taking a Greyhound bus. We’re not taking a train. We’re going to fly there in four hours. Guys will be killing four hours of the day before a game somehow, so they can do it. They all have iPads. They won’t even know it was a trip. No big deal. We’ll be all right.”

Ferentz couldn’t have answered that question any better under the circumstances since college football teams from power conferences travel in luxury compared to most college football teams, and compared to most travelers.

Iowa also has to deal with the added twist of playing on Friday night, but Ferentz said there is a bright side to that, too.

“Twenty-plus years ago it made no sense to me to schedule one when you didn’t have to,” Ferentz said of playing games on the West Coast. “Why would you do that? No competitive advantage there. Quite frankly, I think it’s worse, when you think about Washington coming here and having to play us at 11 a.m., talk about being screwed up. That’s the worst end of the deal.

“Good news is we’re not near as bad this time. It’s a 6 p.m. kickoff as opposed to like 8 p.m.. I think Arizona State was 8 p.m., and then we had the rain delay down there. So that’s a positive thought.”

Ferentz was referring to when Washington lost to Iowa 40-16 in 2024 at Kinnick Stadium in a game that started at 11 a.m. CST, and also to Iowa’s 44-7 loss at Arizona State in a night game in 2004.

Traveling to the West Coast is a hassle, but also a small price to pay for the amount of television revenue that power-conference teams now receive on an annual basis.

The four West Coast teams that joined the Big Ten apparently were so influenced by the thirst to make more money that they let the Pacific-12 Conference collapse in their wake.

With head coaches and players at the major college level now making massive amounts of money, there isn’t much of an appetite for sympathy, and that’s why Ferentz gave the right answer on Tuesday.

Ferentz never has been a whiner and if he were to have criticized or whined about having to play on the West Coast, or in this case in the Pacific Northwest on a Friday night, Ferentz would have been biting the hand that feeds him, and that feeds his program.

Trips to the West Coast are now just part of the deal for Big Ten teams.

There might come a time when Iowa will face Washington at 10 p.m. CST on a Thursday, which would be 8 p.m. in Seattle.

There are no boundaries anymore when it comes to scheduling games.

If a game fits into a money-making time slot, then play ball.

The Iowa players that attended Tuesday’s press conference mostly downplayed the impact from having to play on a Friday, and halfway across the country.

They basically echoed what the coaches probably have preached to them.

“It’s just another game to us, really,” said starting right guard, Kade Pieper. “It’s similar details to every other game. We may be flying on the road. But it’s an exciting challenge. It’s a little bit of adversity that we can attack.”

It was even mentioned that playing on Friday instead of Saturday in some ways is a positive because the players won’t have to wait as long to move on from last Saturday’s 31-14 loss to Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium.

Pieper said he might watch something on Paramount during the flight, or take a nap.

Whatever the case, he doesn’t seem pre-occupied with the unusual travel time or the destination.

He just wants to play football wherever it takes him.

20-plus years ago it made no sense to me to schedule one when you didn’t have to. Why would you do that? No competitive advantage there. Quite frankly, I think it’s worse, when you think about Washington coming here and having to play us at 11 a.m., talk about being screwed up. That’s the worst end of the deal.

Good news is we’re not near as bad this time. It’s a 6 p.m. kickoff as opposed to like 8 p.m.. I think Arizona State was 8 p.m., and then we had the rain delay down there. So that’s a positive thought.

The bottom line is, again, there’s a lot of FCS Division II schools that are driving on buses back and forth. I’ve got some good trivia for you guys, too. This summer I was re-reading Make the Big Time Where You Are, Frosty Westering. Pacific Lutheran won the Division III Championship in football. It just so happens Pacific Lutheran is in the Seattle area coincidentally. Five straight road games, 15,000 miles, and I doubt they were flying on a charter flight. It was probably commercial.

I can give you another story about — I forget about this one. Maine in 1990, one of our former players was here for the game last weekend and reminded me. That was the longest ever away game in the history of two teams playing in America. I think it was 5,100 miles if you flew directly, which we didn’t because we’re low budget. We had to go to Portland on a bus. Then to Atlanta to Dallas to Honolulu, and it was a mismatch game, so we got our butt kicked. But we came back and won our first game week 6, I think it was, against Rhode Island.

Good stuff comes out of that. So long story short, it isn’t that big a deal. We’re not taking a Greyhound bus. We’re not taking a train. We’re going to fly there in four hours. Guys will be killing four hours of the day before a game somehow, so they can do it. They all have iPads. They won’t even know it was a trip. No big deal. We’ll be all right.

That won’t be the reason. Our attitude in the game will be the biggest factor, I think, and our opponent, getting ready for our opponent.

I did have that thought when I read the book. I thought, this is going to be it. This is perfect because I knew that question was going to come at some point. Whenever that was, in July. Sorry.