Tuesday Quotebook: No Kicking Of The Dog

Kirk Ferentz has coached in enough games over the years to know that losing isn't fun.

But he doesn't let the losses get to him when he gets home.

No kicking of the dog, the Iowa football coach joked on Tuesday, because he doesn't have a dog.

Also, he has a cat.

But don't worry — the cat is always safe.

"We don't have a dog, so I can't be accused of kicking the dog," Ferentz said, smiling. "Haven't ever done that. We do have a cat ... that would be a really bad deal."

There isn't really any anger, Ferentz said.

"I mean, I'm a little more mature," he said. I have to do the math — 55 years ago I might have been guilty of some egregious act, but I think I've grown out of that.

"You play long enough as a player, then you coach long enough, and I think coaches probably deal with it a little bit better because we're older and have done it more. Every time you go out and compete, you can come up short, and if you're doing it in front of a national audience, it's less fun maybe, but it's not much fun. It wasn't any fun at Worcester Academy when we lost a game. Losing is losing, winning is winning, but if you can't deal with both ... I'm not saying accept both, but if you can't deal with both, you really need to get out. I have figured that out, at least, in my lifetime that all you can do it try to prepare your best, compete your best and then knowing you're going to make mistakes. That's just the way football is, and that's the way everything is in life."

The Hawkeyes are coming off a frustrating 24-22 defeat to Wisconsin on Saturday. Ferentz and his players brought up their 24-hour rule on Tuesday — enjoy a win, or be angry about a loss, for one day, and then get back to work.

"You deal with it, and then the most important thing I think is what's your response, what are you going to do moving forward, good, bad or indifferent, how are you going to improve and make the next outcome go a little better for you," he said.

The 2014 nightmare

Iowa has won four consecutive games from Minnesota, and six of the last seven, heading into Saturday's 3 p.m. game at Kinnick Stadium.

That one loss, though, is one Ferentz remembers — the 51-14 defeat in Minneapolis in 2014.

"Talk about bad losses, we were just talking about that, one of our worst losses in my opinion was '14 up there, right?" Ferentz said. "Wasn't that the ... I've got my years straight on that one? But we were never in the game. We just got nailed right from the start."

Iowa won the next three games by a combined total of 19 points The Hawkeyes won 48-31 last season in Minneapolis.

"I can't remember an easy game with Minnesota since that time," Ferentz said. "We got throttled that day (in 2014). It was a bad loss. And then everything since then has been tough. I mean, it's just been hard fought, so I expect that's probably going to be what it'll be Saturday, if we're playing right."

No blame

Replays from Saturday's game showed that on Nate Stanley's two-point conversion run that could have tied the game in the closing minutes, umpire James Shaw stepped into the path of Iowa running back Mekhi Sargent, who was going for a block.

Ferentz didn't blame Shaw, saying the official made the right move mechanically. Ferentz said one suggestion was when the ball is inside the 10-yard line, the umpire should be stationed at the back of the end zone.

This is how close the #Hawkeyes were to tying it with a 2-point conversion: A hole opens up for Nate Stanley on the QB draw, but he gets hit hard just inches short. pic.twitter.com/8QiazOu5II
— Ryan M. Jaster (@Hawkologist) November 10, 2019

"There's no room, so he's in a bad spot there," he said. "So maybe that'll come out of that game. Maybe one positive thing will come out of the game.

"Yeah, if he stays where he's at and it's a pass, which it looked like it was, then you're in all kind of traffic area, so usually they move up in that case,. But we faked him out at least. He thought it was a pass. So that is probably a pretty good suggestion to consider, maybe putting the guy, putting the umpire on the end line at least in crowded areas. He can't be right, really. It's a tough job."

Injury report

Ferentz said linebacker Kristian Welch is "getting some work," but is still questionable for Saturday's game.

Welch has missed the last three games after suffering a "stinger" in the loss to Penn State.

"I don't know if he'll be able to play or not, but at least he's showing improvement now, so that's a reason for hopefully some optimism," Ferentz said.

Ferentz said he would like for Welch to return soon.

"It certainly helps," he said. "It certainly helps to have senior players out there, and he's a leader. He's been voted captain, I think, weekly here. Just tells you the respect everybody has for him. I think the young guys have done a good job, but anytime you have a senior in the lineup it's a healthy thing. Hopefully at least he's getting closer. We'll have to see how the week pans out here."

Wide receiver Brandon Smith is also questionable as he returns from an ankle injury.

"I doubt that he'll play this week," Ferentz said. "Hopefully he can dress out at least and warm up, but he's making progress. We'll just kind of take that day by day and see where all that goes."

Ferentz said Smith's progress is "encouraging."

"He's actually out there running out the trainers and starting to move around, change of direction, those types of things," Ferentz said. "We'll see how fast it comes along, but it's at least encouraging."