THE QUOTES: Middle Tennessee State coach knew what he saw

Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill knew what he saw in Saturday's 48-3 loss to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes outgained the Blue Raiders 644-216. Iowa also led in time of possession — 35:57-24:03.

Iowa had 30 first downs compared to just 12 for MTSU.

"Start out congratulating Iowa," Stockstill said. "They did a nice job, they have a great team.

"They whooped us today."

Stockstill said the Hawkeyes weren't a surprise.

"No, they didn't do anything we wouldn't expect," he said. "We didn't do anything to slow them down. We couldn't get anything going offensively."

• MTSU quarterback Asher O'Hara threw for just 110 yards and was held to 33 rushing yards.

"I saw what I saw on film," O'Hara said. "The D-line did some twists and their typical zone coverage. The game started to slow down for me there in the second half, where I saw some stuff open and I got to take some paths more frequently and take less sacks."

• Iowa had just finished its first of two bye weeks.

"Bye weeks are always tricky," Ferentz said. "You're never quite sure what formula, and we've had them just about since I've been here, and I've got files. We're always kind of talking about that and what do we do, but I think we all settled last week that the best thing we could try to do is take the physical burden off the guys that had been playing."

• The offensive numbers pleased Ferentz.

"Well, I think we have a few more playmakers maybe than we've had some years, and guys that can do something or get open or make a tough catch and maybe do something after they catch the ball," he said. "That helps. Having a veteran quarterback helps. Having linemen doing a pretty capable job helps.

"I guess the bigger picture I'm happy about, I didn't know the numbers until a little while ago, but I'm just happy that we showed up ready to play. That to me is a good indication in Week 4 coming off a bye that the team is thinking right, and if you're thinking right, then you have a chance to improve and that's, to me, that's the race we're trying to run right now week-in and week-out."

• Carson King, the Iowa State fan who held a sign during ESPN's College GameDay that ended up helping raise more than $2 million for the University of Iowa's Stead Children's Hospital, was a special guest at Saturday's game.

"I didn't know Carson King from Johnny Carson, but the next thing you know, there's $2 million that's been raised from people as I understand all over the country," Ferentz said.

"So you know, all the crazy stuff going on in our world right now, and here is a really nice thing. It's a gesture, selfless act by an individual, who happens to be from our state. Maybe we can make him an Iowa Hawkeye fan one of these days."

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