Iowa football defensive players
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 how he handles the program.
00:01 Just kind of being blessed to be coached
00:03 by such a good leader and such a good coach.
00:05 That's gonna be in the Hall of Fame.
00:06 It's just been something I think
00:08 that's helped us along the lines.
00:10 - Michigan's offense, got a good running back,
00:12 good quarterback, good receivers.
00:14 Kind of what do they bring to the table
00:15 and stuff that you're gonna make,
00:16 could pose a problem for the defense?
00:19 - Just like you said, obviously they're starting
00:21 with a good run game and once they set up the run,
00:25 they can get their quarterback going on the pass
00:27 or even run him a little bit as well.
00:28 And so it's gonna be up to us for all levels
00:31 and all 60 minutes to be locked in, ready to go.
00:34 - So I feel like kind of Iowa against the world,
00:37 nobody wants you here.
00:38 How do you guys process that?
00:42 - We really don't listen to anything
00:43 that anyone else on the outside is saying.
00:45 And so I don't know if that's what people are saying or not,
00:47 but we're just trying to kind of be for us
00:50 and be inside the building, support each other.
00:52 And if that's the case on what the outside world is saying,
00:56 then so be it.
00:57 So I don't think that we really care about any of that.
01:00 - And a lot of times underdogs are Cinderella stories.
01:04 I mean, you see it every march and basketball especially,
01:07 but it seems like you guys aren't quite gonna fit
01:10 that description very well, at least outside.
01:13 Is that something you guys noticed?
01:16 You put out a chip on your shoulder like,
01:17 hey, we're not even, nobody even wants us.
01:20 - I don't know if we noticed that,
01:22 but I think you talked about the chip on your shoulder.
01:24 I think everyone should have a chip on their shoulder,
01:26 whether they're out in life or playing football,
01:28 regardless of whether you're the favorite or not.
01:30 And so I don't know if we're the favorite,
01:33 we're probably not the favorite this game,
01:34 but it's gonna be up to us to just go out
01:37 and play football and do our job.
01:38 - When you were at Xavier,
01:39 I think your brother might've been here in '16
01:42 when you beat Michigan 14-13
01:45 on Keith Duncan's last second field goal.
01:48 Did you go to that game at all?
01:49 - No. - No.
01:50 Do you remember it at all?
01:52 - No, I'm not even sure if he was here,
01:53 to be honest with you.
01:54 I don't think he was, but I don't remember it.
01:58 - Has Kirk referenced anything with the past at all?
02:02 Like, hey, you know, we beat Michigan five out of six
02:05 until the most recent couple of games.
02:08 - Yeah, you know, certainly we look at the past matchups
02:10 and I think that '16 game too,
02:12 we were underdogs, I think,
02:15 after just losing to Penn State the week before.
02:17 And so, you know, again, it just shows that, you know,
02:20 every week's different, every opponent's different,
02:22 and no matter what happens,
02:24 you just have to go out and play the full 16 minutes
02:26 and see if you can get a win.
02:27 - Big 10 Championship Week,
02:29 what's the vibe in the locker room right now
02:31 and how excited are you guys
02:32 to play one more huge game before a bowl game?
02:34 - I mean, yeah, it's exciting.
02:36 This is like a one in a lifetime,
02:37 but two, you don't know how many big 10 championship games
02:40 you're gonna play.
02:41 So everyone's having a lot of fun right now,
02:44 having another game to play,
02:46 and yeah, we're just trying to make the most of the opportunity.
02:50 - Being in this game kind of puts Iowa football
02:52 on that national level, national stage,
02:54 and there's a narrative out there, there's some doubters,
02:56 there's some people that aren't bought into Iowa football.
02:59 What would you, how would you respond to them?
03:02 - I mean, there's always gonna be like naysayers
03:03 and doubters in this game,
03:05 so, and we just happen to be on that other end.
03:09 And I mean, we've been on that end the whole season,
03:14 so I mean, we like it like that.
03:17 So we always embrace diversity and everything like that.
03:21 So, I mean, it's all really just fun
03:23 to just keep on proving things.
03:25 - You would have been around this team
03:25 a couple of years ago before the big 10 championship.
03:27 What are you guys kind of approaching differently
03:30 or how are you preparing differently
03:31 that's gonna maybe make a difference in the game
03:32 out there this time around?
03:34 - I mean, I wouldn't say anything different,
03:36 like we're just, like, I wish I gave you
03:38 like some like different secret, you know,
03:43 what we were doing, but we're just focusing on,
03:45 you know, just adjusting to this, to the new team.
03:48 And that's all we can do, really.
03:52 So, I mean, yeah.
03:54 - What do you see from that new team?
03:55 It's a similar team than two years ago,
03:57 but same uniform, but it's explosive as well.
04:00 What do you see from them?
04:01 What do you expect from them?
04:02 - I mean, they're real physical.
04:03 They're real hardworking.
04:05 They wanna run the ball.
04:08 That's what they wanna do.
04:09 And I mean, they can pass the ball
04:14 'cause they have a lot of athletes out there as well.
04:16 But I know that they wanna like establish
04:18 like who they are as a team, as an offense,
04:22 is established dominance.
04:23 So, I mean, to match that.
04:25 - We've used the idiom of weathering the storm,
04:27 which is something that we've done all season
04:29 through all the injuries and ups and downs.
04:31 We also do it in a game.
04:33 What is the key to weathering a storm in the game
04:35 when inevitably they punch you in the mouth,
04:37 they get a sack fumble, they get a touchdown?
04:39 What's the key to bouncing back and staying locked in
04:42 which you've done all year?
04:43 - I mean, that just goes back over to like January
04:45 when we started forming this team
04:48 and so it's just like the little things that we heard
04:50 throughout the hallways, throughout the doors
04:53 and just like how we talk, how we talk about adversity
04:57 and how it's all about the little things for us really.
05:02 And when you talk about that,
05:06 I think about like taking it all the way back
05:07 to like summer workouts and just how attacking
05:10 like these long and hard runs that we gotta do
05:14 and like the certain minds that we have to have
05:16 and to able to deal with adversity
05:19 'cause we know it's gonna happen.
05:21 Like there's gonna be like bumps in the roads and whatnot
05:25 but it's just like the building blocks that we started
05:28 from all the way back from January.
05:30 - So, I mean, you just have to do your job.
05:32 - Does it feel like Iowa just thrives
05:34 on being the underdog in these types of games?
05:36 You guys like that role?
05:37 I mean, I know you're semi new, still new here
05:39 but you feel like this program just kind of thrives
05:41 on being the underdog?
05:42 - I mean, yeah.
05:45 I mean, I think, I mean, I wanna,
05:46 it's just like who we are at this point.
05:48 I mean, I don't know necessarily know if we always believe,
05:51 I don't ever know if we honestly believe
05:54 that we're ever like really an underdog
05:58 but I mean, it's kind of just like to the point
05:59 where it's like, all right, like we're all gonna,
06:02 this is zero, zero, 60 minutes.
06:04 So, you know what I mean?
06:05 So, it's kind of one of those opportunities
06:07 just to get back out there and compete.
06:08 I mean, that's all we wanna do is we wanna get out there
06:10 and we're gonna compete.
06:11 That's what we brand ourselves with.
06:13 - Why is this team so good in close games?
06:16 Eight and one in this year
06:17 and games started with 10 points or less.
06:19 - Yeah.
06:20 - And the only loss was the, you know what?
06:23 - That's all right, it's not a lot.
06:24 (laughing)
06:27 All right, let me lock back in.
06:29 All right, close games, yeah.
06:34 Our strength coach did a really good job over the summer.
06:37 He always talked about just being comfortable
06:40 in that deep water and being comfortable being uncomfortable
06:43 and every single day of the summer, all the workouts,
06:47 we're getting pushed, whether we have to push ourselves
06:50 just in a speed day, whether we have to push ourselves
06:52 in a conditioning day, being comfortable being uncomfortable
06:55 and just trying to maximize ourselves.
06:56 So, then kind of when we get to those moments,
06:58 we already know how it feels to be uncomfortable.
07:00 So, we're more comfortable, we're not as stressed out.
07:03 We know what's at hand and we know we have to get off
07:06 the field, we have to make a play, we have to do something
07:09 to win the game and winning's hard.
07:11 So, I mean, we know that every single game
07:13 is gonna present its own challenges.
07:14 So, I mean, I think that that's a big part of it.
07:18 And then just the whole off season coach,
07:20 or the whole preseason with the camp and stuff,
07:22 coach, Ferrence, just does a great job of just teaching us
07:25 just how to keep working, keep playing
07:27 and just gradually improving.
07:29 That's the really only thing we can do
07:30 is just try and work, focus on ourselves
07:32 and get better week in and week out, day in and day out.
07:35 And that's honestly what's helped us in those moments.