Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz speaks with the media each Tuesday during the football season. Every week, The Daily Iowan‘s Pregame Staff will post highlights and interesting quotes and lines from Ferentz’s press conference.

By Danny Payne
[email protected]

Iowa is 8-0, ranked No. 10 in the country, and we’ll see where they fall in the first College Football Playoff rankings this evening. Anyways, let’s get this going.

• First word: “Just,” That’s a new one. He’s keeping us on our toes.
• Captains are the same — Ott, Lomax, Beathard, Blythe
• Jordan Canzeri and Ike Boettger “may go and travel.” Ferentz says they’re getting closer and making progress.
• “Indiana is very, very productive offensively, very balanced … high tempo.” Calls the defense aggressive and not bashful. That’s two weeks in a row with “bashful.”
• “It’s all about how you finish. That’s important in any football season.”
• Ferentz says his team caught a big break getting LeShun Daniels Jr. back.
• Ferentz says it’s tough to replicate Indiana’s tempo in the scout team, and goes on to mention it’s tough to replicate anything on scout team.
• When asked if Norm Parker would enjoy coaching this defense, Ferentz smiled and said, “Yeah, I think he would.”
• Says the defense is clicking and “taking care of their responsibilities.”
• Ferentz said his team needs to shore things up on the kickoff return game. William Likely of Maryland, of course, is a big reason for that concern.
• On where his team would be if Sean Welsh didn’t come back “I don’t even want to think about it.”
• “To have a center who can do things — reach block, pull — it’s a huge advantage.”
• On the College Football Playoff rankings — brings up the fact Ohio State was No. 16, and only one of the first four teams in actually made the Playoff.
• Ferentz likes the Playoff Committee and not the BCS computer system. Compares it to the NCAA Basketball Tournament Committee. Says nothing will ever be perfect, but he likes it.
• “It’s hard to be a good defensive football team when you give up big plays, this game [last year] was the poster boy for that.”
• Ferentz said his team practices the lateral play on the last end play of the game (Miami-Duke). So if you ever see that, it’s not the first time Iowa’s done it.
• Ferentz loves that his team is playing outstanding run defense. Iowa is ranked second in the Big Ten and No. 5 in the nation.
• On the second half of the Iowa-Maryland game: Third quarter, our field position was just bad. Fourth quarter, the team got conservative.
• Ferentz expects Nate Meier to play. Had an MRI, and has some irritation in his arm area.
• True freshman quarterback Ryan Boyle “didn’t meet the criteria” to dress for the Maryland game. Ferentz said it’s a privilege to dress, and Boyle didn’t earn that privilege. Take that as you will.
• On debate between Big Ten East or Big Ten West being better — “Sounds like the SEC.”
• The special teams, defense, offense sequence that led to a touchdown at the end of the first half against Maryland was highlighted after the game and on Sunday.