Kirk Ferentz jokes about number of breaks in play due to weather

There have been several games early in this college football season delayed due to weather. That includes several Iowa Hawkeyes games, which head coach Kirk Ferentz has noticed becoming a trend for his team.

During his press conference following the Western Michigan game, Ferentz was asked about the effect scoring before the half had on the team. He took it as an opportunity to joke about those weather delays.

“Hugely positive,” Kirk Ferentz said. “That was the second intermission. I think we lead the country for two years now in intermissions, time in the locker room, unscheduled.”

For many fans, the Western Michigan weather delay reminded them of the weather delay against Nevada last season that forced the game to be played incredibly late into the night. Luckily, however, the delay wasn’t quite that long.

The play Kirk Ferentz was originally asked about came with about 90 seconds left in the first half. Iowa ran a screen pass to running back Leshon Williams who took it to the house. That gave Iowa a small lead before going into halftime.

“But it was just a good spark play. These guys were really aggressive with their defensive plan. Good call. Great execution,” Ferentz said. “Just good to see Leshon looked like Leshon again. He was cramping up in that first week and he’s been practicing really well including this spring. So, good to see him back and having some success and he certainly did a good job getting in the end zone. So, that was great. It was a good lift for us for sure.”

Iowa would go on to beat Western Michigan by a score of 41-10. Now, the Hawkeyes will turn their attention to Big Ten play and a difficult road trip against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Kirk Ferentz blasts NCAA’s decision to uphold Noah Shannon suspension

Several Iowa players have been caught up in a gambling scandal. One of them is Noah Shannon, who was suspended for a season by the NCAA and recently had his appeal denied. That decision to uphold his suspension is one that Kirk Ferentz clearly disagrees with.

“I’m not quite sure what went into the decision, but what I can tell you is that Noah is a tremendous young man. He came back for his sixth year. A highly respected leader in our locker room and certainly with our coaching staff. Our goal is to keep him with the program, keep him close, have him remain as a part of the team,” Ferentz said.

“We are really disappointed with the whole thing. He’s been honest throughout this whole process, very transparent. About as honest as you can be. I want to emphasize he did not break any laws. … He is guilty of an NCAA violation. Very up front about that. Basically, I don’t agree or understand, quite frankly, the decision, especially when it comes to the severity of the punishment.”