Home / Sports

IOWA CITY – To listen to Kirk Ferentz talk, you would think there was nothing more at stake for his Iowa football team Saturday than personal pride and a big bronze pig.

In truth, the Hawkeyes have a bit more on the line as they host Minnesota in the regular-season finale at Kinnick Stadium.

With a victory, the Hawkeyes would retain a chance of sharing the Big Ten title if Michigan could upset Ohio State. They could become only the seventh Iowa team to win 10 games in a season. And a victory would allow them to remain under consideration for a Bowl Championship Series berth.

But Ferentz, whose team has lost the past two games to Northwestern and Ohio State after a record 9-0 start, said Tuesday at his weekly news conference he thinks it still is too early to be thinking about what bowl game they might play in.

“We’re going to one,” he said. “I heard somebody say that a few weeks ago. If we win Saturday, we’re probably going to go to a better one than if we lose. Maybe.

“I just want to see us finish well,” he added. “It would be nice to win, but I really just hope we finish in a representative way.”

When someone mentioned the BCS, which still is a distinct possibility for the Hawkeyes, Captain Kirk turned into Captain Coy.

“With a win on Saturday, we’ll be 10-2. With a loss, we’ll be 9-3 and we’ll go from there,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter right now. I’m not even thinking about it, and I hope nobody else is in our camp, because it doesn’t matter. That’s somebody else’s job.”

He said the Big Ten championship also isn’t worth thinking about because it, too, is out of the Hawkeyes’ hands.

“I encourage the guys not to think about that or worry about that,” Ferentz said. “That’s wasted energy right now. In ’81, it ended up coming our way that way, but it’s a lot more productive for us right now just to worry about this game because it’s going to be a tough conference game, and that’s what’s important.”

His players mentioned the chance to keep Floyd of Rosedale — the porcine trophy that goes to the winner of the Iowa-Minnesota game — as a big motivation. But they also said it would be nice to reach double figures in victories, something that only has been done at Iowa in 1985, 1987, 1991, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

“A 10th win would send us out on a good note, put us back in an optimistic way,” running back Adam Robinson said.

Quick slants

Ferentz defends decision: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz still was bristling slightly Tuesday under criticism of the fact that he didn’t make more of an attempt to win the game Saturday at Ohio State when the Hawkeyes got the ball with 52 seconds remaining. They ran one routine running play, then took a knee to send the game to overtime. They eventually lost, 27-24.

Ferentz said he didn’t think the decision was that big of a deal.

“It was out of my mind after the game until somebody brought it up, and I think I read about it in the paper, too, somewhere,” he said. “I guess maybe I had a little tougher time releasing those two interception returns that took place in the second half. Those are more prominent in my thoughts than some other people’s.

“To me, it was better to get to middle ground for our football team at that point. I figured both teams starting out even might be a better way.”

Not a candidate: Ferentz made jokes about Internet rumors that he might be under consideration to be the next coach at Notre Dame. Former Iowa player Bob Stoops, the coach at Oklahoma, also has been mentioned.

“I’ve been here 20 years,” Ferentz said. “I kind of like my job, I like where I’m at.”

Injury report: Quarterback Ricky Stanzi will be out again for Saturday’s game with Minnesota, but Ferentz said he expects freshman running back Brandon Wegher to be back. Wegher was a late scratch at Ohio State because of lingering rib problems.

“Hopefully, he’ll be fine,” Ferentz said. “I was hoping he’d be fine Saturday, too, but he didn’t make it.”

The only other injury question involves linebacker Jeremiha Hunter, who missed practice Tuesday but might play Saturday. Hunter suffered a sprained ankle at Ohio State, but Ferentz said it’s not as severe as the sprains that have sidelined Stanzi, Tony Moeaki and Adam Robinson for multiple games.

A new No. 2: A new name popped up on the depth chart this week when sophomore Bruce Davis moved into the No. 2 middle linebacker job behind senior Pat Angerer. Davis isn’t a completely new face. He leads the team with seven tackles on kickoff returns.

“He’s illustrative of how our program works probably,” Ferentz said.

Minnesota (6-5, 3-4) at

No. 15 Iowa (9-2, 5-2)

- When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

- Where: Iowa City (Kinnick Stadium)

- TV: ESPN

- Radio: KMCS (93.1 FM), WOC (1420 AM)

- Line: Iowa favored by 10

- Series: Minnesota leads 59-41-2, but Iowa has won seven of the last eight. The Gophers’ last win in Iowa City came in 1999.