Ferentz presser transcript

Q. When you look at Tanner Morgan, a lot of things stand out, the way he runs the RPO, from my novice point of view, maybe a Brock Purdy type. What have you seen from him?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, the first thing is his statistics. I think he's 21 touchdowns, four picks, I believe. That's a really good indicator that not only is he being productive but he's being smart with what he's doing. I think that's probably the biggest thing right now. They don't beat themselves. A big part of that is the quarterback play. He's really done a good job. He's a young player, but he's not playing like a young player, and that's really impressive. They've got good guys to throw it to, too, and that puts a lot of pressure on you. They've got a good run game and good pass game, so they're very balanced that way.

Q. A lot of their plays have been big plays in the receiving game, especially last -- well, all season long. Is that schematic or is that more by yards after contact or the catch?
KIRK FERENTZ: A little bit of each, but we had great respect for the receivers last year. I thought they were one of the better groups in the Big Ten, if not the best a year ago. One guy was a little bit more veteran than the other guys. Those two guys stood out, but the third guy was really good, also. Now it's a year later, year plus. We played them earlier, and they're just continuing to grow. They're really all excellent receivers, so they can take balls and run with them, but they also will throw the ball deep and do it successfully. They do a good job.

Q. The way you and your players are describing Minnesota today, it sounds similar like when you guys are playing really well at the top of your game, the balance and running. Is that kind of what you see, some similarities there?
KIRK FERENTZ: That's what you're shooting for certainly. We're not near as big as those guys, but that's what we want it to be, and throw Wisconsin in there, too, kind of similar that way. You know, that's what you're hoping to do is get a good balance. They've got that statistically the way they run the ball and throw the ball successfully, and they're just playing well. They're playing with a lot of confidence right now. They've earned that, and they've improved with every phase this season, which is a real credit to their players and their staff.

Q. Do you see any similarities to kind of what happened to you guys in '15?
KIRK FERENTZ: I mean, they're 9-0 right now, and that's hard to do. We've only, I think, experienced that twice. So it's really hard to do. We haven't done it a lot. Not many teams have. Take Alabama and Clemson out of the mix, it's really difficult to do that.

It speaks really that they're wired in. They're playing well weekly and finding a way to win. It's a little bit more challenging than just saying it.

Q. I know you didn't come until '81, but Hayden brought 'the swarm' here. Coach Fleck brought 'row the boat.' How do you get guys to buy in to that?
KIRK FERENTZ: I think whatever it is that your mantra may be or whatever it is you decide is important. But mantras and words or concepts are just that, they're words or concepts until players really understand what the concept means, what the meaning behind it is. That's part of the education process and really you have to usually experience ups and downs, but at some point hopefully there's an illustrative moment, if you will, or moments that really help reinforce the things that you're trying to get across to your football team, and they clearly are -- they're all on the same page right now, there's no question about that.

Injury-wise Kristian is getting some work. I don't know if he'll be able to play or not, but at least he's showing improvement now, so that's a reason for hopefully some optimism, and then also Brandon Smith is coming along. I doubt that he'll play this week. Hopefully he can dress out at least and warm up, but he's making progress. We'll just kind of take that day by day and see where all that goes.

3:05 kickoff, it's a little bit unusual, but it'll end up being a night game, second half at least, and we should have a great crowd, so I know we're anxious to get back in Kinnick. It's been a while since we've had a chance to play there, and I think our team is all very excited about that.

Q. Do you think maybe sooner on Brandon than later?
KIRK FERENTZ: At least it's encouraging. He's actually out there running out the trainers and starting to move around, change of direction, those types of things. We'll see how fast it comes along, but it's at least encouraging.

Q. Does the team need Kristian to be -- I know you want your senior linebacker there, but you guys need him?
KIRK FERENTZ: It certainly helps. It certainly helps to have senior players out there, and he's a leader. He's been voted captain, I think, weekly here. Just tells you the respect everybody has for him. I think the young guys have done a good job, but anytime you have a senior in the lineup it's a healthy thing. Hopefully at least he's getting closer. We'll have to see how the week pans out here.

Q. Where are you guys at in the secondary? I assume this is a big cash week. It was last year. But you've got Ojemudia and Moss now --
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, we'll see how it goes. We'll see what it looks like by the end of the week here. But the good news is we've been getting guys back on defense at least over the last month. Whereas we'd had no depth a month ago, we were right down there to the nubs, I think at least now we have some options and hopefully we've got all the guys ready Saturday. I don't know if that's realistic or not, but hopefully we do.

Q. How do you think the offensive line looked with Kyler back out there in the mix?
KIRK FERENTZ: I think it helped. You know, he was really playing good football before he was injured, and if you had told me that in July, I'd have said, geez, I don't know about that, we'll see. But that's the fun thing about things sometimes; you see guys develop and really improve. He's playing really well. I think for the first time out for as much as he's missed, I thought he played solid in there, so that's encouraging for us. He also gives us a backup center, which helps, too, because we were getting a little thin at that position.

Q. What about at tight end? Nate Wieting, I think he dressed out the other day but may not have played. Is he back, and how would you kind of assess the play of the other guys, Beyer and LaPorta?
KIRK FERENTZ: Friday was his first day really practicing again. He's just kind of had a nagging injury. He's able to work this week, so he's back in the mix, and I think both Shaun and Sam are doing some good things. Shaun has been able to stay healthy. That's been a problem for him or a challenge. So he's improving with every practice and is playing okay, and then Sam has done some really good things for a young player. As you can imagine, his head is spinning a little bit just learning terminology and play formations, motions, but he's doing a good job. So hopefully we're going to be stronger at that position than we've been the last couple weeks.