Did Kirk Ferentz not realize Iowa was only down one score late? It appears so
Iowa was down 14-6 in the final minutes of Saturday’s game against Wisconsin.
Facing a fourth-and-five, Kirk Ferentz elected to go for the field goal. That would’ve made it a five-point game with the Hawkeyes still in need of a touchdown to take the lead.
Iowa missed the 39-yard field goal and eventually lost the game.
But why did Iowa attempt a field goal down one possession late in the game? Well, Ferentz didn’t have an answer that made much sense.
Based on this sequence in his postgame press conference, he didn’t appear that Iowa was only down one score and one two-point conversion:
Q. This will sound like second-guessing. It’s 14-6, you go for the field goal. You’re still going to need a touchdown. What was the thought process there?
COACH FERENTZ: You have to score twice. It gets down to that. Somehow, some way you’re going to have to score twice.If there’s a little bit less, fourth-and-two, something like that, we probably would have gone for the touchdown.
Q. 14-6, if you get the touchdown and the two-point conversion, you have a tied ballgame.
COACH FERENTZ: The situation we were in, we felt that was the best play.Fourth-and-five against these guys is not easy, especially down there in the red zone. We didn’t see that as a high-probability play. We’re going to have to get back there again. Kind of the thinking there.
And if you don’t believe that Ferentz said that, scroll to the 2:50 mark of this video.
Ferentz might’ve misspoken, but that’s not the best answer in that situation. He’ll likely correct himself at his next available chance.
Still, that won’t make Iowa fans very happy.