What has been normal? Kirk Ferentz excited for a good Heroes Game despite just five games played
2020 has been an odd year, and that may be most apparent in games throughout the B1G this week.
Heading into the week of Thanksgiving usually means the end of the season is right around the corner. Rivalry week traditionally concludes the week with teams looking to finalize bowl eligibility or continue building a case for the postseason.
Unfortunately, that is not quite the case this season. While fans will get rivalry matchups between Iowa-Nebraska and Minnesota-Wisconsin, the season is entering just Week 6 of eight regular-season games scheduled.
While things are odd all the way around, that will not diminish the meaning or significance for Friday’s annual Heroes Game between the Hawkeyes and Huskers. It is especially important for a now 3-2 Iowa team that continues to surge.
Head coach Kirk Ferentz discussed that on Sunday:
“Somebody mentioned Thanksgiving last week and at that point we had played four games,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s kind of weird to be talking about Thanksgiving after (five) games, but what has been normal this year? Hopefully it’ll be a great Thanksgiving and more importantly, a great game on Friday.”
When it comes to the win over Penn State, Ferentz was especially pleased in the takeaway department. Success with takeaways allowed the Hawkeyes to score 24 points off turnovers in the big win:
“Our guys are doing a good job on takeaways and I don’t know if there’s a special reason for it other than they are playing hard and they’re doing a good job of film study and being where they should be and then being sound fundamentally,” Ferentz said. “We’ve been responding after those takeaways all season, converting those into points.”
Now the Hawkeyes face a Nebraska team that is reeling after getting blown out by Illinois over the weekend. Friday’s kickoff is set for 1 pm EST on FOX.
𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐳
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