ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Iowa receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos had a record-breaking game, surpassing Tim Dwight’s school mark for yards receiving and catching a personal-best three touchdowns in a 38-28 win over Michigan.
Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz looked as if there was a better chance of him walking home than there was of making Johnson-Koulianos available to the media.
“You guys can talk to him in January,” Ferentz said Saturday.
He probably wasn’t joking.
Ferentz has insisted Johnson-Koulianos isn’t in his doghouse – though he rarely lets reporters talk to him – and did praise him some after his sensational performance.
“He’s done a great job,” Ferentz said. “I’m really proud of what he’s done.”
Johnson-Koulianos vowed in August to reveal his thoughts to the world on his Twitter account as soon as the 2010 season was over.
“Whatever January bowl that we happen to play in, that next evening will be a tweet fest for DJK,” Johnson-Koulianos said a couple months ago at media day.
It’s usually safe to assume the 13th-ranked Hawkeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) will end up playing in January because they have six times since 2003.
It used to be that way with college football’s winningest program.
The Wolverines had their 33-season bowl streak snapped two years ago in Rich Rodriguez’s debut season and finished 5-7 last year after winning their first four games.
There’s no guarantee Michigan (5-2, 1-2) will earn a spot in the postseason this season after starting 5-0 and losing two straight with a tough schedule ahead.
Athletic director Dave Brandon hopes a weary fan base takes “a deep breath” and doesn’t panic.
“We’ve got a lot of games to play,” Brandon said. “There was a lot of disappointment in the locker room. The kids and coaches were disappointed. That’s what you want.”
The Wolverines are getting what they need this week – a Saturday off – to rest quarterback Denard Robinson, who left the Iowa game with a shoulder injury, and give banged-up linemen Mike Martin and David Molk a chance to get healthier.
Michigan, which will play Oct. 30 at Penn State, can also use the extra time to work on their many problems on both sides of the ball.
“We have to clean up some things,” Rodriguez said. “The attitude of the kids is good. The effort is good, but the execution has to be better.”
The Hawkeyes will have to be at their best the next two weeks – hosting No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 8 Michigan State – to keep their unblemished record in the Big Ten. The Spartans are the only team with a 3-0 conference record, just ahead of Iowa and Purdue, both of which won their first two Big Ten games.
“It’s not really anything to celebrate at this point,” Ferentz said. “It’s like the preseason polls and who’s going to win the Heisman and all that stuff. There’s so much football and so much is going to get decided in the next six weeks. There’s going to be a lot of things happening in the next couple of weeks.”
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