IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said all season he\’d wait for the right time to make his team\’s case for a BCS bowl berth.
Well, that time has come – and Ferentz on Wednesday did his best to campaign.
“When we ended the season, somebody asked after the game if we were BCS worthy. My answer at that time was I wasn\’t really sure,\’\’ Ferentz said. “And I wasn\’t, because I really hadn\’t been thinking much about that. I\’ve had a little time to think now, and I think I\’d answer that question with a yes.\’\’
Ninth-ranked Iowa (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten), which is also No. 9 in this week\’s BCS standings, is among a handful of teams in position for an at-large bid – likely the Fiesta or Orange Bowl.
cinnati\’s defacto Big East title game at No. 14 Pittsburgh.
Iowa will learn Sunday whether it\’s picked to go to its second BCS bowl game. The Hawkeyes went to the Orange Bowl following the 2002 season, losing to USC 38-17.
So what has changed for Ferentz?
When he got the chance to kick back during the Thanksgiving holiday and watch games from around the country, Ferentz said it gave him an appreciation of what the Hawkeyes accomplished this season.
He pointed to a number of upsets, like Georgia\’s win over Georgia Tech and West Virginia\’s win over Pittsburgh, the number of close games in conference play, and the way injuries affect a team\’s performance.
Iowa went through all of those things this season.
The Hawkeyes saw their 9-0 start – which included a school-record four wins by three points or fewer – end with a 17-10 loss to Northwestern. Starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi was knocked out of that game early in the second quarter and missed the rest of the regular season.
Projected starting running back Jewel Hampton and cornerback Jordan Bernstine missed the year with injuries. Offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga, tight end Tony Moeaki and running back Adam Robinson were among the other starters who missed significant time.
Despite all that, the Hawkeyes won 10 regular-season games for the first time since 2002 and for just the fourth time in school history.
ligible teams Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa State on the road, took Big Ten champion Ohio State to overtime in Columbus behind freshman quarterback James Vandenberg, and handled Arizona at home in one of the Big Ten\’s marquee nonconference wins.
“I\’m not here to pit us against anyone else, but I think a couple things really stand out,\’\’ Ferentz said. “If you look at our team, the way they\’ve competed on the field, the head-to-head results that we\’ve had, we did beat six bowl-eligible teams. I thought our guys did a great job taking a very challenging road schedule, and they embraced that with four victories and an overtime defeat at a very, very tough opponent\’s home field.\’\’
Ferentz also said that Iowa should be healthy for a bowl game.
Stanzi and Robinson battled ankle sprains late in the season, but Ferentz said he expects Stanzi to be at full speed by next week. Robinson was taken out of the season-ending win over Minnesota after re-aggravating his ankle injury, but he should also be fine for the bowl game.
Ferentz also touched on another issue that\’s become as much of an annual tradition in Iowa as the fall harvest – speculation about his future.
This week, the topic du jour is the open Notre Dame job. Ferentz has dismissed speculation he might be a candidate, saying he\’s content coaching the Hawkeyes.
. And once again he pointed to his longevity with the Hawkeyes in response to questions about whether he\’d consider the move to South Bend.
Ferentz was the Big Ten\’s coach of the year for the third time this season.
“I can just tell you what I\’ve been telling people for a long time: I like it at Iowa,\’\’ Ferentz said. “I\’m not a vagabond coach, and I like it where I\’m at. I\’ve enjoyed every day – not every day, but most days – and you know, I don\’t see things changing here.\’\’
Perhaps Iowa\’s biggest opponent for a BCS spot is the Nittany Lions, whom they beat 21-10 on the road back in September and are ranked ahead of in the BCS standings.
That might not matter much to bowl officials, who also consider TV ratings, ticket sales and national prestige – even though Ferentz thinks it should.
“It says an awful lot if you just look at how teams played against each other,\’\’ he said. “I think that\’s what you get judged on.\’\’
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