Western Michigan Head Coach P.J. Fleck
September 21, 2013

Opening statement:

You know you didn't play very well when the opposing head coach, who I respect and admire, just looks at you and goes, “Just one of those games.”  That's our thought about what he says.  Kirk Ferentz just said it's just one of those games.  I guess it was. I mean, I don't know.  We didn't play very well.  We didn't play very well on offense. We didn't play very well on defense. We didn't play very well on special teams.  All around, we just didn't play very well. Any time you give a team two touchdowns when you're on offense and two touchdowns on special teams, you didn't play well. We were doing things. We were trying to get it away from them.  We were getting out-athleted at times when we were covering.  We couldn't get off our blocks.  We went to the rugby after that, and he returned a rugby kick.  The rugby kick is supposed to bounce a few times before it actually gets to the returner and it didn't. That's what happens when he can catch that thing on the fly.  I'll never question the team's effort. They're giving us everything they have. Maybe coach Ferentz is right in terms of it's one of those games because they're giving us everything they have.  I never question them in terms of giving us what they have. I'm really proud of their effort. When I look into their eyes, I know they're giving me everything they have. That's all I can ask out of this group.  We've got to continue to get better.  We're not good enough to make a ton of mistakes, we're not good enough.  We made a lot of mistakes today and that showed.  But you got to give them a lot of credit.  They capitalized on everything.  They almost played a perfect game.  I'm proud of our defense for getting some takeaways.  But on everything, from special teams, from what we did with the touchdowns, from just the kickoff returns, we got pushed back way too much on the defensive line.  Even when we were in a nine-man box, we were still getting pushed off the line.  It was tough for us up front. I think they out-physicalled us today. They got after it, and we got to be more physical.

What impressed you the most about Iowa?

I think it was just their physicalness.  They got after us.  They dominated the line of scrimmage, and when they hit us, they hit us.

What are your impressions as you walk away from this?

I was impressed with Iowa.  It doesn't surprise me in what a Kirk Ferentz team is like, he's one of the classiest men in college football.  He's also one of the best coaches in college football.  He's an offensive line guy, he's tough, and he sets the tone for his team.