Kirk Ferentz now fourth all-time in wins as Big Ten head coach

 

BySEAN BOCK Nov 7, 3:31 PM

 

Iowa dominated on Saturday in the 49-7 win over Michigan State to put its record at 1-2 on the season.

With the win, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz passed former Penn State head coach and the late Joe Paterno for fourth in wins as a head coach in the Big Ten conference. Ferentz, who has 163 wins in the Big Ten as a head coach, trails Woody Hayes (202), Amos Alonzo Stagg (199), and Bo Schembechler (194).

 

"It probably means I've been here a while, right? You know, that stuff is all great, and I promise you, it wasn't prominent on my mind," Ferentz said following the game. "We needed to play well today. That's what we needed to do.

 

"It's great. Whenever I retire, whenever that day comes, hopefully it's not for quite a while, although I'm sure some people are wondering about that, then we'll sit around and talk about stuff like that. It's neat, but what's more important is we got a win today. I'm really, really happy for our players."

Iowa has been the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes since the 1999 season. In Ferentz's first two games in Iowa City, his teams finished 1-10 and 3-9. In 2001, the script started to flip as Iowa went 7-5 and making it to the Alamo Bowl. Since then, the program under Ferentz has only missed a bowl game in two seasons (2007, 2012).

 

In 2018, Ferentz passed the legendary Hayden Fry as the winningest coach in Iowa football history.

 

Ferentz addressed this past week how tough it was to take over the Iowa program at first.

 

"Just taking over any program is a big challenge," he said. "And obviously this situation -- I was familiar with it because I had worked here for nine years under Coach Fry, so I looked at that as probably a good thing, because at least I had a feel, at least I thought I had a feel for the program and the state and what it took to be successful."

 

"And I've said this many times before: a lot of my views and vantage points about what it takes to be a successful college program were shaped because of Coach Fry. He had a tremendous impact on my life and I was a young person at that time."

 

Iowa's 0-2 start to the year was very uncharacteristic for the program. That start was the first time Iowa began the season 0-2 since 2000. The win on Saturday against the Spartans will serve as a building block for the remainder of the season.

Ferentz reiterated earlier this week that there is a lot of football left to be played this season and he likes the direction that his team is heading in.

"There's a lot of football in front of us and a lot of season in front of us," Ferentz said. "What we need to do is grow and find a way to push this thing over the top. All you've got to do is look at our opponent. They did a great job of that week one to week two over the last two weeks. That's what the game is all good."

 

Following the win over the Spartans, Iowa will go on the road next Friday to face off against Minnesota. The Hawkeyes got the best of the Gophers ruining their undefeated season. Minnesota is currently 0-2 on the season heading into this Saturday's contest against Illinois.

 

Ferentz's career record as a head coach at Iowa is now 163-104.

Raiders vs. Chargers NFL Week 9: Value Quarterback Props for Carr and Herbert

 

Ian Wharton

Nov 6, 2020 at 8:21am CST • 3 min read

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images/AFP

 

Divisional matchups are some of the zaniest and most difficult games to bet. Coaching staffs know everything about their foe, even their willingness to break off trends and tendencies. These games come down to playmakers, but usually, it’s the role players who ascend to the moment more than the superstars doing even more.

We’re going to break down the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers Week 10 matchup. This is a critical game as the 4-3 Raiders want to maintain their bid in the playoff chase. The Chargers want to avoid falling even further into a tailspin as they sit 2-5.

The major theme of this game will be the quarterback play, and for good reason. Justin Herbert has overtaken Joe Burrow as the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award on some of the best sportsbooks thanks to his dazzling start. I'm not sure that's a wise bet at even or close to value considering Burrow's situation and more impressive volume of work needed to be competent, but if you picked Herbert when he was +500 or more then you should be plenty happy with those NFL odds and your potential payoff.

Herbert's completing a highly impressive statistical season though. With 67 percent of his passes being complete for 1,820 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, he's on pace for one of the best rookie years of all time. The Chargers must be thrilled with his playmaking and improved mechanics already. Quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton has earned league-wide praise already for that jump.

The rest of the season has been disastrous for the franchise. Injuries across the offensive line and other key spots have again limited the availability of difference-makers. This franchise feels cursed, and likely needs to reboot parts of their roster and staff after this season.

The offense has been quite effective, and the rush defense remains strong. They rely on chunk gains on offense as Austin Ekeler's injury stunted some of the consistency they showed early on. He's back into the fold now and he should do very well against the Raiders.

But the defensive backfield has been uncharacteristically bad. They traded the overrated but still talented Desmond King for nothing, and have quality veterans Casey Hayward and Chris Harris Jr., yet sit with the 21st-ranked pass defense. That's bad news against this Raiders offense.

The Raiders have been a tough out thanks to their coaching, tough-nosed approach, and efficient offense. The defense remains well under-manned and they need to be criticized for burning assets on that side of the ball, but Gruden's ability to scheme an offense is impressive. He needs more weapons and a more dynamic quarterback to make it better but he's getting the most out of his team.

The tough part predicting the Raiders is they swing between competitive and bad. Blowout losses to the Patriots and Buccaneers exposed major weaknesses, and even their close wins and losses were easy to side-eye with skepticism. They only felt like a good team against the Saints and Chiefs, but they also beat those two teams.

The Raiders have simply executed better in crunch time under this regime than the Chargers. For all of the possible criticisms of the franchise, there's a stability in process that will be solidified in the results if they can continue filling out the defense with higher-end talent. The Chargers certainly cannot say that and it likely costs jobs in the near future.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

 

Derek Carr has put up good numbers on the year as well, but this is Herbert's show. I expect both to have efficient games with solid numbers, but leaving meat on the bone as usual. The impact of each quarterback will be more important than the statistics, and I like the veteran's play this year a little more than the rookie's. There's nothing wrong with that happening considering the difference in experience.

I'm bullish on the total, so everything stems from that under NFL pick. Check out our three free picks below for this matchup. 

Miami Dolphins: Best-ranked defense in 22 years. Here comes Kyler Murray.

 

Joe Schad

Palm Beach Post

Published 3:33 PM ET Nov. 5, 2020 

Twenty-two years ago, then-Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson did an interview with Sports Illustrated to talk about the NFL's best defense.

Johnson explained to the journalist that there were five characteristics he sought in a player: intelligence, hard work, playmaking, love of the game and character.

Johnson specifically highlighted the importance of creating big plays.

That defense finished the season ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points per game allowed, at only 16.6.

Twenty-two years later, a Dolphins defense orchestrated by coach Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer is again making game-changing plays.

And once again, Miami is ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points per game allowed, at only 18.6.

"It’s a fun group to watch if you’re not playing them," Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury said this week. "They’re in attacking mode and take on the personality of their coach."

No team in the NFL averages more offensive yards per game than the Cardinals (419.1), which makes Sunday's road game especially intriguing.

It's going to be very challenging to slow down the likes of quarterback Kyler Murray and receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald. But before we get too worried about the Arizona offense, some props are in order for Miami's defense.

 "People keep sleeping on our defense," Dolphins safety Eric Rowe said after Sunday's defeat of the Rams.

The Dolphins are creating pressure from every position on the field. Miami has 19 sacks. Last year, they posted 23 sacks for the season.

"In our defense, anybody can come," linebacker Jerome Baker said. "It’s hard to be prepared for anybody on the field to come."

Miami is creating turnovers. In fact, the Dolphins are fifth in the league with 13 takeaways.

Star cornerback Xavien Howard has four interceptions, harkening back memories of 1998, when Sam Madison and Terrell Buckley each snagged eight.

The Miami Dolphins have the #1 scoring defense in the NFL. The last time it ended that way was 1998. Zach Thomas. Jason Taylor. Sam Madison. Patrick Surtain. Trace Armstrong. Terrell Buckley. Tim Bowens. pic.twitter.com/sXxoDC4FGT

— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) November 3, 2020

Free-agent additions Emmanuel Ogbah and Kyle Van Noy have each forced two forced fumbles, leading to wonderful memories of how Jason Taylor forced three in 1998, as a 24-year-old.

Flores stresses toughness, discipline and intelligence, which really is not far off from what Johnson once did, too.

He and Boyer have very high expectations, refusing to allow the team to get too hyped about mid-season statistical achievements.

"I’m very leery about statistics right now," Flores said. "This is a week-to-week league. I’m not — we’ve got to just focus on today and focus on improving today and focus on getting better in practice this week, and not worry about the statistics."

That's not as compelling as Flores proclaiming that, yes, this Dolphins defense deserves a nickname and he's instructing a social media team to poll fans for suggestions. But his players are listening.

"We are still trying to figure out our identity, believe it or not," Miami linebacker Elandon Roberts said.

Not too dissimilar from 1998, this Dolphins defense has tough players with a relentless mindset and a desire to swarm to the ball. There is room to improve in the area of run defense. On Sunday, containing Arizona quarterback Murray on scrambles will be key.

"He’s unlike anyone in this league," Flores said of Murray. "You don’t see this type of athlete at the quarterback position very often. The Lamar Jackson’s of the world — that’s someone who comes to mind who is that fast, that athletic, that quick. You turn your head and they’re 20 yards down the field."

Miami's is ranked only 20th in yards allowed. Thus, the Dolphins may in fact yield decent chunks of yards to Arizona on Sunday

"Ultimately what you’re trying to do is win the game," Boyer said. "They don’t give you points for yards."

But Miami is second in the NFL in third-down defense. Like so many great Patriots defenses and also that Miami defense of 1998, things clamp down in the red zone.

And, as Johnson would surely approve, Miami has the caliber of player to create game-changing plays with sacks, forced fumbles, recovered fumbles and interceptions.

"It’s a blast," said Miami linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who scored a touchdown last Sunday. Van Ginkel suggests the identity of Miami's defense is "energy." 

.@AndrewVanGinkel WENT ALL THE WAY 😳

📺 @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/BAlkcbynLZ

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 1, 2020

Kingsbury appreciates that Miami's scheme focuses on taking away the most dangerous offensive players and dialing up countless looks. Kingsbury also sees Dolphins who can blitz well and players who can really cover.

"They’re attacking and in your face, and there’s just not a lot of open space," Kingsbury said. "They eliminate all that space and they stick to you on every throw."

1998 Dolphins leaders, tackles

Zach Thomas

Brock Marion

Robert Jones

Jason Taylor

Terrell Buckley

Derrick Rodgers

Sam Madison

Calvin Jackson

Daryl Gardner

Kenny Mixon 

Tim Bowens

Key reserves: Patrick Surtain, Lorenzo Bromell, Trace Armstrong