On Iowa with Marc Morehouse

Well . . .

Looks like it'll be an even 100 years. And then some. I hope they at least don't get swept.

Barta to me after Iowa State

``Right now, my big picture is that we're 2-1,'' Barta said. ``We're three games into this season and that's what we're focused on. Right now, that's the honest answer.

``I'm disappointed we lost last Saturday (15-13 at Iowa State) and I'm focused on the Big Ten season. I'm not evaluating anything more right now than where we're at this season.''

Here are some more Barta thoughts that didn't make the paper:

"There's emotional and the pain we all feel when we lose, but we're three games into a 12-game season. It's fair, accurate and appropriate to say our next focus is Wisconsin."

On evaluating coaches at the end of the year -- "One of the things that I'm a big believer in is communicating at all times, whether it's Kirk, Lisa Bluder or Todd (Lickliter). I have regular meetings and communication with our coaches, so that we're always on the same page. We always know what each other is thinking. That's ongoing. Then at the end of every season, I sit down with each of the coaches and talk about the pluses and the minuses and where we're at. I do that on an annual basis. It's a pretty thorough discussion of how the year went, what went well and what can we get better at. We do that on an annual basis. But we meet weekly just to make sure we're on the same page, not just once a year."

On the Iowa state game -- "I like to beat every team. Every game we play, I want to win. It hurts when we lose any game. I look at more in a coach than one game a year. I look at everything they're doing. That's the case if we're talking about football and Kirk or any of our sports."

It's industry standard to do that with coaches, BTW. Former AD Bob Bowlsby did this, too. Seems to make sense.

Have the dynamics of their relationship changed? I doubt it. Ferentz has his power, but he's always struck me as an old school, chain of command guy.

This blogging is a great nervous energy sucker upper during baseball games. I could do without the Dane what's his name promos, however. I've been timing it and, yeah, his 15 minutes are up.

The radio show . . .

Both players suffered concussions at Wisconsin two weeks ago and missed last week's Indiana game.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said the staff is deciding what to do at the free safety spot. Last week, senior Adam Shada moved from cornerback to start at free safety. This week, freshman Brett Greenwood is in the mix with Shada possibly moving back to corner.

Senior Bryon Gattas will start in Klinkenborg's spot for the second week.

Freshman linebacker Jacody Coleman, who would've started for Klinkenborg last week, is practicing after suffering a hamstring injury late last week.

Also, Ferentz said it was "unrealistic" to expect sophomore receivers Anthony Bowman and Dominique Douglas to see the field this season. The two were arrested in August after they allegedly stole two credit cards on May 8 and charged more than $2,000 in merchandise.

Their arraignments are set for Oct. 18. The Hawkeyes would have five games left, but because of the lateness of any court action, the players would not likely be physically ready to play before the end of the season, Ferentz said.

Both are indefinitely suspended from the football team but remain in school on scholarship. Both have redshirt years available to them.

Ferentz also said the coaching staff is considering re-thinking their position of taking the ball whenever possible on the coin flip. Iowa has scored on just one first possession in its last 17 games. With the offense struggling this season, the strategy has often led to a field position advantage for opponents.