Hawkeyes Talk Loss to Michigan

Iowa Players React to Saturday's Setback at Kinnick Stadium

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras warms up before a game against Michigan on Oct. 1, 2022 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

QB Spencer Petras

On how the game went today…

“Once we figured out how the game was going to go from them defensively, we then have to adjust and schematically, I thought we did.”

On executing today on offense…

“I thought we still executed today; we were just inconsistent to our standards in the first half. We had three drives in the first half, on the first drive we couldn’t execute, on the second drive I couldn’t execute and the third drive penalties hurt us and we hurt ourselves. It's still a good team and a great defense that played well.”

On the growth of our team…

“I think it’s all growth, we are growing as an offense but just like the coaches said, we must go out there and play better and faster. That was a good moment for our unit, but we must keep on our path.”

OL Mason Richman

On how Michigan played…

“I think we have to give a lot of credit to Michigan; they were good out there today. There was nothing out there today that was confusing for somebody I’d say we just didn't play well enough; we talked all week about just doing our job and we didn’t execute.”

On the bond of their O-line…

“I think we're closer than ever in hard times like this, in other games even when you win, everything means more when you're closer together. I think that's important for us to keep moving forward.”

On how their line played in the scoring drive…

“I think that was huge momentum wise, any drive where we get to go and get that first, first down it feels good. I think we had a couple of big passes on that drive especially when Nico got down to the 2-yard line, then coming out of the fourth quarter, I think we were into it and the crowd was, too, everybody was ready for it. That big goal line play helped us finish off the drive the right way with a score.”

TE Luke Lachey

On personal confidence…

“Obviously today we would have liked to come out with a win, but I feel a lot more confident in my abilities.”

On the when things clicked…

“Over time, continuing to do the little things has really helped me out. Little things like figuring out how to run a route better and block better. Watching and learning defenses has helped me.”

On improved chemistry in second half...

“I think we are coming together and building better chemistry there. We’re following the plan and the scheme that is set for us. We have to go out and execute and try to bring that in the first half as well.”

LB Jay Higgins

On being unable to generate big plays on defense…

“First and foremost, we just want to play good defense. We’re trying to play football and what happens, happens. The ball falls in our lap, we want to make a big play out of it, but we just want to play good football with sound principles.”

On how to get better as a team…

“As a competitor, losing a game is going to be tough. What we need to do is learn from this loss and make sure these mistakes don’t show up next week. Coach Ferentz’s best teams, they always get better throughout the season. If we don’t get better from this week to next week, we aren’t going to be a good team. So making sure we continue to move on and understand it is a long season.”

WR Nico Ragaini

On the improvement of offense throughout the game…

“I guess you could take that as a positive thing to walk away with from today. I thought our offense had a bit of a swag to ourselves in the second half, which is good. We have to keep that going into next week. This game is behind us, we have another Big Ten opponent this week. We have to continue to grow and keep that swag with us. I thought this was the best our offense has looked this season. As the season goes on, good teams continue to get better. The season is not over, and our goals are still there, so we just have to continue to push forward and get better every single day.”

On the difficulty of moving forward in the season…

“I mean this is what everybody wanted. Everybody wanted to play Power Five, Big Ten football, it’s what we dreamed about as little kids. This isn’t easy; coming out to play Michigan. If you thought we were going to come out here and roll all over them, that wasn’t going to happen. Every game we play is going to be a Big Ten battle on the field and pushing through it is just something that football players have to do. I am confident in everyone in the room and everyone on the team that we are all going to contribute and continue to grow as the year goes on.”