Iowa Football B1G Media Day Notebook

Jay Higgins, Video Games, Kinnick Playoff Ready

Sep 2, 2023; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Jay Higgins (34) and defensive back Sebastian Castro (29) tackle Utah State Aggies wide receiver Terrell Vaughn (0) during the third quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz spent the early portion of his time during his afternoon podium session at Big Ten Football Media Days bragging about linebacker Jay Higgins, an Indianapolis native.

Higgins was a first-team All-American last season, leading the Hawkeyes with 171 tackles. He came back for his fifth season, passing up an NFL opportunity, and Ferentz made sure to bring him to the media day session.

“What he did last year was phenomenal,” Ferentz said. “We were all confident, as coaches, that he would play pretty well. To put up the numbers he put up, no one would make that prediction of any young guy.”

Ferentz then praised Higgins’ patience in getting to play, as he was stuck behind Jack Campbell, who went on to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

“Jay’s no dummy,” Ferentz said. “It’s like, OK, Jack Campbell’s pretty good. Never complained about anything, just worked his tail off. The smartest thing he did was learn off Jack. He watched everything he did — how he prepares, how he works with his teammates.

“Boy, he took off. He played great last year, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t play great this year.”

It wasn’t long after those comments that a certain linebacker tried to blend his way into the crowd of media around Ferentz.

“Coach? Coach?” Higgins shouted.

“I’ll be with you next,” Ferentz said, before realizing who was asking the question.

“Who the hell is this guy crashing the party?” Ferentz said, smiling.

“Jay Higgins, Iowa Football,” Higgins responded. “What do you do in your free time? Any hobbies?”

“Golfing with Jay Higgins,” Ferentz answered. “I hope you weren’t standing there when I was bragging about you.”

Higgins said his father tipped him off on social media to what Ferentz was saying.

Ferentz brought up something former Iowa assistant Carl Jackson once told him.

“He said, ‘Don’t ever brag on anybody but dead folks, because it comes back to bite you,’” Ferentz told Higgins. “Anything nice I said, I was just kidding.”

“Gotcha,” Higgins said, still laughing.

HE’S NOT IN THE GAME: Ferentz was asked if he’s played the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game.

The answer was what you would expect.

“Uhhhh, no,” Ferentz said with his trademark snort laugh. “No.”

Ferentz said he’s heard a lot about the game “on the radio.”

“I wish I was an investor in that company, or whoever came up with it,” he said. “But I’m not a big video game guy. I think the last time I played (one) was 25 years ago and I got my ass kicked. I get enough of those other places.”

Higgins said he has played the game, but not very often.

“I have a girlfriend and a dog,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of time to sit and play video games.”

Higgins said the one time he played it, the Higgins in the game only had four tackles.

“Maybe I think I need a higher rating or something,” Higgins said, smiling. “Whatever can be done to get me more tackles, it needs to be done.”

READY TO HOST: If Iowa is selected for the College Football Playoff, athletics director Beth Goetz said the school will be ready to host one of the first-round games that are played on college campuses.

It would have its challenges, though.

The first-round games that will be played on campus will be December 20 or 21 — three of the games are either late-afternoon or night kickoffs — and given what the temperatures would likely be that day, there would have to be some winterization done to the stadium, Goetz said.

“There was certainly a lot of work on our end to do, because to have the opportunity to host that, we want to do that to the best of our ability,” she said.

Kinnick has been the site of one December game in recent seasons — the 28-7 win over Wisconsin in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season was played on December 12. A game scheduled a week later against Michigan, also set for Kinnick, was canceled.

Goetz said the CFP committee sent out a lengthy survey to determine if a school could host a game.

“It is no small survey — you make it sound like a five-question thing,” she said. “But it was a book of questions that were asked.”

Goetz said another challenge would be Iowa’s graduation ceremonies for the winter semester.

“We did have some navigating we had to do with December graduations on our campus, which really trickles down to parking, and how you navigate all of those things,” she said. “A little bit of that, a little bit of making sure we could winterize appropriately the stadium in what we need. Again, any of those events are heavy lifts, but we feel like we’re prepared to do it.”