I-70 Football Podcast: ‘22 season recap, B1G Tier 3, Kirk Ferentz’s stubbornness 

Feb 6, 2023 - 11:31 AM

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-70 Podcast. On this show, we talk about all things Big Ten football and basketball. After every week of action, we will get you caught up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players that you should be paying attention to in the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.

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Despite having the second-worst offense in college football buoyed by the second-best defense, Kirk Ferentz refuses to make changes to his offensive coaching staff. By deciding not to fire his son — who serves as offensive coordinator — and rework his staff, he is doing a disservice to his defensive players, staff, the university, and all of Iowa’s fans.

Ferentz believes that history will prove that his staff is competent, but getting to the Big Ten championship and getting blown out should not be the goal. Ferentz’s focus on history also ignores the future of the Big Ten, which USC and UCLA are joining, Luke Fickell and Matt Rhule are coaching in the conference, and division-less football is on the horizon. This is almost guaranteed to take the Hawkeye program down a peg or two.

After airing their frustrations about Ferentz and Iowa’s 2022 offense, Jordan and Dante break down Wisconsin and Maryland — the other Tier 3 teams. Wisconsin’s season started about as bad as you could imagine, leading to the firing of Paul Christ. Interim head coach and defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, did his best to right the ship, ending the season a respectable 7-6 with a bowl appearance.

Despite his success, albeit limited, Leonhard was not retained, as the Badgers hired Luke Fickell away from Cincinnati. Wisconsin’s 2022 season was not one to write home about, but the future may be bright!

Maryland continues to improve under coach Mike Locksley. After the 2021 season, where they needed a win against Rutgers in the final game of the season for bowl eligibility, Maryland won eight games despite Tualia missing a few games due to injury. Maryland played Michigan and Ohio State tough, and showcased explosive capability at times.

Their biggest issues throughout 2022 were the relatively poor play from their wide receivers and lack of consistency in all areas, including offensive play calling. Altogether 2022 was a positive season for Maryland. They are building for the future in hopes of being a consistent winner when their season doesn’t consist of games against Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State every year.

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Jordan: @JordanW330

Dante: @DanteM10216