“[Nate Stanley’s] got a really good arm. He can make all the throws. He can get back there, and he can rip it. Some guys can’t throw to the field, he can. He’s played a lot of football, too. When guys have seen a lot of different defensive looks over the years, that’s an advantage for them. On the flip side defensively, when you’ve got guys who have seen a lot of things, route combinations, that’s an advantage for them.”

“The more an offense [audibles], the more we do it… It just depends. There’s been games where maybe we do it once or twice. There have been games we do it 10-15 times.”

“[Iowa’s run offense] is unique in college football today, and they’re very good at what they do. I’ve kind of seen that program for a long time, have seen what they do, kind of followed them. Coach O’Keefe, their quarterbacks coach was my college coach for my first year at Allegheny, and that program’s been there since he left and came back. They’ve done a really nice job of running outside zone. They’ve done it for years. They do a good job of running inside mid-zone. They use fullbacks, which a lot of teams aren’t doing of late. They’re also unique because you’ll see them in 11 personnel, then you’ll see them in 21 personnel. You’ll see them bring two tights in. So they’re very multiple with their people. And they’ve got good backs, always had good backs, good tight ends, good line… can’t say enough about their culture and the type of consistency they’ve developed.”

“[Winfield] will function as well in coverage as he will fitting in the box. Usually with safeties, you have guys that are good at one or the other. He’s unique because he’s really good at both. There are some gameplans where he’s a primary fit guy, and there are other games where he’s not, where he’s a divider playing on the hash or playing on the post. He gives us the flexibility to be able to do that.”

“Because of their scheme, [Iowa’s offensive line] is running sideline to sideline. Penn State, because of their scheme, they’re an inside zone team, so it’s more of a double team look. Iowa’s team look is more of running; I mean, they’re going.”

“Really starting last winter, [Tanner Morgan] worked really hard on his fundamentals, and it’s made him a more accurate passer. You started to see elements of that in the springtime, but in training camp it was really clear that he’s worked really hard on it.”

“I’m always good with [players working with trainers in the offseason]... I always tell kids the same thing because we can’t work with them in the offseason, so I always tell them that if you’re going to somebody and you feel like it’s helping you, then stay with it. If you don’t feel like it’s helping you, move on and try to find somebody else… They’re all different. If there was one way to train a quarterback, then everybody would read that book and do it. I mean if you look at the guys in the NFL, all their fundamentals are just a little bit different. Now there are some serious commonalities among the best ones, but I’m all for [trainers]. Especially in today’s day and age. 20 years ago I might have been more sensitive about it, but in today’s day and age, these kids, they start working with guys when they’re really young, and some of these [trainers] are really good.”

“[Morgan’s] motion is just a lot tighter. Throwing a football is a lot like swinging a golf club. There are a lot of pieces and components that go into it. So the simpler you can keep your swing, the less chances there are of something getting out of wack. It’s all sequential. He’s more compact and is using his whole body.”

“[Iowa’s defense] is really good. It’s a different defense; they’re good in a different way than Penn State. These guys are big and strong. They do a great job of playing your plays. Their coverage scheme is a little bit different. We call their quarters -- I named it, I called it Iowa Quarters… Iowa’s defense is always big and strong up front. Their front seven is always tough against the run, and their secondary is always athletic. You know that’s what you’re going to get. They do a great job of developing players and recruiting players to their system. If somebody does a better job of it, on defense, than they are, I’d love to see it. You know, last year after we played them, I thought ‘finally those three guys graduated, those three d-lineman, there’s going to be a dropoff there.’ And somehow they got mixed into our cut-ups earlier in the year, so I looked at them and holy cow, you know, they just reload up front. Of course, [Epenesa], a lot of guys talk about him being a top 10 pick.”

“We always look to the sideline. People thing we check the play all the time, but most of the time, it’s just jibber-jabber… One thing, in the MAC, after you play teams three or four times, people get that. We’re really not changing the play as much as people think.”

“[Kinnick] is a super cool place to play a college football game. Super knowledgeable fanbase, very much into it. We got some practice at it last week in the Penn State game. Sometimes you just got to pretend like they’re cheering for you.”