IOWA CITY - Improvement was a common theme with the Iowa Hawkeye football team Tuesday.

Days after a startling 15-13 loss to intrastate rival Iowa State, the Hawkeyes (2-1) were talking about forward progress during their weekly press day. It wasn't something Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz believed he saw in Saturday's loss to the Cyclones.

"I thought that was the story of the game last week," said Ferentz. "They clearly made more strides during the week of preparation than we did. They clearly played their best football out of three games, and we clearly didn't."

Defensively, Iowa played well enough to beat Iowa State, keeping the Cyclones out of the end zone. It was the third consecutive game the Hawkeyes held an opponent without a touchdown.

But the offense got off to a slow start, accumulating just 59 yards of offense in the first half as ISU built a 12-0 lead.

With quarterback Jake Christensen, four new starters along the offensive line and three wide receivers playing in just their third game, Ferentz said the struggles on offense were predictable.

"Anytime you have some spots, every team does, that you have concerns about, you realize those things can pop up at any time. Unfortunately, a couple of them did collectively Saturday, and that didn't help us," said Ferentz.

Asked what those weak spots were specifically, Ferentz added, "we didn't handle the environment - our second road game but really our first trip in a tough environment. I don't think we did great with that.

"And then the areas we're young in … we're a young football team in certain spots right now. I think that showed up."

The first-half offensive woes definitely weighed on Christensen, who spent a couple hours Saturday reviewing the ISU film.

"We don't have a guy on our football team more committed, more dedicated," said Ferentz of Christensen. "To me (watching film the day of a game) reflects or indicates how invested he is."

Christensen said he wouldn't have been able to sleep had he not watched the film.

"It didn't help very much, but at least I had a picture in my head of what I messed up," said the sophomore. "It was one of those things where you wanted to see the mistakes you made and just move on right away. I didn't want it to sit on my chest all night.

"And … I wanted to see the good things we did. You don't want to come away from a game thinking all negative."

The talk of progress and getting better carried onto the Hawkeyes' challenge this week - seventh-ranked Wisconsin in Madison. The Badgers (3-0) have won nine straight games at Camp Randall Stadium and 12 consecutive games altogether.

The last time Wisconsin lost at home was in 2005 to Iowa.

"I thought last year I made a comment that they really improved a lot as the season went on," said Ferentz. "That was my observation. I think they certainly got better every week and carried that through the bowl game."

Kickoff Saturday is 7:13 p.m. and the game will be carried on ABC.

NO QUOTES FROM YOU: Ferentz has had a standing policy that freshmen are unavailable both following games and for the Hawkeyes' weekly media days.

That ban was extended to redshirt freshmen Tuesday.

"I just reevaluated that policy and, I think, based on some things I've seen and read, it might be better now if we let these guys get their feet on the ground," said Ferentz. "I guess the conclusion I came up with is that the media is getting more advanced than the old days. I don't want accuse anyone of leading the witness, but we've had some witnesses get led."

NEXT WEEK: Iowa's homecoming game with Indiana on Sept. 29 has been selected for national television coverage by the Big Ten Network. The game will kick off at 11 a.m.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com