Here's what Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz said in his press conference before the Purdue game

Dargan Southard
Hawk Central

IOWA CITY — On to the next one.

After an emotional win against Penn State, No. 2 Iowa continues its quest for greatness Saturday versus Purdue inside Kinnick Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (CT). 

The Boilermakers have won three of the last four over Iowa, including a 24-20 victory in last year's season opener. Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media Tuesday to discuss the matchup and much more. 

Here are his most noteworthy comments.

On cornerback Riley Moss' injury against Penn State

Moss suffered what appeared to be a left-knee injury in the second quarter against Penn State and won't suit up Saturday. Ferentz said he hopes to get Moss back in the weeks ahead. 

"Not happy that Riley Moss was injured, but the good news is I think we'll get him back here in a couple weeks hopefully," Ferentz said. "There was no surgeries involved, so that's always a good thing. 

"Just to clarify some confusion on that, the injury took place during the play. Seems like somebody went off on a tangent there, and that's not correct. It did take place on the play he came off. That part's tough, but that's part of football."   

More:Leistikow's thoughts: Terry Roberts ready to replace Riley Moss; Tyler Linderbaum for Heisman?

On 1-3 record versus Jeff Brohm's Purdue teams

"Every game has been a different story, but the common denominator is they play hard and well," Ferentz said. "The first thing you think about if you've followed Jeff's career, he's always been really good offensively. It starts there. They challenge you in a lot of different ways and make you defend a lot of different things. Gadgets and trick plays, those kinds of things.

"They make it a tough preparation, and then they've got good players. They've had good players and hurt us with deep balls. It sounds pretty basic but a lot of people won't try it that way. They've done a good job with that. So you really have to defend everything and that keep pressure on you defensively. So we've got a lot of respect for them and for obvious reasons."     

More:Leistikow: A big win for Iowa football. A bigger win for the Hawkeyes fan base.

On getting team, especially young players, to move on from Penn State win. 

"So far, it's been good. And I can say that all six weeks. We've been a pretty good team of moving on that way," Ferentz said. "And that youth is still very much in my mind. You watch the tape and there are a lot of little things, and that's something we just try to share with our team. There's so many little things that we can do better, and if we can do that, we'll become a better team. The one thing they've been doing a pretty good job with, playing hard. We've been playing hard week in and week out. I've been pleased with the effort, and the film shows guys playing hard and competing hard.

"There's always that challenge to get things cleaned up and do things a little bit better. And that's the good thing about a young team. I think if we do a good job, we can improve and maybe make some real strides. Because we're going to need to. Every week's a tough challenge and this is going to be another one for sure."

More:Leistikow's DVR Monday: 5 clutch plays that helped Iowa football take down Penn State

On handling the spotlight that comes with being ranked No. 2.

"It's part of the territory if you do have success," Ferentz said. "There's going to be more attention and I think they understand that concept. Really what it all gets back to is trying to do your best to get ready during the course of the week and then be ready at kickoff, knowing that anything could happen.    

"Last week was really the first week where it became a little bit of that circus atmosphere. If we do have success down the road, that'll increase. And we'll just have to learn to deal with it, but it still gets down to the game. That's the critical thing, and Saturday is a good example. For all the things going on out on on the peripheral, it really came down to execution on the field. And when it counted, our guys really came through."              

More:How the Iowa Hawkeye defense bounced back after rough start to stifle Penn State

Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.