Ferentz Mum on Vendor Competition

IOWA CITY (AP) - Kirk Ferentz knew the question was coming. Everyone did.

But that did not stop the longtime Iowa head coach from coyly sidestepping the elephant in the room at Thursday's football media day.

Ever since last season came to an end, Andrew Smith and Fred Carver have been battling neck-and-neck to take over the prestigious peanut vendor position in section 113 of Kinnick Stadium.

And with the season just over three weeks away, reporters were itching to find out who had the edge.

Ferentz, though, was not biting.

"I have no idea who either of those gentlemen are," the veteran head coach told reporters congregating at his press conference in Carver Hawkeye Arena. "I mean, I don't know what you expect me to say?"

The response was not surprising as most on the Hawkeye staff were not ready to show their hand so early in fall camp.

"Carver? Smith? Umm... do you have numbers for them?" Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis told an assembly of reporters later in the day.

When a reporter offered to check his phone, Davis stopped him.

"Well, you know...both... um.... guys are good players and we expect big things from them for years to come. A lot of promise in those two."

Smith and Carver are fighting for the position left vacated by the sudden retirement of Stuart McCoy.

McCoy turned heads in 2011 when he completed 80 percent of his bag tosses and had one game, a 41-31 win over Northwestern, in which he tossed a bag of peanuts 40 yards to a drunk man in the third row.

Next fall, however, the stadium introduced a new carrying case and McCoy's numbers tumbled. Throws that usually sailed into customers' hands were now hitting spectators two rows in front and one customer remarked that McCoy never really looked comfortable.

Now, Smith and Carver are both ready to step in and undertake the daunting task of providing section 113 with their peanuts.

Neither man has Division I experience, but both have the physical tools.

"They both really got some zip. I... uh... can't recall any specific throws, but I mean... you guys know their talent level," Davis said when asked about the arm power of the two prospects. "And I'll tell you, neither of those guys care one bit about a bad throw. They'll fire away as if nothing happened."

Davis, though, would not declare who held the advantage between the two. And neither, for that matter, would Ferentz.

"I'll tell you what I told the other guy - I don't know who the heck you are talking about," he stated, before adding: "Can either of them play wide receiver?"