Replace the black Iowa turtleneck and pullover with a white shirt and blue tie, throw on a pair of Coke-bottle glasses, roll up the pant legs and Kirk Ferentz could pass as Joe Paterno.

Appearance is one of the few differences between the two football coaches.

Practices are usually closed to the media, they prefer to keep football business private and their teams are built on strong line play, a consistent ground attack and solid special teams.

"Year in and year out, Penn State has a better pick of the litter than the Hawkeyes do," Gary Dolphin, the play-by-play voice of Iowa football said.

"Joe Paterno always told me he was always amazed at the job Hayden Fry did out here because the entire state of Iowa, there's a little less than three million people."

Paterno may have more kids interested in his program, but Happy Valley and Iowa City are still perceived as ground zeros for blue-collar, non-flashy football.

Ferentz has beaten Paterno six of the last seven times the coaches have gone head-to-head, and the teams' matching styles have

been showcased in each gridiron battle.

"I don't know that there's any one reason that Coach Ferentz has had success against Joe Paterno since he's been at Iowa," Dolphin said.

"If for no other reason, he builds his team a lot like Joe builds his: Stout defense, physical, will blitz but don't live and die by the blitz. It begins with defense and with special teams."

He's one of the few coaches who's had sustained success against Paterno, along with Alabama's Bear Bryant (4-0) and Michigan's Lloyd Carr (9-2).

Carr could not be reached for comment, but Michigan football radio broadcaster Frank Beckmann said the Wolverines' success against the Lions boils down to better quarterback play.

"The Wolverines have often been able to dare PSU to throw more because Joe's run game was more dangerous to them than their passing game," Beckmann wrote in an e-mail.

"Joe hasn't had the same luxury on defense because he's had to respect Michigan's passing game more than the Wolverines have had to fear his."

At the beginning of this decade, Ferentz's name was heavily mentioned as the potential successor to Paterno, in part because of his Western Pennsylvania ties -- Ferentz attended Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh. He also served as a graduate assistant for Pittsburgh in 1980, where he worked extensively with Joe Moore, who Dolphin called the "offensive line guru of all offensive line coaches."

In Moore's nine years at Notre Dame, every starting offensive lineman he coached moved onto the National Football League.

"I've been really lucky in my life," Ferentz said. "I had nine years with Fry, six with [Bill] Belichick. I've been so fortunate, but Moore impacted my life.

"When I played for him as a senior in high school, I was 17. In 1980, I worked with him at Pitt. I spent 90 percent of my awake hours with him for a yearlong period there. "He was a mentor and also a very close friend of mine up until his death."

That background has shaped Ferentz's coaching philosophy, which is eerily similar to Paterno's.

It may also explain the success Ferentz has had against the Hall of Fame coach.

But as Dolphin put it, Saturday night is a new night. All past success goes out the window.

Paterno certainly thinks so, too.

"The team we're going to play this coming Saturday is not the team we played last year or the one we played five years ago," Paterno said last week.

"We're not the team we were last year. We're a different team. We've got to make plans with what

we have as opposed to what they have.

"Consistently, they're a very, very physical football team on the line of scrimmage and very aggressive in the secondary. I would imagine they'd bring the same type of thing [Saturday]."

Both have said previous results have no bearing on this year's game.

"Kirk's teams are usually a reflection of his personality and [defensive coordinator] Norm Parker's personality," Dolphin said.

"Very laid back, low key, don't get real excited after a big win and don't get real down after a tough loss."

Dolphin said Ferentz didn't sign a new contract extension -- which didn't include a raise -- offered in February until right before camp started this summer.

In the contract, Dolphin knows Ferentz gets 80 hours of private jet use.

But don't jump to conclusions, Dolphin said.

Instead of using it for personal use or recruiting, Dolphin guesses about 75 hours or more will be used to transport families needing treatment at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital.

"I shudder to think of the money they raised for the children's hospital," Dolphin said.

"He would never ever ever mention that in public what he intends to use those hours for. People sometimes remark to me all the time, this guy almost seems to good to be true."

Sound familiar, Penn State fans?

Maybe that's why Ferentz's name was once favored to replace Paterno.

But has the door closed for Ferentz to become Penn State's next head coach?

According to Dolphin, that door may have never been opened.

Rarely does a coach move laterally in the conference. Dolphin could only remember John Pont, who left Indiana for Northwestern following the 1972 season, who made such a move.

Penn State fans weren't the only ones calling for Ferentz.

Whenever an NFL or major college head coaching position opens up, he's usually in the discussion.

But Dolphin said Ferentz only had a serious flirtation with the Jacksonville Jaguars' "tremendous offer" following Iowa's 2003 Orange Bowl appearance.

"[Ferentz's wife] Mary is a big part of decision-making process," Dolphin said. "It would be a team decision. All their kids were born in Iowa City ... This is really their home away from home. Pittsburgh is where he'll call his boyhood home, but Iowa City is truly their home. If he were to leave, it would be for the NFL."

Dolphin said Paterno and Ferentz seek each other out first during the Big Ten Kickoff meetings in Chicago.

"He has great respect for Joe Paterno," Dolphin said.

"He has great respect for Bobby Bowden. He has great respect for the history of the game. That's where a lot of it comes from, blue-collar steel town, hard-working community.

"He doesn't apologize for it. You rarely can get the guy to open up beyond football or immediate family."

It's that tough, hard-nosed style that has made Ferentz easy to work with.

"He's made it a very enjoyable place to work," said Parker, the Hawkeye's defensive coordinator. "Just because a kid falls down, it doesn't mean you're a bad coach. He was an assistant at one time in life. He remembers that good guys can win in this game, and also he's proof good guys can succeed."