Christian Ballard

[hawkfan2679]

I mentioned it in the game thread, but I thought he deserved his own thread as well. The guy was all over the place in the 1st half, and made what might have been the game defining play when he stuck Bolden as he was about to flip in for the touchdown on that great goal line stand.

That might have been the best game he's played as a Hawkeye! Props to Ballard!

 

[RADMAN]

I mentioned it in the game thread, but I thought he deserved his own thread as well. The guy was all over the place in the 1st half, and made what might have been the game defining play when he stuck Bolden as he was about to flip in for the touchdown on that great goal line stand.

That might have been the best game he's played as a Hawkeye! Props to Ballard!

Thanks for the thread. I was txting my son the first half saying the same thing. We have so many incredible stars on defense. Now, if we could get a OC that could give them momentum, we would be world beaters.

 

[PlanoHawk]

shhhhhhhhhhh! you'll get yelled at by all the "crankies" that will tell you that you don't understand iowa football if you mention that

 

[trj]

Ballard is playing himself into a 1st rounder.

 

[tm3308]

Ballard is playing himself into a 1st rounder.

Agreed. He's big, and very athletic for his size. He would make for an excellent 4-3 DT or 3-4 end. That versatility will make him highly valuable. He's not a 'tweener like Klug or King, who are considered too small to be inside but not fast enough to go outside. He can play both VERY well.

 

[skinnykilmer17]

I love how they all take turns making big plays. And yes Ballard was a beast tonight. I love watching him play. We have had some great lineman over the years but without question this is the best unit we have ever had.

This from Jon's thread:

Q. Christian had some big plays for you tonight. How far has he come since he’s arrived here in Iowa City?
COACH FERENTZ: He was pretty good when he got here, but it’s kind of like when we talked about Ricky Stanzi; he’s a fourth year senior now, and you’d like to think everybody is a better football player. If they’re not, we’re not doing our jobs and they’re not doing their jobs, too. So he’s improved.
I think one thing, last year he unselfishly moved inside, and I go back ‑‑ when things are going right, I go back to the spring of ’09 it would have been, where we had a couple guys get hurt in spring ball on a Friday afternoon. I can’t tell you what the date was, but I remember the moment. And both Adrian and Christian jumped on inside without a coach saying a word to them because we were thin on defensive linemen. To me it was a great indicator that those guys are thinking right. And then lo and behold, Broderick arises so we end up moving him in.
And I don’t think he played probably as fast maybe last year as he is right now because it’s his first year inside, and it’s different playing inside than outside. He’s been very unselfish through his career. He’s a better football player, and it looked he had it going tonight, which is good. I’m glad to see that.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Davies mentioned 2 or 3 times that he thought Iowa had at least two first rounders in Adrian and Ballard.
The way things are going the whole D'line might be first round!

 

[Hawke]

Thanks for the thread. I was txting my son the first half saying the same thing. We have so many incredible stars on defense. Now, if we could get a OC that could give them momentum, we would be world beaters.

What a shame that KF isn't able to understand that.

 

[bcl20]

I can't get over how good our d-line is period. This d-line vs the 2002 o-line would be an epic battle.