15 receptions by WRs

hawkinn3

Well-Known Member
And 7 by Brown which almost tripled his season total.

I don’t think losing the BIG CC is a lock. We’re doing things just a little better. (Still awful, but just enough to let the D not gas out)
 
Iowa is much harder to defend when it has a short passing game and a QB that can run. Iowa didn't have that in 2022 and most of 2023. Hill has improved week to week passing the ball and Saturday his run for a first down in the first half was good recognition, a first. Iowa will need both on Friday. Nebraska has a very good defense. Wisconsin had all kinds of trouble getting 1st downs on third and short trying to run the ball.
 
Iowa is much harder to defend when it has a short passing game and a QB that can run. Iowa didn't have that in 2022 and most of 2023. Hill has improved week to week passing the ball and Saturday his run for a first down in the first half was good recognition, a first. Iowa will need both on Friday. Nebraska has a very good defense. Wisconsin had all kinds of trouble getting 1st downs on third and short trying to run the ball.
For a bit there, Deacon looked like the second coming of CJ. That drive was a thing of beauty. The question is whether we can do that more than once a game. Drive the field three times, get a big defensive special teams/defensive play or two, and suddenly the championship looks winnable.
 
Kaleb Brown had 7 catches and I think 11 targets. I do not look for that to decline. Smith got a few more targets and I think they will increase next week.
 
I don’t know if the WR’s will be getting the separation like they have last few games when we play OSU or Michigan with more talented DB’s.
 
I don’t know if the WR’s will be getting the separation like they have last few games when we play OSU or Michigan with more talented DB’s.
I don't know either, but man, they made tough catch after tough catch yesterday. Hill throws rockets, and they were catching them in traffic, on the ground, in front of them, in back of them -- Ragaini looked like he was taking each ball personally and was going to catch it no matter where it was, and Brown was simply a revelation yesterday. I don't know what his 'personal reasons' were for leaving the team for a week, but since he's been back he's been on fire...really glad, cause I was afraid he was portal bound after this season because of underutilization.
 
For a bit there, Deacon looked like the second coming of CJ. That drive was a thing of beauty. The question is whether we can do that more than once a game. Drive the field three times, get a big defensive special teams/defensive play or two, and suddenly the championship looks winnable.
InConsistency by an inexperienced QB is a given Issue. He has thrown some passes that seem impossibly good. He has courage in the pocket like a ChristIan with four aces. But needs a clock in his head. However, I like his short memory. He is blessed with teammates who love and support him. He is not afraid of critics and open about his errors. Take a look at his stats during his first starts and compare them to the last 2 or 3 games. Stunning!
I had written him off as a longer term answer at QB. Now? We shall see.
 
InConsistency by an inexperienced QB is a given Issue. He has thrown some passes that seem impossibly good. He has courage in the pocket like a ChristIan with four aces. But needs a clock in his head. However, I like his short memory. He is blessed with teammates who love and support him. He is not afraid of critics and open about his errors. Take a look at his stats during his first starts and compare them to the last 2 or 3 games. Stunning!
I had written him off as a longer term answer at QB. Now? We shall see.
I think over 65% each of the last two games. Hill is getting better, and Kaleb Brown is making himself a more easily targeted receiver, so he's getting a lot of targets. The scores make the last two games looking closer than played. Iowa killed the ball instead of scoring in both of the last two games. You have to think the offense will have at least one big game a year, and that window is now at Level 3.
 
I would hire quickly after the close of the regular season. The best way to improve will be to maintain a running team I've seen hundreds of different running plays Iowa rarely shows. An entire world of mid range passes to receivers. Basically, Wisconsin's guy Paul Chryst would be a smart choice.

Someone familiar with Iowa, like Drew Tate could work as well. He would know what to do on Day 1. A much more aggressive type of offense with a few changes.
 
While Stanley was not fleet of foot, he could scramble ok and he was hard to bring down in the pocket. Plus, a QB that can sneak and get 2-4 yards just about anytime its called was invaluable.

I have said this before, but if we had Nate Stanley the last two years, this team would have been a Top 10 team nationally both seasons.
Iowa didn't have that in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and all of 2023.
 
Iowa is much harder to defend when it has a short passing game and a QB that can run. Iowa didn't have that in 2022 and most of 2023. Hill has improved week to week passing the ball and Saturday his run for a first down in the first half was good recognition, a first. Iowa will need both on Friday. Nebraska has a very good defense. Wisconsin had all kinds of trouble getting 1st downs on third and short trying to run the ball.
Can't say it enough ... Deac needs to run much more. Not worried at all about taking hits - except for the guy on defense who has to get plowed over by that tank.
 
Who is Smith?
Smith? Anderson? Ooops. By 11:18 PM I'm deep in a cocktail of various sedatives and anti-depressants. That's why I don't send business email after 10 PM. Ambien, amitriptyline, 2 trazadone and 2 Xanax do not improve cognition or articulation.
 
While Stanley was not fleet of foot, he could scramble ok and he was hard to bring down in the pocket. Plus, a QB that can sneak and get 2-4 yards just about anytime its called was invaluable.

I have said this before, but if we had Nate Stanley the last two years, this team would have been a Top 10 team nationally both seasons.
CJ Beathard was the last Hawkeye QB who could serviceable move on his feet. Defenses had to account for it. He wasn’t fast, but he was shifty and tough as nails. If the pocket was closing in or if there wasn’t an open target CJ could make plays with his feet and was a threat.

Not a single QB who’s set foot on Duke Slater field in an Iowa uniform in the last 7 years has been even a remote threat to do anything significant with his legs. Not even Nate.

I loved his sneak prowess, but that’s a 2-3 times a game thing in a narrow set of circumstances. It’s an afterthought for defenses.
 
The thing about CJB is that it was rare to see him completely healthy as a full-time starter. Arguably, 4 games in 2015 and maybe 3 games in 2016 where he was completely healthy. CJB’s toughness is vastly underrated. He got the shit beat out of him those 2 years as a starter. Stanley, Petras, CM or Deac haven’t been nearly tee’d off on the way CJB was.
 
CJ had the disadvantage of running so the collisions were usually more violent. Sacks can be brutal, Spencer Petras can tell all about that, but a lot of time the QB can kind of go limp(ish) and absorb some of the shock. CJ was mobile and he paid a price for those yards.

Lainz is a good runner, on film anyway. Marco seems to have a knack for seeing a good lane. Resar is obviously the fastest QB Iowa has seen in years. Even Brad Banks wasn't real fast. Maybe a 4.8 at the draft-could be wrong and too tired to look it up.

Now, to be clear, BB's instincts and limited space quickness opened a lot of holes that did not initially exist and bought a lot of time to throw to good receivers. Very much what would be called an elusive player-very hard to get two hands on Brad Banks.
 

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