2012 offense and this year's offense

uihawk82

Well-Known Member
I thought about how that 20O12 offense was somewhat challenged early on and then really got bad when the two OTackles both went down in the PSU game. The hawks I think were actually 4-2, and 2-0 in Big, heading into PSU game but looked poor against a directional Mich team in a loss. That 2012 team had a tough time generating offense as 20 points was about their ceiling. Vandenberg had little time to throw or scramble and therefore the running game suffered from 8 man lines. I believe a very young Bulaga and Donnal were the two starting tackles who got injured, but I may be way off as maybe they were the reserves who came in.

And now the comparison to 2021 in very close. I, I think we all, knew when the hawks offense struggled this year against Kent St and Colo St that something was amiss. The defense and special teams covered up the offense in the first 2 games but then the offense didnt get the turnover gifts and struggled in games 3 and 4. The QBs were under a lot of pressure this whole year, lots of 7 and 8 man boxes holding down the running game. For parts of games when the hawk run blocking would be working then the play action would work and they could generate some offense. And both teams had little red zone punch.

Hope to see improvement in the bowl game and big improvement next year. go hawks
 
Bulaga would have been long gone by 2012. Brandon Scherff was one of the offensive tackles lost to injury that night.

Can't remember the other one but weren't they like on the same drive? And wasn't Scherff a season ender?
 
Scherff was left tackle, Van Slotten was right. Scherff's leg was rolled up on from behind, if I remember right.

I think Donnel was the other lineman injured. Can't remember if he was playing right guard or left tackle when injured. Didn't Matt Tobin start the rest of the year at left tackle?
 
In 2012, I remember giving Western Michigan the win in the last minute. Then, next week Weisman ran for over 100 yards and Castillo got a pick to clinch the win against Michigan State in 2OT. We were 4-2 at that point and I was thinking this team might not be that bad. That hope was short lived as we walked into a rainy buzzsaw at home against PSU where everything that could go wrong went wrong - missed FGs, turnovers, no offense, and losing Scherff & Donnell in the 1st quarter. Even then, I don't think anyone thought we would lose the remaining five games to finish 4-8.
 
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In 2012, I remember giving Western Michigan the win in the last minute. Then, next week Weisman ran for over 100 yards and Castillo got a pick to clinch the win against Michigan State in 2OT. We were 4-2 at that point and I was thinking this team might not be that bad. That hope was short lived as we walked into a rainy buzzsaw at home against PSU where everything that could go wrong went wrong - missed FGs, turnovers, no offense, and losing Scherff & Donnell in the 1st quarter. Even then, I don't think anyone thought we would lose the remaining five games to finish 4-8.
Central Michigan. They had future #1 pick Eric Fisher. Iowa has lost to Western twice under Ferentz, though.

The 2012 team was really, really bad but 2013 was actually pretty salty. Very physical team on both sides of the line of scrimmage - go watch highlights of the Ohio State game, Scherff took Ryan Shadier for a ride to the bleacher seats. And the LB group was one of the best in Iowa history; Hitchens and Kirksey are both still NFL starters. Next year's linebackers should similarly be the strength of the defense.
 
Central Michigan. They had future #1 pick Eric Fisher. Iowa has lost to Western twice under Ferentz, though.

The 2012 team was really, really bad but 2013 was actually pretty salty. Very physical team on both sides of the line of scrimmage - go watch highlights of the Ohio State game, Scherff took Ryan Shadier for a ride to the bleacher seats. And the LB group was one of the best in Iowa history; Hitchens and Kirksey are both still NFL starters. Next year's linebackers should similarly be the strength of the defense.

That 2013 team had some grit for sure. That first loss to NIU hurt, but they turned it around the next week. My brother and I went to the Michigan game which is still the coldest game ever recorded at Kinnick Stadium. It was 14° at kickoff with a windchill of 0°. Luckily, we sat in the North end zone, out of the wind and in the sun. I'll never forget Rudock throwing a pick six in our first offensive play of the game, and going into halftime feeling like the game was out of reach at 21-7. Then, Rudock hit Tevaun Smith for a 55-yard TD on the opening drive of the second half. It was a short pass across the middle and Smith somehow escaped and ran away for a TD. That completely woke up the crowd and changed the game. We went on to win it 24-21.
 
Scherff was left tackle, Van Slotten was right. Scherff's leg was rolled up on from behind, if I remember right.

I think Donnel was the other lineman injured. Can't remember if he was playing right guard or left tackle when injured. Didn't Matt Tobin start the rest of the year at left tackle?


From the article: "The Hawkeyes lost starting offensive linemen Brandon Scherff and Andrew Donnal to apparent leg injuries in the opening quarter -- in a span of just three plays, no less."
 

From the article: "The Hawkeyes lost starting offensive linemen Brandon Scherff and Andrew Donnal to apparent leg injuries in the opening quarter -- in a span of just three plays, no less."
Yes, so just like this year where we had issues at the tackle spots and the whole OLine output as a unit, this type of problem really affects Kirk's offense, it cascades down to poor run output, which hurts play action, and which lets opposing defenses tee off on the QB
 
That 2013 team had some grit for sure. That first loss to NIU hurt, but they turned it around the next week. My brother and I went to the Michigan game which is still the coldest game ever recorded at Kinnick Stadium. It was 14° at kickoff with a windchill of 0°. Luckily, we sat in the North end zone, out of the wind and in the sun. I'll never forget Rudock throwing a pick six in our first offensive play of the game, and going into halftime feeling like the game was out of reach at 21-7. Then, Rudock hit Tevaun Smith for a 55-yard TD on the opening drive of the second half. It was a short pass across the middle and Smith somehow escaped and ran away for a TD. That completely woke up the crowd and changed the game. We went on to win it 24-21.
Yep, I was there for this too. Sat on the West side, was soo cold. I had handwarmers in my shoes and they were still freezing. I was probably the only person at the game wearing ski-goggles. Almost left at halftime but my buddy convinced me to stay. Ended up partying all day, went to Shakespeare's on like 3 separate occasions.
 
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