4 years, 36 wins is that good?

[westender]

4 years, 4 losses vs Wisconsin

4 years, 4 losses vs PSU

4 years, one bowl win, Pinstripe.

Is that good?

The last 2 against Penn State could have gone either way. The last one against Wisconsin we know why we lost (turnovers). Did we lose them yes, but we shot ourselves. I don't blame coaches for turnovers.

 

[guffus]

4 years, 4 losses vs Wisconsin

4 years, 4 losses vs PSU

4 years, one bowl win, Pinstripe.

Is that good?

Actually its only...

4 years, 3 losses vs. Wisc

4 years, 3 losses vs. PSU

 

[GotTimDodge]

Do less with more. Is that good?

Ouch.

 

[HuckFinn]

Just out of curiosity, what does it tell you that we have 36 wins over the past 4 years, no wins vs Wisconsin or PSU, the 2 toughest teams on our schedule every year and 1 Pinstripe Bowl win. What does that tell you about those 36 wins? I'm genuinely curious to know what your thoughts are on this. What does 36 wins + 1 Pinstripe Bowl victory do for your perspective? Especially when you consider the blow out losses in the other 3 Bowl games.
You're the new decider of Iowa fan perspective. Enlighten us all. Pretty please.

You may want to recall your position that only wins matter...or is that inconvenient?

 

[Hawk1960]

Here is the totals for all B1G West teams the past 4 years for comparison ...

Wisconsin - 39
Iowa - 36
Northwestern - 35
Minnesota - 26
Nebraska - 23
Purdue - 18
Illinois - 14

and in the B1G East ...

OSU - 44
Michigan - 38
PSU - 36
MSU - 30
Indiana - 22
Maryland - 18
Rutgers - 11

So we have the 2nd highest total in the West and tied for 4th overall in the conference with Penn State.

 

[GotTimDodge]

4 years, 4 wins vs. Nebraska. Is that good?

Imagine that possibility 20 years ago. It would be considered freaking fantastic.

Exactly.
The reason we'e beating Neb is not because Iowa has elevated to Neb level,
but rather it's because Neb has sunk to the bottom.

 

[HuckFinn]

Negative Nelly’s kind of got their ass kicked in this thread.

 

[GotTimDodge]

You may want to recall your position that only wins matter...or is that inconvenient?

We build men here at Iowa.
Unlike other schools, who... er, build men too, but whatever.
We build MEN here at Iowa.

 

[deanvogs]

Just out of curiosity, what does it tell you that we have 36 wins over the past 4 years, no wins vs Wisconsin or PSU, the 2 toughest teams on our schedule every year and 1 Pinstripe Bowl win. What does that tell you about those 36 wins? I'm genuinely curious to know what your thoughts are on this. What does 36 wins + 1 Pinstripe Bowl victory do for your perspective? Especially when you consider the blow out losses in the other 3 Bowl games.
You're the new decider of Iowa fan perspective. Enlighten us all. Pretty please.

I'm not the new decider of anything. I am simply one of the few objective posters on here. When Kirk is winning 26 games from '11-'14 I am calling for his head. When Kirk is winning 36 games from '15-'18 I am saying the sky isn't falling like some think.

Back to your point though, who do you think Wisconsin and Penn St. are beating to get their wins? Wisconsin's best win this year is Iowa, they didn't beat another P5 team with a winning record. Of course every teams wins come against teams they are better than for *uck's sake. When you play teams equal to you, that is when you tend to go .500 against them, and when you play teams better than you, those are the games you typically lose. THAT IS HOW IT WORKS FOR EVERYONE!!!!

 

[deanvogs]

Well, to put that in perspective, there are 65 P5 teams total, counting Notre Dame.

11th place puts Iowa in the top 17%, which is good.

Now if you counted the number of weeks Iowa was ranked in the top 25, I am guessing that was not as good.

Being ranked isn't a good way of looking at it. For instance Wisconsin was ranked for a long time this year, because they were incorrectly ranked very high at the beginning of the year. That doesn't mean they were better than Syracuse who spent very little time ranked because they didn't start where Wisconsin did.

 

[lightning1]

You may want to recall your position that only wins matter...or is that inconvenient?

I asked for his opinion. What part of the English language do you struggle with?

 

[lightning1]

I'm not the new decider of anything. I am simply one of the few objective posters on here. When Kirk is winning 26 games from '11-'14 I am calling for his head. When Kirk is winning 36 games from '15-'18 I am saying the sky isn't falling like some think.

Back to your point though, who do you think Wisconsin and Penn St. are beating to get their wins? Wisconsin's best win this year is Iowa, they didn't beat another P5 team with a winning record. Of course every teams wins come against teams they are better than for *uck's sake. When you play teams equal to you, that is when you tend to go .500 against them, and when you play teams better than you, those are the games you typically lose. THAT IS HOW IT WORKS FOR EVERYONE!!!!

OK. Just show me where in your OP that you say "the sky isn't falling" and we can come to an agreement. Good vs the sky isn't falling...are two different things. The rest of us see a team that beat up on the poor teams and lost to the good teams. The fact that there were 8 poor teams and 4 good teams, doesn't make most of us feel any better. I think it's more than fair to question the quality of this team and these coaches. I think that is well within the proper perspective.

 

[DJL]

Being ranked isn't a good way of looking at it. For instance Wisconsin was ranked for a long time this year, because they were incorrectly ranked very high at the beginning of the year. That doesn't mean they were better than Syracuse who spent very little time ranked because they didn't start where Wisconsin did.

But I think being ranked at the end of the season is a good indicator of how successful we've been. I hear that argument all of the time when talking about KF's legacy; have 3 top 10 finishes, and rightfully so in my opinion. But if we are going to praise him for finishing in the top 10, shouldn't we also criticize not finishing ranked, especially when the opportunity to win a lot of games is out there because our division has been so bad?
Things aren't exactly great for Iowa football these days. Just mediocre imho.

 

[deanvogs]

OK. Just show me where in your OP that you say "the sky isn't falling" and we can come to an agreement. Good vs the sky isn't falling...are two different things. The rest of us see a team that beat up on the poor teams and lost to the good teams. The fact that there were 8 poor teams and 4 good teams, doesn't make most of us feel any better. I think it's more than fair to question the quality of this team and these coaches. I think that is well within the proper perspective.

That is the problem, we didn't have a special season by beating more good teams. I get the frustration, I am right there with everyone else. I fell like it was so close, that it was right there for the taking this year. We didn't get it done.

Yet that doesn't mean it was a garbage year either, and that we should all have a fit, and throw the baby out with the bathwater. Every year isn't going to be a special year at Iowa, it is what it is. Hayden had the exact same problem in his final 11 years at Iowa. He would win 6 games then 5 games, then he would win 8 and 10 games and then follow those up with 5, 6 and 5 wins.

 

[Xerxes]

You do realize only 6 P5 teams have won 40+ games over the last 4 years?

Some on here have ZERO perspective on where Iowa is at as a program compared to other programs around the country. This is close to Kirk's best run of '01-'04 (or '02-'05) where he won 38 games in 4 years. If he wins the bowl game, that is 1 win less over 4 years than those good runs.

It is like I am the only guy on here who can see objectively. For instance when Iowa's four year run looked like this: 26-25 with the 43rd most P5 wins over that time period (2011-2014) I was calling for Kirk Ferentz head. Yet when he has won 36 game over a 4 year span, it is dumb to be rattling your saber.

If we're looking at this objectively then we must also acknowledge that 2011-2013 the road for Iowa to win games was much more difficult than its been since 2014 when the East/West split went into effect.

Much of the venom we're seeing on this board isn't necessarily from an 8-4 season alone. Its an 8-4 season with Wisconsin being the worst they've been in 10 years. A Northwestern team that went 0-3 in OOC, a .500 Purdue team, and a PSU team with a hobbled QB.

Iowa simply plays in a very weak division and despite his overall win total over 4 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc, Kirk can't figure out how to win the West very often.

 

[deanvogs]

If we're looking at this objectively then we must also acknowledge that 2011-2013 the road for Iowa to win games was much more difficult than its been since 2014 when the East/West split went into effect.

Much of the venom we're seeing on this board isn't necessarily from an 8-4 season alone. Its an 8-4 season with Wisconsin being the worst they've been in 10 years. A Northwestern team that went 0-3 in OOC, a .500 Purdue team, and a PSU team with a hobbled QB.

Iowa simply plays in a very weak division and despite his overall win total over 4 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc, Kirk can't figure out how to win the West very often.

As I said, I too think this year was a missed opportunity, I'm sure the coaches feel this even more so, and the players even more than anyone else.

 

[83Hawk]

I predicted 7-5 and they finished 8-4. A better record than I expected, but a disappointing season overall.

 

[lightning1]

That is the problem, we didn't have a special season by beating more good teams. I get the frustration, I am right there with everyone else. I fell like it was so close, that it was right there for the taking this year. We didn't get it done.

Yet that doesn't mean it was a garbage year either, and that we should all have a fit, and throw the baby out with the bathwater. Every year isn't going to be a special year at Iowa, it is what it is. Hayden had the exact same problem in his final 11 years at Iowa. He would win 6 games then 5 games, then he would win 8 and 10 games and then follow those up with 5, 6 and 5 wins.

I agree. It wasn't a garbage year. They were very close. Every year can't be special. When you spell it out like that, I don't think anyone can disagree with you. That doesn't mean people can't examine the reasons why we lost the games we lost. Does it? That doesn't mean people can't be frustrated with the same problems we face, year after year. Does it?

 

[deanvogs]

I agree. It wasn't a garbage year. They were very close. Every year can't be special. When you spell it out like that, I don't think anyone can disagree with you. That doesn't mean people can't examine the reasons why we lost the games we lost. Does it? That doesn't mean people can't be frustrated with the same problems we face, year after year. Does it?

You don't see me in threads arguing about individual losses, or saying the coaches and players couldn't do better. I am just arguing bigger picture stuff. This for me will be forever a "What if" season. I feel we had chances, and just didn't get it done. I feel there is plenty to pick apart about this season, yet overall this isn't a sky is falling moment for the program.

 

[lightning1]

You don't see me in threads arguing about individual losses, or saying the coaches and players couldn't do better. I am just arguing bigger picture stuff. This for me will be forever a "What if" season. I feel we had chances, and just didn't get it done. I feel there is plenty to pick apart about this season, yet overall this isn't a sky is falling moment for the program.

Anyone that engages in 'the sky falling moment" regarding a KF team...isn't very smart. It doesn't matter what KF does or does not accomplish here at Iowa. He'll be back the following season and he'll end up somewhere in the 6-10 win range. And the schedule dictates which end of that range, most of the time. It's as sure as death and taxes. The 4 win and 12 win seasons being the outliers.