a lot of people are ignoring the elephant in the room

[TalkHawk]

If McNutt doesn't catch the ball on a last second play last year Iowa loses.


This is what this Iowa team is. This is their team identity.


They win games like this.

The Michigan State game was the outlier- the Indiana game is representative of what this Hawkeye team is.


They won- the team will move on in its preperation- and next week will be another situation- another flow and rhythm to the game.

 

[Saginawbay]

If Iowa had scored TD's on just two of their 4 redzones its immaterial...ifs all over....its football The defense is fine.

Jon would agree we moved the ball all day and could not take advantage for TD's. IU did a nice job on defense inside the red zone so let's give them a little credit.

Good teams find a way to win and we did.

 

[cabse5]

While trying to stop a pro-style offense, Iowa's D tries to control the line of scrimmage. Linebackers and safeties are used to stop the run.

Michigan State uses a run-first offense. Iowa's D stopped MSU's O because Iowa stopped their ground game and forced Cousins to pass when the score became lopsided. To recap: Iowa's D is good against run-first offenses.

Iowa's D is however, at best, average against spread offenses that force one on one matchups or against pass offenses. Two reasons come to mind: (1) the D isn't necessarily effective if it dominates the line of scrimmage (2) Iowa's D (back 7) aren't made up of "quality" athletes.

Once you understand this, you also understand there really hasn't been an outlier game for Iowa's D this year.

Iowa's D played well against Arizona until their winning drive which was sparked by a long pass play. The yards Arizona gained to score the winning TD was problematic for Iowa's D. The rest was on special teams.
Iowa's D held Iowa State to low points because their O screwed up a lot.
Eastern Illinois was a mismatch.
Penn State uses a run-first offense.
Wisconsin usually runs a run-first offense. They used a spread offense against Iowa and won. Previous to this year, I believe Wisky's offense averaged around 14 points a game against Parker's defense.
Indiana primarily passes the ball through the pistol.
Northwestern will spread Iowa's D with passes. They also have a shifty QB.
Ohio State will force one on one matchups against Iowa's D.
Minnesota?

I'll say this for Iowa's D: against Indiana, I thought their pass defense was the best I'd seen them use in years. They actually tried to defend the pass catch. They even forced Indiana into a few short drives - did you notice how few punts were needed by either team in the game? But on that last defensive drive, Iowa's D reverted back to the "tackle the receiver after the ball comes down" defense.
In shoring up the pass D for Indiana, Iowa's running D wasn't as stout as usual IMO.

With Nebby entering the league and Wisky becoming a spread, that leaves 8 spread or one on one Big Ten possible opponent offenses for Iowa's D to struggle against
and 3 possible Big Ten opponent offenses for Iowa's D to dominate.

The solution seems clear to me - if you believe that defense wins championships.

 

[Stiles]

I didn't say it was all about the defense. But, when our philosophy is to essentially use the defense as a crutch, one would expect it to hold up. 3 times this year in 9 games, it hasn't. The offense seems to be operating without a safety net right now.

I am sorry, but this is ridiculous. The defense gave up 20, even if IU scores, that was not the issue today. You wouldn't complain about 20 if Iowa converted in the redzone.

You need to get over it. The defense isn't the issue and they can't shut teams out all the time. The other team is trying too.

 

[01Hawk05]

Offenses like Indiana, Northwestern, and Arizona are going to give Iowa fits every time. Like many have said, the spread offense that attacks on short passes takes our d-line completely out of the game. But it takes away the big play which is ultimately huge in close games.

You might as well expect this exact type of defensive game next weekend. Where it does become more effective is in the red zone where our lack of press coverage becomes a non issue without the big play threat. Obviously, this is not a revelation because Norm has done this for years. I like this defensive strategy, but do have some beefs.

1- Teams like Indiana and NW aren't big play offenses. Pressing them on the outside from time to time would really take the seemingly "automatic" short yd gain out of their playbook. Against a spread offense that has weapons all over the field, I think this is a great defensive strategy. Our D tipped/deflected almost every ball that was thrown over the middle it seemed like. Forcing them to do that a little more on some of those long drives might have been effective.

2- Long drives by an offense (whether they score FG's or TD's or nothing) keeps your offense off the field. Iowa had a few 3 and outs...but the long drives by Indiana chewed up a lot of clock and gives the offense that much less time to operate. An offense that could run the ball at will btw. I only remember 1 punt yesterday and 1 interception......but the rest of the drives resulted in points outside of the missed FG. So, this keeps teams that are inferior to you in the game with you. Controlling the ball, keeping Iowa's offense off the field. and great red zone defense was a recipe for succes for Indiana.

NW will be much of the same. They have found ways to put the ball in the endzone against our defense which has made them that much more effective against us. Its gonna be tough, but hopefully the Indiana game was a great wake up call!

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

if that Indiana WR is able to catch that WIDE OPEN pass in the endzone, Iowa loses.

This team really better get it's (feces) together. The "nation's best defensive line" is a complete joke.........much like "big game" bob stoops. Zero pressure on Chappell all day, it's not like Iowa had to worry about him taking off and running the ball. Pathetic effort by everybody today except Coker.

I think a lot of people have overrated the D'line all year. They played one outstanding game this year. Sacks, hurries, TFL are all average. Against Indiana they gave up 20 first downs. I think they are a good defense, but not a great defense.

 

[DuffMan]

Three wide open receivers dropping passes does not constitute a stop. Our defense had nothing to do with them turning it over on downs.

BTW not only is this a terrible take it's also factually incorrect.

Play one of the last four was a throwaway to avoid a sack as AC was draped all over him and bringing him down.

Play two was a ball that Greenwood jumped, got his hands on, and nearly intercepted.

Play 3 was a 2 yard gain even if complete.

Play four would have been a leaping catch in the endzone, very makable but hardly pedestrian.

Lastly you fail to recognize that not only did our defense get a stop they needed at the very end, they also got a stop they needed the drive before. Down 1 point and 4 min left in the game if we don't stop them there it's over.

Our defense was 2 for 2 today comming up big when we needed them.

 

[Stiles]

People seem to equate a NW win the last two years because of our defense played poorly.

Last year their offense had 9-10 points, with 7 coming from the defense. The year before the offense had 5 turnovers. NW hardly beat IA the last couple of years, it was more IA beat itself.

 

[racerhawk]

While trying to stop a pro-style offense, Iowa's D tries to control the line of scrimmage. Linebackers and safeties are used to stop the run.

Michigan State uses a run-first offense. Iowa's D stopped MSU's O because Iowa stopped their ground game and forced Cousins to pass when the score became lopsided. To recap: Iowa's D is good against run-first offenses.

Iowa's D is however, at best, average against spread offenses that force one on one matchups or against pass offenses. Two reasons come to mind: (1) the D isn't necessarily effective if it dominates the line of scrimmage (2) Iowa's D (back 7) aren't made up of "quality" athletes.

Once you understand this, you also understand there really hasn't been an outlier game for Iowa's D this year.


Iowa's D played well against Arizona until their winning drive which was sparked by a long pass play. The yards Arizona gained to score the winning TD was problematic for Iowa's D. The rest was on special teams.
Iowa's D held Iowa State to low points because their O screwed up a lot.
Eastern Illinois was a mismatch.
Penn State uses a run-first offense.
Wisconsin usually runs a run-first offense. They used a spread offense against Iowa and won. Previous to this year, I believe Wisky's offense averaged around 14 points a game against Parker's defense.
Indiana primarily passes the ball through the pistol.
Northwestern will spread Iowa's D with passes. They also have a shifty QB.
Ohio State will force one on one matchups against Iowa's D.
Minnesota?

I'll say this for Iowa's D: against Indiana, I thought their pass defense was the best I'd seen them use in years. They actually tried to defend the pass catch. They even forced Indiana into a few short drives - did you notice how few punts were needed by either team in the game? But on that last defensive drive, Iowa's D reverted back to the "tackle the receiver after the ball comes down" defense.
In shoring up the pass D for Indiana, Iowa's running D wasn't as stout as usual IMO.

With Nebby entering the league and Wisky becoming a spread, that leaves 8 spread or one on one Big Ten possible opponent offenses for Iowa's D to struggle against
and 3 possible Big Ten opponent offenses for Iowa's D to dominate.

The solution seems clear to me - if you believe that defense wins championships.

To a certain extent, I agree with you. However, holding IU's offense to ONE touchdown is better than what most teams do. IU has the #1 passing offense in the big ten. I wasn't thrilled with our defense yesterday, but they played well enough to win.

Iowa scored it's first touchdown with a couple of minutes left to play in the game! Usually, you're getting beat like a drum when that happens.

IU very nearly ran up the score on Iowa's D last year, but imploded in the second half. I was pretty happy with the D overall in this year's game.

Rick had 4 or so open looks in the end zone that he overthrew. If he hits those passes (even just one or two of them), Iowa wins going away.

Arizona did move the ball quite a bit, but Iowa was playing from way behind until late in the 4th Quarter. Not so easy for the D, IMHO. Plus, it really was 100 freakin' degrees at the start (I was there). Arizona really only earned a couple of real touchdowns in that game. The rest was on the special teams, and then the weird pick six.

If Iowa can score more than 21 points a game, and the special teams perform at a "B" grade level, Iowa usually wins.

Wisky played an exceptional game this year. They have a GREAT offensive line. Too bad we missed the extra point in the first quarter. It would've been a helluva game in overtime.

Iowa still has a chance to finish in the top ten and go to another BCS bowl.

For me, I just want them to beat Northwestern right now. Go hawks.