A nod to the better days
- Thread starter NCHawker
- Start date
Hawknick
Banned
What a thriller this was! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qne1Z-u7wXM
eveningnewsteam
Well-Known Member
That team had a coach that was too ******* stubborn to sit Christentensen after a disastrous 2007 campaign and give full reps to Stanzi. Stanzi should've been cutting his teeth with all the reps against Maine and FIU, instead he was splitting reps. Joke
That Iowa team was rather beat up after playing John Hadl and Kansas the week before the Minnesota loss. One of their all america linemen wasn't even able to play. Evy was asked on his Sunday afternoon television show if he thought missing Mark Manders was the difference in that game. Evy didn't make 'excuses', but just said "Oh, I don't know...." I've hated Minnesota for years because that game probably cost Iowa its only AP national championship. I remember reading the Waterloo newspaper after the 1961 Rose Bowl. Some in the sports media who witnessed the game said that Iowa may have been a better choice than Minnesota because Iowa could run the sweep plays which may have beaten Washington. I remember the comment that "Iowa had the only backfield in the Big Ten that left a vapor trail behind them wherever they went." Sammie Harris ran a 9.3 hundred yard dash. Anyway, its too bad about that Minnesota game. If there is a darker day in Iowa football history, I'd like to know what it would be. (Okay, the 1985 Ohio State fiasco in pouring rain, where Jim Zabel said that the crowd noise was so bad that the coffee cups in the press box were rattling, might be.) This was going to be Evy's last year as coach and it would have been another Rose Bowl victory, I think. Iowa was recognized at the National level as being one of the elites in college football during the Evy years. How sweet it was!
I understand your point, though I can't really agree. Yes, 2007 was a disaster, but until Arvell Nelson was kicked off the team, NOBODY was calling for Stanzi. In fact, if asked, I think most Iowa fans that year would have named Arvell Nelson as Jake's back-up (he wasn't, but Nelson was the one everyone was screaming for when things weren't going well).
It took a whole series of events in 2008 to realize that Stanzi was making progress few back-up Iowa QB's have made, and that he was going to be a star before he finished. Still, he had SO many plays that just made you wince, they were so bad - interceptions and such.
Honestly, I would LOVE to see one of our current QB's (Boyle?) make such a leap as Stanzi did - Ricky even ended up in the pros - and to say the least, NO ONE saw that in him when he arrived at Iowa. I will never forget a couple of his pinpoint passes, including the 2010 Orange Bowl TD fade to Colin Sandeman - Colin even lost the ball in the lights, but it was so perfectly thrown, landing right in his hands, he couldn't possibly drop it.
ChosenChildren
Well-Known Member
Great post. Iowa did earn a Big Ten co-championship the following week when Iowa DESTROYED a great Ohio St. team in Kinnick, 35-12. After the game, the great Woody Hayes described Evy as the greatest offensive mind in college football. High praise from a great coach
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I recall reading/hearing somewhere years ago that Evy got out of coaching at Iowa because he saw the two platoon system as the next big change and he did not think Iowa could recruit 22 starters and compete with many others in the Big Ten. I cannot document this, but thought I would mention it to see if anyone else has a memory of this issue. I listened to all of Iowa's games during the Evy period on the radio sitting on a three legged stool in the kitchen. Fond memories!
NCHawker
Well-Known Member
Zabel: Well Forest, its been a great season in the booth with you !
Evy: You're right Jim, I enjoyed all 20 games
Zabel: 20? Evey there are only 10 games this season.
Evy: That's right Jim, there were the 10 that I saw and the 10 that you called.
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I never saw that 2003 Iowa Wisconsin game. I only saw Scothawk's epic video (his best work IMO). The sequence of scothawks was a bit different than the game chronology so as to build a narrative and emotional effect. Still the replay was pretty amazing.
