A thread NOT calling for KFs job

[bws258]

I am not going to open all those stupid meltdown threads. Hopefully this thread can be for rational discussion on what took place today.

Here is the performance of our Groza semi finalist:

M. Meyer missed a 24-yard field goal

M. Meyer missed a 43-yard field goal

He makes either of these field goals and it is an entirely different ball game.

we should have won by at least 20 points ... one or even two missed FGs should have been completely irrelevant

I thought the play calling was good, the only question I have is not running the ball at least once when we had the ball with 2:36 left. There was plenty of time on the clock at that point. But I think the players are just as much to blame on this loss as the coaches. Vandenburg needs to learn how to win on the road he did not look composed on that last drive at all.

yes, JVB sucks on the road, and therefore the play calling in crunch time was terrible

This loss hurts no doubt about it but calling for the coaches job after each loss is getting old. Be careful what you wish for.

not protecting against the onside kick is absolutely inexcusable.

 

[bcl20]

I definitely don't want Ferentz fired. Nor do I want him to hang it up on his own accord. But I think it's time people stop thinking of him as being one of the top coaches in the country. He's not.

The players didn't execute, the playcalling in the second half was horrendous. Vandy locks onto McNutt way too much. I know the guy is a stud, but when he's blanketed, SOMEONE ELSE IS OPEN. We don't need to force it to him on every other pass attempt.

Our clock management still sucks. And why is it that Iowa is the only team in the country that never seems to know when an onside kick is coming? Seriously, Minny has NOTHING to lose, there's not a lot of time left. Just line up for it and take the field position disadvantage if they kick it deep.

I pretty much agree with all of this. I think it's dumb to say after ever loss that we need to fire coaches. You can't make decisions like this based off of emotions and I definitely would fear dropping down to the level of Minnesota or something (kind of like when Lickliter came it to the b-ball program). Before you make any decision on Kirk you'd have to make sure there is someone good in the waiting.

Ferentz is not an elite coach though, when you lose games like this, and it's far from an anomaly obviously, you can't say that.

 

[H8IAST8]

Minnesota was giving up 36 points a game.

Fr all everybody loves to make excuses for only scoring 3 against PSU, Iowa was scoring 34 a game.

Blaming 2 missed field goals - which would have only put us at 27 points - is a pathetic excuse for a pathetically coached game.

You forgot the blitzing CB that Vandy did not pick up inside the 20 yard line. That would have put us at 30 or 34.

 

[83Hawk]

Special teams and offensive red zone execution killed us. Our defense became tired in that 4th quarter. those 2 fg's and we win. Recover the onside, we win.

Until the fourth quarter, our defense was hardly on the field....how then, could they be "tired"?

Minnesota's defense sure wasn't tired.

 

[Clark]

The missed fieldgoals, the inability to get a stop on those last two drives, even not running Coker on hte last drive I can chalk up to "**** happens".

The onside kick is another story. Like I said in another thread, Kirk Ferentz needs a common sense coach.

 

[ssckelley]

I definitely don't want Ferentz fired. Nor do I want him to hang it up on his own accord. But I think it's time people stop thinking of him as being one of the top coaches in the country. He's not.

We will only call him that after an Orange Bowl win, I get it.

The players didn't execute, the playcalling in the second half was horrendous. Vandy locks onto McNutt way too much. I know the guy is a stud, but when he's blanketed, SOMEONE ELSE IS OPEN. We don't need to force it to him on every other pass attempt.

We really missed Keenan Davis.

Our clock management still sucks. And why is it that Iowa is the only team in the country that never seems to know when an onside kick is coming? Seriously, Minny has NOTHING to lose, there's not a lot of time left. Just line up for it and take the field position disadvantage if they kick it deep.

With as much clock that was left that onside kick was a bit of a surprise. But you're right they should have played that safe and had the hands team out there just in case.

 

[gohawkz]

I am not going to open all those stupid meltdown threads. Hopefully this thread can be for rational discussion on what took place today.

Here is the performance of our Groza semi finalist:

M. Meyer missed a 24-yard field goal

M. Meyer missed a 43-yard field goal

He makes either of these field goals and it is an entirely different ball game.

I thought the play calling was good, the only question I have is not running the ball at least once when we had the ball with 2:36 left. There was plenty of time on the clock at that point. But I think the players are just as much to blame on this loss as the coaches. Vandenburg needs to learn how to win on the road he did not look composed on that last drive at all.

This loss hurts no doubt about it but calling for the coaches job after each loss is getting old. Be careful what you wish for.

There is SO much blame to go around rather then simply blame the kicker. Seriously, we lost to one of the worst teams not only in the Big 10 but in the entire country and you're blaming the kicker? That doesn't sound rational to me.

-I'm not a fan of calling out individual players, I don't think that should be allowed here. Your little Groza comment takes a dig at Meyer that is uncalled for.

-He's had a hell of a better season then most of the guys on the defensive side. If you do decide to call out individuals for poor play there are many players who would be more deserving than Meyer.

-Although I disagree with you and am not going to blame this fiasco on our kicker, if it is indeed his fault then it's falls back on Ferentz because it's his job to recruit players who are good enough to not get beat by Minnesota.

 

[ssckelley]

we should have won by at least 20 points ... one or even two missed FGs should have been completely irrelevantyes

True, but if Meyer makes those 2 easy field goals they probably do win by 20 points. Missing that chip shot was HUGE it gave Minnesota a ton of momentum.

JVB sucks on the road, and therefore the play calling in crunch time was terrible
not protecting against the onside kick is absolutely inexcusable.

Yeah, I would have liked to have seen a run on 2nd down. Minnesota has an awful rush defense, even on 3rd down would have been nice as you know we are going for it on 4th down.

 

[silvanthalas]

With as much clock that was left that onside kick was a bit of a surprise.

No, it's only a surprise to a coaching staff who has shown no imagination whatsoever in 13 years on the job.

Which is why it works pretty much every time a team does it, and we should be thankful they don't do it more often.

 

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

Until the fourth quarter, our defense was hardly on the field....how then, could they be "tired"?

Minnesota's defense sure wasn't tired.

EXactly...they seemed to be motivated and played with enthusiasm. Why can't we?

 

[ssckelley]

No, it's only a surprise to a coaching staff who has shown no imagination whatsoever in 13 years on the job.

Which is why it works pretty much every time a team does it, and we should be thankful they don't do it more often.

No imagination? I thought our offense has shown quite a bit of imagination this year. They started mixing the calls up, ran some no huddle, and in this game the McNutt reverse took everyone by surprise.

The difference is this defense cannot stop anyone when we need it to. Today the defense was looking pretty good until the 4th quarter. Then all of the sudden the were "gassed" even though they had played very little in the game.

 

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

We really missed Keenan Davis. TRUE

With as much clock that was left that onside kick was a bit of a surprise. But you're right they should have played that safe and had the hands team out there just in case.

We were calling for it here [to be on lookout for onside] and we're not even coaches. Just no mental in game prep....

 

[ssckelley]

We were calling for it here [to be on lookout for onside] and we're not even coaches. Just no mental in game prep....

It was in the back of my mind as well but with as much time that was left I thought they would kick it deep. But again, I would have played it safe and at least been prepared for it.

 

[slankyJ]

I'm calling for KF, NP and KOK's jobs.

PATHETIC!!!

Second year in a row hawks give a terrible Minnesota team it's first conference win. And how is Iowa State doing with the 'impressive and elusive' Steele Jaantz? No conference wins huh? Jee wiz fellas, gosh!?!

If your program consistently loses to the worst teams in your conference the. You have one if the worst programs in your conference. Program rebuilding 101 is to start by beating everyone other than the very top teams EACH YEAR.

Not proud to be a hawk fan today. My blood is black and gold, I was born in IC, grew up there, still live in the great state of Iowa, but today I feel like less than a Canada-Touching Minnesotan... Time for every last one of you to jump ship hawkeye coaching staff, good riddance

 

[MoseSchrute]

I am a die hard Hawkeye fan living in Lafayette, Louisiana. Iowa's image, and the Big Ten as a whole has looked awful the past two years. Ferentz gets paid 3.5 million per year and he has consistently been out coached the past two years to teams with far less talent.
We consistently look dead when we go on the road and against teams we should beat without issue. This philosophy comes from a coach who is too laid back and doesn't get enough fire into his team.
Kirk is great at teaching players and making something out of nothing when it comes to nfl players, but the coaching staff is too laid back. A good solution would be to bring in a guy like Mike Stoops who is high energy to coach the defense and to open Kirk's eyes to some new defensive philosophies, I'm not saying Kirk had to go, but if he doesn't change his philosophy, we will continue to lose to lesser talented teams. And until the Big Ten starts putting out quality championship teams, we will always be less superior to the SEC, and I hate that with a passion! LSU and Alabama don't lose to bad teams, sometimes its close but they always come out on top. Looking forward to your replies! Go hawks!

I don't give a damn about B10/SEC comparisons. I care about Iowa, and it's obvious now that changes need to be made.

 

[SouthHawk1]

Re:A thread NOT calling for KFs jobs

You should care because Iowa will never be on a level with those teams that are always at the top, what do you play for if you don't want to be better than them?

 

[tm3308]

No imagination? I thought our offense has shown quite a bit of imagination this year. They started mixing the calls up, ran some no huddle, and in this game the McNutt reverse took everyone by surprise.

The difference is this defense cannot stop anyone when we need it to. Today the defense was looking pretty good until the 4th quarter. Then all of the sudden the were "gassed" even though they had played very little in the game.

They've shown some imagination this year in terms of what THEY do. They show very little imagination when trying to anticipate what the opponent will do.

Minnesota had won just one game coming into today. They're awful. They just went for two and failed. Seriously, what do they have to lose? Nothing. And for whatever reason, the Hawks weren't even remotely prepared for an onside kick, nevermind the fact that we got burned on one LAST year at the Bank. It was the perfect time to call one: early enough that they might catch Iowa by surprise, and late enough that it wasn't a stupid call. You've got to put yourself in the other coach's shoes in those situations.

 

[radio]

the offense is fine, had some miscues today and for the most part overcame those miscues. the offense was forced on the final drive due to lack of defensive schemeing. ferentz just needs pressure so not to be so damned conservative. end of 2nd qrtr in this game and penn st game was costly. ferentz is a paid STATE employee, ie tax dollars. pressure should be enough, he has never been pressured before. parker is the problem. he said it himself in pregame press conference before a game earlier this year-running qbs is not football. wheres he been the last 2 decades? most of all college football is running qbs. parker is too old and senile to adjust. we need some new blood to coach defense. mike stoops would be a perfect fit. btw, i love Iowa's pro-style offense and think okeefe is doing a great job. ferentz was all over the personnel and play calling on the final drive. no reason brad herman or jason white should suit up for road games let alone be in on the final drive, yet they were targeted..

 

[silvanthalas]

No imagination? I thought our offense has shown quite a bit of imagination this year.

Which is why we we had to make a historic comeback against Pitt, only scored 3 against PSU, and only scored 21 today against a team who was giving up 36/game.

They started mixing the calls up, ran some no huddle, and in this game the McNutt reverse took everyone by surprise.

The reverse is the ONLY one of those you can count on Iowa calling a few times a year, and it usually fails miserably.

Did we even run any no huddle or hurry up? Oh, wait, we're not allowed to do that on the road because of noise.

But then, as if we only had a few seconds left in the game, we threw 4 straight times on our last possession with nearly 3 minutes left when we had a running back who had gashed them for 250. What the hell!?

 

[kicker22]

No imagination? I thought our offense has shown quite a bit of imagination this year. They started mixing the calls up, ran some no huddle, and in this game the McNutt reverse took everyone by surprise.

The difference is this defense cannot stop anyone when we need it to. Today the defense was looking pretty good until the 4th quarter. Then all of the sudden the were "gassed" even though they had played very little in the game.

So the fact that Vandy fumbled inside their redzone, they recover, score, kick an onside kick, that gets recovered and then the defense is back on the field. They were gassed because they couldn't get off the field. If we don't give up the fumble and/or recover the onside kick the defense gets a little more time to collect themselves. I'll be the first to admit that our defense has struggled, however I'm not convinced that the 4th quarter of this game was the fault of the defense and not thhe offense's or special team's fault for getting them off the field.

And the post mentioning how Minnesota's D didn't look tired at the end of that game obvioutsly forgot the simple fact they weren't on the field the majority of the 4th quarter and had the luxury of catching their breath and getting their composure back while their offense and special teams kept them off the field.