While I agree with 1, I certainly don't agree with two. Herman takes way too much heat. Arnaud was god awful against Iowa. Herman can call the plays but its up to Arnaud to make the throws.
Rump and Lattimer will be All-12 players. Maggitt has come into his own. Add in Pompey and Rony Nelson they will be solid and their will be depth.
You lose Arnaud, Robinson, Franklin, Lamaak, Sims, etc... etc... and this will be the best team you've had in awhile? You are insane.
Rump and Lattimer will be All-12 players. Maggitt has come into his own. Add in Pompey and Rony Nelson they will be solid and their will be depth.
You lose Arnaud, Robinson, Franklin, Lamaak, Sims, etc... etc... and this will be the best team you've had in awhile? You are insane.
Lattimer has shown some flashes but is he better than Brandon Graham or O'Brien Scholfield, Aldon Smith, Derrick Morgan? I am pretty sure I know the answer.
ISU's DEs are small as a unit. ISU's defense will not be as talented as the Missouri D that Coker and the O-line owned in the bowl game.
Serious questions for the Clone faithful- O/U on Coker's yards 138.
I hate getting into the we will this or that suff or the were are going to win by XXXX stuff. All we can really do is look at trends and history. We can rely a little on what is returning but even that isn't full proof as we have seen.
What we know is this....if we have to have holes we have proven we fill them much easier on D!! Of the 42 Iowa kids ESPN currently lists on NFL team rosters in some capacity, 23 are defensive players, most of the rest are O-linemen and TE's The chances of Iowa having several NFL prospects on defense and on the O-line/TE's slots are very, very good.
Furthermore in that fateful 2005 year that many like to bring up we had FOUR brand new starters on D-Line and very young ones at that. (I believe Homer mentioned this as well) This year we have 2 very good starters back who are potential All-Big 10 candidates and another SR who has played a ton of football. Not even a one off comparison.
Furthermore Jason Manson went 10-31....wow?!?! did I not remember that. Albert Young ran for 140 yards and we still weren't close. If an already experienced Vandy goes 10 for 31 we have a lot more to worry about then ISU.
Once again for Iowa it will be attitude coming into the season. Will they embrace the role that has fueled them so well in the past.
Chad
Who knows at this point.
As far as our defense vs Mizzou's last year. ISU is still weak at DE. We obviously have no Aldon Smith. But Mizzou didn't have a Jake Knott, or even an AJ Klein. They also didn't have a CB as good as Leonard Johnson who started slow last year but was a stud come conference play
Manson went 10-31 b/c he was being pressured like crazy that game. If you remember Tate didn't do any better before he got rocked. At least Manson could get some yards running
You are definitely right on the Knott & Klein comment, but for all the pub garnered by Leonard Johnson, color me unimpressed. After all the hubbub I don't think he'd start for Iowa and I don't think he is appreciably better than Mizzou's corners. Safeties yes, but not corners per se...
For perspective there was a time when I would have told you corner and WR was the 2 areas where ISU typically had at least as good a talent as us if not better. That is no longer the case and quite frankly I thought the Simms at sfty digressed last year. Johnson did get a little better and he is now a Sr but he is still very spotty in my mind. Which at 5-10 (is he that tall) is even a bigger problem against 6-3 plus receivers when technique, position and identification is paramount
Chad
ISU's DL is still very much a question mark, and Iowa's OL is a lot for them to try and handle. Which is why I expect the defense to take a few more gambles than usual...with Benton and the corners doing some blitzing, not to mention Klein and Knott. I think most of these blitzes, interestingly, are going to be aimed at stopping the run rather than sacking the QB...though that is often a nice fringe benefit. But ISU's DL cannot handle the Iowa OL in a straight up match. Lattimer is dangerous off the edge...but a bit undersized, though he has quite a motor on him. Maggit is steady but too small to be much of a run stopper. Rony Nelson, from most accounts, is strictly going to be a pass rush type guy. Ruempelhamer, on the other hand, is a legitimate DT who will give the OL all it can handle....but there is a question mark adjacent to him at the other DT spot.
Overall, the ISU defense looks to be a good bit better than last season...though THAT defense was decidedly average. The LB's are the strength, so I expect Iowa to throw in a good bit of play action early to try and freeze them up a bit...if Klein and Knott start to look like they are running downhill towards the Iowa RB's, look out because there's going to be some big collisions between them and Coker (who I believe is a VERY good running back). Ultimately, as the game goes along, I expect Iowa will mostly stick to pounding straight off the tackles at ISU's smaller DE's. And if the Time-of-Possession gets too favorable for the Hawks, ISU's defense will really start to wear down by the 4th Quarter....so its imperative the ISU offense put together a few sustained drives in the first half. So, anyway, I think there will be a bit of a chess match between the Iowa OC and the ISU DC...and I must admit, I like Wally Burnham's ability in that matchup.
ISU can win this game, though certainly Iowa is a solid favorite. The most important thing ISU can do to win this game, is win the turnover battle. If that happens by +2 margin or so...its going to be a very tough game for both teams. If Iowa holds even or wins the turnover battle, they win going away IMHO.