Agree with Pat .... or not?

[CAARHawk]

I don't care about predictions and don't care to make them.

However, here are a few things to think about.

1) Vandy showed zero ability to handle the blitz when he played and has 3 TD's and 5 Int's to his credit. Could have had more against OSU. He also threw a couple of really bad Int's in the spring game.
He has a strong and accurate arm, but the intangibles are still left to be decided.
2) Iowa lost every game for which Nolan MacMillan was not fully available. They also lost AZ when they went safe and switched to Gettis and got burned for it. However, when Gettis and Mac were down, Iowa did not win another regular season game. What does that mean? There was not a true B1G caliber lineman to step in and fill the spot. Now, all of a sudden the Hawks are deep on the line? Seriously, they may have potential, but NOBODY beyond the starting five have proven it on the field.

 

[MultipleDundieAwardWinner]

Iowa was 7-5/8-5 last year. 8-4 is actually an improvement over the regular season. But that team was decimated with injuries and there were off the field problems with DJK, A-Rob and Wegher. But that team also lost two stud LBs and 1 stud CB to the NFL that would have been difference makers.

Many of the guys coming up got a decent amount of PT last year, so it's not like we'll be left plugging freshmen in all over the field. Ferentz is great at developing talent, so I'm not super worried.

Fair enough, but can you really use injuries and losing players to the NFL as an excuse? That happens every year.

From what I have gathered, here is my major concern with Iowa. Last year you had a very experienced and talented offense which had trouble executing at important moments. This season you lose starters from every skill position and you have little to no depth at RB. Yet, no one expects a step backwards. You probably all know something I don't, but some people think you have a ton of all-americans sitting on the bench ready to explode. Football doesn't work that way.

 

[jameskalina]

If I recall, Iowa went 8-4 last year too? They lose their QB, leading RB and WR, the (almost?) entire defensive line, and have to replace more starters than any team in the conference?

I don't really know the details of this team (I am trying to learn though, you guys are getting me pumped for Iowa football!), but that doesn't really seem like the recipe for a team to improve over last season. I am not saying they are going to be horrible, but I don't see why you would be upset that someone predicts you mirror last season.

I think sometimes too much can be made of replacing starters.

Look at the Insight Bowl when Iowa beat Missouri with two Hawkeye starters out (Robinson and DJK). All non starter Coker did was set an Insight Bowl rushing record. All Iowa did was beat a highly ranked Missouri team without starter Greenwood playing in the 4th quarter.

Iowa has some good talent coming up, but it needs experience.

Also, too much can be made of injuries. Most teams incur injuries throughout the season and it affects their play, too. Some teams more so than others, depending on a teams depth and affected position.

I think the Hawks go 7-5 with a September loss, a loss to Penn State and Northwestern and losing two out of the final three regular season games.

Can the Hawks do better? Yes, depending on a number of factors going the Hawks way.

Can the Hawks do worse? Yes, if several factors go against the Hawks.

I think the odds of doing better than 7-5 as opposed to doing worse than 7-5 is in favor of doing better than 7-5.

 

[CyBroncos]

That Purdue game has trap game written all over it. You're coming off Michigan and MSU and Nebraska looms the following Friday. I see a cold dreary day at Ross Ade Stadium and Purdue with nothing play for but pride in its final home game and going all out. That's been a tough place for Iowa in the past

 

[9YRPLAN]

vandenberg scares the crap out of me. i do not think he is going to have a good year.

 

[Hawkfromnorwalk]

vandenberg scares the crap out of me. i do not think he is going to have a good year.

And may I ask how you get to this conclusion?

 

[okeefe4prez]

Fair enough, but can you really use injuries and losing players to the NFL as an excuse? That happens every year.

From what I have gathered, here is my major concern with Iowa. Last year you had a very experienced and talented offense which had trouble executing at important moments. This season you lose starters from every skill position and you have little to no depth at RB. Yet, no one expects a step backwards. You probably all know something I don't, but some people think you have a ton of all-americans sitting on the bench ready to explode. Football doesn't work that way.

Watch the offense against Michigan State and the games before MSU. Then watch it from Indiana on. We had serious issues at the guard position after injuries in the MSU game. We also had serious problems at LB. Take those problems away and it's prolly a 9-3 or possibly even 10-2 ball club - once the line got some practice time as a unit in bowl prep, they were hitting on all cylinders and made Mizzou look foolish. Iowa ain't winning ball games because of the flashiest skill position players, they're winning them by controlling the line of scrimmage and when that o-line was hobbled, the offense took a giant step backwards - they went from running up a ton of points on Wisky and MSU to barely moving the rock against Indiana and Northwestern.

I know we all know the list of guys who we lost, but if that o-line is salty, with Coker in the backfield this team can be so good offensively that the defense will just need to be average for us to be good. A good line with a healthy Coker will mean all JVB has to do is take care of the rock and execute the play action well and find McNutt streaking down the field or C-Fed in the seam and the passing game will be fine. The proles will think the offense is boring when they just chew up 8 minutes of clock and chip away at a defense then completely demoralize them in the 4th quarter, but so long as they keep our D off the field, I'll be content. That's been the Ferentz-O'Keefe MO for years, this year shouldn't be any different.

The pundits rarely analyze the o-line. They just look at QB, RB and WR and then declare a team great, which is why they are wrong most of the time about every team other than the annual safety pick of OSU.

 

[okeefe4prez]

That Purdue game has trap game written all over it. You're coming off Michigan and MSU and Nebraska looms the following Friday. I see a cold dreary day at Ross Ade Stadium and Purdue with nothing play for but pride in its final home game and going all out. That's been a tough place for Iowa in the past

I agree. The "Boiler Up" cheer seems to scare our defense as much as the "RAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR" they play over the PA in Evanston.

 

[okeefe4prez]

And may I ask how you get to this conclusion?

JVB wears #16 - a few pretty good Iowa QBs, including Chuck Long and Jason Manson, wore that number. Based on that alone, I think he'll be fine. I believe Manson was undefeated as a starter and we all remember Chuck Long.

 

[CAARHawk]

JVB wears #16 - a few pretty good Iowa QBs, including Chuck Long and Jason Manson, wore that number. Based on that alone, I think he'll be fine. I believe Manson was undefeated as a starter and we all remember Chuck Long.

Well played. The comparison of Jason "wait, what color jersey are we wearing?" Manson and Long was priceless. But hey, if it wasn't for JM, we wouldn't have had that classic goal line stand against that horrible Syracuse team.

Pretty much sets the perimeters on what we can expect from Vandy.

 

[DBAHawkFan]

Vandy scares the crap out of me as well. I think he's got the best tools at QB we've seen since Tate (arm strength, decent mobility for his size, and from scouting reports he does seem to be a student of the game).

But in the game situations we've seen him in, He's a turnover machine. OSU went with a soft zone against us and Vandy was able to make some plays (and still threw multiple INT). MN went all out blitz against us and the offense couldn't move an inch.

Having Coker back there will help (assuming no ACL tear or concussions) take some of the pressure off, but you know teams will be stacking the line and blitzing. It's something this offense has failed to captialize on for years

 

[okeefe4prez]

Vandy scares the crap out of me as well. I think he's got the best tools at QB we've seen since Tate (arm strength, decent mobility for his size, and from scouting reports he does seem to be a student of the game).

But in the game situations we've seen him in, He's a turnover machine. OSU went with a soft zone against us and Vandy was able to make some plays (and still threw multiple INT). MN went all out blitz against us and the offense couldn't move an inch.

Having Coker back there will help (assuming no ACL tear or concussions) take some of the pressure off, but you know teams will be stacking the line and blitzing. It's something this offense has failed to captialize on for years

Well, if you're a DC don't you blitz the crap out of the freshman who has no experience? I would. But I wouldn't blitz the junior who is now familiar with the system and has an offseason of practice with the squad and who has a stud tailback. If DCs try to get cute with blitzes, O'Keefe will dial up either the concussion screen to Coker or a jailbreak screen to a WR and he'll either score a TD or get someone hurt.

 

[Clark]

Vandy scares the crap out of me as well. I think he's got the best tools at QB we've seen since Tate (arm strength, decent mobility for his size, and from scouting reports he does seem to be a student of the game).

But in the game situations we've seen him in, He's a turnover machine. OSU went with a soft zone against us and Vandy was able to make some plays (and still threw multiple INT). MN went all out blitz against us and the offense couldn't move an inch.

Having Coker back there will help (assuming no ACL tear or concussions) take some of the pressure off, but you know teams will be stacking the line and blitzing. It's something this offense has failed to captialize on for years

You guys realize that these were two years ago right? I'd hope he's gotten better as a junior compared to where he was as a freshman.

 

[CAARHawk]

The issue is that we don't really know what to expect. People expect Vandy to be the second coming of Chuck Long. But the on-field performance has left much to be desired. The only concern is that he was throwing the same kind of picks in Spring. So concern and hope are each reasonable.

 

[BALDIES7980]

Vandy scares the crap out of me as well. I think he's got the best tools at QB we've seen since Tate (arm strength, decent mobility for his size, and from scouting reports he does seem to be a student of the game).

But in the game situations we've seen him in, He's a turnover machine. OSU went with a soft zone against us and Vandy was able to make some plays (and still threw multiple INT). MN went all out blitz against us and the offense couldn't move an inch.

Having Coker back there will help (assuming no ACL tear or concussions) take some of the pressure off, but you know teams will be stacking the line and blitzing. It's something this offense has failed to captialize on for years

I would have to watch the Minny game again but I don't recall Iowa calling any plays to take advantage of the blitz. Its pretty hard to not complete a jump pass over the line to a TE who bump blocked and took off.
As good as Iowa's staff is sometimes they go brain dead OR they are so **** scared of trying something out of the norm they handicap the team.
With CJF a natural PF at 6'6", 260lbs + I'll kick someones *** if we lay down and don't burn the blitzers. Plenty of options.

 

[cmhawks99]

Honestly there is too much made of this and that period by fans, magazines, etc, etc……..Wiscy fans think they are better than us, yet we are 20-8-1 against them the last 30 years. Even the recent series is predominantly Iowa…

2002…..20-3 Iowa
2003……27-21 Iowa
2004……30-7 Iowa
2005……20-10 Iowa

Finally in 2006 when we went in the tank 6-7 Iowa lost to 12-1 Wisco 24-21
Then in 2007, 6-6 Iowa lost to 9-4 Wisco 13-17.

Then we won two more in a row 38-18 & 20-10 and lost last year by 3, so we either win or lose a close one.

NW fans think they are better than us and on the field they have been, but that’s where it ends……they never win a bowl game, they don’t strike fear in the hearts of opponents and they are still always behind us in the standings…..

Prognosticators get frustrated with us and who can blame them…they frustrate me, but since 2001 Iowa is the 2nd winningest team in the Big 10, They have the most Bowl wins in the Big 10 and they have the 2nd most NFL alumni…..so really we have replaced this much talent before and we “can” do it again. The talent is there, I will wager at the end of the year Iowa will still have the most or 2nd most obvious draft talent in the league. It will all come down to how much leadership we have and how well we deal with adversity. To think that a team who routinely grooms NFL talent won’t have improved their players in an off-season is foolish at best.

Now with that said it is LEADERSHIP that takes Iowa to the 10 win plateau……I realize it is a tough time of year, but in all honesty I’m tired of the speculation and pooh-poohing of Iowa. I get that we fell down a tick but we didn’t “gut” our entire roster, we have recruited very, very well in the last several years.

If our RS-Jr QB hasn’t improved enuff in 2 years then we will deserve to lose…..

If our Sophmore-Lbers can’t excel like many sophomore Iowa Lbers & Big 10 Lbers before him then we will deserve to lose…..

If we can’t find another Rb other than Coker like we have multiple times before then we will deserve to lose…..

If we can’t find more NFL sftys and D-lineman like we have oh so many times before, they we will deserve to lose…..

I get that we are bored, but we have been short changed many times before to our benefit so let’s just wait it out. Truly I am just as shocked that we are ever unranked as I am that we are ever in the top 10! You’d think these guys would learn, but Athlons still had us 26 and I’d expect with a little momentum we’ll be pretty darn good.

Phill was a little more negative on us than I’d have guessed but he did make a point to say we typically play well as the forgotten.

Chad

 

[MultipleDundieAwardWinner]

I'll play the devil's advocate here, since I am an outsider, I think I have a different perspective here, but I have to say that I am hearing many more "ifs" than "because" regarding Iowa winning 9+.

If the QB change works out...
If the OL gels...
If we find a safety...
If we avoid RB injuries...
If the young LBs show up...
If the team doesn't lose focus like they did last year...

No one is saying "Iowa will win 10 games because..."

 

[hawkeyescott]

I'll play the devil's advocate here, since I am an outsider, I think I have a different perspective here, but I have to say that I am hearing many more "ifs" than "because" regarding Iowa winning 9+.

If the QB change works out...
If the OL gels...
If we find a safety...
If we avoid RB injuries...
If the young LBs show up...
If the team doesn't lose focus like they did last year...

No one is saying "Iowa will win 10 games because..."

How about this then, Iowa will win 10 games BECAUSE if all those IF'S happen they will be pretty good.

 

[BALDIES7980]

I'll play the devil's advocate here, since I am an outsider, I think I have a different perspective here, but I have to say that I am hearing many more "ifs" than "because" regarding Iowa winning 9+.

If the QB change works out...(no change graduation, ability but unproven)
If the OL gels...(already good, unstoppable if 7 or more gel)
If we find a safety...(have them, looked good in bowl game, lack of starts)
If we avoid RB injuries...(not in the B10, someone needs to step up to play #2)
If the young LBs show up...(looked good in bowl game,need another to step up)
If the team doesn't lose focus like they did last year...(always an unknown)

No one is saying "Iowa will win 10 games because..."

There, thats a little closer.

 

[burky247]

8-4 sounds about right. But probably not the way Pat called it.