All in All - It boils down to our offense and offensive scheme.

[joshhawk]

The zone stretch is to Ferentz what the power sweep was to Lombardi. I don't see that ever leaving his playbook.

 

[HomerChampless]

This is as accurate as it gets when discussing the Iowa defenses down years vs their up years. It all comes down to the defensive line. If the Hawks don't have a front four that can get pressure on the QB then KF has got to allow the DC to adjust the gameplan. Which means man up on the outside and blitz the QB more frequently. Let's just hope the front four can get pressure, because history tells us when they can get pressure Iowa has the most success. History also tells us KF isn't exactly open to playing less conservatively.

So, unless there's an all-american/pro prospect playing the D line, Iowa's defense is for ****? Really? That's a pretty small window for success (especially with Iowa's reported inability to recruit). And just how good was Iowa's D in the 2010 season when there were, to my memory, 4 D lineman drafted into the NFL?

At the college level, the game has changed and Iowa's defense
hasn't adapted.

KF would be more of a conservative coach if his defense was more effective, and there wasn't such a need to rely on the offense - you know, like Saban's scheme at Alabama. Of course, if the offense needed to be ginned up like in the Georgia game, Saban pulled that offensive trigger.