Arizona a first real test

HawkfaninWA

HawkfaninWA

Well-Known Member
Well, not that I didn't enjoy this game . . . and I did immensely. . . but I think we've just proven we can beat poor teams at this point. ISU looked horrible on D and missed several opportunities to stall our drives early. Lots of bad arm tackling.

Maybe this is just Iowa being dominate, but I think the reality is our first 2 games were against very weak opponents.

I'm excited for Arizona for 3 reasons:

1) It's on the Road
2) They are top 25 worthy talent
3) It's at a difficult place to play/ in heat

I'm thinking Iowa 27, Arizona 13 and that's after we add 2 late FG's.
 
I think ISU is a decent team that will go to a bowl game.

I think they have a better offensive line than Arizona and a running back that is probably as good as well. Fowles isn't a mobile QB so if we can pressure him, we should be ok.

I don't know what the offense will do next week, but I think the matchup is favorable for our defense.

I would say our defense has lived up to the hype thus far.
 
Speaking of this game, it may be the best game on next week. Other than Florida v Tennessee (and Tenn didn't look great this week) or Texas v Texas Tech (and TT is no powerhouse this year), who else is there with a "real" game?

Here's the Schedule: Games

Side note: Does anybody know where GameDay will be next week?
 
EIU lost 37-7 today to Central Arkansas. ISU will probably win one or two more games at best. The good news is that Iowa dominates when all of the starters are on the field.
 
BSpringsteen said:
I think ISU is a decent team that will go to a bowl game.

I think they have a better offensive line than Arizona and a running back that is probably as good as well. Fowles isn't a mobile QB so if we can pressure him, we should be ok.

I don't know what the offense will do next week, but I think the matchup is favorable for our defense.

I would say our defense has lived up to the hype thus far.
Click to expand...


First off, Iowa State will not make a bowl game, and that is not supposed to be a smack against them, its just there schedule is THAT tough this year. No way there bowling.

Secondly, regarding AZ, I love the fact that they had a bye this week. I know the initial thinking is two weeks of preparation and rest have to be bonuses for them, but I think sitting around without competition for two weeks this early in the season is more likely to make a team too hyped up (especially with a top 10 team coming to town) that they will come up sloppy. AZ has some offensive playmakers, but the only place I see them differently than ISU is at QB and WR. Foles won't miss as many receivers as Arnaud did today. Arnaud played horribly today, and that is as much a compliment to the D as it is a knock against him. I feel a very similar game next weekend to today, given AZ's homefield advantage. A final around 34-13 sounds about right. ARob and Hampton should have no problem finding holes again next week. Go Hawks!!!
 
It's also their first real test, so who knows what will happen.

BTW, to the OP, they don't have a bye this week. They are playing Citadel right now.
 
HwkFn4Life said:
First off, Iowa State will not make a bowl game, and that is not supposed to be a smack against them, its just there schedule is THAT tough this year. No way there bowling.

Secondly, regarding AZ, I love the fact that they had a bye this week. I know the initial thinking is two weeks of preparation and rest have to be bonuses for them, but I think sitting around without competition for two weeks this early in the season is more likely to make a team too hyped up (especially with a top 10 team coming to town) that they will come up sloppy. AZ has some offensive playmakers, but the only place I see them differently than ISU is at QB and WR. Foles won't miss as many receivers as Arnaud did today. Arnaud played horribly today, and that is as much a compliment to the D as it is a knock against him. I feel a very similar game next weekend to today, given AZ's homefield advantage. A final around 34-13 sounds about right. ARob and Hampton should have no problem finding holes again next week. Go Hawks!!!
Click to expand...

Arizona didn't have a bye this week.
 
Just wait a second here. I definitely agree that NOBODY should be underestimating Arizona. They're a darn fine program with great coaches and they're loaded with FAST and talented players. Thus, they definitely are deserving of our respect. Furthermore, the UA offense is definitely executing at a VERY high level. Thus, slowing their O will NOT be an easy chore. I think that this goes without saying.

However, let's consider the following facts too .....

- Arizona will have beaten Toledo and the Citadel. And their O is executing very well. You definitely cannot take that away from the Wildcats.

- However, for the record, Toledo's offense stinks. While the UA defense held the Toledo O to pretty low numbers in terms of scoring and yardage ... Toledo only did slightly better against Ohio where they racked up around 212 TOTAL yards. Yeah ... context is an interesting thing.

- Similarly, Citadel's prior game was against a lowly D2 team ... and they only racked up a total of 374 yards. Given the quality starters of elite-level D1 FCS schools ... an elite D1 FCS school should be able to shred a D2 team for a bit worse than that.

- In 2009, Penn State beat up on lesser competition prior to playing Iowa ... and their prior competition did little to prepare them for Iowa's D.

- In BOTH 2009 and 2010, Penn State was particularly noted for the quality of their "Spread HD" offense that was led by Daryl Clark. Clark was a highly efficient QB who was very good at distributing the ball to his WRs. Despite all his skills and acolades ... Iowa's D made him cry for his mommy like a toddler.

- Arnaud proved to be a very precise passer against NIU. In fact, he completed around 75% of his passes against NIU. In stark contrast, he completed UNDER 50% of his passes against Iowa!

- If you take away the fake punt, EIU probably racked up around 100 yards against Iowa's starting D. ISU, a BCS conference foe and heated rival, only racked up around 180 yards on Iowa's starting D (that's right, around 95 of ISU's yards were accumulated against Iowa's 2nd and 3rd team Ds in the 4th quarter).

MY POINTS:

1. I definitely recognize that Arizona's O appears to be clicking on all cylinders. That cannot be ignored. Any O that can execute at such a high level has the capacity to move the ball on just about anyone. POINT TO ARIZONA

2. While Iowa fans have absolutely NO GUARANTEE that the Iowa D will enjoy great success against a very talented and well coached UA O ... as history has dictated, Iowa has a good track record against pretty high-octane Os. POINT TO IOWA

3. While folks could certainly argue whether or not ISU is "better" than Toledo ... I'm definitely one who thinks that ISU is much better than Toledo. Furthermore, in the setting of a heated rivalry game, Iowa still calmly disposed of their rival in a dominating fashion. I dare say that Arizona has met with less overall resistance than Iowa has. I genuinely doubt that UA has faced an opponent yet that has prepared them for how physical Iowa is. POINT TO IOWA

I have no idea who will win the Iowa vs Arizona game. I'm definitely curious how much the venue, temperature, and time change will impact the Hawks. However, I am confident that if the Hawks continue to be as focusses as they have been ... then they will come out with the right attitude and with plenty of motivation. Thus, if they play as they're capable of playing, I like our chances .... A LOT!
 
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