Brian Ferentz - How do you like me now?

cincyhawk said:
The problem is that, even with the improved offensive production the last three games, Iowa is 25th in points per game over that period. Teams simply score more points nowadays. I wouldn't call that "better than nice". I'd call it nice because I expect Iowa to be right around 25th - 30th if we want to win 9 games a year and be ranked in the top 25.

We haven't seen "good" offense for so long that we don't know what it looks like anymore. We're 51st in opponent points per game over the last three, btw. That's got to improve

This isn't to say that BF didn't do an excellent job against Minny and Indiana. He needs to keep it up. I don't know why he waited until Minnesota to open up the playbook. But now that he has they look like a legit top 25 offense. I'd like them to stay a top 25 offense.
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Here is one of the more important stats to look at when asking yourself what team is actually controlling a game. Deace has been tracking it and harping on it all season long. It is the yards per play that you average minus the yards per play your opponent averages. Iowa has really been controlling games actually

 
deanvogs said:
You sound like an uneducated Clown fan. Iowa has played a tougher schedule than 80% of all other D1 teams to date. OSU couldn't beat Minnesota and Indiana as badly as we did. Why do people always gotta shit on wins?
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Iowa state had the #2 SOS in the nation before the West Virginia game. They probably have the #1 now.
 
haydensly said:
We were favored over Indiana by four points. A LOT of experts thought this was going to be a very tough game on the road and picked Indiana to win. Many thought it would come down to a late drive and could go one way or the other.

We ended up beating them handily and now, all of a sudden, they are a crap team (in some people's eyes). I prefer to give us credit instead of tearing down the opponent when we beat them.
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I thought this game could be a loss. Not based on anything other than KF's penchant for inexplicable losses each season. I knew Indiana had an offense. I also knew their defense was garbage. Their defense is almost always garbage. That doesn't take anything away from how well we played.
 
Xerxes said:
At this point I’m worried about the following:

Fant
Hockenson
A Nelson
Hooker
Stanley

I think Fant is gone for sure. The rest are all better college football players at their positions than Daniels was and he left early last year. If can leave early and get drafted, so can these guys.
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Not sure if they are all better than daniels... remember that Kirk is not one for hyperbole much and I believe his statement on Daniels was something like the best hes coached at his position... which is a position hes coached for a very long time...
 
bhalbur said:
Not sure if they are all better than daniels... remember that Kirk is not one for hyperbole much and I believe his statement on Daniels was something like the best hes coached at his position... which is a position hes coached for a very long time...
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Very true. However he was only HM all conference last year and Render could easily match that or do better. Its not a stretch at all to say Render has been a flat out upgrade at the position. And the guys I listed are all high impact players and high impact positions, particularly in today's NFL.
 
CP87 said:
The only game this year where I felt like the O wasn't in great position to make plays was ISU. N. Ill there were a bunch of drops/penalties/missed throws. Wisconsin there were missed red zone opportunities and special teams turnovers. But in all games, save ISU, the Hawks were moving well up and down the field and had opportunities to make plays. That was not the case so frequently the last few years, so I am very optimistic.
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I would agree. Idk if the isu game was bad play calling or good defense. Isu defense is fast and agressive. I walked away real impressed with their D.
 
ShockHawk22 said:
I would agree. Idk if the isu game was bad play calling or good defense. Isu defense is fast and agressive. I walked away real impressed with their D.
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I would say all of the above plus a team like Iowa always needs time to gel. You can get frustrated or wonder why every other team seems ready when the season starts (they're not but we obsess about our own program sometimes to the negative as well) but for now, its not changing and I always feel like we scrape by early on.

Now, one thing that felt a bit different this year is instead of "getting in and getting out with the W no matter how ugly" I felt like we actually used some of the non-conference games as tune ups and worked on specific aspects of the game instead if just pound and ground it out. Maybe we've always had that approach and it just hasn't looked good (yikes) or maybe this is new.

Maybe this is a flash in the pan, maybe Brian is building a resume.
 
tksirius said:
This is a tough one for me. While our next 2 games are our toughest games left on the schedule, MD & Pedo St's defenses are 35th and 45th respectively. Not bad, but not great. If we can put up 35+ points in both of those games, I will definitely be cutting BF a lot more slack, however.
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Oh my.
 
ShockHawk22 said:
I would agree. Idk if the isu game was bad play calling or good defense. Isu defense is fast and agressive. I walked away real impressed with their D.
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I think the ISU game was decent play calling against a solid ISU defense and LOE. The classic “playing not to lose” offense, coupled with a squad that hadn’t quite clicked yet. We’ve left that behind now, and I hope it stays that way.
 
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I have no problem eating crow. Brian is coming along nicely. That said I don't think many who criticized him thought it would be an overnight success story. He is getting praised (rightfully so) and was criticized (rightfully so). I think a lot of the issues with BF is the theory that he's a lock for HC when dad steps down. I think if we pump the breaks a bit and let him develop into an OC before naming him the next HC things might be different in terms of public opinion.
 
kicker22 said:
I think a lot of the issues with BF is the theory that he's a lock for HC when dad steps down. I think if we pump the breaks a bit and let him develop into an OC before naming him the next HC things might be different in terms of public opinion.
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It's no theory, it's a hypothesis. The only ones saying that BF is a lock for our next head coach are the BF/KF critics, but there's no evidence to support that. Did he undeservedly get the O line job here or the OC job? I think it's debatable as his play calling has been good, although ineffective at times when throws are missed, balls are dropped etc. I'm not saying he won't be the next HC, but it won't be an unsubstantiated gift like all the naysayers are suggesting.
 
You have to remember the first two games this year, we were unsettled on the OL. Against NIU, we had two new starters...one a redshirt freshman and the other a first time starter in Ferguson at the tackle position...running the ball was the best option. Wirfs and Jackson came back against ISU, so I think that is where some of that conservative play calling came into play.

Really, since UNI, we have opened things up more and more and I truly believe BF feels comfortable throwing on any down. I'm really curious to see how our pass pro looks against Maryland. Maryland gets to the QB...they did against Texas...Minnesota (who doesn't though) and others. If we are solid in this game in keeping Stanley clean...this is a very good indicator we are going to be able to do so the rest of the way.
 
Ree4 said:
It's no theory, it's a hypothesis. The only ones saying that BF is a lock for our next head coach are the BF/KF critics, but there's no evidence to support that. Did he undeservedly get the O line job here or the OC job? I think it's debatable as his play calling has been good, although ineffective at times when throws are missed, balls are dropped etc. I'm not saying he won't be the next HC, but it won't be an unsubstantiated gift like all the naysayers are suggesting.
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Very good point on the undeservedly getting the Oline job or the OC job. I think any time a program takes a chance on a relatively inexperienced coach there is probably someone more deserving of an opportunity that has more experience. Throw in the fact that Brian is the coach's son and alumni and I think its a very legit question. At the same time, no one is going to intentionally put their child in a position to fail so there must have been something there that made Kirk think he'd be a good fit.

I'm one that believed Brian lacked the experience to be promoted to OC, but that's not to say that he won't become a good one. Maybe he did undeservedly did get his opportunity, but that opportunity has nothing to do with whether or not he excels at the job. I just hope that he continues to get better and we can one day look back and say that it was a great hire in terms of what he brought to the program as opposed to being nothing more than gifting a family member a job.

I think because of the unique position of his dad being the head coach there's always going to be criticism because his dad's the coach. I only question if he had a different last name if the expectations put on him would be the same. I know I've been hard on him at times, but I'd like to think it was based on what I say on the field and not because I didn't think he was capable of being a good coach. Time will tell.
 
Nobody likes to be second best...but in this case I'm ok with it. Man, this three game stretch is a killer. It makes it a lot easier knowing where our defense is and that we've been solid for 7 games. Even the loss can't be pinned on the defense...it would have been nice to stop that final drive, but Hornibrook just made the throws...something he hasn't done against anyone else.
 
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