Compare and Contrast with 2017 Situation.

AreWeThereYet

AreWeThereYet

Well-Known Member
Feel free to discuss, if you think this is a relevant comparison.

In 2017 Iowa had a stout defense and an offense with some serious questions.
The offensive line had two untested underclassmen tackles in red shirt freshman Aleric Jackson and true freshman Tristan Wirfs. The center of the line was more experienced with junior center James Daniels, senior guard Sean Welsh and junior guard Kegan Render. The main offensive playmakers were Senior RB senior running back Akrum Wadley, sophomore tight end Noah Fant, wide receiver Nick Easley, and senior Matt Vandeburg on the outside. This was sophomore quarterback Nate Stanley's first year at the helm.

On special teams were kicker Miguel Recinos, punter Colten Rastetter, freshman kick returner IKM and Matt Vandeburg.

I think some parallels can be drawn between the personnel and units this year and 2017. I also see major differences.
 
Petreus has a year of experience behind him. Stanley was new and would have a persistent issue with freezing up when strong pressure was applied by a good defense. He was pretty much deer in the headlights for Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Purdue. I'm not seeing that sort of panic out of Petreus even when he is struggling.

Stanley played really well against Iowa State, North Texas, Illinois, Ohio State, and Nebraska. I think the deal with Ohio State is they came in without a real plan to deal with Iowa, and played vanilla defense without real pressure. I have yet to see Petreus get the hot had like Stanley did in some of the blowouts.
 
I think this defense is much better than that 2017 defense. Our wide receivers on this team are also better than in 2017.

I also think that Petras is definitely a better game manager than Stanley was. Petras is not as good as 2015 Beathard, but he is better than 2017 or 2018 Stanley.

I also think the Big Ten West division is very weak this year. The goal now is to win the division. A 6-2 record the rest of the way with a win over Wisconsin will do that. 5-3 might even do it, if one of the wins is Wisconsin. Please remember that we can lose against Maryland AND Penn State and still win the division if we win the rest of the games after that.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
punter Colten Rastetter,
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I would say Taylor is a huge plus +++++ this year and last in the punter column.

But yes, Stanley was an up and down yo you of an enigma his first two years of starting. His first road game was awesome at ISU as the defense got torched for some long, quick plays. Wadley was just awesome that year. And even though Wirfs and Jackson were very young they were better I think than our current young tackles. So I think the offensive line that year was much better with at least 3 NFL guys on it.

Captain Kirk's ship really moves through the tough waters very well when he has a really good offensive line to control games and field position.
 
uihawk82 said:
I would say Taylor is a huge plus +++++ this year and last in the punter column.
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I was waiting for someone to say this. Look at all those close games, Penn State, Michigan State and Northwestern. A solid punter could have been the difference in multiple games.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I think this defense is much better than that 2017 defense.
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Remains to be seen. I worried about experience and size in the middle of the line. Shannon, Lee, and Van Ness have done quite well. Black struggled a bit, but seems to have stepped it up the last two games.

Really good back seven on both teams.

I don't think I have ever seen an Iowa defense this deep.
 
I don't think any of our offensive tackles are performing even at the level freshmen Jackson and Wirfs did. Overall, the OL still has a long ways to come to support an immobile game manager as a QB. Until the line can open up running lanes for Goodson, the offense will be below average. Well below.

Stanley wasn't great under pressure, but he could sometimes shrug off a hit and make a play. Stanley took more chances and turned the ball over. Petras, when given time, usually makes the right decision.

The D is better this year.

Our best offensive weapon is probably the punter. Sad, but true. Ok, maybe the punter is part of the defense, I don't know, but you get the point.

The conference, or at least the division, is weaker. On our best day, there is no team in the West we should not beat.
 
Crazy to think that Hankins saw the field that year as a true freshman.

This defense is better - two good corners on this unit vs a single elite one in 2017. OJ, Hankins, and Rugamba all struggled on the other side. That group also gave up lots of chunk plays on the ground; David Montgomery, Justin Jackson, Jonathan Taylor, and AJ Dillon each had huge days. The safety play was inconsistent and the d line was equally as young without the same depth.

Offensively the parallels are there, especially after Boettger hurt his leg.
 
Nathan Stanley threw 26 TDs that year. Tied for the most by any Iowa qb in a season, including Chuck Long. He was inexperienced on the road. The defense was inexplicably poor by Iowa standards early in the year.
 
cincyhawk said:
Nathan Stanley threw 26 TDs that year. Tied for the most by any Iowa qb in a season, including Chuck Long. He was inexperienced on the road. The defense was inexplicably poor by Iowa standards early in the year.
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Stanley's scoring came in big bunches, especially that first year. When got a decent amount of time back there and got the adrenaline monster under control, he transformed into one of the more dangerous quarterbacks in college football.

Petras hasn't shown that sort of breakout when conditions are favorable. He hasn't shown the tendency to freeze up either. Perhaps a better QB comparison would be Nathan Chandler in 2003. Petras has a better arm and a worse offensive line. Mobility is comparable. Experience at this point comparable. If I remember right Chandler had two years of Juco experience before coming to Iowa. Both game manager type quarterbacks. Neither tended to totally screw the pooch under pressure.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
Stanley's scoring came in big bunches, especially that first year. When got a decent amount of time back there and got the adrenaline monster under control, he transformed into one of the more dangerous quarterbacks in college football.

Petras hasn't shown that sort of breakout when conditions are favorable. He hasn't shown the tendency to freeze up either. Perhaps a better QB comparison would be Nathan Chandler in 2003. Petras has a better arm and a worse offensive line. Mobility is comparable. Experience at this point comparable. If I remember right Chandler had two years of Juco experience before coming to Iowa. Both game manager type quarterbacks. Neither tended to totally screw the pooch under pressure.
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I meant that there's no comparing a guy with 52 TDs his first two seasons with a guy who has like 10. That 2017 offense would blow the doors off this year's in a 7 on 7 game.

But then again, Petras is sacked more than almost any other college QB. The line is kind of awful right now.
 
Now the Hawks have a real punter.

Petras as stated has one terrific release.

Is he related to a donor?
 
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