Curbing Expectations for Next Year

[pmchawk]

I'm going with 9-3. I can see us doing much better then that but I'll wait until after the Arizona game next year before I start predicting a Big 10 title.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

imported_ankle -

Au contraire ... how much game experience at C did Bruggs have before starting in 2008?

Also, Eubanks was much maligned (at least by fans) until having, by far, his best season of football in 2009.

As for quality of a player, you may not have heard ... but some players on the squad were actually anticipating that James Ferentz would START at C in 2009!

Lastly ... did you watch the Wisky offense this year? They started a RS FR at C in 2010 ... and yet their O still managed to average over 400 yards per game!

Furthermore, it's not like their OL was uber-experienced either ... Carimi and Moffitt were the primary experienced old men for them on the OL.

how fast we forget about how crucial an experienced center is. I guess two straight years of good center play can do that. Ferentz and Bofelli haven't played a snap of a game and they are good enough to not be a concern? Wow.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

how fast we forget about how crucial an experienced center is. I guess two straight years of good center play can do that. Ferentz and Bofelli haven't played a snap of a game and they are good enough to not be a concern? Wow.

Also, another factor that will ensure that we'll be okay at C is that Vandervelde will always be option there too ... if the coaches end up wanting to move him there. ISU moved Stephens over to C for his SR campaign ... and their OL was all the better for it. Thus, Iowa's C spot will be okay ... and I say that not only because I'm confident about Ferentz. BTW, I didn't intend to indicate that Boffeli would be pushing for playing time in 2010 .... I don't anticipate for him to be THAT good yet ... however, all the same, I do believe that he's a talented young man who will keep the rest of the competitors at C honest, that's all.

 

[boneshq]

I suspect the OL wasn't dominating as people would have liked cuz we did have so many moving pieces through the season and they didn't get the opportunity to gel as quickly. if u look at the orange bowl, looks like the finally gelled cuz they were working together for some time. if next years 5 stay relatively the same, i think we'll be just fine, i think we'll be fine regardless/

 

[kirby]

Edds will be missed as much as anyone else leaving this year. When healthy, he was the best cover LBer in the Ferentz era...this includes Greenway. Remarkable coverage skills for someone his size.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Couldn't agree more - in my opinion Iowa fans should be happy with a winning season and a bowl game.

Anything better than that is a special year (in other words, January 1 bowl game or BCS is a special year). The last 2 seasons were special.

If we go 7-5 next year and play in a bowl game, I will be happy. If we win the bowl game, I will be ecstatic.

 

[Southernhawk]

Remember, that just because he didn't catch a ball or wasn't thrown to a lot doesn't mean he wasn't a factor. I'd go out on a limb and say that some of our misdirection underneath routes were open because Moeaki took all the attention of the linebackers.

Exactly what I was going to write. Just being on the field caused Moeaki to be a factor.

 

[lightning1]

how fast we forget about how crucial an experienced center is. I guess two straight years of good center play can do that. Ferentz and Bofelli haven't played a snap of a game and they are good enough to not be a concern? Wow.

I remember well, how much different our O-line played when Brian Ferentz started (FR or SO yr, not sure which). He hadnt played a down either and he was under-sized (250 IIRC). But he knew the line calls. He directed traffic in there. I and everyone else assumed it was because he spent 20 yrs in the same household as KF, so he obviously knew the scheme.
Why should we expect less of James?
Who, by all accounts, is bigger and farther along than Brian was at comparable stages in their careers.

 

[ThunderHawk]

My expectations are stratospheric and they aren't going down. We can win every game on that schedule. Sure, we could lose any one of them too, but that's the inherent nature of sports. I like our odds.

I expect this team to be in the title hunt. Ferentz has the machine humming.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

My expectations are stratospheric and they aren't going down. We can win every game on that schedule. Sure, we could lose any one of them too, but that's the inherent nature of sports. I like our odds.

I expect this team to be in the title hunt. Ferentz has the machine humming.

ThunderHawk -

I agree. I've been genuinely pleased at how well the coaches have managed personnel over the past several years. It has taken Dalton and Christensen developing behind schedule and injuries to a number of guys for there to be exploitable holes in our depth chart over the past 2 seasons. When you're that solid and when you have back-ups stepping up admirably and filling the holes ... that helps a good team become a great one.

If the 2010 squad can remain pretty healthy, if the OL follows a favorable development trajectory, and if the squad continues to have such a great attitude ... then the sky is the limit for them!

 

[Smarthawk]

We were very, very, very close to running the table last year, and the year before. We may well do it this year. I am going to say that the Hawks are going to run the table this year and play for the National Championship. I say this with the full knowlege of how hard it is to win all of your games. 2 teams did it last year...there is no reason Iowa can't do it too.