HawkeyeMcNutt
Well-Known Member
They did beat Notre Dame there this year.
Did you see next year's schedule yet?
- Thread starter MeatMan
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It is a good schedule for Iowa to compete for the West if they stay healthy and a few things fall into place.
That said, home field edge has been no lock lately....but I prefer playing ISU, Wis, NW and Nebby at Kinnick.
Toss-ups: at Pitt, at Minny, Wis, NW, Nebby, and maybe IU at home.....IU scores in bunches, and their defense only needs to get a little better to make them super dangerous.
Still, Iowa should not be true underdogs in any games coming into next season. At Iowa, health is always the key.
That said, home field edge has been no lock lately....but I prefer playing ISU, Wis, NW and Nebby at Kinnick.
Toss-ups: at Pitt, at Minny, Wis, NW, Nebby, and maybe IU at home.....IU scores in bunches, and their defense only needs to get a little better to make them super dangerous.
Still, Iowa should not be true underdogs in any games coming into next season. At Iowa, health is always the key.
DunderMifflinHk
Well-Known Member
12-0 predictions again? 
Rose Bowl definitely should be our goal with that schedule.
Rose Bowl definitely should be our goal with that schedule.
SamBrownlee48
Well-Known Member
Ryan Ward.
Also, I couldn't help but look ahead a few years ...
What were they thinking scheduling North Dakota State??!!!! Oh My Goodness! Hopefully, Bohl will get plucked away by a BCS school here, shortly and then NDSU will be in decline by 2016. But that is one impressive FCS football team.
What were they thinking scheduling North Dakota State??!!!! Oh My Goodness! Hopefully, Bohl will get plucked away by a BCS school here, shortly and then NDSU will be in decline by 2016. But that is one impressive FCS football team.
HaydensDad
Well-Known Member
He may be the Nebraska coach by then. I believe he has ties with their new AD. We all know Pelini will be long gone by then...
WhitUp
Well-Known Member
What's great about it is their no way we go into that Wisconsin game without controlling our own destiny. Even if we lost 2 games in BT going into wisky game(which is a big IF) we'd just need them both Wisky/Neb to have 1 loss and we'd still control our own destiny with games at home. Clearly the Big Ten West championship will be won at Kinnick Stadium by somebody.
STILLBUSTER
Well-Known Member
Why u salt that wound!?
I was at Heinz Field for that one. Hawks lost that game due to poor personnel decisions:
1) Went with Jake C entire 2nd half, despite Stanzi having clearly outplayed him during his couple series in the first half. 2) 2) Dicking around with the kickers. Mossbrucker makes a 26 yarder. They then trot out Murray, who I seem to recall at the time, had never kicked a field goal in a live game, and he promptly misses a 35 yarder. (Mossbrucker later nailed a 39 yarder.)
I still look back on that game as my revelation regarding the beginning of my end for Kirt Ferentz. Since then, it's been an annual expectation that at least 1 victory will be lost as a direct result of personnel mismanagement, strategical / philosophical gaffe or schematic limitation. He hasn't fallen short, yet.
Keep that in mind as one of your key factors when you analyze next season's schedule and all those games the Hawks "should" win.
hawkinn3
Well-Known Member
Easier schedule but we are losing our LB core and likely our starting LT. No guarantee the next man in will be as good. Never know when some of these conference cupcakes will take the leap like MN did this year. So while is looks easy now, lets see how it looks after we get done with our non-conference schedule next season.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
New to Iowa football, huh? Do you remember 2012 when we had a cupcake schedule and finished 4-8? We also had a very soft schedule in 2007 and missed a bowl thanks to the defense folding against Western Michigan on Senior Day. Hell, I remember back on the old HN, folks were calling for a potential national title run when Jake came in at QB with that big commitment class back in 2005 because they looked out and saw no OSU or Michigan on the schedule in 2007 or 2008 (little did we know how bad Michigan would become). Ferentz has actually been pretty consistent about fielding bad teams in years where we have favorable schedules and given the studs we are losing, I think next year is setting up the same way. Hopefully I'm wrong, though.
Of course there is also the 3 yr cycle pattern on Iowa football. This year is 2008 re-visited, which would make next year 2009 re-visited...not a bad year...with an Orange Bowl trophy at the end. Expectations were fairly high in 2009 and the Hawks went out and started 9-0, losing vs NW when Ricky went down to a dirty tackle by Wooten his thug-mate. If a fan is not allowed to dream...why bother being a fan?
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Meh, if you want to buy the cycle theory, fine with me. I just think when folks start building really high expectations because of the schedule, they set themselves to be uber angry if they aren't fulfilled and the board becomes far less enjoyable to read. I'm merely suggesting approaching next year with a little bit of caution. I can't even recall how many times stellar LB play changed games in the good years of those cycles and with three seniors, we may have some growing pains next year. We had to deal with Edds and Angerer growing up before we were treated to that great run in late 2008 and 2009 and then when they left, we fell off a bit of a cliff in 2010 while Clayborn was trying to play DE and LB. And this isn't a knock on the young guys, but young guys usually haven't developed that sixth sense that we saw out of Angerer in 2009 or the LB corps this year that seals victories late in games.
WhitUp
Well-Known Member
I have been watching Iowa football and I find it more likely then not that we win 4 out of 6 games against Ill/NW/Minn/Pur/Mary/Ind. You think it's more likely we lose 3 of those games?
trj
Well-Known Member
The schedule has been pretty favorable since 2010 and they have struggled to take advantage of it. Even this year's schedule was set up for Iowa to get off to a pretty good start, 5-1/6-0 and it became 4-2. Games at Maryland and Pitt will be tough, the homecoming game against indiana won't be easy, the ISU game shouldn't be that difficult, but if Rhoads gets the right OC, given KF's track record in this series who knows how that game turns out. i will remain cautiously optimistic, that is the best I can do.
trj
Well-Known Member
trj
Well-Known Member
i won't put numbers on it, but the Maryland, NW, and indiana games will be a struggle. the last 8 years have beaten me down, I refuse to get overconfident and assume victories.
