Enough with the Pessimism

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PilotHawk

Well-Known Member
I know I'm rather new to posting here, but I really don't know what's up with everyone calling for the heads of Brian Ferentz and Nate Stanley.

In response to the question I'm more than likely to get. Yes, I have eyes. The offense was not pretty the last two weeks.

My response was that the offense was, more than likely, vanilla by design. The switch got flipped last year against Iowa State. That didn't need to happen this year. That second half against NIU was nothing short of beautiful. And if Noah Fant catches that wheel route on the first drive, more than likely the first half looks a lot like the second. Didn't need to flip the switch here either.

Of course Iowa is hiding the wrinkles. We have a week 4 matchup that will essentially decide the West.

We all knew before the season that we were going to learn everything there was to know about this Iowa team in week 4. Week 4 hasn't happened yet. We don't know anything.

Also what's this nonsense about not having playmakers? Have we not watched Fant run right by safeties? Have we not watched Hockenson catch everything in a 12 mile radius of Kinnick? What about ISM and Smith beating their corners for huge gains last week? What about all the catches Easley made taking punsihment over the middle last season?

Maybe I'm selectively remembering the good stuff, but you are selectively remembering just the bad.

If week 4 looks like weeks 1 and 2 offensively AND the game isn't really close, then I will lose hope. Not before. In my eyes we are still beating Bama for the Natty.

Also lol at the "QB controversy".
 
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there really isn't a ton of reason for pessimistic views except for nit picking. Iowa is 2-0 against teams that people thought would at least contend for their conferences. That said, this kind of one dimensional offense isn't gonna win us anything that matters. We can at least talk about that - but guys who win as much as Iowa does don't get fired or benched.
 
I agree that its not quite time to overreact, but there are glaring issues on offense. I am fine with the offense not showing too much, but Stanley is making bad throws and Fant is dropping passes and blocking terribly. Its not that our offense is hiding a lot, they're just not executing.

Iowa's running plays average 3.7 yards per play and our WR's have a combined 9 catches thru 2 games. Those are very terrible numbers.
 
InGoodCo said:
That said, this kind of one dimensional offense isn't gonna win us anything that matters.
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I get this, and I agree with it on some level, but has Iowa not had big seasons that relied on an offense very similar to what we've seen now? I'd argue that with this defense (Assuming it stands the tests that the remaining schedule holds) is better off than the 2009 one that had Stanzi throwing picks left and right. That team was pretty damn good despite Stanzi's turnovers. Iowa was one-dimensional in terms of only being able to pass in 2004. That turned out alright, and the pass game was less than spectacular at that. Iowa has never had an exceptional offense under Kirk. Some have been slightly above average. Yet Iowa has still seen exceptional seasons. Basically, if you expect Iowa to have an above average offense you will almost always be disappointed. And if you believe that Iowa needs an above-average offense to have a successful (9+ wins) season, you're just plain wrong.
 
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BrianFerentzForPresident said:
I get this, and I agree with it on some level, but has Iowa not had big seasons that relied on an offense very similar to what we've seen now? I'd argue that with this defense (Assuming it stands the tests that the remaining schedule holds) is better off than the 2009 one that had Stanzi throwing picks left and right. That team was pretty damn good despite Stanzi's turnovers. Iowa was one-dimensional in terms of only being able to pass in 2004. That turned out alright, and the pass game was less than spectacular at that. Iowa has never had an exceptional offense under Kirk. Some have been slightly above average. Yet Iowa has still seen exceptional seasons. Basically, if you expect Iowa to have an above average offense you will almost always be disappointed. And if you believe that Iowa needs an above-average offense to have a successful (9+ wins) season, you're just plain wrong.
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I agree with everything you said - my comment was really in the "anything that matters" part of it. We probably aren't winning a B1G title GAME without a better offense. We likely aren't bound to win enough to get into the Playoffs without a better offense. We likely aren't going to win a Rose Bowl or New York Six bowl game without a better offense. Could they? Sure, it's unlikely. But - I'm in the camp that it's only been 2 games, against 2 better then average teams and they still did enough to win. 1 game without their start tackles, the other was their starting tackles first game against a team gunning for what Iowa wants to do playing their Super Bowl. We're 2-0. That's all that matters. If we're dreaming bigger, they are going to have to make some bigger strides tho.
 
InGoodCo said:
there really isn't a ton of reason for pessimistic views except for nit picking. Iowa is 2-0 against teams that people thought would at least contend for their conferences. That said, this kind of one dimensional offense isn't gonna win us anything that matters. We can at least talk about that - but guys who win as much as Iowa does don't get fired or benched.
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The Hawks had a huge advantage over ISU due to the missed game. That is huge early in the season.
 
InGoodCo said:
I agree with everything you said - my comment was really in the "anything that matters" part of it. We probably aren't winning a B1G title GAME without a better offense. We likely aren't bound to win enough to get into the Playoffs without a better offense. We likely aren't going to win a Rose Bowl or New York Six bowl game without a better offense. Could they? Sure, it's unlikely. But - I'm in the camp that it's only been 2 games, against 2 better then average teams and they still did enough to win. 1 game without their start tackles, the other was their starting tackles first game against a team gunning for what Iowa wants to do playing their Super Bowl. We're 2-0. That's all that matters. If we're dreaming bigger, they are going to have to make some bigger strides tho.
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What you are missing in that is that few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did at the start of the Rose Bowl. Few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did against Florida. You just don't see that much at all in that type of game. Blow outs? Yes of course. That kind of performance.

Bet you'd have to look pretty hard to find P5 teams that looked as bad on O as Iowa did in the first half of both games. I have no major issues in the 2nds against two teams that might not be as good as advertised. 66 yards against Wisky last year? It's painful to see that Iowa was actually in that game due to herculean efforts by the D.

There have been other atrocious bad O games. Now try and find a P5 team, especially one of any relevance and come up with that many poor performances. Bet, there aren't many that have 2.

Then try and make sense out of OSU last year.
 
HawkGold said:
What you are missing in that is that few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did at the start of the Rose Bowl. Few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did against Florida. You just don't see that much at all in that type of game. Blow outs? Yes of course. That kind of performance.

Bet you'd have to look pretty hard to find P5 teams that looked as bad on O as Iowa did in the first half of both games. I have no major issues in the 2nds against two teams that might not be as good as advertised. 66 yards against Wisky last year? It's painful to see that Iowa was actually in that game due to herculean efforts by the D.

There have been other atrocious bad O games. Now try and find a P5 team, especially one of any relevance and come up with that many poor performances. Bet, there aren't many that have 2.

Then try and make sense out of OSU last year.
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We're saying the same thing. 2-0 is great, but if Iowa wants more, they gotta be more on offense. The D probably isn't as great as we think either and we need more then what we've shown for me to get really excited about the possibility of this season. Can we win 10 games as is? Sure, could we win more then that with a better showing on O? Absolutely.
 
InGoodCo said:
We're saying the same thing. 2-0 is great, but if Iowa wants more, they gotta be more on offense. The D probably isn't as great as we think either and we need more then what we've shown for me to get really excited about the possibility of this season. Can we win 10 games as is? Sure, could we win more then that with a better showing on O? Absolutely.
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You might be right about the D. The LBs still seem a little lost and it's masked by the 2ndary and mostly the line play. That part is highly fixable. Not so optimistic on the O. I can foresee a breakout game followed by back to conservatism...like we've seen before.

They won't do it now but is sure seems to me they should make Fant a wide out as TE seems to have some depth.
 
HawkGold said:
You might be right about the D. The LBs still seem a little lost and it's masked by the 2ndary and mostly the line play. That part is highly fixable. Not so optimistic on the O. I can foresee a breakout game followed by back to conservatism...like we've seen before.

They won't do it now but is sure seems to me they should make Fant a wide out as TE seems to have some depth.
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Seriously...the LBs seem a little lost? They held Iowa State to 19 yards rushing. Montgomery, a top 10 back, had 44 yards on 17 carries...that included an 11 yard run, so on 16 of his carries he had 2 yards. The LBs against Iowa State were the most encouraging thing about the whole game to me. Neiman's sack, Colbert shooting a gap at the goal line, Hockaday getting the team in the right defense consistently. You don't do what we did if your linebackers don't play outstanding...they make the tackles in this defense. They were in great position all day...except maybe the first drive...but half of that first drive was a 29 yard cross where our guys ran into each other.

We know we have a great defensive line...but after week one where I thought they played soft and were not in sync...the LB against Iowa State should make us all feel pretty damn good about the overall defense.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
Seriously...the LBs seem a little lost? They held Iowa State to 19 yards rushing. Montgomery, a top 10 back, had 44 yards on 17 carries...that included an 11 yard run, so on 16 of his carries he had 2 yards. The LBs against Iowa State were the most encouraging thing about the whole game to me. Neiman's sack, Colbert shooting a gap at the goal line, Hockaday getting the team in the right defense consistently. You don't do what we did if your linebackers don't play outstanding...they make the tackles in this defense. They were in great position all day...except maybe the first drive...but half of that first drive was a 29 yard cross where our guys ran into each other.

We know we have a great defensive line...but after week one where I thought they played soft and were not in sync...the LB against Iowa State should make us all feel pretty damn good about the overall defense.
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Yes they do seem lost in positioning on the field. The ISU running game was hampered by missing a game, and inexperienced line and a great effort by Iowa's D line.
 
HawkGold said:
What you are missing in that is that few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did at the start of the Rose Bowl. Few teams ever show as poorly as Iowa did against Florida. You just don't see that much at all in that type of game. Blow outs? Yes of course. That kind of performance.

Bet you'd have to look pretty hard to find P5 teams that looked as bad on O as Iowa did in the first half of both games. I have no major issues in the 2nds against two teams that might not be as good as advertised. 66 yards against Wisky last year? It's painful to see that Iowa was actually in that game due to herculean efforts by the D.

There have been other atrocious bad O games. Now try and find a P5 team, especially one of any relevance and come up with that many poor performances. Bet, there aren't many that have 2.

Then try and make sense out of OSU last year.
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Good Lord, Gold, forget the Rose Bowl. It was three seasons ago, the Hawks didn't truly have their hearts in it, and it's gone. As is last year's Wisconsin game, although that game is, IMO, more problematic as it showed our offensive philosophy needs overhauling.
 
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