Explain: Captain Kirk is 6-3 in bowls but can't beat NW

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
I don't get it. Ferentz is 6-3 in bowl games at Iowa; in most of these games we were the clear underdog. Fantasic record.

But we can't beat NW. It doesn't make sense.

Is this some type of voodoo curse?

Please explain this to me
 
It's not any different than us taking 8 of 9 from Penn State. Whatever "it" is, we have it against PSU, and NW has it against us. You don't ring up that kind of record against a good program without some kind of intangible edge. Not even Ohio State beats Penn State at an 89% clip.
 
Here's my take.

Northwestern plays Iowa with a chip on their shoulder. On the other hand and for whatever reason, Iowa appears uninspired when playing the Wildcats. Recent history shows Iowa should take Northwestern very seriously, but doesn't.

Iowa has 4 to 5 weeks to prepare for a bowl game and regain the services of injured players. The coaching staff regroups the team and gets them focused on the bowl game. It's like a one game season.
 
NW knows what to expect year in and year out. It's players and coaches have seen it before, it person, not just on tape. How often had Florida, S. Carolina, G Tech, and Mizzou played us?
 
ChosenChildren said:
I don't get it. Ferentz is 6-3 in bowl games at Iowa; in most of these games we were the clear underdog. Fantasic record.

But we can't beat NW. It doesn't make sense.

Is this some type of voodoo curse?

Please explain this to me
Click to expand...

You are that guy...no need to even get a negative thread going. Every game is completely different. Penn State struggles with us, we struggle with Northwestern..no need to over analyze everything.
 
nebraska deep down thought they would easily beat Washington, and we think we should easily beat NW, Iowa State, and Minny. It is all mental
 
WhitUp said:
We have a week to install gameplan for NW and month for bowl games.
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Never did buy into this crap. They are football players and most have been for a very long time. Their not idiots but you do have to trust them to get done what you ask and understand people do make mistakes so you can't run from it like a little girl.
Get the blitzes,nickel and dime packages out and call them and we'll win most of these games.
 
I'm not trying to be that guy. I'm thrilled with the bowl win. Love Captain K and the Hawks. In fact, I'm one of those fans who is thrilled with 8-5 and a bowl win, even though many thought we could do better.

Just can't figure out this NW curse. And it's not like they have dominated us, either:

2005 - we miss a chip shot field goal, then they score, recover an on-side kick, and score again (complete fluke!)
2008 - we win the game if Shonn Greene doesn't go out with a concussion
2009 - we win if Stanzi doesn't go down with a fluke injury
2010 - we win if Stanzi doesn't throw an uncharacteristic interception late in the game with a 10 point lead

Perhaps it is just bad luck. That is my only explanation
 
It's simple. It's the purple. I mean think about it. We suck against teams that wear purple and or have a direction in their name!
 
ChosenChildren said:
I'm not trying to be that guy. I'm thrilled with the bowl win. Love Captain K and the Hawks. In fact, I'm one of those fans who is thrilled with 8-5 and a bowl win, even though many thought we could do better.

Just can't figure out this NW curse. And it's not like they have dominated us, either:

2005 - we miss a chip shot field goal, then they score, recover an on-side kick, and score again (complete fluke!)
2008 - we win the game if Shonn Greene doesn't go out with a concussion
2009 - we win if Stanzi doesn't go down with a fluke injury
2010 - we win if Stanzi doesn't throw an uncharacteristic interception late in the game with a 10 point lead

Perhaps it is just bad luck. That is my only explanation
Click to expand...

That isn't luck when it happens over and over against the same opponent. Iowa's style of offensive coaching at times keeps both teams in the game. I agree that 2009 was flukish as I think if Stanzi is healthy we win that game, but still Iowa runs too many sets vs. Northwestern that seem to either be tipped plays or they have defensive coordinators that can read KOK's mind. Iowa has also shot itself in the foot with turnovers in most of those games. They need a more aggressive offensive gameplan vs. the Northwesterns, Indianas and Minnesotas of the world.
 
Since 2001 (the year the ship was righted), Iowa is...

6-2 vs Indiana
3-5 vs NW
8-2 vs MN
7-1 vs PSU

Total that up, and its 24-10...probably about what you would expect against those teams, except the PSU and NW series are reverse of what you would want.

On the whole, it's about as good as you can hope for IMO. You are not going to beat an opponent every single year (at Iowa). The 7-1 record against PSU is more flukish than the 3-5 record against Northwestern.

Only Ohio State has more Big Ten wins than Iowa over the past 10 years.
 
I'd say part of our losses to NW has been bad luck. They've beaten us once where they recovered an onside kick and other times where they've been the beneficiaries of injuring our QB or playing us without a few of our normal starters.

With that said... I think NW has KOK's number. They seem control our offense just as good as any other team we've faced in the Ferentz era.

Furthermore, they're offense is designed to take advantage of exactly what our defense allows. They run a lot of read draws and efficiently use their QB in the running game. They get the ball out quick and they have no qualms taking the 5-8 outs and quick slants over and over again.

They are a philosophical mismatch.
 
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