Ferentz Team Slow Starts

[Northside Hawk]

It's funny, I have always thought of Missouri as the state that is in the middle of everything.

Middle of population rankings
Middle of state size rankings
Middle of the country geographicly
A slave state that did not join the confederacy, because, uh it was in the middle.
The State is sn interesting mix of urban and rural populations.

You could make the argument that Missouri would be a better state to have the first in the nation presidential primary, ironically because it is so average.

Saint Louis has always felt like a slice of Americana when I've visited. The towboats, the bridges, the Gateway Arch, remnants of Route 66, the brewery, Laclede's Landing, the Mark Twain influence. I've watched the Cardinals even when they weren't playing the Cubs. The whole area is like that Apple Crunch pie your grandma used to make, or that Dog N Suds drive in you stopped at for lunch on a post church Sunday drive.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

You guys can spin this anyway you want to. Iowa gets mediocre results in recruiting and gets midland results. A few years lower and a few years higher. KF fairly often has slow stops (bowl games).

Fact is that most P5 teams and some lower level teams have about equal talent on the list of starters (A few get a lot better talent). As the season wears on there are injuries. Contact with the enemy means more casualties. The weaker teams have less depth. Iowa being mediocre has more depth than weak teams. Less depth than stronger teams. When Iowa wins big in a year, they have more NFL talent. It's pretty simple.

KFs conservative style of O play does lead to some more losses and about an equal amount, but lesser number of wins.

Last year there was talk about how Campbell was the same as ISU . ISU played OK in the 5th game. Not a likely win later in the year. They happened to have some depth at QB which helped their year survive. No idea if they have talent in the waiting for 2018.

One thing about Iowa (the state) culture is that Iowans are very OK with average. Iowa is a very average state. Those who call it home or are proud of Iowa are very content with being average. Iowans do tend to make excuses on being average more than other states. You don 't hear Missourians, Nebby's, MN's and others make excuses on their states as much as Iowans. The other states in general don't spend as much time dissing other states as much as Iowans do. when I lived in Missouri (called Misery by expat Iowans) it was embarrassing. Missouri is actually a pretty darn nice state to live in and I wish I'd have stayed.

Back to Hawks. Using OOC as "Pre Season" is a silly concept. It kills your playoff hopes and puts you in a lower bowl game. The situation is best analyzed by Brad Banks results. KF didn't want him. KF tried to make him a drop back passer and it was like getting a cat to act like a dog. The cat was always going to be a cat. That team is arguably the best KF team ever and he has never ever had a similar QB. Last year's D was prolly pretty close to that 02 team. Only he had a game mgr at QB. Put Banks on that team...

Not sure what ISU really has this year, but an ISU win in IC with the same ole approach stands a pretty good chance at a loss. Maybe if they played later, not as much.

SO much wrong with/in this post. I'll give you this: you lived in Missouri, and ISU played OK in the 5th game. Other than that...

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Dude, nobody is going to judge you for a little peppermint schnapps or Bailey's in your coffee on a Monday morning. But the whole bottle???

Would that I could give this the rating of "Best Post EVER" from a "button". The effort to write it was well worth it, though!

 

[HawkGold]

Would that I could give this the rating of "Best Post EVER" from a "button". The effort to write it was well worth it, though!

OK, now I remember.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

OK, now I remember.
View attachment 3734

OK, it's time for an intervention. Evidently, one bottle doesn't do it for ya...

 

[dahlhawk]

I say the same thing every year and Iowa run the same shit at the beginning/middle/end so not sure hiding much, lol. But I think Iowa is moving toward opening up and same base with a lot of different looks. Very exciting times w the talent on campus. GO hawks!

The big problem with not being aggressive offensively is we no longer get the backup QB any meaningful reps. Fry would be down to his walk-ons by the end of the game and would still be throwing the ball. Hey if the 3rd string can score on another's team first team that's a positive for the Iowa player. Like training with live grenades. But then again it makes a good excuse for lousy play when you start an "inexperenced" QB.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I'll just leave this here, maybe Iowa isn't so mediocre? I know a lot of that is boring to read and hear, but Iowa is pretty good at the football and stuff.

As far as wins & losses goes, Iowa has been a bit above average among the P-5 conference teams.

Iowa is 27th out of 65 P-5 teams, just behind Notre Dame and ahead of Georgia Tech.

During Greg Davis's tenure at offensive coordinator 2012 - 2016, Iowa was 34th in the P-5, smack dab in the middle of average.

Before Greg Davis 1999 - 2011, Iowa was 31 out of 65 D-1 teams.

How does combining a stretch at 31st with a stretch at 34th get them at 27th over the entire span. Iowa was more consistent at being average. A hand full of teams that did well in one span, stunk it up in the other to bring down their total. Fact is, most second tier teams go through droughts.

Iowa has had only three dumpster fire years out of the last 19, all transitional years 1999, 2000, 2012. Iowa has had five exceptional years during that span, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2015. It seems unlikely that Ferentz will have a run of good years like 2002 - 2004. I still see potential in having another good year or two pop up over the next few years, like they did in 2008-2009 or 2015.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Iowa needs to get on the ball quickly this year as the fourth game is a pivotal one, with Wisconsin coming to Kinnick. Iowa's first game is a scrimmage, but don't look for Northern Illinois to lay down. I needs to establish who they are early. Iowa State lost some good players to the draft but they always seem to find themselves against Iowa. This second game is a good test. Northern Iowa while they have dreams of beating Iowa, they just don't have the firepower.
If Iowa drops one of these first three games or looks sluggish it may be a sign of who they are this year. If Iowa wins it's first 4 games...….Big IF