Flop of the year in Big Ten

[ssckelley]

I think Nebraska is the biggest flop because of all the expectations. Northwestern has been a big flop as well but nobody expected them to win the West and many realized they got really lucky last year.

 

[HawkU]

You are about 10 years behind the times, Fitzgerald has had nothing but good things to say about Ferentz and the Hawks. I take it you quit going to games 10-15 years ago, if you ever went.

What the hell does that have to do with anything? How often do you see coaches bad mouth each other - especially in conference?

He may say that in public but in the locker room you don't think Fat Fitz motivates his players to kick our ass?

Paul Chryst has had nice things to say about KF and Iowa. Will you be wishing them well this Saturday?

WTF man. This is football not Martha's Wednesday afternoon meeting of the knit and bridge club.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I think Nebraska is the biggest flop because of all the expectations. Northwestern has been a big flop as well but nobody expected them to win the West and many realized they got really lucky last year.

Who's expectations? Those expectations were wrong and shouldn't have even been made at the time. Schools don't magically go from 4-8 to winning leagues. Just because your QB had a year under his belt didn't mean your defense got a lick better. I never bought into what the outside media hype was for Neb preseason and what do ya know... They might even be worse then they were last yr if anything.
So for those reasons I think Northwestern being down is bigger. I didn't see that coming at all. Adding a 5 star QB to the mix I figured they'd be a typical Fitz type of team but better with a different dynamic. But not even close. Not sure anyone saw that coming. They've been an uncompetitive door mat this year.

 

[Sooby]

legal issues always trump field success so we shall see.

Plus, Michigan State recruiting this December looks awful.
They are currently ranked 45thth,

 

[ssckelley]

Who's expectations? Those expectations were wrong and shouldn't have even been made at the time. Schools don't magically go from 4-8 to winning leagues. Just because your QB had a year under his belt didn't mean your defense got a lick better. I never bought into what the outside media hype was for Neb preseason and what do ya know... They might even be worse then they were last yr if anything.
So for those reasons I think Northwestern being down is bigger. I didn't see that coming at all. Adding a 5 star QB to the mix I figured they'd be a typical Fitz type of team but better with a different dynamic. But not even close. Not sure anyone saw that coming. They've been an uncompetitive door mat this year.

Who's expectations????? Come on now, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Again, I thought Northwestern got lucky last year and seeing them crash back to earth is not surprising to me.

 

[Northside Hawk]

What the hell does that have to do with anything? How often do you see coaches bad mouth each other - especially in conference?

He may say that in public but in the locker room you don't think Fat Fitz motivates his players to kick our ass?

Paul Chryst has had nice things to say about KF and Iowa. Will you be wishing them well this Saturday?

WTF man. This is football not Martha's Wednesday afternoon meeting of the knit and bridge club.

Otherwise known as a men's game at Carver Hawkeye.

 

[hawkfan2679]

What the hell does that have to do with anything? How often do you see coaches bad mouth each other - especially in conference?

He may say that in public but in the locker room you don't think Fat Fitz motivates his players to kick our ass?

Paul Chryst has had nice things to say about KF and Iowa. Will you be wishing them well this Saturday?

WTF man. This is football not Martha's Wednesday afternoon meeting of the knit and bridge club.

It's not exactly breaking news that a coach uses "coach speak" when talking to the press and a completely different set of communication rules to run and motivate his team behind closed doors. I would expect each and every coach on our schedule would do the same thing.

I also don't have a problem with Fitz and the NW program. Much like what I THINK the initial poster was saying, I root for NW in games that don't involve Iowa (which is why I think you're Paul Chryst comparison is a false equivalency). If Fitz has a hard-on, as you suspect, for the Iowa program, it's because it is tied to a very unfortunate moment is his playing career...thus the negative connotation. And I'm not sure that I'd blame him...how many Iowa fans (on this board and otherwise) enjoy seeing Nebraska struggle because of their inability to come to grips with the way things are based on things that happened 25 years ago?

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I've always loved a woman with no knees!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Northwestern is shocking... I mean, I didn't expect them to be as good as last year, but the fact they're this bad immediately following a West title is shocking. I would consider that a bigger flop. From 9-5 and West Champs to 1-7 is a huge contrast.

Nebraska on the other hand is just funny. ....it's not at all odd or shocking to me that a team that's only won a combined 8 games the previous 2 seasons is currently sitting at 4-5.

This is exactly what I would say.

Most non media realizes Nebraska is overrated each year.
The amount of drop from NW is unbelievable, especially the offense being pretty much last in DIV 1 P5. They usually have a formidable QB.

 

[westender]

Mich State. That is gonna hurt recruiting after back to back like that and departures. I kind of hope Michigan just drives a stake in them.

 

[HawkGold]

I'd have to say Iowa. NW lives ok n the edge every year. Look at 2018. Win the west with a couple of bad losses. Nebby was and is terrible at D. Purdue is up and coming with weaknesses and no depth cept at QB and wr.. M makes a strong candidate. MSU has been a mess for awhile and was masked by QB effort.

Iowa came in w a strong D and a senior QB. If the O could punch a hole in paper they d be unbeatable. The D effort is such a terrible waste. How many true scoring drives do they have against real teams? One or 2? Who will have fewer wins per NFL talent. They are like 121st in rushing on the road.

That's a huge flop.

 

[uihawk82]

I remember those days.....Iowa was shit under Bob Cummings too. NW was the only team Iowa could compete with back then.

I am not going to say Cummings was great because he wasnt but I saw his teams in Kinnick and a few games on the road. He took a disaster of a winless team under Francis X and had two 5-6 teams who were tough ball clubs. He had some really good Off lines and running games but didnt have enough offensive skill talent to get over the hump. He had decent defenses but just couldnt get over the hump of beating a couple more mid-tier Big 10 teams each year. In those two years he was won win away twice to having that first winning record in forever.

Funny thing is when his last year was crumbling to 2-9 somebody was marketing and selling toilet paper in Iowa City area with Cummings picture on each sheet. Oh clever.

 

[SayHawkKid]

You are about 10 years behind the times, Fitzgerald has had nothing but good things to say about Ferentz and the Hawks. I take it you quit going to games 10-15 years ago, if you ever went.

Sorry but you are way off here. Fat Pitz not only hates the Hawks but he has had F...ing Freshman running backs go on the BTN and make sure everyone knows it!! That was just 4 or 5 years ago. Fritz may be a very good coach but if you are rooting for NW, you are missing the boat. I enjoy every beat down nw gets and especially when they are pathetic like this year. I would not even watch them if it wasn't for Fritzspastic. Stanfloored is another team you need to hate. When they dissed the Hawks with those slinky cows at halftime of the Rose bowl, that's all I needed to start enjoying their demise. When nw played stankford this season in week 1, I enjoyed the heck out of that game because it was evident that both teams were horrendous!!!! Wake up and smell the cow chips!

 

[SayHawkKid]

It's not exactly breaking news that a coach uses "coach speak" when talking to the press and a completely different set of communication rules to run and motivate his team behind closed doors. I would expect each and every coach on our schedule would do the same thing.

I also don't have a problem with Fitz and the NW program. Much like what I THINK the initial poster was saying, I root for NW in games that don't involve Iowa (which is why I think you're Paul Chryst comparison is a false equivalency). If Fitz has a hard-on, as you suspect, for the Iowa program, it's because it is tied to a very unfortunate moment is his playing career...thus the negative connotation. And I'm not sure that I'd blame him...how many Iowa fans (on this board and otherwise) enjoy seeing Nebraska struggle because of their inability to come to grips with the way things are based on things that happened 25 years ago?

Sorry but you are way off here. Fat Pitz not only hates the Hawks but he has had F...ing Freshman running backs go on the BTN and make sure everyone knows it!! That was just 4 or 5 years ago. Fritz may be a very good coach but if you are rooting for NW, you are missing the boat. I enjoy every beat down nw gets and especially when they are pathetic like this year. I would not even watch them if it wasn't for Fritzspastic. Stanfloored is another team you need to hate. When they dissed the Hawks with those slinky cows at halftime of the Rose bowl, that's all I needed to start enjoying their demise. When nw played stankford this season in week 1, I enjoyed the heck out of that game because it was evident that both teams were horrendous!!!! Wake up and smell the cow chips!

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I am not going to say Cummings was great because he wasnt but I saw his teams in Kinnick and a few games on the road. He took a disaster of a winless team under Francis X and had two 5-6 teams who were tough ball clubs. He had some really good Off lines and running games but didnt have enough offensive skill talent to get over the hump. He had decent defenses but just couldnt get over the hump of beating a couple more mid-tier Big 10 teams each year. In those two years he was won win away twice to having that first winning record in forever.

Funny thing is when his last year was crumbling to 2-9 somebody was marketing and selling toilet paper in Iowa City area with Cummings picture on each sheet. Oh clever.

Actually, he only had one 5-6 season on the field. The other was on paper, due to UCLA forfeiting the game later that year.

 

[deanvogs]

I'd have to say Iowa. NW lives ok n the edge every year. Look at 2018. Win the west with a couple of bad losses. Nebby was and is terrible at D. Purdue is up and coming with weaknesses and no depth cept at QB and wr.. M makes a strong candidate. MSU has been a mess for awhile and was masked by QB effort.

Iowa came in w a strong D and a senior QB. If the O could punch a hole in paper they d be unbeatable. The D effort is such a terrible waste. How many true scoring drives do they have against real teams? One or 2? Who will have fewer wins per NFL talent. They are like 121st in rushing on the road.

That's a huge flop.

LOL, Iowa is 6-2 right now. Sure if Iowa finished 7-5 or something like that you could make this argument. To say that now Iowa is the most disappointing when you have a 1-7 NW and a 4-5 Nebraska is just flat out trolling.

 

[HawkGold]

LOL, Iowa is 6-2 right now. Sure if Iowa finished 7-5 or something like that you could make this argument. To say that now Iowa is the most disappointing when you have a 1-7 NW and a 4-5 Nebraska is just flat out trolling.

You can expect that out of either team. Nubby never had the credentials so they are no surprise. As I said, NW is always on the edge. None of them have Iowa’s NFL talent. Neither has Iowa’s D. That Iowa held M to 10 early points and didn’t win on the road is a clear O flop. PSU at home was for the taking. Why would you call an O on par with NW’s which is always near the edge with injuries and ranking. 121st in rushing on the road not a flop. They have no end zone push against a real D. How can that not be disappointing? If the Hawks turn it around, you’d have to ask “why not earlier?” If they don’’t, you’d have to ask why are they so bad. The O tD production is like KF really bad years on O or worse. Gripe all you want about this, but it is a problem. A huge problem. Move the road rushing up to 50th and the Hawks are 7-1 or 8-0. There is no excuse. It’s beyond normal.

Before the season started I cited the concerns about rbs, a qb not suited to the style (Earl Morrell esq) and safety. I didn’t see the line issues coming as bad, but for lineman U, over the years it’s predictable for at least a part of the se
IL, WI, MN, Nebby are all winnable and Could all be losses. Not so god for a playoff caliber Defense.

Nebby has nothing outside of the QB that would make anyone think they would be good. NW is always a player or 2 from disaster. Dantonio is done.

You would know about trolling wouldn’t you...

 

[deanvogs]

You can expect that out of either team. Nubby never had the credentials so they are no surprise. As I said, NW is always on the edge. None of them have Iowa’s NFL talent. Neither has Iowa’s D. That Iowa held M to 10 early points and didn’t win on the road is a clear O flop. PSU at home was for the taking. Why would you call an O on par with NW’s which is always near the edge with injuries and ranking. 121st in rushing on the road not a flop. They have no end zone push against a real D. How can that not be disappointing? If the Hawks turn it around, you’d have to ask “why not earlier?” If they don’’t, you’d have to ask why are they so bad. The O tD production is like KF really bad years on O or worse. Gripe all you want about this, but it is a problem. A huge problem. Move the road rushing up to 50th and the Hawks are 7-1 or 8-0. There is no excuse. It’s beyond normal.

Before the season started I cited the concerns about rbs, a qb not suited to the style (Earl Morrell esq) and safety. I didn’t see the line issues coming as bad, but for lineman U, over the years it’s predictable for at least a part of the se
IL, WI, MN, Nebby are all winnable and Could all be losses. Not so god for a playoff caliber Defense.

Nebby has nothing outside of the QB that would make anyone think they would be good. NW is always a player or 2 from disaster. Dantonio is done.

You would know about trolling wouldn’t you...

Northwestern had won like 15 of their last 16 B1G games. Northwestern won the B1G west last year. Northwestern has 1 win, and has a historically bad offense.

Nebraska was picked to win the B1G west, and they are below .500, and are 2-4 in the B1G right now. They are in real danger of not even being bowl eligible.

Iowa was picked to win the B1G west, and is 6-2. They still are very much in the race to win the B1G west.

As I said, if Iowa ultimately drops to a 7-5 level then yeah, you could make the case that is the most disappointing team. Yet to try to say that TO DATE Iowa has been the most disappointing is ludicrous, and I think you even know it.

 

[Ree4]

I'd have to say Iowa. NW lives ok n the edge every year. Look at 2018. Win the west with a couple of bad losses. Nebby was and is terrible at D. Purdue is up and coming with weaknesses and no depth cept at QB and wr.. M makes a strong candidate. MSU has been a mess for awhile and was masked by QB effort.

Iowa came in w a strong D and a senior QB. If the O could punch a hole in paper they d be unbeatable. The D effort is such a terrible waste. How many true scoring drives do they have against real teams? One or 2? Who will have fewer wins per NFL talent. They are like 121st in rushing on the road.

That's a huge flop.

We need an option to downvote posts..

 

[uihawk82]

You can expect that out of either team. Nubby never had the credentials so they are no surprise. As I said, NW is always on the edge. None of them have Iowa’s NFL talent. Neither has Iowa’s D. That Iowa held M to 10 early points and didn’t win on the road is a clear O flop. PSU at home was for the taking. Why would you call an O on par with NW’s which is always near the edge with injuries and ranking. 121st in rushing on the road not a flop. They have no end zone push against a real D. How can that not be disappointing? If the Hawks turn it around, you’d have to ask “why not earlier?” If they don’’t, you’d have to ask why are they so bad. The O tD production is like KF really bad years on O or worse. Gripe all you want about this, but it is a problem. A huge problem. Move the road rushing up to 50th and the Hawks are 7-1 or 8-0. There is no excuse. It’s beyond normal.

Before the season started I cited the concerns about rbs, a qb not suited to the style (Earl Morrell esq) and safety. I didn’t see the line issues coming as bad, but for lineman U, over the years it’s predictable for at least a part of the se
IL, WI, MN, Nebby are all winnable and Could all be losses. Not so god for a playoff caliber Defense.

Nebby has nothing outside of the QB that would make anyone think they would be good. NW is always a player or 2 from disaster. Dantonio is done.

You would know about trolling wouldn’t you...

You are talking about disappointing factors with Iowa but the sluggish offense is the norm the last 10 years, as is passing game that doesnt totally light things up, so no one was picking Iowa to have a juggernaut offense in the top 25 ratings. The running game is worse than most years which no one really saw coming but it is not like Iowa is top 25 in rushing either year to year. This team with this defense and a really good offense is most likely undefeated and tied with Minny at the top. 6-2 is not a flop losing each of those two games by a TD or less.

I would say the majority of posters and prognosticators had Iowa at 8-4, then you had two smaller groups at 7-5 or 9-3. If everything goes as what would be projected Iowa will win 2 or 3 out of the next 4 games. If they lose one it will probably be Wisky. But there isnt a sure win on the remaining schedule which is why some picked them for 6-6 or 7-5. Right now they are not a flop.