Great article on Ferentz's decisions today by Morehouse

you guys gotta realize that jantz had three turnovers the week before and isu had three fumbles already. while a stop might be unexpecting a turnover might have been pretty predictable. plus their last drive we had them to a near three and out until jantz worked magic with feet. plus a 4th down in OT. Davis had a good game, but you gotta be counted on to catch that ball.
 
you guys gotta realize that jantz had three turnovers the week before and isu had three fumbles already. while a stop might be unexpecting a turnover might have been pretty predictable. plus their last drive we had them to a near three and out until jantz worked magic with feet. plus a 4th down in OT. Davis had a good game, but you gotta be counted on to catch that ball.

ISU went 6-8 on 3rd and 7 or longer on the day. That says it all. There were two drives all day that ended in punts for ISU. And two of the fumbles were as they were going in for a score (though they did get one right back and score a TD off of it).

Our defense showed absolutely nothing to suggest that we would shut them down.

I find it curious that KF typically won't hesitate to yank a running back who is loose with the ball (see: Paki 2009, Coker last week), but when the defense was completely unable to stop ISU's offense in the second half, he keeps the faith.
 
Morehouse isn't adocating KF's decisions... he's just stating why. And it's reasons we already know. It just helps to remind Iowa fans of what we can expect. Why are people shocked Iowa sat on the ball with a minute to go, 2nd and 13, 50 yards from FG? We shouldn't be. Because this is KF. It's what he does.Did I want Iowa to take a chance, hell yes. But I KNEW they weren't going to. Because that's Kirk. You take the good with the bad. You take these types of losses because you know that you are going to get win just the same by using the same philosophy. Have to take the good with the bad, even if you don't want to.

Does ANY other team in college football sit on the ball there at the end? Is it not common knowledge that you DON'T play for OT in somebody else's place, especially when you haven't done a damn thing to indicate you can stop the opposing offense?

The call to sit on it there is going take a big hit to our offensive players' confidence. Imagine what kind of message that sends to your players.

A few people keep saying that Kirk's conservative play has won us many games, but how many has it lost us? It's purely hypothetical, so you can't say one way or the other, but I'm sick of playing not to lose. Grow some balls and take a chance once in awhile (in a situation that actually matters) and PLAY TO WIN.

Also, for a guy getting paid as much as he does, he should know how to manage a ******* game clock (see Wisconsin game 2010). That's probably the thing that frustrates me the most and it's easy to fix so there's no excuse for the staff's ****** clock management. Let's hope that Kirk really did read the book on clock management instead of taking a dig at the fans.

It's just real frustrating, needless to say and would like a coach with some balls.
 
I was hardly shocked by the decision. I knew it was coming. That doesn't mean it doesn't p*ss me off.
Exactly what I was going to say. Everyone, including opposing offenses and defenses know what is coming all the time, as well as the fans. I've been a big supporter of KF for a long time but his unwillingness to change is unbelievably frustrating.

+1. Like I've said for a long time now- Kirk is conservative and loyal to a fault. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy and wouldn't have anybody else, but has he never heard of ADAPTING!?
 
um didn't you guys see Iowa lined up in shot gun before they had a false start at end of regulation? his play was to run it and if we make over five yards go head take a shot at isus defense. but with the penalty it made the first down conversion a tougher get. with only a minute to work with this isn't a terrible idea to then just run it out.

do you think Dallas Cowboys lose last night if they have Ferentz's? seeing Dallas give the game away was much harder for me then iowas conservative play.
 
um didn't you guys see Iowa lined up in shot gun before they had a false start at end of regulation? his play was to run it and if we make over five yards go head take a shot at isus defense. but with the penalty it made the first down conversion a tougher get. with only a minute to work with this isn't a terrible idea to then just run it out.

do you think Dallas Cowboys lose last night if they have Ferentz's? seeing Dallas give the game away was much harder for me then iowas conservative play.

No. We came out in double TE set and ran Coker up the middle for 2 yards getting the clock moving first. Then the false start. That's not a two minute drill. We sat on the ball. To say otherwise is false.
 
Works more than it doesn't...I suppose technically but Ferentz's record against BCS schools is a mere .535.
Bowl eligible for 10 straight years, conference championships, January/BCS bowl participants and winners... yeah, Ferentz's ideals are just silly, right?
 
If I'm a coach from another school also pursuing a good player that Iowa is on, I pull out this article and ask the kid, "Do you want to play for the win, or to hope not to lose? Your choice. At XXXXXXXX, you'll be competing with a group of winners."

And I pull out the championships won, bowl games, and the fact that Iowa has the 8th most players of any college in the NFL (2nd most in the Big Ten).
 
No. We came out in double TE set and ran Coker up the middle for 2 yards getting the clock moving first. Then the false start. That's not a two minute drill. We sat on the ball. To say otherwise is false.


+1

No two minute drill in the history of football begins with a double tight end set and running up the gut for 2 yards. I can see where it might be confusing based on the fact that the only time we've ever seen a two minute drill is when were trailing in the closing minutes of a game and then it generally looks sloppy. We refuse to "practice" the two minute drill in gaem situations because we're more than willing to sit on the ball or run 3 consecutive running plays at the end of most halfs and content with taking it to the locker room. Let's face it, Iowa will never have a quality two minute drill because the players aren't given the opportunity to run it against real defenses in a game situation.
 
The other thing that drives me nuts is the fact that there are those fans out there that believe it's immoral to disagree with anything this coaching staff does. I for one am a huge advocate of this staff and think they are a great fit in IA City. That said I'm not going to sit back and bite my tongue if they do something that I consider idiotic and gutless. We support the team through wins and losses and the ups and downs, but that doesn't mean were selling out if we refuse to agree with everything they do.
 
The fact is we chose to go to OT and their players performed better. If our players can just make a freakin play on their QB we would have won the game. I am just hoping we can maybe have a couple young guys like Davis and Cooper get healthy and maybe show something on the Dline because that is obviously the biggest weakness on the team.
 
The other thing that drives me nuts is the fact that there are those fans out there that believe it's immoral to disagree with anything this coaching staff does. I for one am a huge advocate of this staff and think they are a great fit in IA City. That said I'm not going to sit back and bite my tongue if they do something that I consider idiotic and gutless. We support the team through wins and losses and the ups and downs, but that doesn't mean were selling out if we refuse to agree with everything they do.

+1000

If Ferentz took a dump on the 50 yard line, half the people on here would say that he's the head coach, and if he wants to **** on the field then they trust his judgement.
 
The fact is we chose to go to OT and their players performed better. If our players can just make a freakin play on their QB we would have won the game. I am just hoping we can maybe have a couple young guys like Davis and Cooper get healthy and maybe show something on the Dline because that is obviously the biggest weakness on the team.

True, but this doesn't change the fact that this was a stupid decision.
 
It seems as though the toughest teams we face run the spread with the QB always in the shotgun. Until the coaches figure out a way to get pressure on a QB in the shotgun, we are totally screwed.
 
Here is my take on the whole thing - Ferentz's teams, IMO, are predicated on having better talent. Ferentz doesn't try to outscheme people. He wants to run a base defense, a 2 TE offense, and grind you down with the lines pulverizing an inferior opponent. This often works out, because as I said in another thread, I think Iowa's staff is absolutely the best staff in the country when it comes to developing players.

When Iowa does not have talent that can control the lines it gets dicey. That's because Iowa is easy to prepare for and will not change. It's a point of pride when you guys are the bullies of the Big Ten, but extremely frustrating when guys like Jantz and Persa look amazing.

As for going for it at the end of the game... I just don't get the stance of the coaches here. The risk is absolutely the same in overtime as it is in regulation. If you turn it over and the other teams scores you lose. Just seems like a no brainer to me to at least try a fade route at least once.
 
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