Great win, but plenty to work on

[trj]

blown away Iowa St. just didn't show up. Kinda knew they were frauds, but didn't expect them to get exposed like this.

 

[loesshillshawk]

Great to roll the Clones, but check the stats - we'd do well to not get too cocky.

I'm a big believer in an NFL style approach to game management and I think KF is too. No style points, whatever it takes, because a W is a W.

That said, we're +4 in TO and, at least with 1 min to go here, looking at only a 10 pt win.

TOs are part of the game and I absolutely love Iowa's defense first mentality but, ultimately, we're going to need some offensive production at some point no matter how salty this D is.

That'll be the difference between good or great this year. We gotta find some stuff that works better on O than what we saw today.

I'm still going to savor every moment, just calling it like I see it.

Is this your first year following Iowa. Herbstreit said it best, once every 4 to 5 years Kirk strings a good upperclassmen group with an elite defense and this is one of those teams. Don't forget everyone in the country raves about ISU'S defense. Enjoy it...

 

[loesshillshawk]

I don't fully disagree and, again, TOs are part of the game, but they are a flukey thing. "Make your own luck" and all that, sure, and there's no doubt you can see giveaway/takeaway trends form over the course of a season, but on a game by game basis? They can be extremely flukey.

I enjoyed the hell out of the game and am also loving life @ 2-0. I'm just advocating for HN to take a look at the box today. Other than TOs, thay was a pretty one sided game. What would the outcome have been if we were +3? +2? That level of O production won't always be enough.

What if unicorns were real...give me a break...ELITE DEFENSE

 

[loesshillshawk]

I’m gonna make a rule that these threads have to wait three days after a win. For F’s sake people we just stuck both of our feet up Iowa State’s ass and CryFan’s board is melting down. The F is wrong with people…Enjoy it for 24 hours.

A fucking Men

 

[Motigerhawk]

We have seen this before. I mean we think we will wake up one day and see something different, but we wont.

We are an elite defense with an elite special teams and and average offense. Or soon to be an average offense. That is Excellent Iowa football. We will never have an elite offense.

This is the year where our defense and STs carry us to 13-0 (?), but surely the championship. The expectation has been set.

 

[hawkfan2679]

First half: 35 plays, 160 yards
Second half: 25 plays, 24 yards

Defense and special teams out of this world...offense, not so much.

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Sorry, I genuinely didn't mean to rile people up.

I loved every minute of the game, very proud of the team and I'm cautiously optimistic that this could potentially be a special year. Even with our, apparently, very good D and ST, I think the O is going to need to find a deeper bag of tricks than what I've seen the first couple weeks.

It's not a particularly outrageous take, IMO. But I also respect your opinion if it validates some kind of personal "24 hr" type rule of yours. Really. I don't have any such rule myself - a one sided game like this, I like to start looking ahead a bit.

 

[JoeyLabasForPresident]

First half: 35 plays, 160 yards
Second half: 27 plays, 19 yards (<-- total yards are 173, this totals 179, but I don't know where PBP and team stats differ)

Defense and special teams out of this world...offense, not so much.

Second half stats are hurt by sacks as well, but not by much. We just need to hope that "Go time" offense looks like the second quarter. We all know that the moment Iowa went up two, and especially 3, possessions, Kirk told Brian and Spencer to take no risks.

 

[CP87]

Loved the outcome. Defense played superb and special teams have to be one of the best units anywhere in the country. Punting, FG kicking, KO and punt returns, kick/punt coverage - we check all of the boxes.

Offense does have plenty of room for improvement but I would say we played well in the second quarter when we really needed it. I thought the second half was more of playing the field position battle until they imploded. Which they did big time. Petras had some great throws today when we needed them. I'm not worried about the offense overall and I can see us improving as we go through the year.

Agree, the O had some good rhythm when they needed it, and Petras made some good throws. He also put a dart on LaPorta from his own goalline for what should have been a 3rd and 15 conversion (but dropped). That is a winning throw.

I wish he wouldn't get so ultra conservative when the Hawks take a double-digit lead, and those sacks in ISU territory were pretty bad. But the only way the Hawks could have lost that game is if Petras handed ISU points, and he did not.

Hopefully they will get a chance to let loose a bit the next 2 weeks.

 

[ssckelley]

I'll leave this here for the others, Clown identity crisis

https://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/threads/time-to-burn-the-black.265840/

IT IS THE UNIFORMS!!!!!

 

[CP87]

Is this your first year following Iowa. Herbstreit said it best, once every 4 to 5 years Kirk strings a good upperclassmen group with an elite defense and this is one of those teams. Don't forget everyone in the country raves about ISU'S defense. Enjoy it...

Both Indiana and ISU will likely be top-20 defenses in the country.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Second half stats are hurt by sacks as well, but not by much. We just need to hope that "Go time" offense looks like the second quarter. We all know that the moment Iowa went up two, and especially 3, possessions, Kirk told Brian and Spencer to take no risks.

Indeed. And painful sacks at that, on 3rd down and at the edge of FG range. I think what's more painful is the complete inability to impose our will and run the ball successfully, whether in a competitive situation or a 4 minutes situation (i.e. trying to use clock). I think I count (2) 2nd half first downs. That's unacceptable for B10 champion hopeful whose staff prides themselves on running the ball, controlling the clock, and playing great defense.

 

[ssckelley]

I’m kinda feeling bad for little brother. First they find out they are in a dying conference and then this. It’s only going to keep getting worse.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Second half: 25 plays, 24 yards

Further detail:
Rushing (incl sacks): 18 rushes, 17 yards
Rushing (excl sacks): 16 rushes, 37 yards
Passing: 2/7, 7 yds

 

[bcscott]

8 wins in a row for this team dating back to last season and the games haven't been close. And the offense has been much of the same throughout. They have formula that's working.

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

I think the OL could be solid. I also think Goodson may be the 2nd best back KF has had (after Shonn Greene), but somethings not quite clicking in the passing game.

Honestly, I think it's more on the WRs than it is on Petras. I've seen Petras make some very good throws situationally, but it seems like a lot of times (too often) there is just nothing there. Spencer ends up eating it, making a (deliberately) errant throw, or trying to force it to a TE. Someone smarter than me is going to have to figure out what to do about that. LaPorta is an NFL talent, but his coaches and buddies at WR need to help him out.

We don't need 300 yds and 3 TDs out of the passing game every week - shit no - but I think we need a bit more efficiency than what we've seen so far, cuz teams are going to just collapse on Goodson.

 

[dahlhawk]

Yes, the question is how well will this team do in a game where they don't get any turnovers.

Big kudos to Taylor though. What a luxury and important part of the game. The guy changes field position and makes teams have to drive the distance of the field.

After watching this team for two game (small sample size) I know, I don’t know if that time is coming. They are such a good coverage team combined with heavy hitters there will be turnovers. The question is can we continue to limit ours. Most notable the fumble.

 

[ssckelley]

Further detail:
Rushing (incl sacks): 18 rushes, 17 yards
Rushing (excl sacks): 16 rushes, 37 yards
Passing: 2/7, 7 yds

It is worth noting the Offense didn’t get much of an opportunity to run much in the 2nd half. Iowa State kept turning the ball over, including one for a touchdown, and the Iowa sat on the ball the rest of the way.

 

[dahlhawk]

I think the OL could be solid. I also think Goodson may be the 2nd best back KF has had (after Shonn Greene), but somethings not quite clicking in the passing game.

Honestly, I think it's more on the WRs than it is on Petras. I've seen Petras make some very good throws situationally, but it seems like a lot of times (too often) there is just nothing there. Spencer ends up eating it, making a (deliberately) errant throw, or trying to force it to a TE. Someone smarter than me is going to have to figure out what to do about that. LaPorta is an NFL talent, but his coaches and buddies at WR need to help him out.

We don't need 300 yds and 3 TDs out of the passing game every week - shit no - but I think we need a bit more efficiency than what we've seen so far, cuz teams are going to just collapse on Goodson.

Need to bring in the talented freshman see if they can create separation and YAC. Just look too go to be sitting. But Iowa always bring in their receivers slowly.

 

[hawkfan2679]

It is worth noting the Offense didn’t get much of an opportunity to run much in the 2nd half. Iowa State kept turning the ball over, including one for a touchdown, and the Iowa sat on the ball the rest of the way.

Not so worried about the number of plays; moreso the ineptitude with which we were doing it on the number of plays we had. I think we would have wanted to sit on the ball the rest of the way, but we were effectively unable to because we averaged 1.0 ypc incl sacks and only slightly above 2.0 ypc excluding sacks.