Greg Davis is coming back next season

[HomerChampless]

Iowa's strength wasn't expected to come from it's D this season.. Yet Iowa's Defense is ranked 18th in the country in Total Defense..

Thank goodness the Iowa D plays most of their games in the B1G where offenses aren't so potent and Iowa plays such a TOUGH non-conference schedule, right? What would've been Iowa's D rankings if they had to compete against actual potent offenses like in the BIGXII or SEC or have a 'tough' non-conference game?

 

[lightning1]

There was no doubt in my mind that GD would be back in 15'. There is no light at the end of this tunnel until Gary Barta is gone.

 

[deanvogs]

There was no doubt in my mind that GD would be back in 15'. There is no light at the end of this tunnel until Gary Barta is gone.

Yip....It starts with Barta, he needs to be shown the door in '15 along with Sally Mason. We need to get leadership at the top, and the coaches should never be calling the shots. Get someone in here who is capable of making a good hire when KF is replaced.

 

[rchawkeye]

If CJB transfers and Greg Davis is back in 2015, all hope for the program's future under Ferentz is gone. It's over. Kinnick will have lots of empty seats next fall.

 

[tksirius]

If CJB transfers and Greg Davis is back in 2015, all hope for the program's future under Ferentz is gone. It's over. Kinnick will have lots of empty seats next fall.

Well, it sounds like that's what is going to happen. I really don't think the B1G is going to get worse, so....

 

[MoseSchrute]

Pretty obvious GD is calling what Kurt wants. How many times has GD said both QBs would be in a game? Two that I can remember. How many of those games had two QBs playing? Zero. GD asked for more speed at the WR position. Iowa recruited some faster receivers and presumably (by posters of HN) gave up some lineman recruits in the process. One of those WR recruits has left the team. A QB will follow. Further recruitment of speedy WRs will be hindered because of the leavings. Another situation where GD asked for something and isn't going to get it.

Posters didn't say it, Kirk did.

 

[MrEHawk]

call me an apologist if you want but yes I give Kirk some benefit of the doubt because I've been in the stands celebrating after an orange bowl win.

And I've been in the stands despondent after numerous losses to ISU, Northwestern, and various MAC teams. I would say that more than counterbalances your Orange Bowl experience.

 

[MrEHawk]

You just don't get it, you constantly want to put blame on the Defense. What a JOKE.. You really need to stop with this rhetoric, it's getting old and shows a complete lack of intelligence.. The fact you keep mentioning the Minnesota game is most ridiculous..

Iowa gives up 51 points to Minn, and scores 30+ against both MD and Neb and still loses, but the defense isn't to blame? We give up 266 rushing yards to Wisco at a whopping 6.3 per carry, but it's all on the offense? You're an idiot. There has only been one game all year where a lack of offense has been the primary factor in a loss. And beyond that fact, the two biggest factors limiting our offensive production are demonstrably NOT the fault of GD, namely the fact that we play the wrong player at the most important position on the field, and our primary rusher the last 3 seasons has been a slightly undersized offensive lineman. Wake up and get a clue.

 

[MrEHawk]

Iowa's strength wasn't expected to come from it's D this season.. Yet Iowa's Defense is ranked 18th in the country in Total Defense..

And they allowed 34.4 ppg in our 5 losses. Truly a sterling defensive performance.

 

[HomerChampless]

Posters didn't say it, Kirk did.

So, you're saying there is an adversarial relationship between KF and GD? Everyone, except the staunchest and most illogical haters of GD who wanted to pin all the shortcomings of Iowa's offense, this season, on GD knew that. KF hired GD and supposedly wishes GD to stay on as OC at least 'til 2015 even though there is this adversarial relationship. Here's my rhetoric: KF might be thinking, it works with Iowa athletes why not with Iowa coaches?

KF is coming back. GD is presumably coming back. The odd couple is coming back to Iowa. A match made in.. you fill in the blanks... for Hawkeye fans.

BTW, which of the two coaches knows more about offense? Does KF know anything about offense? All you posters who want to blame all of Iowa's woes on Iowa's offense better be taking a hard look at KF for his meddling in Iowa's offense.

Isn't that the core problem under kfootball? Athletic ability takes a back seat to an athlete's attitude and control by the coaching staff that, at times, seems incapable of managing a game?

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Iowa gives up 51 points to Minn, and scores 30+ against both MD and Neb and still loses, but the defense isn't to blame? We give up 266 rushing yards to Wisco at a whopping 6.3 per carry, but it's all on the offense? You're an idiot. There has only been one game all year where a lack of offense has been the primary factor in a loss. And beyond that fact, the two biggest factors limiting our offensive production are demonstrably NOT the fault of GD, namely the fact that we play the wrong player at the most important position on the field, and our primary rusher the last 3 seasons has been a slightly undersized offensive lineman. Wake up and get a clue.

Baloney.

Iowa's offense only scored 7 against Minnesota until a meaningless TD in garbage time. I forget the exact numbers, but there was a stretch against MD where Iowa had something like 8 possessions and about 40 total yards, give or take. Iowa's offense completely stalled against Nebraska in the 4th quarter (did you see Rudock's performance at QB during that stretch?). Iowa scored 3 points in the second half against Iowa State.

Melvin Gordon put up 200+ yards against a lot of teams, not just Iowa, but you act like it's an anomaly that Wisconsin rushed for 266 against us.

Although the defense didn't exactly shine at times this year, it can't be easy when there are stretches where you are constantly on the field, either. Our offense moved the ball at times.. At other times, did squat.

Iowa's scoring defense was 40th nationally (19th in yards per game). Their scoring offense 70th nationally (68th in yards per game). So you tell me, which unit was better?

 

[Gibsonian]

Defense this year was workable, offense was offensive. Offense made the D look worse with too many short possessions, and the D was definitely challenged in the LB area, as we knew it would be. The O had most everyone back and went backwards. You can find fault in both areas, but as1977hawkeye stated, against our schedule the defense was 30 positions better in the rankings than the O. We got a lot on the line today that will determine next year's fortune, let's hope CJ can get in the game and outplay JR otherwise I think we implode. Sad to get to this position but it's a tipping point for sure.

 

[HomerChampless]

Baloney.

Iowa's offense only scored 7 against Minnesota until a meaningless TD in garbage time. I forget the exact numbers, but there was a stretch against MD where Iowa had something like 8 possessions and about 40 total yards, give or take. Iowa's offense completely stalled against Nebraska in the 4th quarter (did you see Rudock's performance at QB during that stretch?). Iowa scored 3 points in the second half against Iowa State.

Melvin Gordon put up 200+ yards against a lot of teams, not just Iowa, but you act like it's an anomaly that Wisconsin rushed for 266 against us.

Although the defense didn't exactly shine at times this year, it can't be easy when there are stretches where you are constantly on the field, either. Our offense moved the ball at times.. At other times, did squat.

Iowa's scoring defense was 40th nationally (19th in yards per game). Their scoring offense 70th nationally (68th in yards per game). So you tell me, which unit was better?

You and I have discussed this before. Your stats for Iowa's defense for the 2012 season are relative - 40th nationally 19th in yards per game, just as my stats for Iowa's offense for the 2012 season are relative - 4th best in yards per game for the KF era and 7th best in points per game in the KF era.

Could Iowa's positively ranked defense of 2012 stop Nebraska's long passes? No. Which led to not being able to stop Nebraska's running game. Stop Wisconsin's running game? No. Contain Maryland's spread QB? No. Stop passes to backs out of the backfield? No. Sack the QB? No (biggest difference between some of Norm's dominant defenses and today's Iowa defenses). I'd also wager my house Iowa's D stats wouldn't have been as great, this season, if playing primarily in the BIGXII.. (almost any conference other than the B1G with its less than spectacular offenses). Again, yours and my stats are relative and really don't prove anything unless put into context.

Because Iowa's offense was ranked 4th in yards and 7th in points in the KF era, Iowa didn't have as much a problem closing gaps in the score... until their pass defense reverted back to its normal pass defense and our QB remained his cautious, need-large-windows-to-pass-down-the-field self. The running game never seemed to get off the ground.

Why couldn't Iowa run the ball? Problems partly with the offensive line, problems partly with running backs, problems partly with offensive schemes, and problems partly with defenses crowding the box.

IMO for some dopey reason, some posters hate GD, only, for his inability to run the ball. I understand some posters (including myself) think it's a good thing to control the game with running, but a team can't control the game with running if the defense isn't dominant like Iowa's defense wasn't dominant this season. I don't care the stats you wish to throw at me.

Iowa's offense could score more and had the ability to score more than previous offenses in the KF era. Yes, some of that scoring was against prevent defenses, but at least the GD offense could come back so much more so than most KOK offenses. GD's offense had to come back a lot this season because, IMO, the defense wasn't satisfactory for a game manager's offense.

I've gotta say, somewhere, that even though KF meddled in Iowa's offense (to the point of the offense being inefficient), Iowa's offense shined.

 

[MrEHawk]

Baloney. Iowa's scoring defense was 40th nationally (19th in yards per game). Their scoring offense 70th nationally (68th in yards per game). So you tell me, which unit was better?

That completely ignores the style of football that Iowa plays. Offensive possessions are often used solely to burn clock, not score points. Iowa scored over 30 points twice in losses. You have to be a complete idiot to blame the offense for either loss. The defensive effort at Maryland was one of the worst in the KF era. Minnesota scored 51 freaking points. It was an entire team meltdown. Blaming the offense for that is like blaming Obama for last year's cold winter. It's just stupid. Wisconsin did whatever they wanted to against us when they had the ball. Our offense moved the ball at will in the 2nd half and we would have won if they could have gotten just one key stop, when every single person in the stadium knew who was going to get the ball. They couldn't do it. Our defense allowed ALMOST 35 POINTS PER GAME in the 5 losses. It was a bad defense by Iowa standards. How many teams had 200 yards rushing on us this year? Quite a few. The West was full of one dimensional offenses, and we couldn't slow any of them down.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

That completely ignores the style of football that Iowa plays. Offensive possessions are often used solely to burn clock, not score points. Iowa scored over 30 points twice in losses. You have to be a complete idiot to blame the offense for either loss. The defensive effort at Maryland was one of the worst in the KF era. Minnesota scored 51 freaking points. It was an entire team meltdown. Blaming the offense for that is like blaming Obama for last year's cold winter. It's just stupid. Wisconsin did whatever they wanted to against us when they had the ball. Our offense moved the ball at will in the 2nd half and we would have won if they could have gotten just one key stop, when every single person in the stadium knew who was going to get the ball. They couldn't do it. Our defense allowed ALMOST 35 POINTS PER GAME in the 5 losses. It was a bad defense by Iowa standards. How many teams had 200 yards rushing on us this year? Quite a few. The West was full of one dimensional offenses, and we couldn't slow any of them down.

Well I can't disagree with that - when you allow 50+ and 38 against MD.. That ain't good for your D. But that game, the offense also went pretty much completely dormant against MD after going up 14-0.. MD outscored us 38-7 in a stretch after that, and Iowa found itself down 38-21. Sure, the defense could've done a lot better in that stretch, but it's also possible that if Iowa's offense keeps producing, that would help the defense, too? After all, the defense would get more time to rest on the sidelines instead of having to come right back out of our offense goes 3 and out. The Minnesota game - that was just awful all the way around.

Regarding the Wisconsin game, you are correct that a defensive stop in the second half was needed and we didn't get it, but I could also counter by saying that if the offense had scored more than 3 points in the first half, Iowa would have won the game, too. See where I'm coming from? I suppose we could do this all day.

I guess what that means is that there is blame on both sides of the ball. Defense and offense don't have to be mutually exclusive. Iowa Football under KF is built around tough defense, but does that mean the offense can't (or shouldn't) improve?

 

[1977Hawkeye]

You and I have discussed this before. Your stats for Iowa's defense in the 2012 season are relative - 40th nationally 19th in yards per game, just as my stats for Iowa's offense for the 2012 season are relative - 4th best in yards per game for the KF era and 7th best in points per game in the KF era.

Could Iowa's positively ranked defense of 2012 stop Nebraska's long passes? No. Which led to not being able to stop Nebraska's running game. Stop Wisconsin's running game? No. Contain Maryland's spread QB? No. Stop passes to backs out of the backfield? No. Sack the QB? No (biggest difference between some of Norm's dominant defenses and today's Iowa defenses). I'd also wager my house Iowa's D stats wouldn't have been as great, this season, if playing primarily in the BIGXII.. (almost any conference other than the B!G with its less than spectacular offenses). Again, yours and my stats are relative and really don't prove anything unless put into context.

Because Iowa's offense was ranked 4th in yards and 7th in points in the KF era, Iowa didn't have as much a problem closing gaps in the score... until their pass defense reverted back to its normal pass defense and our QB reverted back to his cautious, need-large-windows-to-pass-down-the-field self. The running game never seemed to get off the ground.

Could Iowa run the ball? For the most part, no. Problems partly with the offensive line, problems partly with running backs, problems partly with offensive schemes, problems partly with defenses crowding the box. Iowa's offense could score more and had the ability to score more than previous offenses in the KF era. Yes, some of that scoring was against prevent defenses, but at least the GD offense could come back so much more so the KOK offense. The offense had to come back a lot this season because, IMO, the defense wasn't satisfactory for a game manager's offense.

I've gotta say, somewhere, that even though KF meddled in Iowa's offense (to the point of the offense being inefficient), Iowa's offense shined.

Well, I think Iowa's offense was able to move the ball pretty well in 2014, for the most part. IIRC, a stat that jumped out at me was Iowa's Red Zone offense. I'd have to look it up again, but it was something to the tune of 10th or 12th in the conference, which we can all agree is bad.

So although yards are nice (and needed), it's ultimately points that win games. If you drive 60-70 yards but come up empty, the yards don't help you a whole lot other than giving your D a breather and keeping the other team's O on the sidelines.

That's why I tend to prefer looking at scoring offense stats instead of yardage. But yeah, you're right, context is needed.

 

[MrEHawk]

Iowa Football under KF is built around tough defense, but does that mean the offense can't (or shouldn't) improve?

Yes, that is EXACTLY what it means. He plays this style of football for a reason. It doesn't matter who the OC is, the overall philosophy will not change as long as Kirk is the HC. We have 16 years of data to back this up. Changing OCs at this point would just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Yes, that is EXACTLY what it means. He plays this style of football for a reason. It doesn't matter who the OC is, the overall philosophy will not change as long as Kirk is the HC. We have 16 years of data to back this up. Changing OCs at this point would just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Well, then I disagree with that philosophy. Why not have a good offense, too? Then it would be more like 2002 where you have both. I just don't believe in settling for 8-4 when you could go 10-2 or better.

That doesn't mean I think we have to be Oregon.. But I don't see why the offense shouldn't at least be productive/efficient rather than simply staying out of the way.

 

[MrEHawk]

Well, then I disagree with that philosophy. Why not have a good offense, too? Then it would be more like 2002 where you have both. I just don't believe in settling for 8-4 when you could go 10-2 or better.That doesn't mean I think we have to be Oregon.. But I don't see why the offense shouldn't at least be productive/efficient rather than simply staying out of the way.

I encourage you to send that thought via e-mail to gary-barta@uiowa.edu. You might also want to include a blind CC to kirk-ferentz@hawkeyesports.com.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

And for the record - I'm not necessarily talking about changing OC's, or even scheme for that matter. I just feel that the shackles need to be taken off the O somewhat. The way Iowa plays when down 2 scores and NEEDS to score, like the 2nd half against Wisconsin, 4th quarter against Ball State, etc. Where is that productivity the rest of the time?