Hawks gritty and determined, not lucky, now the bye week

[uihawk82]

A friend of mine texted that he thought the hawks were lucky to win but I thought they just gutted out a big win.

I thought about the overall game and looked at the stats and saw 10 more minutes of time of possession, 4.3 ypc by the running backs as someone else mentioned, 10 for 18 or 19 third down conversions is great especially on the road, five scoring drives, great special teams with 4 for 4 FGs and great punting and kick coverage.

On defense the two big plays hurt but overall the rest of the time they gave up about 280 yards which is not too bad and only 3 other points, held ISU to 25 minutes of time of possession, overall good tackling, only 3 for 9 giving up first downs on 3rd down conversions. Only 3 scoring drives. The pass coverage was wanting sometimes but missing 2 starting dbacks has to hurt.

Just a gutty determined win and in the second half you could just see the positive determination oozing from the way the players went about their business. A great win.

 

[revkev73]

Offensive line needs to learn how to drive the defensive line back, especially in short situations.

Brian needs to ask for help calling plays in crucial situations. Get some consensus with others before calling idiot plays that make no sense to 99% of casual onlookers.

Stanley needs to learn how to hit his receivers in stride, watch tape of Iowa State QB.

Defense needs to figure out how to get some pressure on the QB. There are opportunities for players to pick it up, since Epenesa is being double teamed most of the time.

Punting and kicking are the gems so far.

Great, ugly win at a tough place to play!

 

[ibahawkeye]

Rivalry game with that atmosphere, we came in more banged up than I realized....

I’ll take the win and get healthy. Hopefully get Jackson and Hankins back as well as some time to get any guys that just have little dings some extra rest.

Neither Michigan or Penn St scare me. I can’t see us not being competitive and having a chance to win both those games. Hopefully we can split.

West comes down to the showdown at Camp Randall.

 

[uihawk82]

Rivalry game with that atmosphere, we came in more banged up than I realized....

I’ll take the win and get healthy. Hopefully get Jackson and Hankins back as well as some time to get any guys that just have little dings some extra rest.

Neither Michigan or Penn St scare me. I can’t see us not being competitive and having a chance to win both those games. Hopefully we can split.

West comes down to the showdown at Camp Randall.

I hope they dont get those players in too quick if there is any doubt they arent 100%.

It will be good when they settle on their best Off Line and that unit gets a lot of reps. Hankins is important but also helps to get Brents back if he was a #2.

Same with Reiff and Merriweather as we need them as starters and for depth.

 

[revkev73]

I hope they dont get those players in too quick if there is any doubt they arent 100%.

It will be good when they settle on their best Off Line and that unit gets a lot of reps. Hankins is important but also helps to get Brents back if he was a #2.

Same with Reiff and Merriweather as we need them as starters and for depth.

Agree, you need your best players against those 3-4 games that mean something.

 

[Stanzi]

It's just so wonderful to have a punter who you can watch without cringing in anticipation of a terrible punt every time he steps on the field.

 

[racerhawk]

Offensive line needs to learn how to drive the defensive line back, especially in short situations.

Brian needs to ask for help calling plays in crucial situations. Get some consensus with others before calling idiot plays that make no sense to 99% of casual onlookers.

Stanley needs to learn how to hit his receivers in stride, watch tape of Iowa State QB.

Defense needs to figure out how to get some pressure on the QB. There are opportunities for players to pick it up, since Epenesa is being double teamed most of the time.

Punting and kicking are the gems so far.

Great, ugly win at a tough place to play!

Good god. There were seveal DBs out for our team, otherwise it was a pretty solid performance. ISU has a really good defense as well.

Stanley was the player of the game, and hasn't turned the ball over in this rivalry game in his three years as a starter. He's been the starting QB in three of our last five in a row. He's not perfect at all, but he overall was a big factor in this victory.

I hope the deficiencies you noted will improve when injured players are able to return.

 

[haydensly]

A friend of mine texted that he thought the hawks were lucky to win but I thought they just gutted out a big win.

I thought about the overall game and looked at the stats and saw 10 more minutes of time of possession, 4.3 ypc by the running backs as someone else mentioned, 10 for 18 or 19 third down conversions is great especially on the road, five scoring drives, great special teams with 4 for 4 FGs and great punting and kick coverage.

On defense the two big plays hurt but overall the rest of the time they gave up about 280 yards which is not too bad and only 3 other points, held ISU to 25 minutes of time of possession, overall good tackling, only 3 for 9 giving up first downs on 3rd down conversions. Only 3 scoring drives. The pass coverage was wanting sometimes but missing 2 starting dbacks has to hurt.

Just a gutty determined win and in the second half you could just see the positive determination oozing from the way the players went about their business. A great win.

Good post, I couldn't agree more. This win took a lot of mental toughness and we showed that. We would not have gotten the "W" without that. It also shows a lot of leadership on the team and it's the kind of game that can give you confidence moving forward.

 

[revkev73]

Good god. There were seveal DBs out for our team, otherwise it was a pretty solid performance. ISU has a really good defense as well.

Stanley was the player of the game, and hasn't turned the ball over in this rivalry game in his three years as a starter. He's been the starting QB in three of our last five in a row. He's not perfect at all, but he overall was a big factor in this victory.

I hope the deficiencies you noted will improve when injured players are able to return.

I think it was a pretty solid performance in many areas, not worthy of a Good God from you. But OK.

It is difficult, with Stanley, to analyze his "performance" when most often lots of opportunities don't happen because of poor passing on potential big plays. Just the way it is.

He made one big pass and didn't have any turnovers. It led to a win. I am all for that.

ISU, to their credit, took advantage of the injuries and had a good game plan. Didn't ISU also have to play without their starting center? One might think that Iowa would have been able to take advantage of that mismatch and get more pressure on the QB, if one is analyzing things rationally. Comments?

My two cents...

 

[racerhawk]

I think it was a pretty solid performance in many areas, not worthy of a Good God from you. But OK.

It is difficult, with Stanley, to analyze his "performance" when most often lots of opportunities don't happen because of poor passing on potential big plays. Just the way it is.

He made one big pass and didn't have any turnovers. It led to a win. I am all for that.

ISU, to their credit, took advantage of the injuries and had a good game plan. Didn't ISU also have to play without their starting center? One might think that Iowa would have been able to take advantage of that mismatch and get more pressure on the QB, if one is analyzing things rationally. Comments?

My two cents...

You make some good points, but I urge you to re-watch the game if you have time. He made more than one good pass. Some of those passes (and runs) resulted in Iowa winning the game. Did he overthrow the receivers a few times? Yes. He also threw what could've been a nice TD to Brandon Smith who wasn't able to hang on.

Like I said, he was the player of the game. He'll go down as one of the great Iowa QBs of all time.

With regard to the QB pressure, ISU's plays were designed to get the ball out in a nanosecond. It would be difficult to get pressure on the QB for any team last night, IMO. I do think they maybe could've done a little better on the D line, though.

 

[Seth53]

You make some good points, but I urge you to re-watch the game if you have time. He made more than one good pass. Some of those passes (and runs) resulted in Iowa winning the game. Did he overthrow the receivers a few times? Yes. He also threw what could've been a nice TD to Brandon Smith who wasn't able to hang on.

Like I said, he was the player of the game. He'll go down as one of the great Iowa QBs of all time.

With regard to the QB pressure, ISU's plays were designed to get the ball out in a nanosecond. It would be difficult to get pressure on the QB for any team last night, IMO. I do think they maybe could've done a little better on the D line, though.

You still in Madison?

 

[SpiderRico]

Nobody cares how...just how many...

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Let's see how Iowa State does the rest of the way. They have a ton of players back from last year. They miss Butler and Montgomery...but the whole DL, LBs and safeties were back on defense and their QB, and entire OL was back this year. They won 8 last year...and you would think they have a shot to win a ton of games in that conference against teams not named Texas or Oklahoma.

Road games in Jack Trice are tough...with the injuries we had, ISU with the extra week, makes it even tougher. Getting a win was huge. That game for so many reasons was set up for a loss...but it didn't happen. That's a pretty impressive win if you ask me.

 

[Zstatman]

One silver lining, assuming our DBs get healthy, we will have developed some good depth.

 

[revkev73]

You make some good points, but I urge you to re-watch the game if you have time. He made more than one good pass. Some of those passes (and runs) resulted in Iowa winning the game. Did he overthrow the receivers a few times? Yes. He also threw what could've been a nice TD to Brandon Smith who wasn't able to hang on.

Like I said, he was the player of the game. He'll go down as one of the great Iowa QBs of all time.

With regard to the QB pressure, ISU's plays were designed to get the ball out in a nanosecond. It would be difficult to get pressure on the QB for any team last night, IMO. I do think they maybe could've done a little better on the D line, though.

I am not negative Stanley. To this point he has been pretty decent in his career. However, in the big games, more than once, he wilts. His record and accomplishments so far are similar to Kirk, pretty good, but not at the top when the bright lights are on. He has an opportunity to win some big games this year. A good starting point is avoiding turnovers, which he has done. Needs to step it up when playing against the high grade opponents. That's all. I am hopeful. A win at ISU is a big win, no matter how many opportunities he might have missed.

 

[racerhawk]

You still in Madison?

Hi Seth,

I'm in Denver now!

 

[racerhawk]

I am not negative Stanley. To this point he has been pretty decent in his career. However, in the big games, more than once, he wilts. His record and accomplishments so far are similar to Kirk, pretty good, but not at the top when the bright lights are on. He has an opportunity to win some big games this year. A good starting point is avoiding turnovers, which he has done. Needs to step it up when playing against the high grade opponents. That's all. I am hopeful. A win at ISU is a big win, no matter how many opportunities he might have missed.

I see your points. We're just in more of a glass half full, half empty discussion.

He didn't wilt in his last three big games (Miss St, Nebby, ISU). Made some big plays when it counted. He has 9-10 games ahead of him yet. I guess we'll see.

The comparison group is small (Stanzi, Tate, et al). I sometimes wonder who some hawk fans compare Stanley, and KF, for that matter, to.

If, under his leadership, we lose some close games this year due to his inability to make plays when it counts, you will be right about the wilting. I"m just not seeing it right now. I see a fighter. Player of the game, in fact. The bright lights were definitely on last night. Cheers

 

[Northside Hawk]

Let's see how Iowa State does the rest of the way. They have a ton of players back from last year. They miss Butler and Montgomery...but the whole DL, LBs and safeties were back on defense and their QB, and entire OL was back this year. They won 8 last year...and you would think they have a shot to win a ton of games in that conference against teams not named Texas or Oklahoma.

Road games in Jack Trice are tough...with the injuries we had, ISU with the extra week, makes it even tougher. Getting a win was huge. That game for so many reasons was set up for a loss...but it didn't happen. That's a pretty impressive win if you ask me.

I seem to remember Mike Rose, as a true freshman last year, plugging up our running game and making a ton of tackles.

Last night it seemed like they were dropping him back in pass coverage a lot more.

Rose, by the way, would be the perfect "cash" for us. He'd be terrific in that scheme.

 

[Grady]

Iowa actually had 5 starters out of this game (O-linemen Jackson and Bonwart, Rieff, Hankins & Merriweather) -- that's over 20% of the starters, plus multiple backups that would have played key roles such as Brents & Moss. Getting out of Ames with a W using that patched-up lineup is quite an accomplishment...
Made possible by zero TOs and deep into the 4th quarter having only 2 penalties for 5 yards in a hostile environment -- this last stat perhaps the most amazing...disciplined as heck on the O-line.
Co-MVPs: K Duncan and the Punter. Duncan is obvious, but you realize again this year just how important it is for Iowa to have a good punter...his punts are not only long, but have incredible hang-time. Just a gem of a find and a shame we only have him for 1 year. Now, get out and recruit the best h.s. punter in the U.S. for next year!

 

[Caddy]

Rivalry game with that atmosphere, we came in more banged up than I realized....

I’ll take the win and get healthy. Hopefully get Jackson and Hankins back as well as some time to get any guys that just have little dings some extra rest.

Neither Michigan or Penn St scare me. I can’t see us not being competitive and having a chance to win both those games. Hopefully we can split.

West comes down to the showdown at Camp Randall.

They don't scare you? They both have excellent defenses. Much better than what we saw last night. Much better athletes as well. Michigan has about 4 receivers that are better than anyone ISU had. Our running game is going to be bad like last year, so you trust Stanley to come up with points through the air?