How good is Iowa?

H

Hawkfnntn

Well-Known Member
I mean this is such a weird season. I can't sit here and say with any certainty what they should be ranked. I mean no way are we top 10. Yet I can see arguments for 20 or lower. Yet we only have 2 losses with only 1 of them being what I'd describe as 'bad'. Some of the big wins against opponents who were highly ranked when we played them. Now granted as the season has played out none of these teams have proven to be all that good be it PSU, ISU or Indiana especially since we've played them.

Our style of play often lends itself to the scores being close and keeping teams that we are better then in the games more so then they should be. But this yr even more so then ever. Show me a team with an offense that can't run the ball and puts out less then 300 yards/game that's been rated lets say top 15 or higher?

Now we are going into the final regular season game against Nebraska who only has 3 wins and we are under dogs!? Yet rightfully so based on how both of us have played this season and recently. How many times has two teams with that large of difference between them record wise has had that happen? I'm almost glad we lost to Purdue because then we'd have to be a top 10 ranked 1 loss team maybe 5ish. Even had we beat Purdue by 3 points none of us who live and die on every snap could tell ourselves that Iowa is really that good. Yes the D has been great and top 5 worthy in that department. So has special teams. But the O drags down the average so much so that if we are grading on a curve I can't say they are that dang good. Any Joe blow school can run the ball twice for 3 yards throw an incompletion and punt over and over.

I just have a tough time trying to figure out what's what now that this season is winding down. Nothing would surprise me with this last game. I want to beat NE by 25. But I'd settle for another last second kick if it came to it. But losing to them shouldn't surprise us for those of us paying attention either. So we'll see what happens and go bowling somewhere warm
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I mean this is such a weird season. I can't sit here and say with any certainty what they should be ranked. I mean no way are we top 10. Yet I can see arguments for 20 or lower. Yet we only have 2 losses with only 1 of them being what I'd describe as 'bad'. Some of the big wins against opponents who were highly ranked when we played them. Now granted as the season has played out none of these teams have proven to be all that good be it PSU, ISU or Indiana especially since we've played them.

Our style of play often lends itself to the scores being close and keeping teams that we are better then in the games more so then they should be. But this yr even more so then ever. Show me a team with an offense that can't run the ball and puts out less then 300 yards/game that's been rated lets say top 15 or higher?

Now we are going into the final regular season game against Nebraska who only has 3 wins and we are under dogs!? Yet rightfully so based on how both of us have played this season and recently. How many times has two teams with that large of difference between them record wise has had that happen? I'm almost glad we lost to Purdue because then we'd have to be a top 10 ranked 1 loss team maybe 5ish. Even had we beat Purdue by 3 points none of us who live and die on every snap could tell ourselves that Iowa is really that good. Yes the D has been great and top 5 worthy in that department. So has special teams. But the O drags down the average so much so that if we are grading on a curve I can't say they are that dang good. Any Joe blow school can run the ball twice for 3 yards throw an incompletion and punt over and over.

I just have a tough time trying to figure out what's what now that this season is winding down. Nothing would surprise me with this last game. I want to beat NE by 25. But I'd settle for another last second kick if it came to it. But losing to them shouldn't surprise us for those of us paying attention either. So we'll see what happens and go bowling somewhere warm
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Sagarin has us at 19, Massey composite has us at 12.

I think the answer is closer to 19.

I can't be mad with this season, and I'll be completely happy if we beat nebraska. Purdue is a much better football team than people thought at the beginning of the year, and Wisconsin is legit.

There's almost zero chance that Wisconsin loses to Minnesota, and even if we made it to Indy we'd get 50+ hung on us by OSU and I don't care to watch that. The way I see things ending up is a 10-2 Iowa team going to either the Music City or Vegas Bowl which is whatever. I couldn't give a shit less about bowl games. They're completely meaningless other than some extra practices.

Given what I thought about the season before it started, I'd be ecstatic with 10-2. 9-3 would piss me off because it's nebraska, but eventually the streak has to die.
 
Fryowa said:
Sagarin has us at 19, Massey composite has us at 12.

I think the answer is closer to 19.

I can't be mad with this season, and I'll be completely happy if we beat nebraska. Purdue is a much better football team than people thought at the beginning of the year, and Wisconsin is legit.

There's almost zero chance that Wisconsin loses to Minnesota, and even if we made it to Indy we'd get 50+ hung on us by OSU and I don't care to watch that. The way I see things ending up is a 10-2 Iowa team going to either the Music City or Vegas Bowl which is whatever. I couldn't give a shit less about bowl games. They're completely meaningless other than some extra practices.

Given what I thought about the season before it started, I'd be ecstatic with 10-2. 9-3 would piss me off because it's nebraska, but eventually the streak has to die.
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Yeah I'm just trying to contextualize this season but man week to week it's just impossible. Call it parity call it playing down to the level of competition whatever it's just odd. But yeah there's no shame losing to that Wisky team on the road. Not at all and Purdue and Brohm are just a mismatch style wise for us. My hats off to Purdue they have KFs # and KF won't adjust. Wisky would give OSU a better run for their $ then we would and I don't know how much of one that'd be. OSU looks ridiculously good now that they've gotten things figured out. I'd think we all know how that'd play out if we played them now and I'm ok not watching that either.

So yeah going back to week 1 and what expectations were it was pretty much split the IU/ISU games and maybe get to 8 wins on the season and most of us woulda been cool with that. Things just got nutty with how other schools lost games and we just kept winning. Again odd ass year.

I'd care about bowl games more if I was rich and had the time to go to them. They are status symbols for the programs so I don't want to demean them too much. At least they used to be.
 
I do think we are a little lucky to be 9-2 with how bad this offense has been and the weaknesses on the defense has been exposed. I have to admit I took the bait after Iowa beat Penn State and thought Iowa was going to win the West, Purdue humbled us quite a bit. Yet here we sit with Iowa having a shot at 10 wins, which would tie the 4th most wins in Iowa football history. But the team has exceeded my expectations, I figured a 8-4 season with losses to Iowa State, PSU, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. So far I've only gotten 1 of those losses right.

If ONLY they could have beaten Purdue.....
 
Any given Saturday.

This team is almost there to the point of driving us mad.

I understand the "Did you think we'd be 9-2 at the beginning of the season" crowd/reasoning.
But it is the fact that this team was sooo damn close to being the team of legends that it sounds hollow.
Unfortunately they are a little short where the offensive line is concerned. All the other offensive woes (besides the droppsies) stem from there.

10-2 is nothing to complain about if that is where we end up. But it will always feel just a little short of where they should have been.

Also, I want to see them in Indy. Even if they will get smushed 9/10 times against this OSU team.

Because any given Saturday.
 
GesterHawk said:
Any given Saturday.

This team is almost there to the point of driving us mad.

I understand the "Did you think we'd be 9-2 at the beginning of the season" crowd/reasoning.
But it is the fact that this team was sooo damn close to being the team of legends that it sounds hollow.
Unfortunately they are a little short where the offensive line is concerned. All the other offensive woes (besides the droppsies) stem from there.

10-2 is nothing to complain about if that is where we end up. But it will always feel just a little short of where they should have been.

Also, I want to see them in Indy. Even if they will get smushed 9/10 times against this OSU team.

Because any given Saturday.
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That's where I'm at. I need to come to grips with it that it is a week to week matchup driven thing. At this point in the year what teams are the healthiest and playing the best together are who are up top. Those that have regressed and gotten more nicked up then others and maybe got exposed some have gotten knocked off.

I think we've gotten exposed some more then anything. We've had a few injuries here and there but mostly our Oline hasn't developed with new/young faces playing a lot and Petras wasn't a difference making or even an average QB. So our D and special teams had to carry them and against most teams most Saturdays they did that. Tough ask to do that literally every single week against good coaches.

But my goodness the only reason a 9 or 10 win season should feel even remotely deflating is because of expectations. So I gotta tell myself that let's not be Nebraska and think this yr is some kind of disappointment. Just because expectations fluctuate throughout the season big picture shouldn't be forgotten. 9-10 wins is a great damn year that most schools would give about anything to celebrate.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
That's where I'm at. I need to come to grips with it that it is a week to week matchup driven thing. At this point in the year what teams are the healthiest and playing the best together are who are up top. Those that have regressed and gotten more nicked up then others and maybe got exposed some have gotten knocked off.

I think we've gotten exposed some more then anything. We've had a few injuries here and there but mostly our Oline hasn't developed with new/young faces playing a lot and Petras wasn't a difference making or even an average QB. So our D and special teams had to carry them and against most teams most Saturdays they did that. Tough ask to do that literally every single week against good coaches.

But my goodness the only reason a 9 or 10 win season should feel even remotely deflating is because of expectations. So I gotta tell myself that let's not be Nebraska and think this yr is some kind of disappointment. Just because expectations fluctuate throughout the season big picture shouldn't be forgotten. 9-10 wins is a great damn year that most schools would give about anything to celebrate.
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I blame Mark Kallenberger for a lot of the woes on the offensive line. He would have been the second best lineman out there and was a huge experience vacuum for the tackles was created when he left.
Kallenberger
Shooter
Lindy
Colby
Richmond
That is a much more formidable line.
 
After opening Day against Indiana... I was thrilled with the DB's and the defense...not shocked. the running game was a big concern and I thought if they can't run they won't win very many games.... And honestly Indiana didn't look all that good on offense...So after the fact Indy wasn't the test we thought.


After the ISU game, was sure the Defense was going to be good. Again the running game looked suspect...I wasn't sure why. And ISU didn't look as good as I expected they'd look.

Kent State and Colorado State games - Those games confirmed that this offense was going to struggle in conference play.

Maryland - going in I was concerned that their speed and passing might be too much to keep up with. We'll never know, first that key injury for them and the wheels came off. MD self destructed so bad, I had fun watching this game. Still not a lot of confidence in this team to beat a good time like PSU.

PSU - Two top ten teams. Even though I did not feel like Iowa was a top ten team, I wanted to believe it. Hey after all they're undefeated . The defense was good. PSU moved the ball with ease and I was getting a sick feeling. When Clifford got hurt, I said, we're going to win. And we did. The fun did not come until the last few minutes of the game. What a momentous game!

Purdue + Wisconsin- After PSU, I was exhausted and numb. If the season ended after PSU I might have been just fine. I wonder of the team and coaches had the same feeling. The OLine issues came home to roost in these two games and I wondered on this forum if IOWA could win another game.

jNW, Minnesota and Illinois. New QB gives hope, fewer sacks and TFL surrendered, Somehow they won, the OLine still not that great but hey its a Wx3.

Not one of Iowa's better teams but ...I don't know. Strange
 
GesterHawk said:
I blame Mark Kallenberger for a lot of the woes on the offensive line. He would have been the second best lineman out there and was a huge experience vacuum for the tackles was created when he left.
Kallenberger
Shooter
Lindy
Colby
Richmond
That is a much more formidable line.
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There's no doubt the staff and team were counting on him coming back.. That set off quite the domino effect. Shooter wasn't ready to play early on either and had to get worked back in slowly. Depth is a tough thing to develop on an Oline with the amount of schollys involved. You subtract even one you were counting on and it's tough it just is. Not that the coaches would use that as an excuse but it's like injuries it's real
 
NCHawker said:
After opening Day against Indiana... I was thrilled with the DB's and the defense...not shocked. the running game was a big concern and I thought if they can't run they won't win very many games.... And honestly Indiana didn't look all that good on offense...So after the fact Indy wasn't the test we thought.


After the ISU game, was sure the Defense was going to be good. Again the running game looked suspect...I wasn't sure why. And ISU didn't look as good as I expected they'd look.

Kent State and Colorado State games - Those games confirmed that this offense was going to struggle in conference play.

Maryland - going in I was concerned that their speed and passing might be too much to keep up with. We'll never know, first that key injury for them and the wheels came off. MD self destructed so bad, I had fun watching this game. Still not a lot of confidence in this team to beat a good time like PSU.

PSU - Two top ten teams. Even though I did not feel like Iowa was a top ten team, I wanted to believe it. Hey after all they're undefeated . The defense was good. PSU moved the ball with ease and I was getting a sick feeling. When Clifford got hurt, I said, we're going to win. And we did. The fun did not come until the last few minutes of the game. What a momentous game!

Purdue + Wisconsin- After PSU, I was exhausted and numb. If the season ended after PSU I might have been just fine. I wonder of the team and coaches had the same feeling. The OLine issues came home to roost in these two games and I wondered on this forum if IOWA could win another game.

jNW, Minnesota and Illinois. New QB gives hope, fewer sacks and TFL surrendered, Somehow they won, the OLine still not that great but hey its a Wx3.

Not one of Iowa's better teams but ...I don't know. Strange
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Pretty much had same breakdown in my head. Hindsight is what it is and IU, ISU, PSU just aren't anywhere close to what their pre season expectations were. PSU isn't terrible but they weren't a top 5-10 team either. Wisky lost some games early on they wish they had back now that they are playing like they usually do.

Purdue and Brohm just have KFs number. Their style against ours (not to mention Bell) is just a total mismatch. That's on our coaches as much as anything. Petras coulda played his best game ever and it wouldn't have mattered that day. Parker wouldn't/couldn't adjust to what they do. What's so frustrating about that is Purdue is/was as one dimensional going into that game as they ever could be with their RB being out. And our secondary and D overall was supposed to be our strength. You'd think a one dimensional O couldn't do that to us at home but...
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Pretty much had same breakdown in my head. Hindsight is what it is and IU, ISU, PSU just aren't anywhere close to what their pre season expectations were. PSU isn't terrible but they weren't a top 5-10 team either. Wisky lost some games early on they wish they had back now that they are playing like they usually do.

Purdue and Brohm just have KFs number. Their style against ours (not to mention Bell) is just a total mismatch. That's on our coaches as much as anything. Petras coulda played his best game ever and it wouldn't have mattered that day. Parker wouldn't/couldn't adjust to what they do. What's so frustrating about that is Purdue is/was as one dimensional going into that game as they ever could be with their RB being out. And our secondary and D overall was supposed to be our strength. You'd think a one dimensional O couldn't do that to us at home but...
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David Bell is Iowa's human equivalent to a 14 point swing created off a 100 yard pick 6 at the end of a game that puts the other team up by 1 as the clock runs out.
 
This is one of the worst offenses in a while with KF as coach. The, we are young excuse, is getting a bit old this late in the season.

With that said, Iowa at 9-2 is pretty remarkable to me. Stating the obvious that the defense has carried Iowa. We all know that. The two games Iowa's defense looked pedestrian, Purdue and Wisconsin, was not a good look for a ranked team.

Iowa is a handful of plays from being a 6-5 team.

For the offense, please, no more horizontal plays, no more #89 on 3rd downs. He's not Ed Hinkel. Sorry Nico. More middle of the field passing to the TE's.

More Charlie Jones, K. Johnson and Arland Bruce IV as receivers. They catch more balls then they drop, unlike some others playing the same position at Iowa.
 
hawkinstl said:
This is one of the worst offenses in a while with KF as coach. The, we are young excuse, is getting a bit old this late in the season.

With that said, Iowa at 9-2 is pretty remarkable to me. Stating the obvious that the defense has carried Iowa. We all know that. The two games Iowa's defense looked pedestrian, Purdue and Wisconsin, was not a good look for a ranked team.

Iowa is a handful of plays from being a 6-5 team.

For the offense, please, no more horizontal plays, no more #89 on 3rd downs. He's not Ed Hinkel. Sorry Nico. More middle of the field passing to the TE's.

More Charlie Jones, K. Johnson and Arland Bruce IV as receivers. They catch more balls then they drop, unlike some others playing the same position at Iowa.
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I agree which goes to show just how dang good our D and special teams have been. Imagine if our O was just semi respectable.

Nothing frustrates me more then some of the sideways passes or flat our run plays called on 3rd and longs... 3rd and 12 BF runs 3rd and 2 he throws then punts. Those similar situations happen too often. I think we have some play makers too give them opportunities. Call me crazy but I even like Tracy. He's a tough SOB. Now it's too late but I wish he'd have been used more. I don't know what all happened there but he'll be a what coulda been story to me. He shoulda been utilized more then he was and that's on BF. Yeah he had some drops here and there too but BF just phased him out to the point where mentally I think he checked out awhile ago and it'd be tough to blame him.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I agree which goes to show just how dang good our D and special teams have been. Imagine if our O was just semi respectable.

Nothing frustrates me more then some of the sideways passes or flat our run plays called on 3rd and longs... 3rd and 12 BF runs 3rd and 2 he throws then punts. Those similar situations happen too often. I think we have some play makers too give them opportunities. Call me crazy but I even like Tracy. He's a tough SOB. Now it's too late but I wish he'd have been used more. I don't know what all happened there but he'll be a what coulda been story to me. He shoulda been utilized more then he was and that's on BF. Yeah he had some drops here and there too but BF just phased him out to the point where mentally I think he checked out awhile ago and it'd be tough to blame him.
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Agree more than I disagree on T. Tracy. Not sure what happened. Sad really.
 
GesterHawk said:
I blame Mark Kallenberger for a lot of the woes on the offensive line. He would have been the second best lineman out there and was a huge experience vacuum for the tackles was created when he left.
Kallenberger
Shooter
Lindy
Colby
Richmond
That is a much more formidable line.
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I hope you are not seriously blaming Kallenberger. I cant remember reading his main reasons for stopping playing football but he may have thought too much head banging, tired of it and not wanting to try the pros. I cant blame anyone for that. My freshman year at Iowa a guy lived two doors from me in the dorm and he was a backup guard on the football team, 1970, not a great team, he was a sophomore, and he quit the team by late Sept after August camp etc. He told me was just tired of getting beat up in practice and all the head banging. He had a really nice lady so he probably wanted to spend more time with her.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I mean this is such a weird season. I can't sit here and say with any certainty what they should be ranked. I mean no way are we top 10.
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Correct we are probably not top 10 and I dont know what our turnover differential is but the turnovers is just a huge part of the equation. Even the blocked field goal against Illinois is a turnover for them, sudden game change, loss of field position as it was a long FG try.

The hawk defense being so good, so hard to score on, not giving up a ton of big plays and easy scores, and being able to really count on it most times, along with the great kicking game, kick returns, and kick coverage just adds up to items that help overcome the offense.

I always look at turnovers and return yardage when I look at box scores. Charlie Jones 98 or 100 yards of kick return is part of the story. If our offense had 280 total yards (even after subtracting the 29 yards off the bad snap on the punt) then Charlie and his kick and punt returns brought the hawk total yardage to about 420 yards.

I loved seeing Shudak have a great final day of field goal kicking also. I would put us at number 15 +/- a couple in the polls because I am not sure of that many teams that can beat us.

I would love to see our offense against the Big 12 as a comparison.
 
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