GotTimDodge
Well-Known Member
BF will have a first game at Wisconsin again in 2024?
Howe column: Beast of the Big Ten West Takes Out Hawkeyes Again
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
BF will have a first game at Wisconsin again in 2024?
Why wouldn't they be cool? They were getting 5-7 yards a carry right up the middle, and Hornbook could complete pass after pass if he needed to. They knew the Iowa defense would fold like they always do on drives like that. He had all day to throw, and our defense just sits back and lets him pick them apart all the way down the field.
Exactly. Excuse after excuse after excuse.
This Wisconsin team is nowhere near as good as the team from last year. Good moral victory for us though. Our defensive line had their asses handed to them the entire game. They were getting pushed 4 yards backwards.
The tight end was also wide open in the end zone on the other side of the field. Hornibrook had his choice of who to throw to. Our linebackers are not good. They were non-existent all night long. Colbert is our best linebacker, and KF is to stubborn or ignorant to start him over Welch, who was on his back all night long when he wasn't getting torched in coverage.Defensive coordinator Phil Parker isn’t without fault, either. On the game-winning touchdown pass from Alex Hornibrook to A.J. Taylor, linebacker Nick Niemann was covering the receiver. Stop me if you’ve heard that alignment being criticized before.
“We do that frequently. That’s part of our defense,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Yeah, the guy made a good throw and the receiver did a good job of getting open and it’s just part of what we do.”
That's Football
GotTimDodge
Well-Known Member
Well, it's the bend don't break philosophy, ya know.
As they say, one of the hardest things to do for a college qb is to consistently hit those touch throws accurately.
Sooner or later, they won't convert.
That's the theory anyway.
skinnykilmer17
Well-Known Member
Our heaviest d lineman is like 20 pounds lighter than their smallest o lineman. Crazy. Their backup center went 6' 6" 320 lbs. You can have all the depth in the world but our backups were giving up 60 lbs per man in some cases.
Morgan does a great job but we just need some more beef at particular spots. And our lb's are undersized to boot.
But I still feel D is the strength of this team. As always. But it did break down in crucial moments just like the offense last night.
Why so much zone coverage though and so little blitzing? It is not like they had Al Toon out there.
How much influence does KF have on the D? Just seems like his type of passive mentality that we see on offense.
Morgan does a great job but we just need some more beef at particular spots. And our lb's are undersized to boot.
But I still feel D is the strength of this team. As always. But it did break down in crucial moments just like the offense last night.
Why so much zone coverage though and so little blitzing? It is not like they had Al Toon out there.
How much influence does KF have on the D? Just seems like his type of passive mentality that we see on offense.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
The miscues didn't lose the game. Wisky would have changed had the score changed. Wisky had a beautiful attack on the long drive early and Iowa didn't change. Once they did Wisky didn't do much more until that 4th qtr drvie.
In a close game the errors come out loud. However, Iowa didn't take care of things early. They showed they could be O deceptive but weren't much when it counted. The 3rd down prior to the last FG Iowa had Fant isolated and NO WAY Wisky ever believed the ball was going to him as the flooded to the Iowa sweep. They didn't give a 2nd thought to that.
Therein is the problem.
Iowa also has a QB who cannot adjust throws over big linemen. He fell apart when Wisky pretty much stopped trying to get to him. He is good at seeing moves of the WR's acting like NE receivers. He is terrible at pump fake as Wisky never believed he'd pump fake and went in hard. The near TD/Pick/ breakup ....would have been perfect.
This team is good enough to be playoff. They played well enough to win by 10 with mistakes. They are 90 percent coached well enough to be a playoff team.
The QB has the making of being really good but he has some really bad issues.
They stand to get torched by teams that can actually pass due to the corners. Not enough experience.
In a close game the errors come out loud. However, Iowa didn't take care of things early. They showed they could be O deceptive but weren't much when it counted. The 3rd down prior to the last FG Iowa had Fant isolated and NO WAY Wisky ever believed the ball was going to him as the flooded to the Iowa sweep. They didn't give a 2nd thought to that.
Therein is the problem.
Iowa also has a QB who cannot adjust throws over big linemen. He fell apart when Wisky pretty much stopped trying to get to him. He is good at seeing moves of the WR's acting like NE receivers. He is terrible at pump fake as Wisky never believed he'd pump fake and went in hard. The near TD/Pick/ breakup ....would have been perfect.
This team is good enough to be playoff. They played well enough to win by 10 with mistakes. They are 90 percent coached well enough to be a playoff team.
The QB has the making of being really good but he has some really bad issues.
They stand to get torched by teams that can actually pass due to the corners. Not enough experience.
94HawkMA
Well-Known Member
Before the season started, did any of you seriously think Iowa was better than Wisconsin? Wisconsin exposed Iowa's weaknesses. I thought before the season started that we would be soft up the middle on defense. They ran up the middle for 7-10 yards at will. Special teams have been shaky at Iowa for the last several years. Iowa's offensive line looked OK against the three mediocre teams we played to start the season. Wisconsin exposed the weakness in the scheme. Watch our blocking sometime. We don't block linebackers with OL. We don't try to block them at all unless it's with a FB on an isolation. So, the RB has to beat the LB 1-1 or the play doesn't work. It turns out that Wisconsin's LB's are pretty good. Iowa is not a bad team, just not better than Wisconsin. Who thought Iowa would be 4-0 at this point? Oh, after we beat NI? Welcome to the typical Iowa season. 8-4? You tell me where more than 5 wins will come from in the remaining schedule. Who seriously thought we would be better than that? Players lost to graduation. Off season issues that caused at least 3 starters to miss the first game points to a lack of chemistry and buy-in to the program. Failure to recruit big 10 WR's.
94HawkMA
Well-Known Member
These were not two evenly matched teams. Look at groups. Who do you give the nod to in each one? Name one group of Iowa's players or specialists that are better than Wisconsin.
94HawkMA
Well-Known Member
I enjoy and appreciate your work Rob. I just happen to disagree with this particular point.
RobHowe
Administrator
Thanks for reading. And that's cool. I'm sure you're not alone.
I don't see how one can think Wisky is head and shoulders better than Iowa after watchin that. If you just saw the score you'll greatly be deceived. Iowa had more yards and first downs didn't they? You can't say their passing game is 'better' than ours. I'd like to see who'd win the most out of 5-10 games. I think Iowa would but that's just me and my biased eyes I suppose
Easy. Iowa has better TE's, DL and QB. We were worse on special teams. Iowa had more YPC than Jonathon Taylor. Nate Stanley had more YPA than Hornibrook by a wide margin. Iowa gave up zero sacks. Iowa's OL was better than Wisconsin's DL but Wisconsin's OL was probably a push against Iowa's DL.
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I felt like someone had punched me in the gut, repeatedly...during the last Wisconsin drive. They have the know-how and the experience to win those type of games, not to mention the players. That being said, Iowa had the opportunity to win that game, and a few plays turned it around. Horningbrook is a good QB, not elite, but as good as Iowa have faced this season, and you combine his style with a huge offensive line, and one of the best running backs in college football, a defense has a small margin of error against that team. Iowa had relied on their front 4 to pressure the opposing offense into mistakes or rushing the flow of the game, but they did not accomplish that Saturday night very often, the special teams did not have a good night, and the offense got too predictable in the 4th quarter in trying to protect the small lead they had. Again, even with all that, Iowa could have won this game. But.... they didn't. So, before we throw this season on the trash heap, lets hope that the team learned from its mistakes, ( players and coaches ) and progress forward, starting with a beat down of Minnesota!
HawkeyeDenis
Well-Known Member
Iowa lost to a better program. Iowa went into the fourth quarter hoping to win. Wisconsin went in knowing they had to win.
Seth53
Well-Known Member
Fixed it for ya.
94HawkMA
Well-Known Member
I'll give you TE. DL - No way. WI outrushed Iowa and look at Iowa's D. Soft up the middle. QB - Look at Hornibrook's career stats vs Stanley. Hornibrook is 23-4 as a starter. Stanley is 11-6. Hornibrook's completion percentage is also better. He showed better composure playing at Iowa on the road than Stanley did at home. I'm not saying Stanley isn't good, I just look at the stats and think Hornibrook is better.
