Howe column: Beast of the Big Ten West Takes Out Hawkeyes Again
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Well put Rob. This one hurt bad. It was right there...
Damn.
Damn.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
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
“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
RobHowe
Administrator
I was impressed with how calm and cool Wisconsin was on its 88-yard drive. There was no panic at all. A lot of teams would press there, feel it needed to throw the ball. The Badgers just ran their offense. They weren’t concerned with the clock running down. They didn’t burn an unnecessary timeouts.
They know exactly who they are and what they want to do.
They know exactly who they are and what they want to do.
I noticed KF really chomping the gum. Seriously.
Wisconsin is just better than us. Have been for years.
It's hard to say if we closed the gap any, because they are not as good this year as they have been for a long time.
Were we better than last year, or are they worse?
That is a really tough question.
RobHowe
Administrator
I think Iowa is closer this year than it was the last two, but as you said, Wisconsin is not the team it was in those years. This was a great opportunity for the Hawkeyes in an evenly matched game under the lights at Kinnick Stadium. The fans were terrific. They couldn't get it done.
What metric tells us that we are closer? None I can see at this time.
I'm not bashing, I'm trying to be objective. So far all we really have to base anything off is ISU couldn't hang (we barely beat them) and now we can't hang.
I'm not saying we can't win some games, maybe even crack the top 25 or 30. But nothing yet has pointed towards any facet of our Hawks being even close to being better than that.
You have to remember, last year we had a brutal schedule and still won 8. Put up more points on ISU and almost beat PSU with Barkley.
RobHowe
Administrator
Last year 66 yards on offense. This is 404 with 148 on the ground and 4.8 per carry. Statistically, it was an evenly matched game last night outside of turnovers. Iowa was penalized just once for five yards. Wisconsin was hit with 8 for 68. Penn State was statistically superior in that game last year and Iowa made plays to hang around.
I'm not saying Iowa is close to the CFP or winning the Big Ten. But last night, the conditions to beat Wisconsin were as good as they've been in the last decade and Iowa couldn't get it done.
I'm not saying Iowa is close to the CFP or winning the Big Ten. But last night, the conditions to beat Wisconsin were as good as they've been in the last decade and Iowa couldn't get it done.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
I think an argument can be made that this offense might have gained about the same amount of yards on last year's Wisconsin defense. Didn't their defense lose a lot from last year?
RobHowe
Administrator
Their defense did lose a lot. But that's part of college football. Iowa lost three starting linebackers and an all-American CB in addition it's starting center, it's top two running backs and Sean Welsh. The bottom line is that Iowa was closer to Wisconsin than it was last year...just not close enough.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
I agree; I'm just not all that sure that we've improved that much from last year. I think we'll appear improved (statistically), but a large part of that might be due to an easier schedule.
DBAHawkFan
Well-Known Member
WI lost 6-7 players from their defense last year and they still held us Under 20pts. How many Big10 games did we score more than 20? Two??
If we lost what they did, i doubt we have the same success
This style of football only works if you have that special player or a few special players that lift the entire team to win.
CJ, Tate, Banks, Gallery, etc
When we don’t have that player, we lose more of these 50/50 games than we win
If we lost what they did, i doubt we have the same success
This style of football only works if you have that special player or a few special players that lift the entire team to win.
CJ, Tate, Banks, Gallery, etc
When we don’t have that player, we lose more of these 50/50 games than we win
They looked the same way against BYU when they needed to score.
That's what we are wondering, are we really better or is it that they are worse? Time will tell, but as of right now, being objective, nobody can really say. You can't really bash or defend either side of the argument of are we better than last year.
I think we can all agree that getting it done on the recruiting trail has to happen if we are going to continue to close the gap, regardless of how big or small that gap may be.
SpecialKHawk
Well-Known Member
Last night was a program win for Wisconsin. They are simply a better program hands down. The proof is in the numbers. Had it not been for a forced fumble at the goal line in 2015 we might be looking at 7 straight losses. Many of those losses came down to the 4th quarter where programs win games.
We can point at the individual mistakes but it’s irrelevant to a larger issue that Wisconsin is and knows they are better than us. We have to play a ‘perfect game’ to beat them in the tightest of margins. That’s a yo.
We can point at the individual mistakes but it’s irrelevant to a larger issue that Wisconsin is and knows they are better than us. We have to play a ‘perfect game’ to beat them in the tightest of margins. That’s a yo.
Oh we were more than close enough. We were better but we just weren’t enough better to overcome our blunders and lost opportunities. Most of those weren’t anything Wisconsin forced. Even with the turnovers and failed fourth down attempt, we still had several opportunities to take a two score lead. For Wisconsin to win everything had to go just right for them. I think they’ll lose at least two more games.
GotTimDodge
Well-Known Member
If this, if that.
I mean, one could "if this, if that" their teams to being undefeated all year!
There were no fumbles, no backing into punted footballs, from the point Iowa was up 17-14 with the ball and 6 mins to go until the end.
Wisc got it done when needed.
Just the better team. Again.
Hopefully we can win out somehow and Wisc can drop a few.
I'd love for Iowa to have the opportunity to experience what OSU would have in store for us in Indy.
I mean, one could "if this, if that" their teams to being undefeated all year!
There were no fumbles, no backing into punted footballs, from the point Iowa was up 17-14 with the ball and 6 mins to go until the end.
Wisc got it done when needed.
Just the better team. Again.
Hopefully we can win out somehow and Wisc can drop a few.
I'd love for Iowa to have the opportunity to experience what OSU would have in store for us in Indy.
2019: "Well, you can't expect to win in Camp Randall, even with a senior QB" (who gets outplayed by the freshman QB that WI is going to find)
2020: "Hey, Iowa's trying to work in a new junior QB in his first year. He'll get better!"
2021: "You can't expect HC Brian Ferentz to win at Wisconsin in his first game...he'll figure it out!"
Lather, rinse, repeat.
2020: "Hey, Iowa's trying to work in a new junior QB in his first year. He'll get better!"
2021: "You can't expect HC Brian Ferentz to win at Wisconsin in his first game...he'll figure it out!"
Lather, rinse, repeat.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
I'm not sure if it gets any more true than this.
