Howe: Things Go According to Plan for Hawkeyes at Northwestern
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
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DDThompson
Guest
Right on!
Great article Rob, I know you get it and appreciate it. I think one thing that all of the critics of the offense are not taking into context, is besides a senior QB and JR tackles and a JR WR, today we leaned on FR guards, FR center, FR WR, FR slot WR, FR TE and a FR RB. That is a lot of youth to depend on. The only ones that didnt climb the depth chart by beating out the competition would be the Ince and Britt, because if Banwart and Schott were available they would probably play. I know Wieting was hurt, but LaPorta just looks better right now.
Motigerhawk
Well-Known Member
Thats a terrible game plan. You dint let weak teams hang around. You go after them and step on their throats.
Oh, wait, this is Iowa. We dont have a step on an opponents throat offense. We have a play it close to the vest offense that is afraid of taking a chance. No high risk, high reward here. This is a low risk, low reward offense. One thatt gets blown out by Wiscy and probably minny. And I dont douybt we lose to Illinois at this point.
Tis is a sad offense that will get bounced and often.
Oh, wait, this is Iowa. We dont have a step on an opponents throat offense. We have a play it close to the vest offense that is afraid of taking a chance. No high risk, high reward here. This is a low risk, low reward offense. One thatt gets blown out by Wiscy and probably minny. And I dont douybt we lose to Illinois at this point.
Tis is a sad offense that will get bounced and often.
Motigerhawk
Well-Known Member
I have a pug. He us nothing but a stud. Stubborn and willful Tests me daily.
He is a winner, unlike our offense
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
You can't take the sack when on the fringe of fg range.
Not when you're an experienced senior you can't.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
If you watched the game and concluded that NW was hanging around, please don’t do any further analysis.
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
Iowa won @Northwestern by 20 points. Wisconsin beat Northwestern at home by 9. Wisconsin gained 243 total yards vs Northwestern, Iowa had 302 total yards. Wisconsin scores 10 offensive pts vs Northwestern. Iowa scores 20 offensive pts vs Northwestern.
Fryowa
Administrator
By that reasoning you must be saying that we should have killed Michigan.
I get what you’re saying, but that kind of comparison rarely plays out in college football.
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
@Motigerhawk was trying to say that we should have just "stepped on Northwestern's throat". I was just pointing out, it isn't like you can just name your score vs good defenses, and pointed out that Wisconsin couldn't do that very thing against Northwestern either.
While Wisconsin did roll Michigan, they also lost to Illinois. Plus Wisconsin was way more inept offensively vs Northwestern than we were. Like most games the Iowa vs Wisconsin game will come down to turnovers. If we are minus 4 in TO like MIchigan was vs Wisconsin we will also get rolled. If we are even in TO we will be in the game the entire time. If we are +2 or more in TO, we will win.
blubberhawk
Well-Known Member
I would like to agree with you but watching this game seemed like most Iowa games. Hardly any more conservative than usual.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
First of all, sober up and improve your spelling.
Second, if you think Minnesota is going to come into Kinnick and bitch slap us, I got a snowmobile dealership in New Orleans to sell you. The Gophs may win, but it won't be a blowout.
Now, here is where you are going to be really disappointed. Now that the narrative of the season is playing out, you may see the offense get even more conservative. Very few teams are stringing first downs together and driving the length of the field on us. Kirk is trusting that the defense can get the other teams off the field, and he has seen what happens the few times he does give the other teams offense a short field. If we don't give Penn State two short fields, we probably gut out an ugly win. If we don't gift Michigan the ball on the twenty yard line, who knows what happens.
They are not going to take any kind of risk with the ball in any field position at the end of the half. You don't like it and neither do I. Also, it's no secret that tight ends are a huge part of this offense and we just lost two good ones. Nate has looked lost in the red zone without having a go to TE. Maybe yesterday was the start of something at that position that we can build on over the bye week.
This offense is tough to watch. But it isn't changing now. The identity of this year's team, more than ever, is the defense.
Pat Fitz has another very good defense and of course he dares Iowa to go over the top but he knows KF wont. I mentioned in another new thread that they are NCAA ranked #36 with a really good D tackle, lbkrs and their corners are good enough against many teams receivers. It was good to see some better running by Iowa in the 2nd half.
Iowa may have lost 3 pts with that first drive sack and they were in position to get more points at the end of the 1st half but didnt. So maybe it was like a 30-0 win.
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deanvogs
Well-Known Member
It is a proven recipe that has won in football since the beginning of football. Play good defense, don't turn it over, and you win. I don't know why people bitch so much about this, and I don't remember people bitching moaning and crying all season long in 2009 when our offense was even more woeful than this year.
2009 Iowa football stats:
23 PPG
336 total YPG
114 YPG rushing
222 YPG passing
2019 Iowa football stats:
24 PPG
393 total YPG
146 YPG rushing
247 YPG passing
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I agree and the only narrative I can come up with is the Stanzi vs Stanley narrative. Stanzi led some comeback wins and did it with moxie. Stanley by comparison is about as exciting as oatmeal, but no less effective in being on the winning side of the ledger. And he can match Rick's 3-0 in bowl games this year, though I will grant that Stanzi was on bigger stages. Nate is still in the process of writing his legacy, and leaning on a great defense.
Yeah fair or not, Nate's entire legacy will be decided over the next month.
If he somehow leads this team to a division title he will join the group of Banks, Tate, Stanzi, & CJ. They have B1G championships, the biggest bowl win in 60 years, or a division championship on their resumes.
If not, if he goes 3-1 down the stretch, he could be still be above the rest of the KF era QBs with a perfect record against ISU, Minnesota, & Nebraska and one of the few Iowa QBs over the last 40 years to beat Ohio St.
If things really go really sideways over the next month, he could be the QB that is remembered for not being able to get it done when everything was set up for him in 2018. Also as a QB that couldn't beat Wisconsin at all or take advantage of potentially the best scoring D of the KR era. A QB with some flashy numbers but a losing B1G record as a starting QB. The eternal James Vandeberg group.
