I'm starting to sense a turn in national sentiment

R

Rawkhawk73

Banned
Now that we're 7 games into the season, I'm starting to sense that national pundits are giving us more respect than we were getting a couple weeks ago. Heck, even Pete Fuitak is starting to come around a little bit.

I think the fact that we are the only team in the country to have beaten 3 BCS Top 25 teams is starting to get noticed. I think people are starting to see that we are a resilient team that makes it's own breaks and plays solid, if unspectacular, football.

We're essentially Alabama without the 5 star athletes.

Speaking of Alabama, they played essentially the same SC team we played back in January and couldn't put them away until the 4th quarter. We had the game locked up by halftime. I know it's always dangerous to play the Team A beat Team B by more than Team C game, but I think at the end of the day our Hawks have shown they can play with anyone and the nation is finally starting to notice it, too.
 
Rawkhawk73 said:
Now that we're 7 games into the season, I'm starting to sense that national pundits are giving us more respect than we were getting a couple weeks ago. Heck, even Pete Fuitak is starting to come around a little bit.

I think the fact that we are the only team in the country to have beaten 3 BCS Top 25 teams is starting to get noticed. I think people are starting to see that we are a resilient team that makes it's own breaks and plays solid, if unspectacular, football.

We're essentially Alabama without the 5 star athletes.

Speaking of Alabama, they played essentially the same SC team we played back in January and couldn't put them away until the 4th quarter. We had the game locked up by halftime. I know it's always dangerous to play the Team A beat Team B by more than Team C game, but I think at the end of the day our Hawks have shown they can play with anyone and the nation is finally starting to notice it, too.
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Except for Colin Cowherd.
 
I think his point is that we've beat 3 teams that are currently in the BCS top 25 (Penn State, Arizona, Wisconsin). Miami beat those teams when the teams were ranked in the top 20 but FSU has fallen well out of the top 25.
 
Rawkhawk73 said:
Now that we're 7 games into the season, I'm starting to sense that national pundits are giving us more respect than we were getting a couple weeks ago. Heck, even Pete Fuitak is starting to come around a little bit.

I think the fact that we are the only team in the country to have beaten 3 BCS Top 25 teams is starting to get noticed. I think people are starting to see that we are a resilient team that makes it's own breaks and plays solid, if unspectacular, football.

We're essentially Alabama without the 5 star athletes.

Speaking of Alabama, they played essentially the same SC team we played back in January and couldn't put them away until the 4th quarter. We had the game locked up by halftime. I know it's always dangerous to play the Team A beat Team B by more than Team C game, but I think at the end of the day our Hawks have shown they can play with anyone and the nation is finally starting to notice it, too.
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I even heard Jon Kincaid(ESPN Radio) and Beano Cook acknowledge that if Iowa goes undefeated, they will need to be considered for the Big Game,albeit relunctantly.
As Cook said after they discussed all the other top 5-6 teams without mentioning Iowa '' I forget about Iowa, and that is not right...they still have tough road games at MSU and OSU, but if they win with that schedule they need to be in the picture''

Coming from Big Ten skeptic Cook and Kincaid, this is like a revelation.
Slowly the worm is turning.
 
There's not a lot of "analysis" from the national talking heads these days. Iowa has had a heavy-duty bullseye on their back 6 out of the 7 games they have played. UNI & ISU gunning for them as in-state rivals. Arizona with Stoops coming back to IC. Penn St. with the white-out "revenge" game. Wisconsin in Madison looking to avenge last years beatdown, and Michigan looking to knock off an undefeated, ranked team in prime time. Although they haven't won pretty, they continue to get the job done. We still hear the "speed" issue, then the surprise when they notice our linebackers sticking with receivers downfield. And don't get me started with the backhanded jabs about the "cupcake" non-conference schedules lobbed almost exclusively B10 teams. Q. What do Florida International, Chattanooga, North Texas, Charleston Southern, and Troy have in common? A. They are the combined non-conference opponents of Alabama and Florida. When's the last time you've heard that mentioned by the "experts".
 
Listen, we are nothing but a potential sidenote to the national media. If we make it, they will sell us as cinderellas and will make it sound like we deserve it so our potential ratings will be higher. If we stumble they will bury us as overrated. Everyone needs to accept this. That is why the only thing this team can control is their own winning. This is when I wish we had a city of 2 - 5 million to boost ratings then we would be fast as lighting, strong, dominant, etc, etc, etc. Most everything we hear is manipulations to drive interest that is all. There is very little true analyzing.

I have watched many of the other top teams in regards to line play, execution, speed etc. etc. We match up well in all areas. There is not one team that I don't give us a decent shot at if the opportunity presents itself. No guarantees, but we certainly are not physically overmatched against anybody. If we can stay in the game until the 4th quarter we have a great shot against anyone. Go back and watch our quality games and especially the 4th quarter. We DOMINATE both lines and control time. We become stronger as the game goes on. The one person who deserves a great deal of credit is Doyle because these boys can hold up and dish it late in the game when everyone else is fading. That is a huge advantage if we are still in the game.

Great example of the talking heads. Herbie doing the Penn St game mentions several times how incredibly fast our defense was. Then yesterday on college football live he mentions that we are slow. That we can't keep up in terms of speed. Geesh, my head hurts from all the flip flopping. Make an analysis and stick too it or at least tell us why you changed your opinion. I just want some consistency, but I know we will not get it.
 
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Since when did we every really care about national sentiment anyhow? The same national media that touts Tim Tebow as the second coming of christ? A lot of those guys on the ESPNs don't do their homework, and are all graduates of "premiere" schools. This means they look at us as rednecks from the boonies... which technically we are (myself included) so that point is shot down but still... you guys get the point.
 
CCLHHawk said:
Q. What do Florida International, Chattanooga, North Texas, Charleston Southern, and Troy have in common? A. They are the combined non-conference opponents of Alabama and Florida. When's the last time you've heard that mentioned by the "experts".
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Very, very good point on that one. The bias toward the SEC and the "traditional powers" in that regard is absolutely ridiculous. You could argue that all of those teams would be the worst or second worst team on Iowa's schedule.
 
bassdeer said:
Iowa still doesnt get respect.....of the unbeatens it is the lowest ranked.....
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That's because as tough as we think the Big Ten is, they've shown very poor in their last two Title games (thanks a lot OSU!) and lost every bowl game last season with the exception of Iowa. So they play in a weaker conference. Not to mention two squeakers at home against Arkansas State and UNI!
 
Isnt it great to hear the "suck ups" or so called analysts spend twice as much time telling everyone on what Michigan or OSU are doing wrong then saying what the Hawks are doing right. It is just a big show for money and we all know the bigger the wallet, the more time your going to get on the screen, websites, and Colin Cowards talk show. Colin is a good example of this being the King USC suck up!
 
Well --

- We don't have "THE KILLER PLAYER" on this team. That always hurts National attention.
- We did luck out by having 2 Nationally televised games in prime time on ABC - and won both!
- Shame that we have to win out to be considered for anything. The UNI win was kind of like a loss since it dropped us from 22nd ranked to non-ranked. Too Bad.
- It will be nice to see Ohio State play Cap One, Outback, or other. Wonder what their fans will do......Go heavily or be disgruntled and stay at home???

Everyone hope for upsets against the top 1-5 BCS teams!
 
This big ten conference season is a waste in the eyes of the national media. The Bowl season is the only place the Big Ten can prove itself to anybody outside big ten country. I guarantee you it won't get no better the rest of the way, especially when the temperature starts to drop, the white stuff hits the ground, and the level of play undoubtedly and understandably starts to fall with it. One major factor that the SEC and PAC-10 never have to deal with, and in most games the Big 12 (South) and ACC won't either. Last years bowl season was a disaster for the conference as a whole, IMO the only way to gain back the respect would be a 5-plus bowl win season this year.
 
I also don't quite understand how USC is getting huge credit for beating a Notre Dame team who has yet to beat a currently ranked team. By all means, it was a good road win for USC, but if they are getting these HUGE props for beating Notre Dame, should it at LEAST be noticed that we beat Michigan, who had beat Notre Dame. As bad as NBC, NCAA, ESPN, Lou Holtz, Touchdown Jesus, and anyone whos irish want to think that Notre Dame is back, they still haven't shown it, and I think Boston College will help prove that point this weekend.
 
I blame UNI for Iowa being the lowest ranked undefeated team. It's very possible we would be ranked 1-3 spots higher right now if not for the 1-point win over UNI to start the year. We came into that game ranked and fell out of the rankings for 2-3 weeks following the close win. If Iowa blows UNI away like is expected they move up a few spots each week thereafter. The PSU game would have been billed as a 'clash of titans' rather than just a 'revenge' game and the winner would have been guaranteed top-10 status that week. Then 3 weeks/wins later (ArkSt,UM,UW) we would have had a shot of moving up to be even higher than we are now.

Right now, I think if Texas loses a game and Iowa runs the table we are in the NC game against the SEC champ. If Texas goes undefeated but looks weak in a few games and Iowa can blow away OSU at the Shoe I think there is a slim chance we go over Texas, but very slim.
 
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