Indiana is averaging almost 20 points a game

HawkeyeDenis said:
I would rank the B10 defenses: MSU/PSU
Wisconsin
Illinois
Nebraska
Iowa
Ohio State
Michigan
Purdue
NW
Minn
IN
PSU/MSU are both stout defenses, arguably equal. Wisconsin, Illinois then Nebraska.

Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, OSU are all about the same. Of these OSU has the most potential. I put Nebraska slightly ahead of this group.

The others are just bad.
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I don't see it man. From what I've witnessed ... this is how I see it:

1. Michigan State
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State

Middle-Pack = Wisky, Michigan ... maybe another team or two

Right now, it's not clear at all where Iowa belongs

Many fans want to claim that Iowa is at the bottom based on stats alone ... however, I just don't think that we know what this D can do when everybody is healthy and has actually enjoyed a little bit of personnel continuity.

Should Iowa be able to get healthy and enjoy some personnel continuity ... then I really anticipate that the guys can make big enough strides to end up being a "middle of the pack" D.
 


Indiana averad 12 ppg in the bign ten before Saturday. They also started a true freshman QB who caused me to have flashbacks to Randle El. Our offense has to carry the load, period. Little, if anything, can be expected from our D and I expect MN to set season highs against us.
 


Watch the games. Put away the stats. The only two dominating defense in the B10 this year are PSU/MSU. Below PSU/MSU/Wisconsin every other team has problems defensively.
 


Its hard to defend this defense unless you just bonged 30 oz of hawkeye kool aid

When/if they get healthy things will improve but it will still be a struggle
 


I think one reason why perhaps we may be better than the stats show (not lightyears better, but better) is that we've been matched up against against some of the teams that have given us the most fits over the years, all in the first half of the season. The teams that we've typically done better against over the past 10 years are the ones we're gearing up to play down the stretch. Indiana and Northwestern have been problems for much better Iowa defenses than this one.

I would bet that we don't give up 400+ to MSU. They may be the best team we see, but they won't stroll right down the field like Northwestern. It's the nature of our defensive scheme.

Again, I don't think this means we're top 4 in the conference. But I don't necessarily think we're bottom 2-4, either. I'd put us 6/7.
 


"don't see it man. From what I've witnessed ... this is how I see it:

1. Michigan State
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State

Middle-Pack = Wisky, Michigan ... maybe another team or two"

Ohio State has the "potential" to be up there, they are not yet. tOSU has the best potential of any of the middle of the pack defenses to improve. They have the talent. They are the sleeping giant that has just started to wake up.

For Iowa it all depends on what defense shows up. The Indiana defence or the NW defense? They have then potential to be just above the worst defenses in the conference or at the head of the middle of the pack.

All of the middle of the pack defenses have problems. As some pointed out earlier, its a bad year for B10 defenses. Wisky usually ends up in the upper half if not the upper third defensively every year and to put them in the middle in a bad B10 year probably not where they are.
 


This just in: this is not your grandads college football. Offenses,especially passing offenses, have taken over the game in recent years.
Throw out all the historical records,they are being rendered meaningless in this environment. As I heard an analyst say about the NFL yesterday,this is the golden age of quarterbacks,at all levels.

All the above makes d-lineman who can get to the qb and cornerbacks who can cover one on one all the more important,and most of the best of those guys come from the South.

If Iowa can get healthy,we can be good enough on defense to allow our offense to win games the rest of the way,and make it to Indy for that Big Ten title game.
 


HawkeyeDenis said:
Watch the games. Put away the stats. The only two dominating defense in the B10 this year are PSU/MSU. Below PSU/MSU/Wisconsin every other team has problems defensively.
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I actually agree with you here. The only problem I have with Wisconsin is that they have a had a terrible schedule, and they had plenty of issues against MSU, but played pretty well against Nebraska. I think once you get to the middle of the pack, the order can move around from game to game. The bottom (NW, IU, Minn.) is the without question, the bottom.
 


SCORING DEFENSE G TD FG XPT 2XP DXP Saf Points Avg/G
1. Penn State 4 6 5 4 0 0 0 55 13.8
2. Ohio State 3 6 3 6 0 0 0 51 17.0
3. Michigan 3 7 1 7 0 0 0 52 17.3
Michigan State 3 7 1 7 0 0 0 52 17.3
5. Purdue 3 6 4 6 0 0 0 54 18.0
6. Wisconsin 3 8 1 6 1 0 1 61 20.3
7. Iowa 3 8 4 8 0 0 0 68 22.7
8. Illinois 4 12 3 12 0 0 0 93 23.2
9. Nebraska 3 12 2 11 0 0 0 89 29.7
10. Northwestern 4 20 5 18 1 0 0 155 38.8
11. Indiana 4 21 5 20 0 0 0 161 40.2
12. Minnesota 3 18 6 18 0 0 0 144 48.0



This is the only statistical category that matters.
 


2xer said:
SCORING DEFENSE G TD FG XPT 2XP DXP Saf Points Avg/G
1. Penn State 4 6 5 4 0 0 0 55 13.8
2. Ohio State 3 6 3 6 0 0 0 51 17.0
3. Michigan 3 7 1 7 0 0 0 52 17.3
Michigan State 3 7 1 7 0 0 0 52 17.3
5. Purdue 3 6 4 6 0 0 0 54 18.0
6. Wisconsin 3 8 1 6 1 0 1 61 20.3
7. Iowa 3 8 4 8 0 0 0 68 22.7
8. Illinois 4 12 3 12 0 0 0 93 23.2
9. Nebraska 3 12 2 11 0 0 0 89 29.7
10. Northwestern 4 20 5 18 1 0 0 155 38.8
11. Indiana 4 21 5 20 0 0 0 161 40.2
12. Minnesota 3 18 6 18 0 0 0 144 48.0



This is the only statistical category that matters.
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It is a very important stat, but not the ONLY one that matters. For one, it depends on who you are playing. Are you playing Wisconsin or Indiana, or some no name small school like Tennessee Tech? Second, TOP is huge. That's where we have struggled from time to time, being on the field too much. Last year we actually had a bigger issue with that because our offense struggled. And the 3rd thing is if you have a great offense and you are up 42-0 you may give up a lot of points in garbage time. So all stats can be scewed, but if you look for an overall pattern in all of them, you can see the big picture...MSU, PSU good, IU, MN, bad.
 


And yet here we sit at 5-2 overall, with the two losses by a combined 13 points, and both on the road (and one being the other team's annual super bowl).
Stats are like sluts: you can do anything you want with them.
 


I think the case could be made that Michigan's defense has been better than their offense. I also think Michigan's offense is way overrated by people on this board because of Robinson.
 


VintageHawkeye said:
And yet here we sit at 5-2 overall, with the two losses by a combined 13 points, and both on the road (and one being the other team's annual super bowl).
Stats are like sluts: you can do anything you want with them.
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Nice. I agree, I like 5-2, but worry for the future of the season. If our D was just a little bit better we could have been 6-1. We are the only team that couldn't get a bunch of turnovers from Steele Pantz. Against us he looked like an All-American, against other teams, benched.
 


FML said:
Saw a stat recently....Iowa is 112th out of 120 teams in 3rd down defense.
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This is what makes the D look bad. Against Indiana, it seemed like every indiana offensive drive the hawks got them to 3rd down but couldn't get a stop. And it happened a lot. This stat also shows that the D may be right on the edge of being good. If you start making 3rd down stops you get the ball back quicker and keep points of the board and prevent yards from racking up. This to me is the difference maker.
 


stevoskin said:
This is what makes the D look bad. Against Indiana, it seemed like every indiana offensive drive the hawks got them to 3rd down but couldn't get a stop. And it happened a lot. This stat also shows that the D may be right on the edge of being good. If you start making 3rd down stops you get the ball back quicker and keep points of the board and prevent yards from racking up. This to me is the difference maker.
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I wonder how many third and shorts teams have against us? I know Northwestern was getting them all day. It's hard to stop teams when they always have 3rd and 4 or less.
 


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