Iowa has led at halftime of all of their games

[homes]

Yet they are only 4-3. Why is that? Are they not well-conditioned, and fade in the second half? Do they not respond well to the opponent's halftime adjustments? Is it their lack of depth that eventually emerges in the second half, or a talent gap that eventually gives way to better talent in the second half? Or is it just the way games go, and they'll get their share in the second half of the season?

I see they are an improved bunch this year, but it is frustrating at the same time to watch these leads slip away.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Conditioning had nothing to do with Iowa's losses. Ohio State had too much offense for Iowa to handle. With an exception of the two touchdowns scored in the second quarter Iowa had nothing for Michigan State. They were dominated from the start. NIU got the upper hand at the end of the game.
Depth is better now than last year, but the offense couldn't overcome the defense of MSU. And they couldn't score enough to keep up with Ohio State. Iowa is a good team, well coached but they do not have the athletes of Ohio State or Michigan State.

 

[uihawk82]

The disappointing game of the 3 losses is NIU. After getting 300 yards of offense in the first half it seemed the offense and playcalling went away from the running game as we have all talked about.

NIU has the least of the defenses of the 3 teams we have lost to. The hawks should have pounded them in the second half like they did in the late first qtr and 2nd qtr.

The hawk offense was outmatched against MSU and the hawk defense couldnt seem to stop OSU.

It is great that they are playing better.

Win a few more go hawks

 

[DJL]

I think most of us agree that KF is not a great game day coach. It seems that there is a solid game plan going into the game, but the halftime adjustments have not gone well this year for the Hawks. I'm not sure why we completely abandon the run when we are only down 7? With that said it was a great effort Saturday, and we lost to a better team on their home field. Just hope we can pull 2 or 3 more out this year.

 

[INTIMIDATORHawk]

The disappointing game of the 3 losses is NIU. After getting 300 yards of offense in the first half it seemed the offense and playcalling went away from the running game as we have all talked about.

NIU has the least of the defenses of the 3 teams we have lost to. The hawks should have pounded them in the second half like they did in the late first qtr and 2nd qtr.

The hawk offense was outmatched against MSU and the hawk defense couldnt seem to stop OSU.

It is great that they are playing better.

Win a few more go hawks

I'm not going to try to be any kind of apologist here, but the NIU game was the first game of the season. It was Ruddock's first start, and first ever live game action in college. We had a lot of question marks to answer, and it is fair to say that Iowa needed to learn about itself for the first couple games. We have seen that evolution, and it is apparent that Iowa has developed an identity that they didn't have in game 1.

Michigan State is difficult to figure out. Iowa had a lot of injuries to key players in the second half. That fact can't be discarded. It also shows that Iowa doesn't have any depth.

The OSU game is one where we can all find victory in defeat. If anyone claims to have predicted that Iowa would take that game down to the 4th quarter, then they are lying. We all expected a blowout. OSU's speed, skill and depth prevailed in the end.

 

[hawkfarmer]

As opposite of when Norm was DC, I don't think the team can adjust at halftime or during the game. The other team is out coaching IMO.

 

[tm3308]

The only game this year in which I think you could say Iowa was outcoached in terms of halftime adjustments might be NIU. Against MSU and OSU, the second half was just a continuation of the first half (OSU did whatever it wanted on offense while our offense actually did a decent job of keeping pace; MSU just dominated us in every facet).

 

[lightning1]

So are their daughters.

LOL. Dantonio's daughter called that fake punt!

 

[ThunderHawk]

Halftime is for resting, not adjusting.

 

[enmaster]

Because Ohio State, Michigan State, and Northern Illinois are better teams than us and ISU, MSU, WMU, and Minnesota are worse teams than us?

 

[TChawk]

Easy answers, we have the WORST game coach in all of football...

 

[herky01]

Kirk should have given 75% of his income to Norm, cause Norm was the big-brain running the show...

 

[Biggusblockus]

Iowa asks more of their D Lineman than most programs. Occupy the blockers against the run to free up the LBs to make tackles. Rush the passer with only 4 guys. Contain a running QB using 4 guys - again without much blitzing to help with either.

Our scheme on Defense, combined with an offense that often struggles to stay on the field, and not a lot of rotation means they are indeed gassed on defense in the 4th quarter. We have seen this for years.

 

[StatelineHawk]

The disappointing game of the 3 losses is NIU. After getting 300 yards of offense in the first half it seemed the offense and playcalling went away from the running game as we have all talked about.

NIU has the least of the defenses of the 3 teams we have lost to. The hawks should have pounded them in the second half like they did in the late first qtr and 2nd qtr.

The hawk offense was outmatched against MSU and the hawk defense couldnt seem to stop OSU.

It is great that they are playing better.

Win a few more go hawks

I agree the NIU game was very disappointing.

 

[bigjim]

I think a lot of it has to do with teams making a halftime adjustment on their run defense. Our team depends mostly on our run gm I just don't think that we have the passing gm to pull us out of bad situations without the run gm.