Iowa Plays to the level of their competition

[iahawk72]

and this is why Iowa will never be an elite program.

9 out of 10 times great teams bury the opponents they are suppose to bury. Sure there are instances where an obviously inferior opponent plays out of their minds and catches a great team on an off day. However, Iowa's struggles in recent years with Northwestern, Arkansas State, Indiana and the like indicates to me that the program is missing that killer instinct, the desire to go for the jugular.

How does the team that destroys a Top 10 team in Michigan State, the next 2 weeks not show up mentally focused or with any level of energy with a Big Ten Championship on the line?

The last truly inferior team that Iowa buried in a big way was Minnesota in 2008.

I know that the staff doesn't figure ways to keep the games close however there is something intangible missing from the attitude of the program in WANTING to dominate opponents you should be dominating. This does not mean embarrassing the opposition but rather putting the game away in the 1st half as Iowa did against Michigan State.

iahawk72

 

[Hawkize1]

Besides Ball State, The last time Iowa put an absolute beatdown on a team was Minnesota 55-0 on their turf.. I think if I remember right Minnesota did something before the game that drew the ire of Coach Ferentz. Alas 55-0.
This is the kind of PO'd attitude Iowa needs to play with every week.

 

[gohawks71]

Totally agree. Great call.

 

[AcctHawk99]

Totally agree.

An example of this is the Penn State game this year. We put up 150 yards of offense in the 1st quarter to 1 yard by PSU, but rather than go for the juggular, we sit back and let Penn State hang in the game. Why not keep dominating and put up 30 in the first half ala MSU and let the backups play the 2nd half/4th quarter? All I can figure is Ferentz didn't want to embarrass Joe Pa because he has alot of respect for him, but still, I don't like the message it sends to the players when you are clearly the best team and allow the other team to still have a shot. It also doesn't impress voters or recruits. Putting a 30+pt drubbing on Penn State after 2 close wins sends a message that Iowa is clearly better than the Lions to recruits. Just a missed opportunity in my opinion.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Besides Ball State, The last time Iowa put an absolute beatdown on a team was Minnesota 55-0 on their turf.. I think if I remember right Minnesota did something before the game that drew the ire of Coach Ferentz. Alas 55-0.
This is the kind of PO'd attitude Iowa needs to play with every week.

We put a beatdown on ISU this year.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

Post of the year. This has been my #1 complaint of Iowa teams under KF. IT SIMPLY DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE EITHER!!! They need to take a lesson from...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcR7hr4LLQg]YouTube - Matt Foley: The Ultimate Tribute[/ame]

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

We put a beatdown on ISU this year.

Could have and should have beat them by 50. Shutdown at halftime. Scored only 7 points in the second half. I remember sitting their in the 3rd quarter asking myself why this team is quitting. I wanted the hammer put down. KF simply doesn't do it.

 

[edr247]

We put a beatdown on ISU this year.

Probably one of the few exceptions to the rule. Every year, we lose to some team that we shouldn't lose to. This year, it was definitely Northwestern, and nearly Indiana. Last year, it was Northwestern, along with few close wins (UNI and ASU). It's a ****** that's been followed for years.

EDIT: Why is the word scri-pt censored?

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

Totally agree.

An example of this is the Penn State game this year. We put up 150 yards of offense in the 1st quarter to 1 yard by PSU, but rather than go for the juggular, we sit back and let Penn State hang in the game. Why not keep dominating and put up 30 in the first half ala MSU and let the backups play the 2nd half/4th quarter? All I can figure is Ferentz didn't want to embarrass Joe Pa because he has alot of respect for him, but still, I don't like the message it sends to the players when you are clearly the best team and allow the other team to still have a shot. It also doesn't impress voters or recruits. Putting a 30+pt drubbing on Penn State after 2 close wins sends a message that Iowa is clearly better than the Lions to recruits. Just a missed opportunity in my opinion.

I haven't been to a game in over 7 years and traveled from Texas up to Iowa for this game. Spent alot of money on my 50 yard line seats and I sat their in the second half and looked at my wife and said I was flippin bored!!! I didn't come all that way for the team to shut down. I was so upset.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

this topic gets me fired up. I'm actually upset about this right now. I love KF and would never want him replaced as coach, but I hope to God that when it's time to hire a new football coach that Iowa hires someone who isn't afraid to run up the score and is a motivator. Good National Championship type teams don't care who or when they play someone. They don't quit and call off the dogs. KF is an honorable man, but it gets him in trouble. If anything this team needs to hire someone to get them mentally prepared. They fail in that department consistently.

 

[GoHawks24]

The bottom line is that Captain Kirk is conservative to a fault. Usually it works out in our favor, but like we've seen lately, it can bite you in the ***.

 

[silvanthalas]

This is the kind of PO'd attitude Iowa needs to play with every week.

It's a 12 game season, it shouldn't be that difficult. And yet, we've had entire seasons (Tate's senior year) where nobody seems to play with any motivation.

 

[silvanthalas]

EDIT: Why is the word scri-pt censored?

Many websites run scr-pts as part of the code of the site. If you scan the HTML for this page, you'll see the word in there.

Censoring the word is likely to prevent foreign code from trying to exploit a flaw of some kind.

 

[Clark]

Kirk Ferentz and this staff have had a lot of success at Iowa and I'm pretty confident in saying they will have a lot more in the future. But if it's national titles you're after, this staff isn't for you.

Being risk averse is a great strategy to make bowl games. Not so great for getting to a national title game. Even Jim Tressel who is extremely risk averse had Craig Krenzel throw a pass on 4th and 1 in 2002 against Purdue (at least I think it was Purdue) with time running down late in the 4th quarter. If the pass is incomplete, game over. No NC for OSU. You think Ferentz makes that call? Or the call that Pete Carroll made in the 2005 Rose Bowl against Texas to go for it on 4th and 1 at midfield rather than punt it away to Vince Young who they hadn't stopped all game. Get the first down game over. (they didn't make it of course but that's not the point) Do you think Ferentz makes that call?

And this isn't meant as a slam on Ferentz. It's for these very reasons why I'd be shocked if Iowa were ever worse than a 6 win team under his leadership from here on out. But i'd also be shocked if they were ever an undefeated team under his leadership as well.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

So does anyone else think Iowa will lose to Minny this weekend? It easily could happen.

 

[NeilDiamond]

I have been hammering this point all year. Give me Alabama any day over NW.

 

[jameskalina]

So does anyone else think Iowa will lose to Minny this weekend? It easily could happen.

It can happen. To say I'm not concerned about this game it would be a lie.

 

[gohawks71]

I totally think we could lose. Things are looking up for them and they have a bye week to prepare.

 

[seepig]

Oh yeah it could happen...Minny is playing their best ball at seasons end and Iowa is stinking it up..it would serve the coaching staff right to lose this one. Do something in a game to let the kids know and the other team that you're not going to stand by and let them make substitutions because they know your tendencies..and KOK has many just ask Pat Fitzgerald who seems to know all of Iowa's. Ask Bill Lynch at Indiana who has realistically had a shot to beat Iowa what 4 of the last 5 meetings they just screw up worse than we do most of the time.

 

[Saginawbay]

and this is why Iowa will never be an elite program.

9 out of 10 times great teams bury the opponents they are suppose to bury. Sure there are instances where an obviously inferior opponent plays out of their minds and catches a great team on an off day. However, Iowa's struggles in recent years with Northwestern, Arkansas State, Indiana and the like indicates to me that the program is missing that killer instinct, the desire to go for the jugular.

How does the team that destroys a Top 10 team in Michigan State, the next 2 weeks not show up mentally focused or with any level of energy with a Big Ten Championship on the line?

The last truly inferior team that Iowa buried in a big way was Minnesota in 2008.

I know that the staff doesn't figure ways to keep the games close however there is something intangible missing from the attitude of the program in WANTING to dominate opponents you should be dominating. This does not mean embarrassing the opposition but rather putting the game away in the 1st half as Iowa did against Michigan State.

iahawk72

This is correct we play down or up and we act like we are just Iowa. Instead of having confidence in being a annual top 15 program. KF needs to take a seminar from Iowa wrestling coach's about winning with high expectations.