Iowa was a few plays away from being 9-3 Last season...seriously

[greenrocket]

interesting read. I had almost forgotten about all those close losses. really makes me mad all over again. you could say we were really 5-7 plays away from being 9-3 and visa versa.

i honestly want to know what went thru GD head when calling a 1 yd out pass on 4and3? idiot.

Did anyone ever watch Davis' playcalling when he was at Texas? It's really no different, and one of the main reasons Texas got rid of him was due to the problems that have been talked about all over this board - lack of vertical passing, too complicated for the receivers and QB's to sync up, etc. The only reason he lasted as long as he did was due to Colt McCoy and Vince Young...those guys could just flat out make stuff happen (at least in college). I guess I'm just surprised that anyone expects him to change...

 

[kicker22]

While I understand the attempt of this. I'm not one that believes in moral victories. Football is a game of inches. Every game there are going to be plays that determine who wins and loses. That said though, there are so many plays during the course of a game that dictate the outcome. While a few plays here and there may be the difference between a win and a loss in a single game, I am not one that cumulates "a few plays here and there" to try to put a spin on a losing season.

I'm not being negative and a true believer that last years team wasn't as bad as everyone thought. Although I'll be the first to admit that our offense was horrendous. That said, I think they can bounce back and put the 4-8 season behind them. However, I don't try to spin a losing record into a positive, because every team in america could do the same. The fact is those plays that could have gone the other way didn't and as a result of failing to execute, taking a play off, or simply not getting it done in the end you are still what your record says you are.

9-3 teams or teams that have success don't look back and say, we very easily could have been 4-8. They did what they needed to do to get the wins, and we simply didn't. I think knowing you were 4-8 does a lot more to motivate you in the off season then thinking you were "a handful of plays" away from having a good year. While the "handful of plays" may be in the back of your mind the fact remains that you were 4-8 and that failure is what IMO drives the players to work that much harder.

 

[hawkeyescott]

You could also argue they were 2 plays from being 2-10.

And this is a perfect example of why people should read a post before commenting.

Hell all you had to do was read the first paragraph and not even the whole post instead of just reading the title and jumping in with a comment that made you look really dumb.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Interesting points, Jon. Allow me to point out the flip-side.

We were also 2 plays away from 2-10

 

[slickwillard]

And this is a perfect example of why people should read a post before commenting.

Hell all you had to do was read the first paragraph and not even the whole post instead of just reading the title and jumping in with a comment that made you look really dumb.

Interesting points, Jon. Allow me to point out the flip-side.

We were also 2 plays away from 2-10

It happens. No biggie.

 

[kicker22]

The other thing worth mentioning is if we improve on both sides of the ball, those "few plays" don't factor in as much because you have that many more opportunities to win the game.

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

With the schedule last season, I feel that if we had the same talent as 2012, but the coaching staff from 5 years ago, they would have easily been 9-3. I am optimistic that this year will have guys step up, but I have extreme doubts in the guys that are leading the offense and defense. I think that GD will be the fall of KF. I guess we will see this year if it was Vandy or GD.

interesting thought and I agree we'd win more games. Norm was awesome and KOK and KF were very much on the same page. Davis and KF were reading different books....I am excited to see how these coaching changes play out.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

It's a pretty sad state of affairs when the "games we could have won" list includes ISU, Indiana, Purdue and Central Michigan and that the program has fallen so far bince the introduction of Greg Davis as OC that Northwestern wasn't even in the list of "games we could have won." I mean, at least we used to be competitive with Northwestern.

This.....

 

[Section136]

Interesting points, Jon. Allow me to point out the flip-side.

We were also 2 plays away from 2-10

Derp happens.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

interesting read. I had almost forgotten about all those close losses. really makes me mad all over again. you could say we were really 5-7 plays away from being 9-3 and visa versa.

i honestly want to know what went thru GD head when calling a 1 yd out pass on 4and3? idiot.

It's kind of a cliche, but good teams find a way to win the close ones. Iowa just was not a good team in 2012. It WAS a good team in 2004 & 2009 when it was winning the close games.

With the schedule last year (no OSU, no Wisconsin, PSU at home, etc.) 8-4 or 9-3 really should not have been that difficult of an accomplishment for a GOOD football team. If Iowa had eeked out those games against Indiana, Purdue, CMU, etc., sure the overall record would have looked a lot better, but it would have been fool's gold, because Iowa still got manhandled by good teams (Michigan, PSU, and NW). I realize the Nebraska game was close, but the weather was horrible that day, and bad weather always produces low scoring games, which are close by default.

 

[trj]

I would rather leave the ISU game out, if Jantz could hit wide open receivers that game is not even close.

 

[bws258]

aahaahahahahahahahahahhhahahahahahaahahahahahah

ROFLMAO!!!

 

[JHHawk]

Sports generally,and football specifically, are such black and white affairs.....you win,and it is heaven,but you lose and it is misery. In 2009,we pulled out that win over UNI by a hair,and a bunch of other close games,and we sang songs of love and admiration to KF and the team.
In 2010-2012,we lost most of those close games,and some want to ride KF out of town on a rail.

The Central Michigan and Purdue games were both crazy flukey,and just win those two and we are 6-6 and bowling.

The ball is due to bounce our way for a change,and I like us to win 8.

 

[deanvogs]

It's kind of a cliche, but good teams find a way to win the close ones. Iowa just was not a good team in 2012. It WAS a good team in 2004 & 2009 when it was winning the close games.

With the schedule last year (no OSU, no Wisconsin, PSU at home, etc.) 8-4 or 9-3 really should not have been that difficult of an accomplishment for a GOOD football team. If Iowa had eeked out those games against Indiana, Purdue, CMU, etc., sure the overall record would have looked a lot better, but it would have been fool's gold, because Iowa still got manhandled by good teams (Michigan, PSU, and NW). I realize the Nebraska game was close, but the weather was horrible that day, and bad weather always produces low scoring games, which are close by default.

We were in no way shape or form a good team last year. I do think that if we don't lose our 2 best OL players to injury, that we manage to win 6. That wouldn't really have made us that much better, but it did hurt. Yet every team has injuries, and Iowa was no different, but the good teams play though them and win. The problem is we weren't a good team last year....

 

[Eda]

interesting read. I had almost forgotten about all those close losses. really makes me mad all over again. you could say we were really 5-7 plays away from being 9-3 and visa versa.

i honestly want to know what went thru GD head when calling a 1 yd out pass on 4and3? idiot.

The CB made a play on the tackle. If our guy had made the play/not gotten tackled, he houses it. There was literally nobody else there to stop him.
Thus... As the title suggests we were a play away from a win there.

 

[Eda]

We were in no way shape or form a good team last year. I do think that if we don't lose our 2 best OL players to injury, that we manage to win 6. That wouldn't really have made us that much better, but it did hurt. Yet every team has injuries, and Iowa was no different, but the good teams play though them and win. The problem is we weren't a good team last year....

Agreed. We all knew going into last year that we were gonna be a bad team. Not many anticipated how bad it was gonna get, but as the OP suggests, we could have been better (in regards to the overall W/L records).

 

[eveningnewsteam]

The CB made a play on the tackle. If our guy had made the play/not gotten tackled, he houses it. There was literally nobody else there to stop him.
Thus... As the title suggests we were a play away from a win there.

Thats why you dont go to a talent like Zach Derby with the game on the line. Good ******* grief

 

[hwk23]

Agreed. We all knew going into last year that we were gonna be a bad team. Not many anticipated how bad it was gonna get, but as the OP suggests, we could have been better (in regards to the overall W/L records).

The key to the bad season was JVB and no one that I know of predicted JVB would have such a terrible season after what was really a pretty good 2011.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

So much irony in this thread. Good stuff, too, like, if we were more "innovative", "shouldn't lose to XYZ State", etc.

If we are so head-and-shoulders above those programs, why the need for "innovation"?

It reminds me of a time way back when, before most of you were ever Hawk fans, when the crappy Bears were playing the dynasty-era Steelers. Game was slow, Steelers run (successfully) a fake punt for a first down. My friend's father noted, "Je--s Ch___t, I expect the BEARS to run one of those! Since when do good teams need to do that?!"

The expectations many of you have are ridiculous, unrealistic, and have, by and large, never been sustained at Iowa beyond a five- to ten-year period. As others have noted, there are things inherent in our make-up that make it harder to compete year-in, year-out over the long term WITHOUT experiencing down times.

All that said, last year is behind us. Can we please stop dwelling on it? I get that it sucked. I get that we "could" have gone 9-3. The FACT is that we went 4-8, and we can now awake from that nightmare of a season with a fresh hope for a better season.

 

[kmurp]

Thats why you dont go to a talent like Zach Derby with the game on the line. Good ******* grief

There wasn't much "talent" to choose from last year.