IowaLawWasRight
Well-Known Member
56-14? I don't think any of us would have guessed that we would pull off such a dominant win after the embarrassment of the past two weeks. It's really hard to figure out who this team really is? Largely underachieving or largely overachieving?
1. Stanley - 13/20 for 192 yards and 2 TDs. Solid stats! Although Stanley is primarily used as a "game manager," which is how most Iowa QBs are, he has the potential for more. Very efficient game, completing a ton of short cannon passes, while sprinkling in a few shots down the field. He has a lot to learn about audibles and getting the ball out quickly, he plays an efficient game with few mistakes. It will be fun to watch him grow over the next two years.
2. DBs - It is fun to watch Joshua Jackson play. He leads the nation in BOTH interceptions and pass breakups, and almost had another int today. He's every bit the college CB that Desmond King was, and may have even more pro potential. It's puzzling why last season was plagued with terrible CB play opposite of King, as Mabin and others got picked on over and over...and all the while Jackson was sitting on the bench watching and waiting. Thankfully, Matt Hankins, is getting some beneficial playing as a freshmen. Hankins had 5 tackles today, including some pretty good hits and some solid pass coverage. I hope Jackson comes back next year, but if not, we should be in good hands with Hankins.
3. Wadley - 19 carries for 159 yards. There is nothing more frustrating than than having a legitimate all Big 10 running back on your roster, yet misusing him in 75% of this season's games. With even average coaching, Wadley would have had over 100 yards in each game this season. Instead, we ran Wadley up the middle on 1st and 2nd down all season long into 8 man fronts. Such a waste. I like Toren Young and Ivory Martin, but we are not going to be lucky enough to have another guy with Wadley's talent for another decade or two.
4. Union Card Continues - I cannot believe Rastetter CONTINUES to start despite having the worst game of any college punter last week. Despite the debacle against Purdue, he trotted out there again this week with no repercussions of his poor performance. He proceeded to once again prove fans right and embarrass himself with a huge, clutzy fumble on his first punt. It cost us 50 yards of field position. In a close game, that's the difference between a win and loss. Even then, the coaches kept him in for the remainder of the game. He finished with 2 punts for a 27 yard average, and a fumble! That is worse than more than 80% of Iowa High School punters. So how can we explain the guy's continued playing time? Either our special teams coach just doesn't get it, or our scholarship freshmen punter must really really suck. Either way, this is a colossal failure on the coaching staff's part. I hope we are scouting grad transfer punters, because the staff was planning on starting Rastetter last year but lucked out when a grad transfer fell into their lap.
5. Smith-Marsette-Grigsby - Equally as confusing as the Rastetter situation is Grigsby's playing time regardless of the number of mental mistakes he makes. The guy had a rough game last week, dropping more catches than he caught. Rather than replacing him with someone else who deserves a shot, Ferentz starts him. Grigsby begins by fielding a kickoff at the 1 yard line and running straight out of bounds, almost safetying himself!!!! That exact mental mistake single handedly cost Jonathan Parker his career at Iowa (we all recall that Ferentz never played the kid again after he did the same thing as a freshmen). It is interesting that Grigsby is treated so differently. The guy fumbled his first career touch as a Hawk on an end around, had blooper reel passes bounce off his face mask on 3rd downs in big games, and now he walked out of bounds at the 1 yard line on a kick return. All the while, he stays in the game without even a series of "doghouse" time. Unbelievably inconsistent personnel decisions, which confirms what most critics have said for years...Ferentz plays favorites.
Coaching favoritism does not take away the fact that Grigsby was able to make some solid plays later in the game (he finished the game with 3 short catches, a great kick return negated by a penalty), but the coach's treatment of him vs. others in history is perplexing. Is there a rational explanation. Remember when Wadley fumbled as a sophomore, and virtually never played despite being the best RB on the team and averaging 8 yards per carry? The media asked Ferentz about it, and he would always justify benching Wadley by saying that he couldn't risk a turnover. Similarly, just last year Jonathan Parker was forced to transfer after landing in the doghouse for making one mental mistake, running out of bounds at the 1 yard line, despite showing. So why does Smith-Marsette get a free pass? Having high hopes for the guy like all of us do is not the same as treating him different than the rest of the team.
twitter ~ iowalawhawk
1. Stanley - 13/20 for 192 yards and 2 TDs. Solid stats! Although Stanley is primarily used as a "game manager," which is how most Iowa QBs are, he has the potential for more. Very efficient game, completing a ton of short cannon passes, while sprinkling in a few shots down the field. He has a lot to learn about audibles and getting the ball out quickly, he plays an efficient game with few mistakes. It will be fun to watch him grow over the next two years.
2. DBs - It is fun to watch Joshua Jackson play. He leads the nation in BOTH interceptions and pass breakups, and almost had another int today. He's every bit the college CB that Desmond King was, and may have even more pro potential. It's puzzling why last season was plagued with terrible CB play opposite of King, as Mabin and others got picked on over and over...and all the while Jackson was sitting on the bench watching and waiting. Thankfully, Matt Hankins, is getting some beneficial playing as a freshmen. Hankins had 5 tackles today, including some pretty good hits and some solid pass coverage. I hope Jackson comes back next year, but if not, we should be in good hands with Hankins.
3. Wadley - 19 carries for 159 yards. There is nothing more frustrating than than having a legitimate all Big 10 running back on your roster, yet misusing him in 75% of this season's games. With even average coaching, Wadley would have had over 100 yards in each game this season. Instead, we ran Wadley up the middle on 1st and 2nd down all season long into 8 man fronts. Such a waste. I like Toren Young and Ivory Martin, but we are not going to be lucky enough to have another guy with Wadley's talent for another decade or two.
4. Union Card Continues - I cannot believe Rastetter CONTINUES to start despite having the worst game of any college punter last week. Despite the debacle against Purdue, he trotted out there again this week with no repercussions of his poor performance. He proceeded to once again prove fans right and embarrass himself with a huge, clutzy fumble on his first punt. It cost us 50 yards of field position. In a close game, that's the difference between a win and loss. Even then, the coaches kept him in for the remainder of the game. He finished with 2 punts for a 27 yard average, and a fumble! That is worse than more than 80% of Iowa High School punters. So how can we explain the guy's continued playing time? Either our special teams coach just doesn't get it, or our scholarship freshmen punter must really really suck. Either way, this is a colossal failure on the coaching staff's part. I hope we are scouting grad transfer punters, because the staff was planning on starting Rastetter last year but lucked out when a grad transfer fell into their lap.
5. Smith-Marsette-Grigsby - Equally as confusing as the Rastetter situation is Grigsby's playing time regardless of the number of mental mistakes he makes. The guy had a rough game last week, dropping more catches than he caught. Rather than replacing him with someone else who deserves a shot, Ferentz starts him. Grigsby begins by fielding a kickoff at the 1 yard line and running straight out of bounds, almost safetying himself!!!! That exact mental mistake single handedly cost Jonathan Parker his career at Iowa (we all recall that Ferentz never played the kid again after he did the same thing as a freshmen). It is interesting that Grigsby is treated so differently. The guy fumbled his first career touch as a Hawk on an end around, had blooper reel passes bounce off his face mask on 3rd downs in big games, and now he walked out of bounds at the 1 yard line on a kick return. All the while, he stays in the game without even a series of "doghouse" time. Unbelievably inconsistent personnel decisions, which confirms what most critics have said for years...Ferentz plays favorites.
Coaching favoritism does not take away the fact that Grigsby was able to make some solid plays later in the game (he finished the game with 3 short catches, a great kick return negated by a penalty), but the coach's treatment of him vs. others in history is perplexing. Is there a rational explanation. Remember when Wadley fumbled as a sophomore, and virtually never played despite being the best RB on the team and averaging 8 yards per carry? The media asked Ferentz about it, and he would always justify benching Wadley by saying that he couldn't risk a turnover. Similarly, just last year Jonathan Parker was forced to transfer after landing in the doghouse for making one mental mistake, running out of bounds at the 1 yard line, despite showing. So why does Smith-Marsette get a free pass? Having high hopes for the guy like all of us do is not the same as treating him different than the rest of the team.
twitter ~ iowalawhawk
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