IowaLawWasRight
Well-Known Member
The Hawks spoiled 1-6 Northwestern's homecoming with a 20-0 victory. The defense pitched their 4th conference shutout in 2 years (the most in all of college football), but a competent offense probably should have put up more points (hell, Michigan State scored 31 against them).
1. DL Dominated - This was the best game all year for the DL. Nixon stood out with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, and a deflection. AJE stepped up against the run, for a change, and tallied 5 tackles (season high) and .5 sacks. Lattimore had 4 tackles and 1 sack, and Golston had an interception. The DL held NU to 35 rushes for 64 yards. That is an elite level defense. If they can play that well against Wisconsin's massive OL, the Hawks should be headed to Indianapolis this fall.
2. Questionable Personnel Decisions: Oliver/Goodson - Earlier this week, IowaLaw questioned how staff could continue keeping Oliver Martin, their top WR recruit in the past 20 years (136 yrds receiving and 1 td as a freshmen at Michigan last year) on the bench while playing Nico Ragaini almost every down. With Brandon Smith out, Martin was expected to finally get some reps. Wrong. He played just 2 snaps while Ragaini played the entire game, notching an impressive 4 drops. Similarly, Brian's brilliant game planning this week forgot that Tyler Goodson was on the roster, as he had just 1 carry in the entire first half. How is that possible? It's like watching Max Cooper play ahead of Noah Fant all over again.
3. Dillon Doyle Steps Up - I'll admit, I didn't think much of Doyle at first. He's a nepotism recruit who seemed outmatched in his first extended action last week. This week, however, he showed that he could hang with the big boys (or at least, Northwestern). He's just a freshmen, but racked up 7 tackles, a QB hurry, and some pretty big hits. Give the guy a few years in the program and he may turn some heads.
4. Stanley Underwhelms - Nate underperformed, even by his own standards. His 12-26 for 179 yards is an abysmal completion percentage (Ragaini didn't help), but more disappointing was the randying around on decision making. He dropped back to pass on 3rd down from Northwestern's 20 yard line, stood back there like a statue, and rather than throwing the ball away, clumsily took a huge sack that brought the ball beyond Duncan's comfortable range. Three points lost on a boneheaded play by a 3 year starter.
5. Sam LaPorta Debuts - Prior to this week, "tight end U" was averaging just one TE reception per game. With little buzz coming out of practice, LaPorta, a true freshmen with zero Power 5 scholarship offers, managed to jump ahead of some upper classmen on the depth chart (i.e. Cook) and showed glimpses of TJ Hockensen out there. 2 catches for 43 yards, and a 3rd deep ball catch that was taken away (in part because Stanley has no game sense and didn't hike the ball before the refs stopped play to review it) is a nice start to a career. Let's see more of this guy in the weeks to come.
6. Offensive Coordinator Is Offensive - We get it. When the head coach has been around for 21 years, he's entitled to hire his unqualified son and promote him on an annual basis. But is Brian getting the job done? The offense is now ranked 73-75th in the NCAA. Aside from the anemic stats, the continued clock management woes, and the generally boring style of unimaginative play, there are other reasons Brian might be better off in a less important role. At an "aw shucks," Iowa nice type of school where fans wave to sick kids in the hospital, it is inexplicable that a coach of his standing continues to throw expletive laden temper tantrums on the sidelines. Today's iteration resulted in a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
1. DL Dominated - This was the best game all year for the DL. Nixon stood out with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, and a deflection. AJE stepped up against the run, for a change, and tallied 5 tackles (season high) and .5 sacks. Lattimore had 4 tackles and 1 sack, and Golston had an interception. The DL held NU to 35 rushes for 64 yards. That is an elite level defense. If they can play that well against Wisconsin's massive OL, the Hawks should be headed to Indianapolis this fall.
2. Questionable Personnel Decisions: Oliver/Goodson - Earlier this week, IowaLaw questioned how staff could continue keeping Oliver Martin, their top WR recruit in the past 20 years (136 yrds receiving and 1 td as a freshmen at Michigan last year) on the bench while playing Nico Ragaini almost every down. With Brandon Smith out, Martin was expected to finally get some reps. Wrong. He played just 2 snaps while Ragaini played the entire game, notching an impressive 4 drops. Similarly, Brian's brilliant game planning this week forgot that Tyler Goodson was on the roster, as he had just 1 carry in the entire first half. How is that possible? It's like watching Max Cooper play ahead of Noah Fant all over again.
3. Dillon Doyle Steps Up - I'll admit, I didn't think much of Doyle at first. He's a nepotism recruit who seemed outmatched in his first extended action last week. This week, however, he showed that he could hang with the big boys (or at least, Northwestern). He's just a freshmen, but racked up 7 tackles, a QB hurry, and some pretty big hits. Give the guy a few years in the program and he may turn some heads.
4. Stanley Underwhelms - Nate underperformed, even by his own standards. His 12-26 for 179 yards is an abysmal completion percentage (Ragaini didn't help), but more disappointing was the randying around on decision making. He dropped back to pass on 3rd down from Northwestern's 20 yard line, stood back there like a statue, and rather than throwing the ball away, clumsily took a huge sack that brought the ball beyond Duncan's comfortable range. Three points lost on a boneheaded play by a 3 year starter.
5. Sam LaPorta Debuts - Prior to this week, "tight end U" was averaging just one TE reception per game. With little buzz coming out of practice, LaPorta, a true freshmen with zero Power 5 scholarship offers, managed to jump ahead of some upper classmen on the depth chart (i.e. Cook) and showed glimpses of TJ Hockensen out there. 2 catches for 43 yards, and a 3rd deep ball catch that was taken away (in part because Stanley has no game sense and didn't hike the ball before the refs stopped play to review it) is a nice start to a career. Let's see more of this guy in the weeks to come.
6. Offensive Coordinator Is Offensive - We get it. When the head coach has been around for 21 years, he's entitled to hire his unqualified son and promote him on an annual basis. But is Brian getting the job done? The offense is now ranked 73-75th in the NCAA. Aside from the anemic stats, the continued clock management woes, and the generally boring style of unimaginative play, there are other reasons Brian might be better off in a less important role. At an "aw shucks," Iowa nice type of school where fans wave to sick kids in the hospital, it is inexplicable that a coach of his standing continues to throw expletive laden temper tantrums on the sidelines. Today's iteration resulted in a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
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