Is Iowa-Penn State Most Important Game for 2011 Season?

[jameskalina]

I worry about two things and they are turnovers by our young running backs and Penn State on a mission trying to stop Iowa's win streak against the N. Lions.

Young teams do not perform as well on the road as at home and this is Iowa's second road game. We all know how the first road game turned out.

Iowa will need a clean game with at the most one turnover to win this one.

I think Iowa will not play as well on the road as at home until the team matures. Come November we may see Iowa playing well on the road. But not now.

Penn State by 5.

 

[bcl20]

There is no way the first game of the conference season is the most important game of the year.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

This defense is much closer to its peak than the offense is and the offense has a much higher peak than the defense. Right now, it looks like this Iowa defense is going to have to take more chances than it has in the past in order to get pressure on the quarterback. It may have to commit those same resources to slow down an opponents running game.

I kinda take a little issue to this statement. Iowa's O has been playing against lower level opposition than they'll be facing Big 10 play. You gotta figure that that will pad their stats a bit.

Furthermore, the D has already been adjusting from a pretty major personnel change-up. Thus, the guys who are now starting together still are capable of coming together more, communicating better, and playing better TEAM ball.

Even if the D simply just improves its tackling, improves at preventing the long-ball, and does a better job of setting the edge ... all pretty basic and FUNDAMENTAL things ... then the defensive production will be MUCH better! Those basics alone could probably account for 80 to 100 yards, on average, PER GAME! And, in reducing the oppositions yardage, that will obviously also improve our scoring D too.

Lastly, we have A LOT of guys who don't have a whole lot of prior experience seeing A LOT of game action. As the season continues to unfold ... those guys are going to be able to adjust more to the speed of the game ... and consequently "play faster." As they get more used to things ... that will help the DL to control their gaps better and keep guys off the LBs. The less experienced guys in coverage ... and theres A LOT of them ... are going to have an opportunity to start reading and reacting to the flow of the game more ... and that might end up equating to them making better breaks on the ball OR better breaks on the receivers ... thereby leading to more picks or pass break-ups.

I agree with the assertion that the O has a higher ceiling ... however, at this juncture, I actually believe that the D may be capable of improving even more ... at least in terms of production.

 

[83Hawk]

I can see Iowa beating Penn State...then losing 3 or 4 more games.

I think Northwestern is more important because it is a division game.

 

[Saginawbay]

I would agree Jon most important game of the season as I stated during the bye week. A win can really set up a great season and continue building confidence a lose and a solid season can still happen just not a great season.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

I think that the most important part of the PSU game is how the team plays as a whole.

If they play great and win ... terrific.

If they play great and lose ... too bad ... but at least the team is continuing to progress.

If they play bad ... then that is bad news.

 

[CAARHawk]

I think that the most important part of the PSU game is how the team plays as a whole.

If they play great and win ... terrific.

If they play great and lose ... too bad ... but at least the team is continuing to progress.

If they play bad ... then that is bad news.

Still don't even agree.

They are a young team, going on the road for only the second time, coming off a bye week. That is a recipe for a poor showing.

They come back and play 2 home games and then go on the road and play a dismal Minny squad.

They could conceivably play crappy in Crappy Valley and then come back with a real sense of urgency, a chip on their shoulder, and possibly a future NFL player returning the middle of their line, clock the kitties and start a run to end the season.

Seriously, if Iowa plays well against PSU, Great! But it is not at all necessary.

Think of it kind of like going to Michigan in 04. Pretty much the same kind of schedule this year.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Still don't even agree.

We don't need to agree.

I just think that the Hawks need to continue to improve.

Now, if the execution is a bit off because of playing in a tough environment ... that is one thing ... but that doesn't necessarily imply that the team is regressing or stagnating.

However, if the group comes out flat and simply shows little to no improvement ... in spite having the benefit of extra time to prep ... AND, more importantly, in spite the fact that we're playing PSU, a team that doesn't historically intimidate us ... then that's just not a good sign to me.

I agree with you that it's not the end of the world if we lose the game. We can certainly regain some momentum ... particularly if we can pull off a victory against Northwestern and build off of that (just as you suggest).