It's Game Day, Boys!!!

[MelroseHawkins]

Boy did MG pick a good time to have his best game. It took him awhile to get comfy with the O and everything this yr but I'm glad we got to see the best of him. He's legit. He's one tough SOB. He's a leader I'm ecstatic that he was a Hawk for us.

The O overall was really damn good. Lester called a phenomenal game. Outside that playcall the interception came from ( I despised just the thought of it. Why throw a slant at the goal line in traffic to your big RB on a 1st and goal from the 4? We'd been running it well just pound it in) Besides that I'd be nitpicking big time Lester called a whale of a game and I'm praying nobody poaches him be it the NFL or anyone else.

Defense was both awesome at times especially the first half (watching 43 blast Pavia a couple times was spectacular) and then also not very good at all. Pavia put up a wave of stats almost all in the 2nd half we all wish he hadn't. But end of the day we got the W.

Got the bowl W which gives KF the most for anyone ever in the BIG and also a W against a ranked team for the first time in however many games it'd been so that monkey is off his back. Great day to be a Hawkeye!!!!!

You do that because the D is not going to have an idea it's coming and I'm sure they have been practicing and having that play in their arsenal for that situation. If worked, everybody would be saying hell of a call by Lester. Hindsight is hindsight.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Another armless whiff tackle by Nwankpa.

Dude’s a total bum. Give a freshman a chance

It's a non opt-out opt out.

Problem is when your just going through the motions thats when you end up getting hurt. Or the other option is the one X has chosen-Sugsr Ray Leonard style whiff and backpedal.

 

[Northside Hawk]

One thing about Iowa, there’s no football team on the planet better at eating up clock. Not even close

Or making the opposing team eat up clock with great punting and zone defense.

Classic second half with the lead Kirkball. When he thinks he has enough points he doesn't even want his offense on the field unless it's in the opponent's territory. Our offense can't commit a costly turnover when they're not on the field.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

He lost the Heisman, he didn't get to go to the playoffs, he lost his bowl game.

And to the best part is, he wasn't the best QB in the bowl game...and he played Iowa.

Pavia is a legend in his own mind.

 

[HuckFinn]

Note: Jerry Kill is on the staff at Vandy. Good for him.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

You do that because the D is not going to have an idea it's coming and I'm sure they have been practicing and having that play in their arsenal for that situation. If worked, everybody would be saying hell of a call by Lester. Hindsight is hindsight.

Throwing a fastball to our 2nd/3rd RB in that situation just isn't something I thought shoulda been on our bingo card at that point. The odds of him catching that clean weren't high. It did make me wonder if that play woulda been for Washington had he not left. Feels like that's what it may have been designed for but then XW was who replaced his role. We have a litany of other pass catchers that coulda been used instead. I just thought Lester was trying to get cute and over thought it. 1st and goal from inside the 4 is pound that thing or play action. Not go 4/5 wide. When I saw the formation I assumed MG was going to run a draw.

The other play I 2nd guessed was the reverse to Wetjen. In that spot the last thing you wanted to do was risk going backwards and those always have that risk to them. But besides those two plays Lester called a great game and MG was fantastic

 

[kameltoez102]

Throwing a fastball to our 2nd/3rd RB in that situation just isn't something I thought shoulda been on our bingo card at that point. The odds of him catching that clean weren't high. It did make me wonder if that play woulda been for Washington had he not left. Feels like that's what it may have been designed for but then XW was who replaced his role. We have a litany of other pass catchers that coulda been used instead. I just thought Lester was trying to get cute and over thought it. 1st and goal from inside the 4 is pound that thing or play action. Not go 4/5 wide. When I saw the formation I assumed MG was going to run a draw.

The other play I 2nd guessed was the reverse to Wetjen. In that spot the last thing you wanted to do was risk going backwards and those always have that risk to them. But besides those two plays Lester called a great game and MG was fantastic

Yeah I've neve understood why they put him in those positions on a consistent basis. I get you want to put the ball in his hands but it is also so predictable and it is always on the outside on the same type of play with the same type of motion.

Kaden is a tough runner why not just have him line up in the back field and then you can go off that with a variety of alignments. Why not line him up in the back field and throw a screen or a swing pass to him where he is going forward? There was no variety in how he was utilized and he was always running sideways when he got the ball. He is better when he sees the hole and can attack it.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Throwing a fastball to our 2nd/3rd RB in that situation just isn't something I thought shoulda been on our bingo card at that point. The odds of him catching that clean weren't high. It did make me wonder if that play woulda been for Washington had he not left. Feels like that's what it may have been designed for but then XW was who replaced his role. We have a litany of other pass catchers that coulda been used instead. I just thought Lester was trying to get cute and over thought it. 1st and goal from inside the 4 is pound that thing or play action. Not go 4/5 wide. When I saw the formation I assumed MG was going to run a draw.

The other play I 2nd guessed was the reverse to Wetjen. In that spot the last thing you wanted to do was risk going backwards and those always have that risk to them. But besides those two plays Lester called a great game and MG was fantastic

All I'm saying is that sometimes ya have to go against the obvious. Ya can't just always go to the obvious players using the obvious plays that you've used all year. Ya got to throw something different to them. There was a reason the reserve flea flicker worked. Nobody is bitching about that play, Why, because it worked. If it didn't work and an IT were thrown, people would be questioning that. In addition, in games, especially bowl games I think coaches want to spread the ball around to maybe some other players. They need to keep them happy to. Like the Clear Lake TE got a look or two. I'm confident they have practiced that play for that situation ad nauseum, and, the play was there. He was open but just didn't complete it. Yes, it was a bullet.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

All I'm saying is that sometimes ya have to go against the obvious. Ya can't just always go to the obvious players using the obvious plays that you've used all year. Ya got to throw something different to them. There was a reason the reserve flea flicker worked. Nobody is bitching about that play, Why, because it worked. If it didn't work and an IT were thrown, people would be questioning that. In addition, in games, especially bowl games I think coaches want to spread the ball around to maybe some other players. They need to keep them happy to. Like the Clear Lake TE got a look or two. I'm confident they have practiced that play for that situation ad nauseum, and, the play was there. He was open but just didn't complete it. Yes, it was a bullet.

It's situational though. If it had been 21-3 going in to go up 28 I'd not be so critical of it. But it was 7-0 and still very much a game yet. A play like that not only took 7 pts off the board for us but coulda flipped momentum to them and.... Thankfully it didn't and it worked out the way it did. But the overall situation is as much why I'm critical of it as I am anything.