It's not the coaching, nor the...

dualradius

dualradius

Well-Known Member
It's not the coaching, nor the schemes we run. Ferentz and staff gets more out of his teams than just about any coach in the country.

To me, the Hawks' inability to WIN EVERY GAME comes down to one thing: SPEED

Or a lack thereof.

Last year, the Hawkeyes did just about everything they could to go undefeated, winning most of the close games, including going to OT in Columbus. The loss to NW really hurt, but otherwise there isn't much we can ask for.

Our coach has his football team playing ABOVE their talent year in and year out.

He gets kids (generally speaking) that:

WORK HARD

HAVE CHARACTER

LEARN THE SYSTEMS

PLAY WITHIN THE SYSTEMS

ARE TALENTED

The fact is that the Hawks recruit top 40 ability with top 5 character and work-ethic.

Face it, when Ohio St. plays just "okay", they have the talent to beat most every team in the country. The Hawks don't.

They have to FIGHT to win games that top 5 teams can breeze through a little more easily.

The Hawkeyes ARE talented, but they aren't top 5 talented. The NFL draft is evidence of this.

Until the Hawks are able to rack up a higher level of speed and overall talent, 10-2 is truly remarkable, and it is wonderful that we have a coach and staff that can take their teams so far.

Last night, the Hawks made a ton of mistakes, got down BIG early - on the road and in a hostile environment - and came back to tie the game late in the 4th. That's remarkable!
 
dualradius said:
To me, the Hawks' inability to WIN EVERY GAME comes down to one thing: SPEED
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Yawn.

Everybody but the Big Ten has speed. Or so they say.

They talked all game last year when Arizona played @ Iowa about Arizona's speed. Which didn't do them any good.

SEC speed? You always hear about it come bowl season. Yet, Iowa has more than held their own in recent years.

SPEED is OVERRATED.
 
It certainly is overrated at times.... but...

It's the difference between the Hawkeyes we get and the team we COULD have, if they were just a "level up" in foot speed.

It's the only piece of the puzzle that's missing from the Ferentz teams.

Look at Robinson... he's a good D1 back. He's tough, finds holes, breaks tackles... but he's not fast, and has no "jump". It's why against a team that's quicker than the Hawks, he does very little. The other team can run him down.

That's what makes Jewel a better back against the top flite teams. He has pretty good speed, and can make things happen on his own.
 
If this was a Track and field message board then I would agree, but its not. I did not see one play last night where speed beat us, I saw our players out of position
 
hawkinn3 said:
If this was a Track and field message board then I would agree, but its not. I did not see one play last night where speed beat us, I saw our players out of position
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I saw a number of plays where Arizona's speed allowed them to get 0 to 5 yards instead of negative yards.

It makes a difference. It's the difference between 10-2 and a #10 ranking and national championship contender.
 
I submit th following for evidence:

Wisconsin over Miami
tOSU over Oregon
Iowa over GaTech
PSU over LSU
Auburn barely over jNW

Speed doesn't always equate to the best on the field.
 
Put the ESPN down and back away dude.

Explain our lack of speed when, under Ferentz, we beat Florida, or LSU, or GT, or South Carolina, or OSU, or Michigan, or this Arizona team last year. Twit.

So your solution to this problem is that we should just start getting top 5 recruiting classes every year? Thank God you came up with this idea you must be some kind of ******* genius. Someone should call Coach Ferentz immeadiately.
 
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Please read more carefully what I said.

Our coaches are awesome. Our players have great technique. They're well schooled, and they're very good athletes, BUT what keeps IA from being a top 5 team is that next level up in speed.

ARob is a perfect example. He has everything but foot speed. It's why people can always run him down.

What's next? TRY and get that next level of athlete, while maintaining the characteristics of the recruits they DO get. Is that feasible at IA? I think so.
 
Speed is what takes teams like Iowa to the top level. It is certainly not the end all but take our disciplined players and give them equal speed to AU, Floirida,FSU, Okla, Auburn, LSU and they will be playing for NC's regularly.
 
BALDIES7980 said:
Speed is what takes teams like Iowa to the top level. It is certainly not the end all but take our disciplined players and give them equal speed to AU, Floirida,FSU, Okla, Auburn, LSU and they will be playing for NC's regularly.
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THIS is exactly what I was trying to say. KF isn't far off from NC contention and having an undefeated team...
 
Speed helps teams win against elite competition and if anyone denies this they are just lying to themselves.
 
dualradius said:
THIS is exactly what I was trying to say. KF isn't far off from NC contention and having an undefeated team...
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He will not likely ever put together an entire team that matches many of those listed but he is raising his level of athletes IMO.
KF would also help himself out if he could become less predictable. Speed and athleticism will help that but you need every advantage you can get.
 
I do not see any good examples in the last game where Arizona benefited from this so called speed. I will not argue that speed is needed to play at a high level, but Iowa has plenty of so-called speed, enough to make it an unexcusable reason IMO for a loss. And to even consider blaming any of this on the coaches is also crazy. Both sides of the ball were in position to make plays. I have not been a big fan of KOK's play-calling in years past, but I really feel the mix has been good this year, prolly the best in quite some time.
 
trapperjon said:
Speed helps teams win against elite competition and if anyone denies this they are just lying to themselves.
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Of course it helps, but it's not make-or-break. A-Rob rushed for over 100 yards against Arizona last year. We gave Arizona some gifts, and they made some plays. It happens.

Their speed was the difference on the kick return. But, our coverage was just as bad against ISU. It wasn't that Arizona players were so much faster than us. It's that we were out of position. And Arizona had the speed to make us pay for it, whereas ISU didn't. But if we're in position, that return doesn't happen.
 
Iowa has speed. What they didn't have Saturday was luck. And they were still in the game at the end. Play that game ten times and this Iowa team wins nine. Arizona had to have absolutely everything go right to win. How many games do you think are going to have a blocked punt on the opponents seven, a pick six, a kick six, AND a kick return for a TD? If that happened on NCAA 11, I would reset the game because it wouldn't reflect reality.
 
Iowa isn't getting 4.3 guys, but over their last few classes they improved their overall team speed. The key for Iowa is to break through and win a B10 title. That will help them compete for the 4.3 type guys. Really would be nice to have a few guys that could just outrun everybody. However, a bunch of high 4.4 or 4.5 guys who are disciplined should be able to control a few 4.3 guys.
 
The Hawks ARE getting more athletic and faster. ARob is a good back, but lacks speed. He's better than Paki, but not on the same level as Jewel in this regard. There is a level up from Hampton too.

They just need to keep getting better and better in this respect, and eventually Kirk's time will come.

Of course, a little more creativity on offense would help against the big teams.
 
You need a balance of speed and power if you want to survive in the Big Ten. Sometimes all the speed in the world can't save you if you can't grind it out.
 
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