Jon you're great, but......

If this game sucked so much, imagine how bad fans of Missouri and Oklahoma must feel. I will take good enough to win every single time.
 
ShadasRevenge said:
Fair enough, but I don't see NW trying many 25 yard pass plays, either. It isn't their game. I did see the catch that Dunsmore made, it was quite impressive. I also saw NW give up touchdowns on 5 straight possessions to a QB who was 3rd on the depth chart in August.
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We thought we'd rack up points on Indiana's lousy defense, too. It wasn't just poor execution in the redzone today. Indiana had receivers covered, and stuffed the few runs we attempted inside the 10. They made plays as much as we didn't execute.

Northwestern's defense is bad, but a bad defense stepped up to stop us inside the 10 4 times today.
 
CFHawk said:
Just enjoy the win. I am old enough to have lived through most of Iowa's 19 straight losing seasons in the '60s and '70s. I guess I just look at every win as a good thing.
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+1. We've been on the other end of these types of games.

Good football teams find a way to win, even when they are not playing good football.
 
Nowhere was I implying that I was ungreatful that we won, however I think it's slightly unreasonable to put a....well it was a road win in the big 10 spin on the game.
 
tweeterhawk said:
+1. We've been on the other end of these types of games.

Good football teams find a way to win, even when they are not playing good football.
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And bad teams find a way to lose. Indiana lost this game more than we won it. How Belcher dropped that ball is beyond me.
 
This is called winning ugly. Accept it for what it is and move on. A big game against Northwestern lies ahead.
 
Iowa made their living on games like this last season...it all seemed to turn out ok in the end...this game can be summed up in 2 words...

"Sh!t"

"Happens"

Exhale and move on...the team usually does when they have a game like this.
 
waaa, we didnt win by enough, waaa, we made mistakes, waaa, we are awful, waaa, i hate the team i love waaa.

get over it, a win is a win
 
HawkeyeShane said:
Iowa made their living on games like this last season...it all seemed to turn out ok in the end...this game can be summed up in 2 words...

"Sh!t"

"Happens"

Exhale and move on...the team usually does when they have a game like this.
Click to expand...

This was much different. Last year, the offense would show up late to the party, then make a 4th quarter rally, hand the keys to the defense and call it a day, and it worked. Today we got the lead, handed the keys to the defense, and the defense essentially failed for the 3rd time this season. The fact that Indiana dropped the ball on 3 out of their last 4 plays when the receivers were wide open doesn't mean the defense did its job.

Kind of like if a bank vault were broken into, and the robbers forgot to grab the money on the way out. The bank didn't lose the money, but that doesn't mean the vault did its job (keep robbers out).
 
When did I complain about the margin of victory??? Read the original post, I was simply saying this win might be a little over glorified by Jon.
 
tm3308 said:
Agreed. I certainly feel there is a lot to play for still. I just don't feel that a win actually eliminates all weaknesses, like some here apparently do. It only masks them. If Belcher catches that ball, I'm worried about the same thing: how did he get THAT open?

It's kind of like the line from Friday Night Lights: Ain't much difference between winning and losing, except for how the outside world treats you.

The fact that Belcher didn't execute and catch the ball doesn't make the fact that he was THAT open any less concerning, especially given the drives we gave up to Arizona and Wisconsin. It appears to be becoming a trend, and that is very concerning to me.
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tm3308 -

Here's the rub. Nothing we say will eliminate the weaknesses.

Quite frankly, when the squad is fully healthy and is executing perfectly ... we can play with ANYONE. However, how many times have we witnessed that level of play this year?

The fact of the matter is that we're terribly dinged at LB ... and that has hurt us some when it comes to covering short passes. Iowa's D is obviously highly dependent on the DL ... however, a big part of our dependence on the DL is to keep blockers off the LBs ... so the LBs can make plays. That then brings up a key point ... when was the last time you remember Iowa having to deal with its top 4 LBs all going down to injury?

Now think of the strategic implications of that.

Not only does that make us a susceptible against the short pass ... but then it puts more pressure on our entire secondary. However, putting more pressure on our secondary isn't exactly a terrific thing because Hyde is a first-year starter and Prater is smaller than most of the WRs he covers. And, more pressure on the secondary makes it harder for them to get everybody covered .... AND that then doesn't allow the DL to get as many "coverage sacks."

I think that more and more folks are now appreciating what Angerer, Spievey, and Edds brought to the table. They really made opposing Os nervous about passing the ball ... and that then complemented Iowa's DL.

Another thing is this ... Iowa's DL has a HUGE target on their backs. EVERYBODY is scheming to try to negate the inherent advantage that they give the Hawks. Iowa fans just don't seem to "get" the fact that opposing coaches aren't dumb. Furthermore, opposing players can be talented too ... and they can execute a good gameplan that is capable of undermining the talent of our DL.

Overall, I'm pleased with how Iowa's D has played on the season. I recognize that they're playing through a lot of adversity ... furthermore, they're playing with a target on their backs too.

Furthermore, I recognize that Iowa's O got thrown a curve-ball this past week too. I'd say that the absense of a healthy Gettis (or MacMillan) from the RG spot was rather significant. Furthermore, to compound matters, we had to play without ARob. Adam runs strong ... and he's definitely a big difference maker when it comes to how we execute in the redzone.

Lastly, as a little historical trend to throw out there ... if you carefully track Stanzi's career ... you'll also invariably see that Ricky tends to play much less consistency in cold and/or adverse weather conditions. In adverse weather ... it seems like he only truly "gets good" in the 4th quarter.

Thus, when you add all of the above up ... I think that it paints a picture of Hawks ... a depiction of them being much more "mortal" than many of us would have preferred to see.

However, they're OUR Hawks. And, I frankly still think that they're fighting hard, fighting with a good attitude, and they're still continuing to get better on many fronts.
 
Id just like to say that Ricky Stanzi threw for 290 yards, with 1 touchdown and only 1 interception, HELLLLLO do you remember last year??? 5 interceptions in just that game? This season only a total of 4 in ALL the games. Why cant people just be happy and talk about WHAT was GOOD about the game?? Indiana is just as big as a bugaboo for us then Northwestern is.. Like we are to Penn State and so on and so on. A WIN is a WIN. I will take it especially if that means my *** will be on a beach somewhere in florida or drinking on Bourbon Street and QUITE possibly Disney Land.. So I WILL TAKE it and so will you and everyone else.. no need to rehash how messy it was.. On to next week!
 
tm3308 said:
This was much different. Last year, the offense would show up late to the party, then make a 4th quarter rally, hand the keys to the defense and call it a day, and it worked. Today we got the lead, handed the keys to the defense, and the defense essentially failed for the 3rd time this season. The fact that Indiana dropped the ball on 3 out of their last 4 plays when the receivers were wide open doesn't mean the defense did its job.

Kind of like if a bank vault were broken into, and the robbers forgot to grab the money on the way out. The bank didn't lose the money, but that doesn't mean the vault did its job (keep robbers out).
Click to expand...

I never said the defense did its job...I said sh!t happens...I was pi$$ed at how wide open Belcher was on that last play, he had no business dropping that ball, but he didn't seize the moment...but I'm not going to jump off of a cliff over it just yet either...not after a win and not when there's still time to correct it and have a great season...and this stuff DID happen last season...if not for the last second win at MSU, the D gave up a late TD...when they needed a stop vs Northwestern last season, they didn't get it...they almost coughed it up against Arky State...it's not new, it's just..."now"...
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
tm3308 -

Here's the rub. Nothing we say will eliminate the weaknesses.

Quite frankly, when the squad is fully healthy and is executing perfectly ... we can play with ANYONE. However, how many times have we witnessed that level of play this year?

The fact of the matter is that we're terribly dinged at LB ... and that has hurt us some when it comes to covering short passes. Iowa's D is obviously highly dependent on the DL ... however, a big part of our dependence on the DL is to keep blockers off the LBs ... so the LBs can make plays. That then brings up a key point ... when was the last time you remember Iowa having to deal with its top 4 LBs all going down to injury?

Now think of the strategic implications of that.

Not only does that make us a susceptible against the short pass ... but then it puts more pressure on our entire secondary. However, putting more pressure on our secondary isn't exactly a terrific thing because Hyde is a first-year starter and Prater is smaller than most of the WRs he covers. And, more pressure on the secondary makes it harder for them to get everybody covered .... AND that then doesn't allow the DL to get as many "coverage sacks."

I think that more and more folks are now appreciating what Angerer, Spievey, and Edds brought to the table. They really made opposing Os nervous about passing the ball ... and that then complemented Iowa's DL.

Another thing is this ... Iowa's DL has a HUGE target on their backs. EVERYBODY is scheming to try to negate the inherent advantage that they give the Hawks. Iowa fans just don't seem to "get" the fact that opposing coaches aren't dumb. Furthermore, opposing players can be talented too ... and they can execute a good gameplan that is capable of undermining the talent of our DL.

Overall, I'm pleased with how Iowa's D has played on the season. I recognize that they're playing through a lot of adversity ... furthermore, they're playing with a target on their backs too.

Furthermore, I recognize that Iowa's O got thrown a curve-ball this past week too. I'd say that the absense of a healthy Gettis (or MacMillan) from the RG spot was rather significant. Furthermore, to compound matters, we had to play without ARob. Adam runs strong ... and he's definitely a big difference maker when it comes to how we execute in the redzone.

Lastly, as a little historical trend to throw out there ... if you carefully track Stanzi's career ... you'll also invariably see that Ricky tends to play much less consistency in cold and/or adverse weather conditions. In adverse weather ... it seems like he only truly "gets good" in the 4th quarter.

Thus, when you add all of the above up ... I think that it paints a picture of Hawks ... a depiction of them being much more "mortal" than many of us would have preferred to see.

However, they're OUR Hawks. And, I frankly still think that they're fighting hard, fighting with a good attitude, and they're still continuing to get better on many fronts.
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Like I said, I'm not saying we give the win back. I realize why we looked the way we did today. That doesn't change much, though. Nobody is going to give us extra points because of the injuries we've suffered. It's a weakness, one that has me concerned about our ability to win our next two games. That's all. I'm not calling for heads, saying the win doesn't count in the standings, or that I'm not glad we won. I just have concerns going forward based on our performances in the clutch defensively thus far.
 
HawkeyeShane said:
I never said the defense did its job...I said sh!t happens...I was pi$$ed at how wide open Belcher was on that last play, he had no business dropping that ball, but he didn't seize the moment...but I'm not going to jump off of a cliff over it just yet either...not after a win and not when there's still time to correct it and have a great season...and this stuff DID happen last season...if not for the last second win at MSU, the D gave up a late TD...when they needed a stop vs Northwestern last season, they didn't get it...they almost coughed it up against Arky State...it's not new, it's just..."now"...
Click to expand...

I'm not jumping off of a cliff about it. But this is the third time we've let a team march down the field like this. It just has me concerned is all.
 
tm3308 said:
Like I said, I'm not saying we give the win back. I realize why we looked the way we did today. That doesn't change much, though. Nobody is going to give us extra points because of the injuries we've suffered. It's a weakness, one that has me concerned about our ability to win our next two games. That's all. I'm not calling for heads, saying the win doesn't count in the standings, or that I'm not glad we won. I just have concerns going forward based on our performances in the clutch defensively thus far.
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We definitely have weaknesses. The question is how well will opposing teams be able to exploit them.

Northwestern's Persa provides a very intriguing match-up for our D ... he's a pretty darn precise passer ... and he's mobile to boot. That makes it that much harder to defend against him. To make matters tougher on our LBs ... Dunsmore is a stud at their superback spot ... and, like always, they have a ton of pretty reliable WRs ... and Persa does a pretty good job of distributing the ball around.
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
We definitely have weaknesses. The question is how well will opposing teams be able to exploit them.

Northwestern's Persa provides a very intriguing match-up for our D ... he's a pretty darn precise passer ... and he's mobile to boot. That makes it that much harder to defend against him. To make matters tougher on our LBs ... Dunsmore is a stud at their superback spot ... and, like always, they have a ton of pretty reliable WRs ... and Persa does a pretty good job of distributing the ball around.
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Exactly. We may play better next week, and I hope we do. But, if Dunsmore or Ebert is in the position that Belcher was today, no way is the ball going to hit the turf. I hope we don't get in that position. But what we've seen this year in several games gives me considerable reason to be worried going forward.
 
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