KEN O'KEEFE... Mailed IT IN!

Field position had something to do with it, plus Penn State had the ball for the first half of the third quarter. I'm happy with the win but more play action would have been nice.
 
I'm assuming it's because we went into our "prevent" offense so early, and ball security is a big piece of the prevent offense. True/redshirt freshman might not have the same importance placed on ball security as a guy who has been through the battle of a B10 season.

/grasping at straws

You are correct. My original question was rhetorical. So when ARob goes down with an injury, then what? I too was frustrated with the play calling and have been for years. If our offense could only play to their potential like the defense has over the years, then how fun would that be?
 
So we are afraid of a freshman running back fumbling and that is why he sees zero carries in a game that was never in doubt like some believe. Help me here. It smacks of KF again playing not to lose which is reminiscent of Ohio St last year. I would love to see us a tad more aggressive on offense and less fearful. That is all.
 
My prediction is that the announcing crew, whoever that is, will make a point of mentioning it and ARob will drop the ball the very next play. :(

Tweeter, thanks for being respectful even though we've disagreed throughout the thread! I enjoy reading your posts and think you bring a lot to the discussions! Glad we got the W and it's great to be a Hawkeye!
 
Tweeter, thanks for being respectful even though we've disagreed throughout the thread! I enjoy reading your posts and think you bring a lot to the discussions! Glad we got the W and it's great to be a Hawkeye!

it has been a great thread...whether you agree with it or not. people have made great arguments either way! I'm sure some D-bag will ruin it tomorrow and call me out for my lack of basic football knowledge (see what i did there?) self high five!

but alas, it is now bedtime for the PlanoHawk... man I'm old! nite all- GO HAWKS!
 
why be shocked---up 17 -3 you know we are going to play it safe, run some time, punt and let the defense do it's job. Why show other teams what we can do. Smart smart football played tonight
 
Amazing that after 12 years people expect Iowa to run it up...

Wow. Having more than 17 points on offense is now 'running it up'! Excuse me while I go redefine the unwritten rulebook some more. :rolleyes:

Oh, and your claim that PSU was "never" going to score 20 is a good way to lose a damn game. You go in with that kind of mentality, simply assuming that something cannot be done against you, and you deserve to lose.

But hey, we "never" thought we'd started the Arizona game as badly as we did. Yet, it happened, didn't it?
 
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Wow. Having more than 17 points on offense is now 'running it up'! Excuse me while I go redefine the unwritten rulebook some more. :rolleyes:

Oh, and your claim that PSU was "never" going to score 20 is a good way to lose a damn game. You go in with that kind of mentality, simply assuming that something cannot be done against you, and you deserve to lose.

But hey, we "never" thought we'd started the Arizona game as badly as we did. Yet, it happened, didn't it?

Exactly. Good Post.
 
When Iowa went up 17-0, and the defense playing the way it was playing against a mediocre Penn State offense, I think Iowa closed ranks and just kept it simple. No surprise and no qualms with it. Some folks act like they are going to watch a Kirk Ferentz coached Iowa team one week and just watch them come out and change everything they have done that has let them be successful for more than a decade.

This is who they want to be, and it works.
 
it has been a great thread...whether you agree with it or not. people have made great arguments either way! I'm sure some D-bag will ruin it tomorrow and call me out for my lack of basic football knowledge (see what i did there?) self high five!

but alas, it is now bedtime for the PlanoHawk... man I'm old! nite all- GO HAWKS!

I would say that it is a bit surprising that you were surprised that Iowa went conservative in the second half, having watched Iowa football the past decade.
 
I would say that it is a bit surprising that you were surprised that Iowa went conservative in the second half, having watched Iowa football the past decade.

I think most were concerned with Iowa not going for the jugular in the second period. We had the PSU defense completely off balance and instead went into prevent offense. The game should have been out of reach prior to halftime. Instead we let PSU hang around. Maybe you can get away with that against a weak PSU, but that strategy is likely to backfire at some point. We again saw tonight how vulerable our secondary is with both Hyde and Prater get burned deep. Luckily, both those plays turned out in our favor or we could be singing a different tune. When you have the chance, you HAVE to put teams away.
 
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When Iowa went up 17-0, and the defense playing the way it was playing against a mediocre Penn State offense, I think Iowa closed ranks and just kept it simple. No surprise and no qualms with it. Some folks act like they are going to watch a Kirk Ferentz coached Iowa team one week and just watch them come out and change everything they have done that has let them be successful for more than a decade.

This is who they want to be, and it works.

I don't want us running it up, but I don't like seeing us take our foot off the gas until we're up by 3 TD's. I was worried the whole 2nd half that we would get "Clayborn-ed", and PSU would get a big play to spark them. If you're up 14 and give up that play, all of the sudden it's a dogfight, because PSU likely comes back with fire in their eyes. If you're up 21, and give up that play, you still have a 14-point lead.

Late in the game, I'm okay with sitting on a 14-point lead. Milking the entire 2nd half? I'm just afraid that that will come back and bite us hard in the a** someday. I'm not at all surprised that we did what we did. I just don't agree with it, and I never have. I want us to go for the jugular, once, just once lol.
 
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IMO it has nothing to do with running it up. It has to do with the tried and tested Ferentz strategy of not beating yourself. Tossing it across the field when you are up 17-3 is a much higher risk for a lower reward in his mind. It's not dissimilar to many Jim Tressel teams. Tresselball and Ferentzball are very similar.
 
IMO it has nothing to do with running it up. It has to do with the tried and tested Ferentz strategy of not beating yourself. Tossing it across the field when you are up 17-3 is a much higher risk for a lower reward in his mind. It's not dissimilar to many Jim Tressel teams. Tresselball and Ferentzball are very similar.

I understand what you're saying. And I'm not saying take shots downfield. But some quick slants, TE dumps, etc. Because the running game just wasn't happening for much of the 2nd half. We were what, 2-10 on 3rd downs because we were behind the chains so much on 3rd down? I mean we could just as well have punted on first down for most of the 2nd half. It was like we weren't even trying to move the ball. I understand wanting to lean on your strengths (the defense), but there's nothing wrong with running high percentage pass plays to move the ball.
 
I think back to the old adage of there are three things that can happen when you throw it and two are bad ;)
 
This game was over at 10-0. Over.

Isn't easier to say that after the fact? But do you think KF felt this confident? If so I go back to the tailback situation. You mentioned in another thread that Coker and Rogers will get most of the work in practice this week. The key to beating Michigan may be a ball control, pound it running attack to keep Robinson off the field as much as possible. Why not give Coker or Rogers reps in a real game situation so they will be more ready against a team like Michigan if this one really was over at 10-0?
 
Isn't easier to say that after the fact? But do you think KF felt this confident? If so I go back to the tailback situation. You mentioned in another thread that Coker and Rogers will get most of the work in practice this week. The key to beating Michigan may be a ball control, pound it running attack to keep Robinson off the field as much as possible. Why not give Coker or Rogers reps in a real game situation so they will be more ready against a team like Michigan if this one really was over at 10-0?

It is easy to say that after the fact, but I told Ed Hinkel it was over when DJK caught that touchdown ;)
 
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