Miller: Hawkeyes Find Their Way

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Kirk Ferentz is fond of a line he heard from former Iowa Defensive Coordinator Bill Brashier: There is no such thing as a bad bowl game...hence, there is no such thing as a bad bowl win.

Iowa's win against 14th ranked Missouri on Tuesday night in the Insight Bowl might not have been a thing of beauty, but boy did it feel good when the clock went 00:00.

Iowa's defense allowed 512 yards of offense, 86 plays and a quarterback that threw for 434 yards and won. They wouldn't have won the game without a defensive touchdown with 5:32 to play in the contest. That's when Micah Hyde stepped in front of a Blaine Gabbert pass, one of the few mistakes Gabbert made all evening, reversed field and 72 yards later he was celebrating with his teammates in the endzone.

Nevermind that Jordan Bernstine could have been called for a holding penalty had the officials seen him hook a defender; the Hawks deserved a break to go there way.

Still, that wasn't enough to guarantee the win. Iowa led 27-24 at that point, but five minutes is an eternity for Missouri's offense.

Missouri was driving on their next possession and seemingly converted a fourth down pass that would have continued the drive near midfield. However, the officials reviewed the play and overturned the call on the field calling it an incomplete pass, Iowa's ball.

Iowa would have a third and short play with under a minute remaining and Missouri running out of timeouts. Most everyone in the house thought Marcus Coker would get the ball; Ken O'Keefe drew up a play action play to Allen Reisner, who was wide open. Reisner rumbled 39 yards to the Missouri one yard line where Iowa took a knee, ending the cap and capping a season that was not what fans expected.

8-5 is not what the majority of the fan base expected before the season began. All five losses came by a combined 18 points, with the last four seeing Iowa give up fourth quarter leads and an offense that couldn't rally.

It appeared this game was heading for a familiar ******. In the waning minutes, four media members walked by me and the Big Ten Network camera crew I was working with and said 'We've seen this movie before, haven't we?'

We had. Many of you likely felt the same way.

Just when you thought you had this team figured out, they go and win a game like this against a 10-win opponent.

The truth is this team was better than 8-5, but as Ferentz likes to say, they got what they deserved given the lack of execution this year.

The main thing I take away from this game is how the team fought and how the represented themselves. No, the defense was not impregnable and no, the offense was not flawless. This game was a microcosim of the season. The offense put up some points early, 17 in the first half, and sputtered late. The defense allowed long scoring drives and couldn't get off the field in 3rd and long situations; Missouri converted three third downs of 10 yards or longer in the first half alone, including one 3rd and 19.

However, the defense stepped up late in this game after many Iowa fans left them for dead, because they were dead tired after three quarters.

Missouri ran 47 plays in the first half and used a blinding tempo, just like Northwestern did in the second half against Iowa when the Cats ran 51 plays. I felt Missouri could really start ripping off running plays in the second half, but they were content to put the game on Gabbert's arm.

Not a bad decision as he played one of the best games by an Iowa opposing quarterback this year, and we've seen several great performances. The kid is a pro and has a monster arm. He thinks he can make every throw and he nearly did just that, with one huge mistake that cost his team seven points.

Even then, Iowa needed a ricochet off the upright for the PAT to count...ironic, considering that bounce went their way on Tuesday night when it didn't against Arizona earlier this year or the PAT block against Wisconsin.

25 Iowa seniors delivered and received a happy parting gift with this win, but the biggest story on the field was the emergence of freshman running back Marcus Coker; 33 carries for 221 yards, both marks are bowl records for an Iowa back. Bob Jeter's 197 yard performance in a 1950's era Rose Bowl had been the standard and Shonn Greene's 29 carries in the 2009 Outback Bowl was the previous high in that mark.

Coker showed power and speed; mowing over a safety in the hole and sprinting 62 yards for a score in the first quarter. It reminded me of Nick Bell, a big back from 1990.

He has a bright future, especially behind an offensive line that should be very good for the next two seasons; they were very good on Tuesday night against one of the most athletic defenses Iowa has seen all season; Missouri entered the game with 38 sacks; they had none on Tuesday, and it wasn't because they weren't blitzing.

But let me get back to the way Iowa played as a team. They never quit, they never gave up. We couldn't say the same the last time we saw Iowa play, against Minnesota where Adrian Clayborn said afterwards that the team lost its will to win.

After a month of off season issues and distractions, things that can derail a program or at the least derail a bowl effort, this team chose not to quit. They chose to give it their all, one more time. That tells me Kirk Ferentz is still very much in control of this program. It has not gotten away from him, contrary to the thoughts of some.

The proof was in the pudding on Tuesday night. A win is always encouraging, but a win under the circumstances of a disappointing season and a dismal month of December off the field is revealing.

The Hawkeyes have won 28 games over the last three years, the second best three year total in school history. They have won three straight bowl games for the first time in school history. Kirk Ferentz has six bowl wins, the 5th highest total of any coach in Big Ten history.

The wheels have not fallen off the train.

To win a game without the services of your all time leading receiver who was also the Big Ten's leading kickoff return specialist as well as making the trip without your leading rusher and his backup going for over 220 yards?

The sky is not falling after all.
 


GREAT read jon. thank you. hopefully this shuts some people up, but it won't. but at least MOST of hawkeye nation can see the positives from last night.
 


This won't wipe away the disappointment but I think it will go a long way in restoring faith in the program over the coming months.
 


If we are to have success running the schemes going into the future, we need a few things to progress or get better.

1. Change in scheme for spread teams, and I will say on the last few drives Iowa did go into a more nickle base and played man coverage. So they can adapt, and i thought they played well besides DL being gassed. Maybe play that more often in the 1st half so the players don't have 50 plays under their belt at halftime.

2. A better game manager at QB. Stanzi did do a better job this year in cutting out the INT, but even in the last few games he still had some bone headed decisions. Whoever our next QB will need to make better reads and decisions.

After a 12 yard gain to the opponents side of the field, on 1st down Stanzi decides to stick with McNutt on a deep pass and it's picked. He didn't look at any other WR, and appeared as though he was set on that throw from the minute they broke the huddle. As much as we'd like to kill KOK for calling that play, there are at least 3 other options for Stanzi to look at, or throw the ball away.

Also, even though it worked out, throwing a 40 yard pass on 3rd and 5 or less seems to be a very low % play. It worked out great this time, and it was a mismatch with press coverage, so I'm actually OK with that decision last night. But too many times when we're in short yardage our QB has looked 20 yards down the field, instead of the underneath stuff, or the thought of running for the first.

I think if we can cut down on the bone head mistakes & a defense that can make a few adjustments sooner than the 2nd half, this team can consistently threaten for 9-10 wins each year. Obviously injuries, legal issues, and just old luck will factor in too.
 


This won't wipe away the disappointment but I think it will go a long way in restoring faith in the program over the coming months.

I agree with this. Beating Mizzou was awesome to end the season but it doesn't wipe away the inexplicable loss to Minny. It does get next year off on the right foot however.
 






I am really surprised mizzou didn't run the ball in 4th. I think they win the game if they run it out of their spread. That is one of the reasons Iowa is reticent to use nickel and dime packages in big ten play. I think they were shocked last nite that mizzou never went to run even after nickel and dime looks.
 


If we are to have success running the schemes going into the future, we need a few things to progress or get better.

1. Change in scheme for spread teams, and I will say on the last few drives Iowa did go into a more nickle base and played man coverage. So they can adapt, and i thought they played well besides DL being gassed. Maybe play that more often in the 1st half so the players don't have 50 plays under their belt at halftime.

2. A better game manager at QB. Stanzi did do a better job this year in cutting out the INT, but even in the last few games he still had some bone headed decisions. Whoever our next QB will need to make better reads and decisions.

After a 12 yard gain to the opponents side of the field, on 1st down Stanzi decides to stick with McNutt on a deep pass and it's picked. He didn't look at any other WR, and appeared as though he was set on that throw from the minute they broke the huddle. As much as we'd like to kill KOK for calling that play, there are at least 3 other options for Stanzi to look at, or throw the ball away.

Also, even though it worked out, throwing a 40 yard pass on 3rd and 5 or less seems to be a very low % play. It worked out great this time, and it was a mismatch with press coverage, so I'm actually OK with that decision last night. But too many times when we're in short yardage our QB has looked 20 yards down the field, instead of the underneath stuff, or the thought of running for the first.

I think if we can cut down on the bone head mistakes & a defense that can make a few adjustments sooner than the 2nd half, this team can consistently threaten for 9-10 wins each year. Obviously injuries, legal issues, and just old luck will factor in too.

That 3rd and 5 call was a great call. MO was all pressed up to the LOS playing man. I was actually thinking of running a slant for a TD ala Soloman v. LSU. You could see the call coming based on how MO lined up for that play.
 


I am really surprised mizzou didn't run the ball in 4th. I think they win the game if they run it out of their spread. That is one of the reasons Iowa is reticent to use nickel and dime packages in big ten play. I think they were shocked last nite that mizzou never went to run even after nickel and dime looks.

That pleasantly surprised me too.

Pinkelball I guess.
 


Great post, Jon.

Nevermind that Jordan Bernstine could have been called for a holding penalty had the officials seen him hook a defender; the Hawks deserved a break to go their way.

Overall I didn't think the officiating was bad. Some calls went our way; some didn't.

Iowa did deserve a break on that play, which was questionable. On a pass down the middle early in the game McNutt appeared to be mugged with one Mizzou defender grabbing his helmet, but nothing was called. The PI on Iowa later in the game was questionable as it appeared from the stands the ball was not catchable and the Iowa defender and Missouri receiver simply collided. In the third quarter, I believe, when Iowa rushed to the LOS to get the ball in play to avoid having the previous play reviewed, Missouri appeared to have a 12th defender on the field as the ball was snapped and in an offside position as he was running off. Ticky tack, but Iowa was flagged for that once or twice this year.

The staff STILL needs to work on getting the play in from the sidelines. On several plays last night Ricky was in the huddle looking at the bench with 18 or fewer seconds left, and seemed to have trouble understanding what was being called. It led to one delay of game, IIRC, and several plays being run with 2 or 1 seconds left.

But that's for next year. Savoring the win today ... and warm tea on my hoarse throat. :)
 






Great read!

There were a number of times as we watched last night, you could see the emotion in Kirk's face...this clearly did not wipe away any of the season's disappointment, but it did reassure us we know we are heading back in the right direction!

Three bowl wins in a row too!

The team was determined, focused and yes they found their way.

Go Hawks!
 




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