Miller: Low Point Loss

nationalchamps said:
Exactly. We've had 3 fantastic seasons. 2 Big 10 titles and an Orange Bowl victory a few years ago. The rest is average. People tend to forget that an Outback Bowl or January Bowl game nowadays is not what it used to be like back in Hayden's days and it is why Hayden will always be known as the godfather of Iowa football.
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Amen!!!!!!
 
Kirk may not be the problem, but there are some SERIOUS problems that need to get addressed.

P!ss poor preparation (FG misses, onside kick), bad execution (when's the last time our 2 minute O looked the least bit sufficient?) and below average personnel. Our D is average at best, our LB's are so slow, our DL gets no pressure at all and our DB's seem to be getting worse with more experience against anemic teams nonetheless (Penn State is OK and Minnesota is bad). Vandenberg looks average at best away from Kinnick.

I am fairly certain it will be a long November... I just hope we can snap out of this funk because it could be a long time before Iowa football gets back to where it was just a few years ago. We need to get out and recruit better, because assuming the schemes stay the same, we just need better players and I am afraid they need some fresh faces on both sides of the coaching staff to bring some fresh perspective.

It's not just a fluke here and there anymore...it's a trend, a bad bad trend of anemic football that is simply inexcusable for a program that is far better than what has been represented against Big Ten competition that last year. We have lost 5 straight road games...and we are not losing to world beaters either (thanks for soft schedule of late). Losses at NW, at Minny, at Iowa State, at Penn St. and Minny again. The last road win- at Indiana which should have been a loss as well.

Makes me want to vomit the more I type about it.
 
VenturaAce said:
Kirk may not be the problem, but there are some SERIOUS problems that need to get addressed.P!ss poor preparation (FG misses, onside kick), bad execution (when's the last time our 2 minute O looked the least bit sufficient?) and below average personnel. Our D is average at best, our LB's are so slow, our DL gets no pressure at all and our DB's seem to be getting worse with more experience against anemic teams nonetheless (Penn State is OK and Minnesota is bad). Vandenberg looks average at best away from Kinnick.I am fairly certain it will be a long November... I just hope we can snap out of this funk because it could be a long time before Iowa football gets back to where it was just a few years ago. We need to get out and recruit better, because assuming the schemes stay the same, we just need better players and I am afraid they need some fresh faces on both sides of the coaching staff to bring some fresh perspective.It's not just a fluke here and there anymore...it's a trend, a bad bad trend of anemic football that is simply inexcusable for a program that is far better than what has been represented against Big Ten competition that last year. We have lost 5 straight road games...and we are not losing to world beaters either (thanks for soft schedule of late). Losses at NW, at Minny, at Iowa State, at Penn St. and Minny again. The last road win- I Indiana which should have been a loss as well.Makes me want to vomit the more I type about it.
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Ostrich
 
Nationalchamps your analogy of Alabama and Oklahoma losing to the likes of Mississippi Sate and Kansas are right on point!

The overwhelming straw that broke my back are the consistent losses and difficulties with Indiana, Minnesota and Northwestern over the past several years. Add in Iowa State to that mix and the fact that getting flat out out coached was a HUGE factor in those losses and it's no wonder fans start to ask, "why are we paying this guy 3.5 mill/ year again?" those low tier programs are paying their ciaches 1/4 of what Iowa pays KF so why are they beating him?
 
Jon, I've always admired you as being the most reasonable man in the room insofar as analysis is concerned. But your emotionally-charged response to this loss is destructive. As the patriarch of this fan base, you should know better than to make incendiary comments that lambast the coaching scheme. Remember, thou shalt not criticize an Iowa coach until his departure is a foregone conclusion (see Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter). But if you must criticize, do it under the veiled concept of "execution." By forwarding this form of criticism, the players are responsible for the loss--never the coaching staff. The future of Hawkeyenation depends upon access to the athletic program.
 
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Obviously nothing is going to happen to the coaching staff before this season is over. However if Iowa loses out from this point. Ferentz's seat will be mighty mighty hot. Would Barta pull the trigger is the question. I don't see Norm being back no matter what. I feel that the bend but don't break D doesn't work if your Dline isn't dominant. Not just good but dominant. So when you graduate the 3 guys from last years line it was going to be a chore for this D to be great. I like Ferentz I love everything about how he approaches his job. I just wish that he could adjust with the flow of games better. It seems like theres obvious points in games where our special teams is caught with their pants down. That the Dline gets worn down and they don't sub much or rarely blitz and show the other teams qb the same look over and over. This loss hurts and its going to be really interesting to see how this yr plays out
 
Herkyalert said:
You never want to turn down a bowl simply for that reason alone. 15 extra practices helps the young kids develop.
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Well, due to the expenses vs payout, a lot of schools would be far better served by the NCAA simply allowing all teams to have those practices, and then we cut half the toilet bowls.
 
The best comparison i can think is when Michigan made Lloyd Carr clean house of assistants. Didnt they improve rather dramatically the next year. I'm heartsick about this game. We've got 7 ui degrees in my immediate family, so I'm no tavern hawk. Frankly I'm embarrased that we spend so much for this mediocre asst coaching staff.
 
VHSHAWK said:
The best comparison i can think is when Michigan made Lloyd Carr clean house of assistants. Didnt they improve rather dramatically the next year. I'm heartsick about this game. We've got 7 ui degrees in my immediate family, so I'm no tavern hawk. Frankly I'm embarrased that we spend so much for this mediocre asst coaching staff.
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I doubt anyone made Lloyd Carr do anything like that. Just like I doubt anyone is going to make Kirk do it.
 
JonDMiller said:
There may be worse losses in the Kirk Ferentz era as it relates to what it meant to certain seasons, but Iowa's loss to Minnesota this Saturday is certainly a low point.

Before the game, there were debates as to whether or not this year's Minnesota team was the worst in the Big Ten since the 1981 Northwestern team. The amount of points Minnesota had given up in just the first half of their three Big Ten losses was more than 100 points and their offense was the worst in the Big Ten.

Yet Iowa lost to these Gophers, falling to 5-3 with an arduous November slate still to play.

After eight games, you typically know what kind of football team you have. As it relates to this year's Iowa team, the likely reality is that they are just an average football team. They have yet to win on the road, losing to two bad squad's as well as the loss to Penn State, who may be the worst 8-1 team in the history of college football.

Iowa's defense couldn't get off the field in the fourth quarter, but it was the offense who failed the team on this day, something we have been saying since November of 2010.

When you have a rusher that puts up 252 yards, the third highest single game total in school history, you should not lose a football game. When you take into account the other 13 games in Iowa history where it's running back topped the 200-yard mark, they are 12-2. The other loss was at Northwestern in 2005, another game where Iowa led by double-digits in the fourth quarter and where the opponent successfully converted an onside kick.

Iowa had been stellar in the redzone this year, scoring on 26 of its 27 trips. In this game, they were just 3 of 6, missing a 24-yard field goal, a 43 yard field goal and a fumble on a blindside blitz sack. Each of those miscues was very costly in a game that you lose by one point.

When you put up nearly 300 yards in the first half, you should score more than seven points. Iowa didn't and it lost the game.

While Iowa's defense is challenged from a personnel standpoint, something we knew would be the case back in January, they allow the opposing quarterback to get far too comfortable. Is it a coincidence that opposing quarterbacks put up one of their best games of their respective seasons when they play Iowa?

Look at this year; Steele Jantz had a game for the ages and has since been benched. Matt McGloin was solid against Iowa, by far his best game. Marqueis Gray has been abysmal this season throwing the ball, completing less than 50 percent of his passes. Against Iowa? 11-17. Indiana's true freshman looked good...and so on.

Once upon a time, perhaps you could get away with the base defense Iowa played. But today's quarterbacks are a different breed. They run the spread offense in high school and have been making quick decisions and hitting underneath routes for years before they get to college. Where Iowa's defense is willing to take its chances plays right into where today's quarterbacks are strong.

That's not to pin this game on the defense; they played their best game of the season through three quarters. But it was the onside kick recovery in the fourth quarter that broke Iowa's back...it's also the second straight year where Minnesota has recovered an onside kick against Iowa to propel them to a victory.

This was also Iowa's 5th straight road loss and James Vandenberg is now 0-4 on the road as Iowa's starting quarterback.

Iowa sits at 5-3 with back to back home games against Michigan and Michigan State. It's very hard to pick Iowa in either one of those games right about now, and I have felt bad about the game at Purdue since the middle of summer. The game at Lincoln looks downright scary right now. The thought of Rex Burkhead slamming into the Iowa defensive front? Yikes.

Iowa needs one more win for bowl eligibility, and this program really needs those 15 bowl practices. We all know they returned the fewest starters of any Big Ten team, so that developmental time is paramount for this club.

Right now, it's tough to be optimistic about any one of these final four games.
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Spot on
 
treychase said:
Not trying to be a jerk, but at what point would it not be over reacting?

Jon, I'm going to guess that most Iowa fans, including myself, could live with these loses IF we could see attempts being made to make the necessary counter adjustments. The failures we saw today, we've seen repeatedly. Does it take at 3-9 season to make it justified to make some changes?

I am astounded at the level of or inability to adjust to anything. Now I will say & agree with the fact that the Iowa defense is certainly not at the level we're used to. But here's the thing...we know it, the coaches most certainly know it, the other teams know it, yet Iowa does nothing, or very little to compensate for it. I don't want to hear how they have this year because that's fools gold. When today's game was on the line, all of us knew Minny was gonna let their QB keep the ball and just run and make a play.

I will continue to watch, root for and support the Hawks, but I am no longer a closed eye, blind faith supporter of Kirk Ferentz. If he can't beat the Minnesota's, ISU's & Indiana's of the world, then he has to go. The program was here before him & it will be here after him.

I just think its time.
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Was it "time" two years ago when we won the Orange Bowl? It's the same thing. Some years it works, others it doesn't....I call it overreacting too.
 
JFC, JD, stop with the "we're Iowa and we only have 5 BCS level high school recruits out of this state so be thankful" b.s.!! If that's the case then don't pay KF the money we're paying him and go get someone else who only costs 1 mill per. I'm always going to have high expectations because I'm a winner and don't settle for mediocrity. I wish more of you would jump on board.
 
nationalchamps said:
J I'm always going to have high expectations because I'm a winner and don't settle for mediocrity. I wish more of you would jump on board.
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I am completely on board with you. What happened to the Iowa teams that would take the field with a chip on their shoulder? The teams that knew that we would wear you down and in the 4th qtr you would be ours?

I am just tired of hearing KF at news conferences saying "oh what a great team our opponent is we are just lucky to take the field against you because we are lil ole Iowa." Ya know what, I think our kids have been thinking the same way for the last few years since we never seem to play with any emotion or fire.

My expectations are high but not unreasonable. If we are 9-3 and lose to 3 teams that are better than we are I'm ok with it. But when we are 6-6 and lose to poor teams like ISU and MINN, then someone needs to take responsibility for that and since the coaching staff are the professionals, they are the ones that get my criticism.
 
JonDMiller said:
Iowa sits at 5-3 with back to back home games against Michigan and Michigan State. It's very hard to pick Iowa in either one of those games right about now, and I have felt bad about the game at Purdue since the middle of summer.
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Huge understatement. Both of those teams likely will be favored by more than two touchdowns IN IOWA CITY. Those games will be brutal, as will Nebraska @ Lincoln.
 
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