thejumper5
Well-Known Member
I intentionally avoided posting about the game after it finished yesterday because I was a little hot and don't like to say things online that I wouldn't want to say in real life. I calmed down, rewatched the game last night and came away with 12 distinct thoughts. Some are just stats and you can decide what they mean (if anything). Some are my opinions, which you will probably have mixed feelings about. Here are my 1160 words:
First: With Iowa’s loss to Iowa State yesterday, the Hawkeyes fell to Iowa State for the eighth time in the last 14 meetings and the seventh time in coach Kirk Ferentz’s tenure. If the previous seven losses are any indication as to how this season will go, we know that one of two things is likely to happen this year:
-Both Iowa and Iowa State will go to a bowl game.
-Neither Iowa nor Iowa State will go to a bowl game.
The only exception to this rule is 2000, when ISU went 9-3 and Iowa went 3-8. In 1998, 1999 and 2007, neither team made a bowl game. In 2001, 2002, and 2005, both teams made a bowl game.
Here’s an eye-opening series of stats: under Coach Ferentz, when Iowa makes a bowl game and ISU does not, Iowa is 4-0. When both teams make a bowl game, Iowa is 2-3. Looking at these stats another way we see that:
-Under Kirk Ferentz, when either Iowa or Iowa State is definitively better than the other team, by the standard of making a bowl vs. not making a bowl (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), the team that was definitively better is 5-0 in the CyHawk game. Iowa is 4-0 in such games and ISU is 1-0.
-Under Ferentz, when the teams are on approximately equal footing, either both teams make a bowl or both teams don’t make a bowl (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), Iowa State leads the series 5-2.
Second: I believe Marcus Coker played better than most people are giving him credit for. Coker had 35 carries for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Yes, he had a fumble that led directly to an ISU touchdown, but he did two things that I believe off set that mistake.
-Stepped up in the fourth quarter and overtime. Coker ran just as hard on carries 25-35 as he did on carries 1-25. He was rolling along when he got the ball late in the game, and both of his touchdowns came when Iowa needed them the most.
-Didn’t get stopped for losses. This can be partially attributed to the offensive line, but in 35 carries, Coker was stopped behind the line of scrimmage only once. Coker walks a fine line between too patient and perfectly patient, and while he has yet reproduce the outstanding performance we all saw in the Insight Bowl, the offense as a whole was much more developed, especially up front, at the end of last season than it is now.
Third: This was stated in another thread, but it bears repeating that Iowa is replacing nine players that are currently on opening day NFL rosters, Ryan Donahue, Karl Klug, Tyler Sash, Adrian Clayborn, Allen Reisner, Christian Ballard, Ricky Stanzi, Julian Vandervelde, and Jeff Tarpinian. This does not include 4-year starter Brett Greenwood, multi-year starter Jeremiha Hunter, all-time leading receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, multi-year starter Adam Robinson, or multi-year starter Brett Morse. The sheer amount of talent and experience Iowa had to replace going into this season is absolutely staggering. When a team replaces that much, it will take time, hopefully less than four games, but almost certainly at least two, before the team really finds itself.
Fourth: Iowa needs work on the defensive line. The line is undersized, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the undersized players aren’t fast enough to make plays (or at least aren’t playing fast enough, Adrian Clayborn made a comment on Twitter yesterday that LeBron needs to use his speed more and stop trying to bull rush, so maybe it’s technique and not ability). Iowa has a little bit of an injury issue, but Carl Davis was back yesterday. I would love to see him plugging the middle a little more
Fifth: When Bernstine gets back next week, he needs to start at safety and Hyde needs to move back to corner. Castillo is a solid situational player, but having him play every play is not working. Something needs to change, and since it won’t be a schematic alteration, it needs to be a personnel change.
Sixth: Major props to Christian Kirksey. He plays fast but still uses his head. He was the defensive MVP yesterday for his ability to cover the slot receiver and make ISU work hard for their passing yards. Yes, Jantz beat us, but he had to go to his outside receivers on almost every play.
Seventh: Iowa needs to play more starters on special teams. The Hawkeyes don’t play their true freshmen back-ups on normal defensive plays and risk giving up an extra 5-10 yards, why do they play so many backups on kick-off coverage and risk giving up an extra five or ten yards there.
Eighth: There’s an old baseball saying that I actually think works better in college football—“Play for the tie at home and play for the win on the road.” When you are going against an aggressive, hostile opponent, such as Iowa State and its crowd. Conservativism works as a general rule, but everything is situational in football and there are no hard, fast rules of game play. I don’t blame Iowa for not going for it in the first half, but I was unbelievable frustrated (and still am) that the Hawks didn’t pass on first down at the end of regulation or run the ball with Coker on 4th and 1 in OT3 (he would have picked it up; he wasn’t getting stopped in OT—see point #2). I firmly believe that the Iowa coaching staff is the best in the country Sunday-Friday and January-August, but I am consistently left wanting more on gamedays. That’s irritating.
Tenth: Sorry to nitpick, but ISU simply should not be starting to blast an air raid siren after their opponents break the huddle. Whether it actually affects the opponent or not, it is unnecessary at least, probably unsportsmanlike, and possibly warrants a sideline warning from the game officials. Big XII conference officials need to address this.
Eleventh: A pair of bright sides. The Big Ten no longer uses overall record to determine any sort of conference tie-breaker, so losing to Iowa State in no way effects Iowa’s chance to win the Legends Division. I still think the Hawkeyes have the schedule and talent to compete for a division title if a lot goes right, so it’s nice to know that the loss to Iowa State won’t hamper that effort. Secondly, the rest of the conference didn’t exactly look great yesterday. Four of Iowa’s eight conference opponents lost yesterday.
Twelfth: Major props to Steele Jantz. Since the start of the fourth quarter vs. UNI, Jantz has played really good football. He reminds me a lot of Drew Tate, and if he is able to channel his talent well week-in and week-out, Iowa State will be good enough to win six or seven games, something I thought to be impossible just a short time ago.
First: With Iowa’s loss to Iowa State yesterday, the Hawkeyes fell to Iowa State for the eighth time in the last 14 meetings and the seventh time in coach Kirk Ferentz’s tenure. If the previous seven losses are any indication as to how this season will go, we know that one of two things is likely to happen this year:
-Both Iowa and Iowa State will go to a bowl game.
-Neither Iowa nor Iowa State will go to a bowl game.
The only exception to this rule is 2000, when ISU went 9-3 and Iowa went 3-8. In 1998, 1999 and 2007, neither team made a bowl game. In 2001, 2002, and 2005, both teams made a bowl game.
Here’s an eye-opening series of stats: under Coach Ferentz, when Iowa makes a bowl game and ISU does not, Iowa is 4-0. When both teams make a bowl game, Iowa is 2-3. Looking at these stats another way we see that:
-Under Kirk Ferentz, when either Iowa or Iowa State is definitively better than the other team, by the standard of making a bowl vs. not making a bowl (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), the team that was definitively better is 5-0 in the CyHawk game. Iowa is 4-0 in such games and ISU is 1-0.
-Under Ferentz, when the teams are on approximately equal footing, either both teams make a bowl or both teams don’t make a bowl (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), Iowa State leads the series 5-2.
Second: I believe Marcus Coker played better than most people are giving him credit for. Coker had 35 carries for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Yes, he had a fumble that led directly to an ISU touchdown, but he did two things that I believe off set that mistake.
-Stepped up in the fourth quarter and overtime. Coker ran just as hard on carries 25-35 as he did on carries 1-25. He was rolling along when he got the ball late in the game, and both of his touchdowns came when Iowa needed them the most.
-Didn’t get stopped for losses. This can be partially attributed to the offensive line, but in 35 carries, Coker was stopped behind the line of scrimmage only once. Coker walks a fine line between too patient and perfectly patient, and while he has yet reproduce the outstanding performance we all saw in the Insight Bowl, the offense as a whole was much more developed, especially up front, at the end of last season than it is now.
Third: This was stated in another thread, but it bears repeating that Iowa is replacing nine players that are currently on opening day NFL rosters, Ryan Donahue, Karl Klug, Tyler Sash, Adrian Clayborn, Allen Reisner, Christian Ballard, Ricky Stanzi, Julian Vandervelde, and Jeff Tarpinian. This does not include 4-year starter Brett Greenwood, multi-year starter Jeremiha Hunter, all-time leading receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, multi-year starter Adam Robinson, or multi-year starter Brett Morse. The sheer amount of talent and experience Iowa had to replace going into this season is absolutely staggering. When a team replaces that much, it will take time, hopefully less than four games, but almost certainly at least two, before the team really finds itself.
Fourth: Iowa needs work on the defensive line. The line is undersized, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the undersized players aren’t fast enough to make plays (or at least aren’t playing fast enough, Adrian Clayborn made a comment on Twitter yesterday that LeBron needs to use his speed more and stop trying to bull rush, so maybe it’s technique and not ability). Iowa has a little bit of an injury issue, but Carl Davis was back yesterday. I would love to see him plugging the middle a little more
Fifth: When Bernstine gets back next week, he needs to start at safety and Hyde needs to move back to corner. Castillo is a solid situational player, but having him play every play is not working. Something needs to change, and since it won’t be a schematic alteration, it needs to be a personnel change.
Sixth: Major props to Christian Kirksey. He plays fast but still uses his head. He was the defensive MVP yesterday for his ability to cover the slot receiver and make ISU work hard for their passing yards. Yes, Jantz beat us, but he had to go to his outside receivers on almost every play.
Seventh: Iowa needs to play more starters on special teams. The Hawkeyes don’t play their true freshmen back-ups on normal defensive plays and risk giving up an extra 5-10 yards, why do they play so many backups on kick-off coverage and risk giving up an extra five or ten yards there.
Eighth: There’s an old baseball saying that I actually think works better in college football—“Play for the tie at home and play for the win on the road.” When you are going against an aggressive, hostile opponent, such as Iowa State and its crowd. Conservativism works as a general rule, but everything is situational in football and there are no hard, fast rules of game play. I don’t blame Iowa for not going for it in the first half, but I was unbelievable frustrated (and still am) that the Hawks didn’t pass on first down at the end of regulation or run the ball with Coker on 4th and 1 in OT3 (he would have picked it up; he wasn’t getting stopped in OT—see point #2). I firmly believe that the Iowa coaching staff is the best in the country Sunday-Friday and January-August, but I am consistently left wanting more on gamedays. That’s irritating.
Tenth: Sorry to nitpick, but ISU simply should not be starting to blast an air raid siren after their opponents break the huddle. Whether it actually affects the opponent or not, it is unnecessary at least, probably unsportsmanlike, and possibly warrants a sideline warning from the game officials. Big XII conference officials need to address this.
Eleventh: A pair of bright sides. The Big Ten no longer uses overall record to determine any sort of conference tie-breaker, so losing to Iowa State in no way effects Iowa’s chance to win the Legends Division. I still think the Hawkeyes have the schedule and talent to compete for a division title if a lot goes right, so it’s nice to know that the loss to Iowa State won’t hamper that effort. Secondly, the rest of the conference didn’t exactly look great yesterday. Four of Iowa’s eight conference opponents lost yesterday.
Twelfth: Major props to Steele Jantz. Since the start of the fourth quarter vs. UNI, Jantz has played really good football. He reminds me a lot of Drew Tate, and if he is able to channel his talent well week-in and week-out, Iowa State will be good enough to win six or seven games, something I thought to be impossible just a short time ago.
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