Not The Only Ones Lacking Optimism

Expectations : Low. Hope: High. Hawkticism (fn): Off the charts.

fn - acknowledgement to Miller for coining phrase.
 
homes said:
Expectations : Low. Hope: High. Hawkticism (fn): Off the charts.

fn - acknowledgement to Miller for coining phrase.
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Hawkticism? I think it's actually Hawktimism. But I think I like your version better as it's very similar to "exorcism" which is exactly what this program needs right about now.
 
GoHawks24 said:
Hmm.. something tells me that your difference in opinion has to do with their objective view vs. your subjective view. Just a hunch.

I won't be shocked if they go 6-6. Surprised? Definitely.
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I wouldn't be shocked or even surprised if Iowa gets anywhere from 3 to 7 wins. Outside of that range, I'd be shocked.
 
SteveGarvey said:
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Shocked if Iowa goes 6-6 this year? Absurd. C'mon man, we could be 4-1 through our first five games and win two more. That would not be shocking.
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I think it's a lot more likely that we're 3-2, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if we're 2-3. Minnesota and Purdue are the only Big Ten games I see us maybe winning.
 
The one saving throw from about this article is how sports prognosticators are often wrong. Having said that; Iowa's winnable home games; Iowa is the favorite against; Northern Illinois, Missouri State and Western Michigan. Minnesota, Iowa State and Purdue are all winnable away games. There are three probable and three possible wins.

Ohio State and Nebraska are definite losses (in most reasonable minds) In between the definite losses and the possible wins are the probable losses; Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan. All tough games but they are in Kinnick.

Shocked if Iowa is 6-6? I don't expect the Hawkeyes to be contenders, but "shocked" is an overstatement. I can see 6-6 as a possibility. Unfortunately it is not a probability.
 
uihawk82 said:
The hawks will surprise this year. you can save and bump this reply next November if you want but the potential for improvement for the hawks is large compared to the very close games they lost last year.

Turn around the central mich game this year to a win and we are 5-7.

Turn around one other close loss, ISU, Purdue, even NEbby adn we are 6-6 and going bowling.

The hawks will always go bowling when eligible cuz of the great fans.
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Problem is, all three of those games are now on the road this year. Iowa needs to show tremendous improvement before I'm ready to believe they can go on the road and beat ANYBODY.

The problem isn't whether CMU's last second FG went in, or not. The fact that Iowa was even in a position to lose that game, particularly at home, tells me that Iowa simply was not a good team last year. Unlucky? Perhaps. But a good team wins that game 3 TD's or more and takes luck out of the equation.

If Iowa was a good team again, it would be worrying about winning the close games against Michigan, OSU, etc. - not Purdue, Indiana and Central Michigan.
 
I would love to be optimistic about this football season, but when you add the mediocre recruiting with the worst OC in recent memory with a HC who's stubborness and inability to change and adapt are legendary, you get predicable horrendous results. I will be surprised if we can attain the lofty record of 4-8 to match last year's disaster.
 
SpiderRico said:
Hawkticism? I think it's actually Hawktimism. But I think I like your version better as it's very similar to "exorcism" which is exactly what this program needs right about now.
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Good catch. Frankly I am too lazy to go back and check Miller's original post for spelling, so I went off memory, which is often a bad thing to do. So, maybe I stumbled into a new phrase. I wonder what my royalties will be once it takes off?
 
I think the team will be better than these guys obviously...but I can't understand anyone thinking the program is trending down right now. We have more young talent in the trenches on both sides of the ball than we have had in a long time. Last I remember, this is where games are won and lost. Last year, in clearly a rebuilding year and throw in critical injuries, we got our ***** handed to us twice Michigan and Penn State. With the team we had last year after game 6, they were still in every freaking game with a chance to win.

Now, you have all the same talent back on the OL, your young DL is a year older, and you have some senior leadership on the defense. We now have a stable of running backs and the coaches have worked hard to address the playmaker issue at WR. Iowa this year will be in every game...because they will compete in trenches and play good defense. In 2014, we lose very little, other than the LB position. How can you say that is trending down.

I think these guys have it wrong...we bottomed last year...and even with the schedule, we are on an upswing and are going to surprise people this year.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
I think the team will be better than these guys obviously...but I can't understand anyone thinking the program is trending down right now. We have more young talent in the trenches on both sides of the ball than we have had in a long time. Last I remember, this is where games are won and lost. Last year, in clearly a rebuilding year and throw in critical injuries, we got our ***** handed to us twice Michigan and Penn State. With the team we had last year after game 6, they were still in every freaking game with a chance to win.

Now, you have all the same talent back on the OL, your young DL is a year older, and you have some senior leadership on the defense. We now have a stable of running backs and the coaches have worked hard to address the playmaker issue at WR. Iowa this year will be in every game...because they will compete in trenches and play good defense. In 2014, we lose very little, other than the LB position. How can you say that is trending down.

I think these guys have it wrong...we bottomed last year...and even with the schedule, we are on an upswing and are going to surprise people this year.
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No offense, but how can we be on an upswing when we lost our last 6 games to end the year? And save for the 1st 2 years, Iowa is typically in every game, regardless of the opponent. I think you can count on one hand the number of games in the last 10 years where we were out of it. The issue has almost always been a play here or there that our coaching staff can't seem to get right, save for 2009.
 
SpiderRico said:
No offense, but how can we be on an upswing when we lost our last 6 games to end the year? And save for the 1st 2 years, Iowa is typically in every game, regardless of the opponent. I think you can count on one hand the number of games in the last 10 years where we were out of it. The issue has almost always been a play here or there that our coaching staff can't seem to get right, save for 2009.
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We lost our last six games due to injuries we simply didn't have the depth to overcome, and I'm not trying to make excuses here. If you look at this years team, you have essentially the same OL prior to the injuries (see Minnesota and MSU games for reference of how well they were playing) and we've added considerable depth on the OL (Simmons, Walsh, Ward, Keppy) there are 9 guys that will be competing for 5 spots. This is light years ahead of where this group was from a depth standpoint. Now look on the othe side of the ball...more guys that can play, more guys with experience heading into the year, and everyone a year older. And everyone comes back again in 2014 on the DL. For these very reasons, you can't say the team is headed in the wrong direction. Personally, if the top guys remain health, I think our OL is going to be able to run on every team on the schedule. That's trending up.

I know we have a QB with no experience...but it happens in CFB. It's not like Iowa or every other team in CFB hasn't had a guy come in and play well. Rudock has the pedigree of playing with top athletes and succeeding. There is no reason why he can't manage a game, use his running game and TE's, and make the plays that present themselves.

I just think the team is trending up...not down.
 
I see the same results as last year. Between the hardest offence to learn in the history of football and the youth on the team. I don't see the team trending down ward but not up either. I guess we're flat lined.
 
11-2
8-5
7-6
4-8

I'm sorry, but I don't know how you can say things aren't trending downward. I guess if you try hard enough, you can convince yourself that the sky isn't blue either - but I have to call it how I see it. That doesn't mean that this year's team won't play better than they did a year ago, but up to this point, to deny that his program has been in a downward spiral the last few years, is, well... denial.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
11-2
8-5
7-6
4-8
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1977Hawkeye said:
I'm sorry, but I don't know how you can say things aren't trending downward. I guess if you try hard enough, you can convince yourself that the sky isn't blue either - but I have to call it how I see it. That doesn't mean that this year's team won't play better than they did a year ago, but up to this point, to deny that his program has been in a downward spiral the last few years, is, well... denial.
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Every team trends up and down through time, albeit at different levels and through different time periods. Identifying recent KF led Hawkeye trends it seems to be we're ready for a bounce back season baby. The rubber ball has hit the floor and is starting to bounce up again.
 
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