Ourlads
- Thread starter karras
- Start date
Adam
Well-Known Member
Lol yup that pre season we all gathered around and dissected the 2 deeps. We all marveled at the known talent. It was clear that we had a squad that could run the table....Oh wait, none of that happened.
Simple historical pattern. The better we look on paper the more inexplicably average we end up. Our best seasons have literally came out of nowhere and smacked us all in the face. I will of course root to break that pattern.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
2009 didn't come out of nowhere. That team was salty at the end of 2008.
Irregardless, Iowa is a program that rarely performs where it should. It either has crappy luck and loses games it should win or it has good luck and wins game it arguably shouldn't. With the talent base this year, if we get some bounces, we will be good. If we don't get bounces, we will be right around our average of 7 or 8 wins. A lot of the games come down to one or two plays in the grand scheme. Not too many teams on our schedule are good enough to blow us out and until you get into the very top tier of the SEC or lined up against someone like Clemson, I'm not sure that nationally there are more than a handful teams good enough to blow Iowa out. When you're at that level, an errant pass here or missed block there can make a giant difference.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
Stanley had 2nd best QB rating when not under pressure. Not sure that means he’s the 2nd best QB.
Jackson and Wirfs ranked 1st and 3rd in pass blocking. They need to improve as run blockers.
Also those PFF grades are fun but they aren’t always perfect.
Adam
Well-Known Member
I agree with your overall statement here.
I'm still in slight disagreement about 09. Yes we had a good looking team on paper, but that was giving us hope for like a 10 win season. Noone at all predicted 9-0. Plus we were coming off of losing the best RB in recent history and maybe ever. Most of us had grave concerns about the offense. None of really knew at that time how good DJK and McNutt were really going to be. I know we will get a few people now who claim to have known all of that before it happened, but we all know the truth.
Solid usage of a wonderful word.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
True, but there were people predicting Iowa winning out in October 2009. https://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/threads/okeefes-future-if-we-win-out.140/
I agree, there was concern about Greene and no one knew how good McNutt was going to be. But we all knew the defense was going to be legit and that Stanzi was special. But the 2009 season was one that came down to a fair number of toss up games that went Iowa's way and was all lost on one play when Corey Wooton mercilessly sprained Stanzi's ankle on a blatant face mask tackle. The game was sealed on a phantom holding call on Wegher's long TD run. Ugh.
Adam
Well-Known Member
In summation yes 2009 was not the biggest surprise season ever, but it was a pleasant surprise none the less. I think the overall pattern still holds true. Iowa performs better when they can sneak up on people. Iowa with a big target on their back has historically faltered. It's neither here or there for what will actually happen this season, but it is a trend that should keep us as fans from letting our heads go to the clouds about how good any particular Iowa team will be. No matter how good the early 2 deep looks.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Zero disagreement on this point. An Iowa team with big national expectations is pretty much always a recipe for doom!
Adam
Well-Known Member
Yup so don't feed the hype monster lol.
karras
Well-Known Member
Whooaaa corporal reality, please don't usurp the Captain's job of lowering expectations. My job and Rob's is to elevate those expectations to the stratosphere.
Let me introduce you to our not-so-secret weapon. Just the cherry on top of our arsenal.
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