Penn state vs Hawkeye

[thedukeofearl]

Why BF, God man did you see the game?

He has an occasional moment

And deserves all the criticism he gets

But somehow the offense manages to score points and expertly manage the clock

Barely

There are several head-scratchers every game

I have learned to accept them and carry on

 

[ssckelley]

Biggest recruiting day in years. Let's go Hawks

I heard Xavier was in the locker room celebrating with the team.

 

[hawkeyewx]

Big Ten Network just said Iowa has given up a total of 20 points in the second half this season. That's pretty good.

 

[Motigerhawk]

What a day. Wow, the best day of college football this season.

 

[Dadman]

What a day. Wow, the best day of college football this season.

So far!

 

[Seth53]

Any sense that Iowa would not have won had PSU's QB not been injured?

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

It was ugly, or at least it seemed ugly, but this offense scored 23 against the 3rd best defense in the country

It seems like such an obvious observation, but I feel like the bulk of HN doesn't quite appreciate this.

That was an elite defense we faced. We were functional moving the ball and scoring points.

I think this offense can consistently do ~30 ppg against our remaining 6 opponents.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Any sense that Iowa would not have won had PSU's QB not been injured?

Let’s invite Ricky Stanzi into this conversation to talk about the face mask that somehow got missed and resulted in him being yanked to the end zone in 2009 against Northwestern, fracturing his ankle. To that point Iowa was 9-0 and in title contention.

Stanzi’s season-ending injury gave us untested redshirt freshman James Vandenberg, who went on to lose that game and again the next week at Ohio State.

QB’s get hurt, unfortunately. As a team you gotta play with what you’ve got. That’s football…

IOWA VS NORTHWESTERN 2009

youtu.be

 

[ssckelley]

Any sense that Iowa would not have won had PSU's QB not been injured?

It is possible but I can’t believe Parker wasn’t going to make adjustments on defense. Roberson was just as mobile and that’s what was beating the defense more than anything.

But injuries are part of the game.

 

[Seth53]

Let’s invite Ricky Stanzi into this conversation to talk about the face mask that somehow got missed and resulted in him being yanked to the end zone in 2009 against Northwestern, fracturing his ankle. To that point Iowa was 9-0 and in title contention.

Stanzi’s season-ending injury gave us untested redshirt freshman James Vandenberg, who went on to lose that game and again the next week at Ohio State.

QB’s get hurt, unfortunately. As a team you gotta play with what you’ve got. That’s football…

IOWA VS NORTHWESTERN 2009

youtu.be

Indeed. I was in the North Endzone when the NU DE came wheeling around and crushed him right in front of us.

Buzz kill for sure.

 

[HawkeyeBK]

It certainly would have been more difficult, but, the Hawks were only down 17-10 when PSU had to bring in the backup QB. I agree with SSC that Parker would have made appropriate adjustments at half-time. I think the Hawks win either way.

 

[okeefe4prez]

It certainly would have been more difficult, but, the Hawks were only down 17-10 when PSU had to bring in the backup QB. I agree with SSC that Parker would have made appropriate adjustments at half-time. I think the Hawks win either way.

We've seen Iowa do that a bunch. Even if that hit doesn't knock out Clifford, it gets him nervous in the pocket and next thing you know he airmails a few and Iowa wins.

 

[CP87]

It certainly would have been more difficult, but, the Hawks were only down 17-10 when PSU had to bring in the backup QB. I agree with SSC that Parker would have made appropriate adjustments at half-time. I think the Hawks win either way.

As soon as Clifford went out I felt very confident the Hawks would pull it out. Had Clifford stayed in, the difficulty level gets ratcheted up big time.

We have seen many teams move the ball early against Parker's defense, and then get completely stymied after a few possessions. So I don't think PSU would have continued to march down the field like they did in their 3 consecutive scoring drives (as so many PSU fans seem to assume). But with Clifford, the field position battle would have been much harder to win, and they probably would have eked out a few more points. Meaning Iowa would have had to score another TD or two. Could Iowa have done that? I wouldn't put it past them. They knew the position they had PSU in without Clifford, so they stuck with the running game and their conservative approach. But had they needed to score, they would have cranked up the aggression and taken more risks. Maybe it works out, maybe not. If Clifford hadn't gotten hurt, I would have given the Hawks about a 25% chance of pulling it out after that slow start.

But none of that matters because Clifford DID get hurt (injuries happen), and the Hawks did score more points than PSU. Hypotheticals might make their fanbase feel better after a crushing defeat, but if my aunt had balls...