Possible oversight on reason for 7-5 Season

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One thing I think a lot of people are overlooking is the fact that Iowa lost 4 players to the NFL that are all starting and/or making significant contributions to their NFL teams: Amari Spievey, Pat Angerer, Tony Moeaki, and Bryan Bulaga.

Here are their 2010 statistics to date:
Amari Spievey: 43 Tackles 31 Solo 12 Assisted 1 Safety
Pat Angerer: 68 Tackles 44 Solo 24 Assisted 1 Sack 1 Forced Fumble
Tony Moeaki: 36 Receptions 438 Yards 3 TDs
Bryan Bulaga: Played/Started in all 12 Games

We all know that Ferentz is a guy who sticks to his system and it works when it is executed. Is it possible that we just didn't have the personnel to live up to our own expectations? The names listed above are really hard to place and are some Ferentz Era all-time greats. Their NFL contributions speak volumes on the amount of talent we actually lost this year.

When you add to that, that we were attempting to, due to bad luck, replace Angerer (An All-American) with a true freshman linebacker and Spievey, the best corner of the Ferentz Era (per Norm Parker) with a first year starting sophomore...it starts to add up. Not to mention the key contributions that Moeaki and Bulaga made last year.

Now this surely doesn't take away the pain of having a chance, and failing, at winning all of the games we lost down the stretch. And it isn't an excuse, but is it possible we downgraded the impact of the loss of personnel from last year?
 
That has not been overlooked. Those losses and the additional loss of a few more starting linemen, Calloway, Dace, Eubanks, had a lot of people looking at at a 9-3 type season. And the Hawks would have had such a season if they didn't end up with a massive hole in the middle of the O line. As soon as MacMillan and Gettis both went down, it was the end of the story.

While fans wouldn't have wanted a 9-3 season with losses to AZ, Wisky, and OSU, I think they would have accepted it. Add Minny and NW to the mix and it is a different story.
 
CAARHawk said:
That has not been overlooked. Those losses and the additional loss of a few more starting linemen, Calloway, Dace, Eubanks, had a lot of people looking at at a 9-3 type season. And the Hawks would have had such a season if they didn't end up with a massive hole in the middle of the O line. As soon as MacMillan and Gettis both went down, it was the end of the story.

While fans wouldn't have wanted a 9-3 season with losses to AZ, Wisky, and OSU, I think they would have accepted it. Add Minny and NW to the mix and it is a different story.
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I totally agree with you.
 
It was probably unrealistic for us fans to expect to replace the talent mentioned. Another name not listed above is Edds. Nielsen was doing well but once he was injured, the OLB spot was not as efficient as needed.
 
The problem is that the elite teams reload, and don't suffer through embarrassing losses to the likes of Northwestern and Minnesota.
If Ferentz is to be considered an "elite" head coach then his record should reflect it.
 
Sorry, we are not an elite program and never will be. Hayden finished in the Top 10 once in 20 seasons. Ferentz has done it 4 times in 11 seasons. There have been 5 Big Ten titles and 5 BCS-level games in 31 years.

What can the Iowa fans expect?

1. At least 6-6 and a minor bowl game in a rebuilding year. Hayden achieved that in most years and Ferentz has achieved it 9 years in a row.
2. At least 8-4 and a January bowl game in a good year.
3. The occasional run at a Big Ten Title and a BCS game in a great year.

I would term this year as a rebuilding year after the massive losses from last year.

Next year might be a 6-6 or 7-5 variety as well, and then hopefully better seasons down the road.

In the last 9 seasons, Ferentz has not done worse than 6-6, but has had several seasons at 8-4 or better.

We are paying Ferentz a lot of money so he doesn't jump to an elite program (Michigan or Penn State) or the NFL. Period.

Iowa fans that are hoping for national championship games are just kidding themselves. This board seems to be full of fans like that. As far as I am concerned, it is just a lot of hot air.

In 121 seasons of Iowa football, we have never had a concensus national champion. And since 1939 (the modern era), no Iowa team has been voted #1 by AP or UPI or the Coaches' poll. Not one.
 
ChosenChildren said:
Sorry, we are not an elite program and never will be. Hayden finished in the Top 10 once in 20 seasons. Ferentz has done it 4 times in 11 seasons. There have been 5 Big Ten titles and 5 BCS-level games in 31 years.

In 121 seasons of Iowa football, we have never had a concensus national champion. And since 1939 (the modern era), no Iowa team has been voted #1 by AP or UPI or the Coaches' poll. Not one.
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Pathetic.

You seem to have forgotten that Iowa was one Seneca Wallace run away from the NC game in 02. You also seem to forget that Iowa was a twisted ankle away from going 10 and 0 just last year against one of the most difficult schedules in the country!

You certainly need a little luck to make it to the championship game, (See Auburn and Oregon this year) but to not aspire to it is pathetically fatalistic.

Shame on you for giving up hope.
 
Every team loses seniors. That's never an excuse. You look at what you have returning to formulate expectations for the coming year. Iowa laid an egg this year. There's no sugar coating that fact.

And jeebus, even if we had beaten ISU in '02, we still weren't going to be playing for the title.
 
There was nothing we could do about Angerer, Edds, and Moeaki. They were gone no matter what due to graduation. I think if we somehow convinced Bulaga to stay then I think Dace would have applied for his additional medical year. Not that the OLine was a big reason for the late season collapse but it would have helped. I think losing Spievey was a big hit, and partially the reason we suffered. Having a shutdown corner that pretty much takes away one side of the field would have been huge this year. Spievey/Prater looks a lot better than Prater/Hyde.
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
There was nothing we could do about Angerer, Edds, and Moeaki. They were gone no matter what due to graduation. I think if we somehow convinced Bulaga to stay then I think Dace would have applied for his additional medical year. Not that the OLine was a big reason for the late season collapse but it would have helped. I think losing Spievey was a big hit, and partially the reason we suffered. Having a shutdown corner that pretty much takes away one side of the field would have been huge this year. Spievey/Prater looks a lot better than Prater/Hyde.
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Having Dace and Bulaga could have made the unit elite. Bulaga at LT, Julian at LG, Ferentz at C, Dace at RG, Reiff at RT. That's pretty damn good.
 
burky247 said:
And jeebus, even if we had beaten ISU in '02, we still weren't going to be playing for the title.
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Disagree. Everyone was bashing OSU that year for their close wins, while we were hitting on all cylinders at the end of the year. If we were undefeated we would have been #2 behind Miami.
 
My question is, If you truly believe this is the reason for 7-5 then what do you think next year looks like?
 
How about Senior Leadership was real poor.................period. KF spent time in 2009 pressers praising his Senior leaders and we just didn't hear that in 2010.

It's one thing for a team to fight to the end and come up short. It's another to roll over quit. For what ever reason, this team quit. Heartless & gutless, not a good combo.

Hopefully KF can get them back and fired up for the Bowl game. Otherwise, given the opponents offensive scheme and talented skill players, it will be a long and painful night for our Hawkeyes.
 
Nobody is overlooking that. It been discussed and debated over and over..



Also to the person mentioning that Iowa lost to ISU cost us Title game. Iowa was not going to the 2002 National Championship with a win over ISU?? Can you say clueless!! I can and you are.. USC was ahead of Iowa with 2 losses. Undefeated Iowa would have passed by both Georgia. SOS was a factor back then and Iowa had the worst SOS of anyone in the Top 14. They were taking a huge 1.96 hit that season.

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/pdf/bcs_2002.pdf
 
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pmchawk said:
My question is, If you truly believe this is the reason for 7-5 then what do you think next year looks like?
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Like I said this isn't the only reason, I just believe that it may have been one of the reasons that expectations got out of hand. Very few teams can lose 4 NFL starters plus other key contributors and expect a National Championship caliber season. It would have been more realistic to start the predictions at 9-3 and fluctuate from there. And, of course hindsight is 20/20 and I was as guilty as anyone expecting repeat success +1 from last year. And even if the predictions started out at 9-3, yes 7-5 would still be disappointing.

Additionally, I agree that no matter who you are losing the losses to NW and Minny are unacceptable.

As far as next year goes you could argue that we don't have to replace more than we had to replace this year, in fact maybe less. Yes, DJK is a 1st team All-Big Ten WR and a Ferentz (and career) Era best, but we have a second team WR still on the team coming back for 2011. Clayborn is an All-American, this loss will hurt (along with the other D-Lineman). Stanzi was a great leader (well before 2010 anyways) but he's not an NFL caliber QB and Vandenberg may have the same untapped potential, if not more. The loss of Donahue also stings.
 
HawkPrdatr40 said:
Nobody is overlooking that. It been discussed and debated over and over..



Also to the person mentioning that Iowa lost to ISU cost us Title game. Iowa was not going to the 2002 National Championship with a win over ISU?? Can you say clueless!! I can and you are.. USC was ahead of Iowa with 2 losses. Undefeated Iowa would have passed by both Georgia. SOS was a factor back then and Iowa had the worst SOS of anyone in the Top 14. They were taking a huge 1.96 hit that season.

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/pdf/bcs_2002.pdf
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Listen assshat,

You missed the point. Are you contending that Iowa could NEVER make the NC game? I would think the fact that they've NEARLY made it twice this decade proves that assertion false. I would think that 4 top ten finishes this decade would ALSO prove that assertion false.

To argue about whether Iowa would have made the championship game if they had been undefeated in that particular year is beside the point. To act like they COULDN'T make the NC game is stupid.

Go ahead and focus on the irrelvant factors though.
 
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AFAcademyHawk said:
Disagree. Everyone was bashing OSU that year for their close wins, while we were hitting on all cylinders at the end of the year. If we were undefeated we would have been #2 behind Miami.
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We will just have to agree to disagree. But when you look at our SOS that year, I am not sure how you came to your conclusion. Remember, Iowa had their share of close wins that year as well. Thank god our offensive line took over at the end of the Miami, OH game. If not, I think Miami ends up winning that game. They were on a roll at the end of the game and our defense wasn't going to stop them. Purdue was a game that even Kirk said we had no business winning. The Indiana game took 3 interceptions from..(name that linebacker for ten bonus points) in the red zone to salvage a victory. Not to mention the PSU game.
 
CAARHawk said:
That has not been overlooked. Those losses and the additional loss of a few more starting linemen, Calloway, Dace, Eubanks, had a lot of people looking at at a 9-3 type season. And the Hawks would have had such a season if they didn't end up with a massive hole in the middle of the O line. As soon as MacMillan and Gettis both went down, it was the end of the story.

While fans wouldn't have wanted a 9-3 season with losses to AZ, Wisky, and OSU, I think they would have accepted it. Add Minny and NW to the mix and it is a different story.
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t4
Agree with most of what you say. I was looking at 9-3. It is just too hard to overlook the Minny and NW games. Plus a dropped pass from losing to Indy. Poor clock management against Wisky. AZ was a bottom tier Pac 10 team. Did not think I would ever skip a bowl game, but have not been able to force myself to spend money to go watch Hawks and I like the matchup.
 
Jeebus said:
Listen assshat,

You missed the point.:confused::confused: Are you contending that Iowa could NEVER make the NC game?:confused::confused::confused: I would think the fact that they've NEARLY made it twice this decade proves that assertion false. I would think that 4 top ten finishes this decade would ALSO prove that assertion false.

To argue about whether Iowa would have made the championship game if they had been undefeated in that particular year is beside the point. To act like they COULDN'T make the NC game is stupid.

Go ahead and focus on the irrelvant factors though.
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Why the flip Jeebus. I never said Iowa couldn't or they haven't come close. I responded to you comment below. Iowa wasn't one Wallace run away. Now who looks like the Asshat?:D


Jeebus wrote the following(I thought this point was pretty clear):
You seem to have forgotten that Iowa was one Seneca Wallace run away from the NC game in 02. You also seem to forget that Iowa was a twisted ankle away from going 10 and 0 just last year against one of the most difficult schedules in the country!
 
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