Predictions for the Nattie tonight?

CP87 said:
I would guess 100% of Iowa fans were cheering for Indiana last night. How many years like this do we give them before we start hating them like OSU?
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I think 98% of all fans in America were rooting for Indiana last night. Miami & ND fanbases, Reece Davis, and Paul Finebaum are the only people I can think of who could possibly be rooting for Miami.

As far as hating on Indiana, it's a nope for me.

Cignetti did it the exact opposite of the way Urbs and Tressel did it. Urbs and Tressle did it the SEC way. Cignetti's a likeable guy, slightly on the spectrum, and has figured this thing out with brains and balls. OSU did it by hoarding five stars and no one will ever convince me those blue bloods did it above board. Well guess what...now paying players is above board and in my mind if a guy like Cignetti can convince the Mark Cubans of the world to give him enough money more power to them. Nowadays smart selection of players and good coaching are the differentiators once you have the money. He'll get no hate from me.

Iowa would happily do the exact same thing if we had the same money and staff and our fans would revel in it.

I won't like getting our asses kicked by Indiana, but I'll appreciate the skill they do it with as a program.
 
I get the whole, "let the players play" philosophy for a national championship game, but I found the lack of defensive-holding calls on Miami shocking. They were grabbing jerseys the whole game, even as receivers were breaking away from them. That is almost always called because it is so obvious.

As I recall, we were pretty handsy with Indiana in our matchup because we blitzed so much, and we got away with a few as well. But I think the refs need to be better for a game like this.
 
CP87 said:
I get the whole, "let the players play" philosophy for a national championship game, but I found the lack of defensive-holding calls on Miami shocking. They were grabbing jerseys the whole game, even as receivers were breaking away from them. That is almost always called because it is so obvious.

As I recall, we were pretty handsy with Indiana in our matchup because we blitzed so much, and we got away with a few as well. But I think the refs need to be better for a game like this.
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I agree. Pass interference and defensive holding are out of hand. It's all over in college and the NFL, IMO. DB's never used to play like this.
 
So how far away is Iowa from being Indiana ?

QB
RB
WRs
TE
O-Line

DLine
Linebackers
DBs Safety/Corners


What if Hecklenski is a special QB - the likes of which we havn't seen in decade or moe? You noticed that they didn't entertain QBs in the roster. I'd like to think its because they got guys that Tim likes.
 
The thing about star ratings is that they're assigned to a player when they are 16 or 17 years old. Its easy to spot the best of the best. We're all learning that some of the great payers develop a bit later in life. NFL rosters have a good number of guys from smaller schools (over looked).

Coaches are embracing the notiation that there are lots of good players outside the traditional 4/5 framework
 
I think what Cignetti has figured out is that the most important type of "athleticism" is above the shoulders.

You don't build drive, determination, focus and resilience in the weight room...
 
CP87 said:
I get the whole, "let the players play" philosophy for a national championship game, but I found the lack of defensive-holding calls on Miami shocking. They were grabbing jerseys the whole game, even as receivers were breaking away from them. That is almost always called because it is so obvious.

As I recall, we were pretty handsy with Indiana in our matchup because we blitzed so much, and we got away with a few as well. But I think the refs need to be better for a game like this.
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They let them play especially Miami. I’m all for letting them play if it’s called on both sides. I take exception for player safety stuff and Cignetti was correct for calling out the refs on the uncalled roughing plays. They missed three the first half and the one was blatant targeting. Then Indiana got called for one on the last drive that was iffy in my opinion because it wasn’t high and the player was in the motion of tackling before he released the ball
 
NCHawker said:
So how far away is Iowa from being Indiana ?

QB
RB
WRs
TE
O-Line

DLine
Linebackers
DBs Safety/Corners


What if Hecklenski is a special QB - the likes of which we havn't seen in decade or moe? You noticed that they didn't entertain QBs in the roster. I'd like to think its because they got guys that Tim likes.
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I think QB and WR are the only areas we are clearly weaker. Is Hecklinski about to win a Heisman? Extremely unlikely. But no more unlikely then if someone had predicted Mendoza for the Heisman before he ever took a snap at Cal:

1768946412689.png


For the WR position, it is possible to luck into talent, even at Iowa. ISM, B. Smith, T. Tracy, and N. Ragaini were probably not too far off what Indiana was trotting out. However, we have never created a system that features our WRs.

Aside from the talent differences in those 2 groups, I think the biggest difference is in mentality. Indiana tries to destroy teams at all times. While they are balanced overall, they never take their foot off the gas. Remember Minny this year when we were up 31-0 less than 20 minutes into the game? We only totaled 110 more yards over the last 40 minutes, and we only scored 10 more points, winning 41-3. Had we had an Indiana mentality, we would have won that game 59-3.
 
CP87 said:
I think QB and WR are the only areas we are clearly weaker. Is Hecklinski about to win a Heisman? Extremely unlikely. But no more unlikely then if someone had predicted Mendoza for the Heisman before he ever took a snap at Cal:

View attachment 11937


For the WR position, it is possible to luck into talent, even at Iowa. ISM, B. Smith, T. Tracy, and N. Ragaini were probably not too far off what Indiana was trotting out. However, we have never created a system that features our WRs.

Aside from the talent differences in those 2 groups, I think the biggest difference is in mentality. Indiana tries to destroy teams at all times. While they are balanced overall, they never take their foot off the gas. Remember Minny this year when we were up 31-0 less than 20 minutes into the game? We only totaled 110 more yards over the last 40 minutes, and we only scored 10 more points, winning 41-3. Had we had an Indiana mentality, we would have won that game 59-3.
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FWIW, I didn’t know Charlie Becker was almost going to be a Hawkeye until today.
 
CP87 said:
I get the whole, "let the players play" philosophy for a national championship game, but I found the lack of defensive-holding calls on Miami shocking. They were grabbing jerseys the whole game, even as receivers were breaking away from them. That is almost always called because it is so obvious.

As I recall, we were pretty handsy with Indiana in our matchup because we blitzed so much, and we got away with a few as well. But I think the refs need to be better for a game like this.
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I totally agree. I was surprised with the (lack of) officiating in this important game. Miami mugged Indiana receivers the entire game.

Don't get me started on the targeting on Mendoza.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
A blue blood would be very off brand for Cig. Plus, the dude is old. He will retire in Bloomington and never pay for a meal again.
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Exactly. And the thing of it is, there are few expectations there. If he goes 8-4 next year, it's not like they'll run him out of town. All they will do is delay erecting his statue.
 
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