There's nothing left to accomplish for this team. Even if they went 10-2 (and they won't), they're either going to the Redbox Bowl (if they finish better than 6-6), Detroit (if they finish 6-6), or missing a bowl game entirely. The last six games of the regular season should be used to prepare for 2020.
1. Oliver Martin needs to be starting. We need to find out if he can actually play or if he's a hometown kid who wasn't getting minutes for Michigan because he isn't any good.
2. Both Petras and/or Mansell need at least two series each every game from here on out. One of them is going to transfer when Hogan gets to campus, and both will transfer if Hogan is the starter (which he should be if neither Petras or Mansell can play better than Nate Stanley). We might as well start the process now. Tell one of them that he's #1 going into next year, let the other one transfer, and get Hogan on campus.
3. Nate Stanley being allowed to rewrite the Iowa record book for passing would be criminal. Let him come out and get his start on Senior Night, but that's all he's owed. He's been given opportunity after opportunity, and he just isn't any better than average. Even tonight, the vast majority of his product came in garbage time and through short checkdowns that didn't affect the game at all. He can't carry Chuck Long's jockstrap.
4. Every freshman redshirt on the offensive line can be burnt. Again, let's find out if there's someone else who can play because most of these dudes aren't any good. That includes Wirfs, who Iowa did literally everything for to get him eligible and is below average.
5. The RB by committee thing isn't working and it isn't going to work. Goodson is obviously the talent, and he's also the youth. He needs 20 carries a game minimum so he can be learning the game on the field. Pick one of the veterans to back him up, and that's the list. Let the others transfer if they want. The running game has been terrible outside of Goodson, so go with the one who has talent.
6. If I were running the program, Polacek would be fired tomorrow. Of course this won't happen because reasons.
7 (and maybe most important). Kirk needs to understand that there's no such thing as a Union Card in 2019. His reliance on upperclassmen simply doesn't work any more. If you have a kid who's average as a sophomore or junior, you don't keep starting him...you play the freshman who you recruited to play there and let the upperclassman hit the transfer portal. Kirk continues to play returning players who have gotten minutes in past years and just aren't any good...and they aren't getting any better. If he can't understand that, then he needs to get his gold watch and retire.
1. Oliver Martin needs to be starting. We need to find out if he can actually play or if he's a hometown kid who wasn't getting minutes for Michigan because he isn't any good.
2. Both Petras and/or Mansell need at least two series each every game from here on out. One of them is going to transfer when Hogan gets to campus, and both will transfer if Hogan is the starter (which he should be if neither Petras or Mansell can play better than Nate Stanley). We might as well start the process now. Tell one of them that he's #1 going into next year, let the other one transfer, and get Hogan on campus.
3. Nate Stanley being allowed to rewrite the Iowa record book for passing would be criminal. Let him come out and get his start on Senior Night, but that's all he's owed. He's been given opportunity after opportunity, and he just isn't any better than average. Even tonight, the vast majority of his product came in garbage time and through short checkdowns that didn't affect the game at all. He can't carry Chuck Long's jockstrap.
4. Every freshman redshirt on the offensive line can be burnt. Again, let's find out if there's someone else who can play because most of these dudes aren't any good. That includes Wirfs, who Iowa did literally everything for to get him eligible and is below average.
5. The RB by committee thing isn't working and it isn't going to work. Goodson is obviously the talent, and he's also the youth. He needs 20 carries a game minimum so he can be learning the game on the field. Pick one of the veterans to back him up, and that's the list. Let the others transfer if they want. The running game has been terrible outside of Goodson, so go with the one who has talent.
6. If I were running the program, Polacek would be fired tomorrow. Of course this won't happen because reasons.
7 (and maybe most important). Kirk needs to understand that there's no such thing as a Union Card in 2019. His reliance on upperclassmen simply doesn't work any more. If you have a kid who's average as a sophomore or junior, you don't keep starting him...you play the freshman who you recruited to play there and let the upperclassman hit the transfer portal. Kirk continues to play returning players who have gotten minutes in past years and just aren't any good...and they aren't getting any better. If he can't understand that, then he needs to get his gold watch and retire.
