So what has surprised so far

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
QB Better than I anticipated after watching Spring practice. RB Wadley is very good as anticipated but Kelly-Martin and Young look maybe better than anticipated. Wide receivers and Tight ends. maybe the most pleasant surprise We have at least 3 WRs and 2 tight ends that can run routes and make catches. Offensive line. Maybe number 1 negative surprise. Sure we had a tackle go down but with all the talked about depth our running game is terrible and pass blocking maybe OK. Of course some of the problem could be scheme and play calling
Defensive line a big disappointment especially after Parker talked them up. Everyone seems to run on us and our pass rush is non existent. LBs are solid as expected especially Jewell. What is it with Eastern Iowa? both David Johnson and Jewell came from over there and nobody wanted them. Secondary is I guess about what expected. Jury still out but Snyder coming back helps. Place kicking a good surprise. He has done a nice job. Punting is maybe even worse than feared. Maybe time to open up for campus tryouts

Overall 4-2 Probably where most had us at this point. Was awfully close to 3-3. Team overall is about what I expected. At this point I think we could win 1 to 4 more games with 2 the most likely
 
If Iowa figures out how to go 4-2 down the stretch - an 8-4 with roadies at ISU and 3 games vs the top 3 from the East would be a pretty great season. Stanley being much better then advertised is my biggest surprise. The passing game has looked much better. The Oline injuries have stunted some growth - I am hopeful that this bye week helps that a lot.
 
My biggest surprise is that Bower is still starting, I lost count of how many times he got burned, and how many missed tackles last Saturday. That said, apparently the Clowns are better than expected, same with Mich St. This is a good Iowa team, I see them losing to Wisconsin and that's it.
 
My biggest surprise is how fast the group of debbie downers has turned against this team. I figured they would be 7-5 this season and that's what they are on track for.

Not sure why the vocal minority of Hawkeye bedwetters are losing their sh*t.
 
Compared to the expectations going into the season I think the biggest surprise is Stanley (15 TDs and only 2 INTs) in his first 6 games followed be Easley with 27 receptions (almost double anyone else on the team). Biggest disappointment is OL run blocking but injuries have been an issue. The OL has done a decent job with pass protection, better than last year anyway. The other disappointment is turnovers, cost us 4 or 5 potential scores deep in enemy territory.
 
Hawk1960 said:
Compared to the expectations going into the season I think the biggest surprise is Stanley (15 TDs and only 2 INTs) in his first 6 games followed be Easley with 27 receptions (almost double anyone else on the team). Biggest disappointment is OL run blocking but injuries have been an issue. The OL has done a decent job with pass protection, better than last year anyway. The other disappointment is turnovers, cost us 4 or 5 potential scores deep in enemy territory.
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Absolutely turn overs, which has been pretty much a direct result from KF going off script and playing young players. Another thing that I really like about Stanley, he appears very hard to take down and has pretty good pocket presence. I honestly think the deep ball deal will correct itself with time.
 
1hawkeye1 said:
My biggest surprise is how fast the group of debbie downers has turned against this team. I figured they would be 7-5 this season and that's what they are on track for.

Not sure why the vocal minority of Hawkeye bedwetters are losing their sh*t.
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This is true for every fan base unfortunately.
 
InGoodCo said:
Absolutely turn overs, which has been pretty much a direct result from KF going off script and playing young players. Another thing that I really like about Stanley, he appears very hard to take down and has pretty good pocket presence. I honestly think the deep ball deal will correct itself with time.
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Agree, I think the deep ball completions will get better. A couple of those actually would have been caught had our receivers laid out for them. I'd rather have a QB with the ability to overthrow than not have enough arm and get picked off by the safeties.
 
OLine injuries and the ensuring running game debacle is the biggest surprise.

Flashes of innovation on offensive play selection / scheme

QB is better but I have been reminded what a young QB looks like

WR isn't a liability- they're ok.

D overall has surprised me...I guess

2 other RBs are a nice surprise

Punting is not as good as I hoped.
 
Hawk90 said:
My biggest surprise is that Bower is still starting, I lost count of how many times he got burned, and how many missed tackles last Saturday. That said, apparently the Clowns are better than expected, same with Mich St. This is a good Iowa team, I see them losing to Wisconsin and that's it.
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I like your hawktimism. However, I'm unsure why a lot of my hawk friends think the OSU game is a win. They did lose to OU, but it's a long season and they are steamrolling teams. We'll see I guess. I would love it if you're right, although I'd rather beat UW and lose to OSU (I live in Madison)>
 
1hawkeye1 said:
My biggest surprise is how fast the group of debbie downers has turned against this team. I figured they would be 7-5 this season and that's what they are on track for.

Not sure why the vocal minority of Hawkeye bedwetters are losing their sh*t.
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They always lose their sh*t. The vocal minority rules the internet.

I really dislike MSU, but was really curious to see how they would do against UM. They shut them off, just like they did the Hawks.

I suspect Iowa gets some O line things sorted out in the next two weeks and ends up being a pretty solid team. Snyder is back, maybe Manny comes back. Wirfs gets some more practice, and maybe the team puts together a full game. When they do, I think they'll be quite good.
 
Positive surprises- QB play hasn't been serviceable, its been good. Nick E has been probably our most consistent offensive weapon, he's been impressive. The safeties haven't been as bad as i thought they would be and feared they would be. We've had some decent play out of the safety unit (up and down is better than straight down). Really impressed with the freshmen who have played, definitely positives. The offensive play-calling has been excellent. The ability to get wide receivers open via schemes, proves what a lot of us thought for the past few years, the wr issues weren't as much a talent thing as a scheme thing. If guys struggle getting a release, you have to scheme them open, Brian and the staff have done that.

Negatives- O-line has to be the biggest negative surprise. The drop-off at the guard position after the injuries has been catastrophic. For some reason the backups there for the last two years just can't cut the mustard at this level of play. I've also been disappointed with Vandeberg's play. Not really faulting him, he's coming off some serious injury stuff, just hasn't been the dynamic player I've been used too. I think my expectation was he'd come back the same as i remember him, and again probably a me-issue not a him-issue, but i guess I've been expecting more (probably unfair). The d-lines up and down play has been weird. I've gotten what i thought from the new guys, and at times the nelsons are un-blockable, i just wish that was more consistent. The inconsistency there has been disappointing.
Worst of all, TURNOVERS!!!!!!
 
1hawkeye1 said:
My biggest surprise is how fast the group of debbie downers has turned against this team. I figured they would be 7-5 this season and that's what they are on track for.

Not sure why the vocal minority of Hawkeye bedwetters are losing their sh*t.
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Actually those who are positive only about the Hawks are the minority. That crowd takes legit criticisms as sort of like kneeling for the flag and being opposed to that. The ones who are way down on Iowa are a relative minority.

The obnoxious ones are the one's who refuse to discuss problems with KF and are almost militant about it.
 
pythagoras said:
Here is a scenario that breaks that: Chiefs Fans -> Alex Smith -> After a loss.
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Dude they might not lose either they've impressed the crap out of me. It's almost funny that Smith has really come into his own with Reid and the weapons he's got to play with now. So what's KC do? Go use a 1st rd pick on a qb. For peats sake Smith might have 5 good more years in him or more. With the chance at improving your team in another way right now you use a first round pick on a guy that might not ever play (assuming they possibly trade him away later) It's an interesting thing and way off topic here haha.
 
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