Sports Illustrated- Insight.com Bowl prediction

[HawkPrdatr40]

Couldn't be more wrong, huh? Coker is not ARob. He had a great game against Ball State, in which I noticed more flaws than talents. He also looked good in a reserve role, but he is carrying the load tomorrow. He will have a much harder time moving the ball against a team for 4 quarters. To think otherwise is silly.

As for Sandeman stepping in and taking over for DJK, I will believe it when I see it. He stepped in last year in the Orange Bowl, had one good play(the immaculate fade) and then spent the rest of the time diving on crossing routes, dropping balls, and looking over his head. The defense won that game, and it will have to come up big for the Iowa team to win this one.

Pretty weak. Coker is a very good back and was the better back against Ohio State and actually should have carried the ball more than he did. I have no problem with Coker carrying the load tomorrow. Coker and Arob talent wise is a push IMO. The only thing AROB has on Coker is experience..

 

[okeefe4prez]

I expect KOK to go into the shell early in this one.

False. KOK will call a game similar to that Texas game where he can do no wrong in the first half. If we lose, it will be because Ferentz orders him to shut it down and the defense collapses yet again. The offense did everything necessary to win every game this year and given the injuries at guard, O'Keefe called a great season.

 

[JJohnson]

Wow, the opinions here are all over the place. KOK calls a perfect game like Texas? The offense did everything necessary to win games this year? Our outstanding DLine? Coker better than Arob?

To each their own on theories but riddle me this...How do we beat Mizzou with this group who quit at varying degrees as a unit? There's something that doesn't feel right about this group of players/team. I'm very nervous about tomorrow's game and I think with good reason. If Mizzou comes out on fire and ready to bury us I'm afraid that's just what they'll do. But then again, it is Mizzou, which means there's a good chance that a number of their players are out partying with ours

 

[hawkeyescott]

Sorry. Getting good minutes out of Coker is one thing, having him carry the load is another. There are few freshman capable of being a work horse their first year. I would be surprised if Coker can remain productive into the second half. There is a reason you want more than one capable HB on your team and Iowa will probably find that out tomorrow.

Can Iowa win? Sure, Missouri can beat and lose to about anyone. are they going to do it scoring 45 points? I doubt that. They will win in a grind it out defensive struggle, but their D will have to make Gabbert sweat to do it. I expect KOK to go into the shell early in this one.

Coker has carried the load twice already and has been productive in the 2nd half, sure Indiana and Minnesota don't have as good of D's, he should have gotten more carries against OSU as well, he had 22 carries for 129 yards against Indiana, 21 carries for 90 yards against Minnesota and 9 carries for 70 yards against OSU. As Kf said, it is one game, he has 9 months to get ready for the next game, you don't worry about someone getting "worn" down in a bowl game. I think he can last carrying the ball 20 to 30 times. If you did that every week it would take its toll, but only doing it for one game he will be fine and won't be "worn" down in the 2nd half.

You are right that he isn't Arob, but I don't think Coker is a dropoff from him anyway.

 

[olddude]

Wow, the opinions here are all over the place. KOK calls a perfect game like Texas? The offense did everything necessary to win games this year? Our outstanding DLine? Coker better than Arob?

To each their own on theories but riddle me this...How do we beat Mizzou with this group who quit at varying degrees as a unit? There's something that doesn't feel right about this group of players/team. I'm very nervous about tomorrow's game and I think with good reason. If Mizzou comes out on fire and ready to bury us I'm afraid that's just what they'll do. But then again, it is Mizzou, which means there's a good chance that a number of their players are out partying with ours

To many people playing thier last game. To many people wanting to atleast be looked at by the draft. To many wanting to be looked at for a starting position next year. Dont think for one second this team is not going to play thier heart out on both sides of the ball for the entire game. They want a win and I would guess they would prefer to put a beat down on Missu.

 

[FabFew]

I don't know why all the worry about Coker - I seriously think we are going to run the ball down their throats and Coker will go for 130+.

Nebraska rushed for over 325 against Missouri this year so I feel pretty confident in our ability to run against the Tigers as we are going to try to control the clock (except for the last 2 mins.) to keep Gabbert and their O off the field.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

I don't know why all the worry about Coker - I seriously think we are going to run the ball down their throats and Coker will go for 130+.

Nebraska rushed for over 325 against Missouri this year so I feel pretty confident in our ability to run against the Tigers as we are going to try to control the clock (except for the last 2 mins.) to keep Gabbert and their O off the field.

The consensus is not worried.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Nebraska rushed for over 325 against Missouri this year so I feel pretty confident in our ability to run against the Tigers

I'd take Stanzi and Coker over Martinez and Helu any day of the week. Mizzou won't know what to do, you go 9 in the box to slow down Coker and then bam, TD to McNutt, you drop back to cover the pass and then bam, 58 yard run off tackle by Coker. This one will be over at halftime.

 

[DYK88]

From reading this thread, it sounds like Iowa is the 10-2 team and scored 40+ points this season and ran all over every opponent! Not buying the kool-aid anymore, end this miserable season. Get ready for more disappointment.

On a side note, I like how the national media guys have picked up on the Stanzi stuff...

"Underrated senior quarterback/patriot Ricky Stanzi (25 TDs, four INTs) will go out with a bang."

 

[storminspank]

"While preseason All-American Adrian Clayborn has been a disappointment, the Hawkeyes' veteran defensive line remains highly regarded"

Ummm... didn't Clayborn end up an All-American????
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...insight-bowl-preview/index.html#ixzz19MSkrpTB​

 

[seepig]

This team quit. They'll come out and play with fire like they did against Texas a few years ago, but the same old crap will creep up in the end

--Untimely penalties
--offense shuts down for whatever reason (could be the penalties)
--Defense gets tired and can't hold onto lead or keep game close in end

I think Mizzou dinks and dunks (which is what Gabbert is good at) their way to a victory. Us fans will come out and say the fire is back because of a inspired performance by a few players, and that KF has righted the ship again.....aka the old Moral Victory.

Sorry but we've seen this story before. We also lost a Senior QB that year, and we all thought JC was going to lead us to the promised land.....instead we had two of the worst offensive years I can remember. And now we're saying the same thing about JVB. Yet in the three games he played, Iowa didn't do too much (though he did play his heart out against OSU), and MN and NW blitzed the crap out of him and we couldn't do anything.

Guess i just want this year to be over with and cross fingers that he and the rest of the team can move on next year

Amen brother! I said the same exact thing a few weeks ago...what have we seen that would indicate that we are emotionally mature enough to come out and win a game! It will be almost identical to the Alamo Bowl a few years back...disappointing season...all the sudden in the bowl people will catch passes, make plays, sacks, you name it but in the end we will crap on ourselves like we have all year.

 

[BlackGold57]

Iowa plays better when not favored. Look for this team to work hard to make up for the last few games, especially seniors leading the way. Things often turn unexpectedly, look for Iowa defense to hold on for a close win, probably forcing some turnovers. Iowa 27-24.

 

[seepig]

You may be right B&G57 but I think it's going to be 27-24 the other way with us losing in Q4 as usual and here's my proof:

A quote from KF on hawkeyeinsider.com
"EXTRA POINTS: Coach Ferentz said on Monday that he didn’t expect any casualties when final semester grades are released on Tuesday…The likelihood of Iowa and Missouri meeting again during the regular season in the near future is not good with the potential for a nine-game Big Ten schedule and Iowa State already on the Hawkeye docket, Ferentz said…The Iowa coach said not to expect anything different from them in their three phases of football Tuesday despite late-season struggles - “We won't be any different offensively or defensively in terms of our schemes, special teams.”

Which translated means we sucked on Special Teams and we will do the same ineffective things we've done all year. Additionally, not only will the team do nothing different the coaches will likely choke at the end of a game if it's decided by 3 or fewer points....or we'll flat out miss a PAT.

 

[ohhawk]

If their heads are in it, they can win it.

 

[seepig]

That's a BIGGGGGG IF. But yes they have enough talent on this team on D alone.

 

[seepig]

Because we don't believe in blitzing if our front 4 can't get to Gabbert turn out the lights the party's over.

 

[okeefe4prez]

You may be right B&G57 but I think it's going to be 27-24 the other way with us losing in Q4 as usual and here's my proof:

A quote from KF on hawkeyeinsider.com
"EXTRA POINTS: Coach Ferentz said on Monday that he didn’t expect any casualties when final semester grades are released on Tuesday…The likelihood of Iowa and Missouri meeting again during the regular season in the near future is not good with the potential for a nine-game Big Ten schedule and Iowa State already on the Hawkeye docket, Ferentz said…The Iowa coach said not to expect anything different from them in their three phases of football Tuesday despite late-season struggles - “We won't be any different offensively or defensively in terms of our schemes, special teams.â€￾

Which translated means we sucked on Special Teams and we will do the same ineffective things we've done all year. Additionally, not only will the team do nothing different the coaches will likely choke at the end of a game if it's decided by 3 or fewer points....or we'll flat out miss a PAT.

This team had a few minor issues during the season. They were:

1) Injuries
2) Execution due to injuries

This team needed to tighten up a few things, like the right guard position and the kicking game. Take away the extra 20 yards of field position the opposition gets, cover the fake punt that the players failed to execute on against Wisconsin, execute on that 4th & 10 against OSU, get the holding penalty called on the play where Clayborn was held against NU, cover that initial onside Minnesota ran and pick up one of those blitzes against Arizona and this is undoubtedly a 12-0 ballclub. That's it, we just need to tighten a few things up, and that kicking game will be fixed for the bowl, the offense will come out with some new wrinkles (Ferentz isn't going to tell anyone that it will, you'll just have to wait and see) and just fix a couple of execution mistakes on defense and this ballclub will absolutely roll. I think we will make Mizzou look foolish out there, even if the kicking game is a little off, Gabbert will still have to drive 60 yards and he can't do that against our D, he ain't Persa, Foles, Pryor or Tolzien, it's gonna be a long day for them. The o-line will be rested and at full strength, it will be scary good. The d-line is going to play salty. The LBs will have benefitted from the practice. DJK won't be around to be a distraction. I would be shocked if the Hawks didn't have a 3 TD lead at halftime.

 

[seepig]

This team had a few minor issues during the season. They were:

1) Injuries
2) Execution due to injuries

This team needed to tighten up a few things, like the right guard position and the kicking game. Take away the extra 20 yards of field position the opposition gets, cover the fake punt that the players failed to execute on against Wisconsin, execute on that 4th & 10 against OSU, get the holding penalty called on the play where Clayborn was held against NU, cover that initial onside Minnesota ran and pick up one of those blitzes against Arizona and this is undoubtedly a 12-0 ballclub. That's it, we just need to tighten a few things up, and that kicking game will be fixed for the bowl, the offense will come out with some new wrinkles (Ferentz isn't going to tell anyone that it will, you'll just have to wait and see) and just fix a couple of execution mistakes on defense and this ballclub will absolutely roll. I think we will make Mizzou look foolish out there, even if the kicking game is a little off, Gabbert will still have to drive 60 yards and he can't do that against our D, he ain't Persa, Foles, Pryor or Tolzien, it's gonna be a long day for them. The o-line will be rested and at full strength, it will be scary good. The d-line is going to play salty. The LBs will have benefitted from the practice. DJK won't be around to be a distraction. I would be shocked if the Hawks didn't have a 3 TD lead at halftime.

Every team has injuries and that's the same ole lame excuse we use every year to cover up the MULTIPLE things you mentioned. It's always IFs ANDs and BUTs...dude you sound like a broken record and I'm willing to bet you right now that Iowa won't be up by 3 TDs at half. Name your price.

 

[Sirhouseman]

I can't say I'd agree with 3 td lead by half, but I do think Iowa wins this game by double digits. I think my earlier prediction was 31-21. Still sounds about right.

I think Coker has a field day, and the DLine plays like it's capable of playing. Both equate a long day for Gabbert and Misery.

 

[seepig]

Still waiting for people to put their money where their mouth is?! Sirhouseman you could be right in a close game a bad TO deep in Mizzou territory we could ice it. 10 points is NOT unreasonable 3 TDs by half is and Okeefe4Prez needs to be examined for sanity.