Stanzi

[TigerHawk77]

Hey guys dont post on here much but I follow the football team pretty closely. Anyways I just want to get everybody's thoughts on Stanzi's senior season. I feel as if we have a lot of talent on next years team and have potential to be a very successful team, but I think a lot of it depends on how Stanzi plays and if he can cut down on his picks. How confident are you in RS next year?

 

[tmurph2643]

Pretty confident. Rick seems like a genuine good person who has his priorities straight and he will work his butt off to put himself in the best position to help his team. a healthy core of running backs will help out a ton as well...

I have a feeling we are staring down the barrel of 11-1 and a rose bowl berth. I don't think we go to Arizona and win... seems like that place is the kiss of death for the hawks.

 

[jimmybuffett]

I think he will be fine. I worry about a new OL giving him enough time to make good reads.

 

[cliffhanger57]

I think that we could be as good or better than this year but still could lose more games.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Ricky is a leader and a winner which gives me plenty of confidence and I think the team has plenty of confidence in him.

 

[jshawks]

While Stanzi's stats this last year were not what everyone had hoped for, Ricky brings alot of intagibles to the table, and he is the clear leader of this offense. He is not always great, but he has been great when he had to be, and he has been money under pressure. He hasn't gotten rattled after bad starts, although I hope he can cut down on his pick sixes, and at this point I have complete faith in his abilities to lead this team. Like an earlier poster I am more concerned about our OL. Not so much as to give him time, because Ricky throws better on the run than in the pocket, but rather to open up our running game more so as to take some of the pressure off of him to carry the offense.

 

[Travisam]

I think that we could be as good or better than this year but still could lose more games.

That makes no sense. Our schedule is much easier this year than last. If we are better than last year...why would we lose more games with an easier schedule?

 

[Caven]

That makes no sense. Our schedule is much easier this year than last. If we are better than last year...why would we lose more games with an easier schedule?

Because little breaks fall the other way. The last few years we have played on the razor edge of the W/L column. Most of our games have been close. It doesn't take much to turn a 2 point win into a 1 point loss. Thus you can be a better team but have little things go the other way and turn your fortunes.

 

[iahawk20]

Ricky is the least of my concerns next season. We will see a very good Qb and the stats will be greatly improved with the leadership still being top notch.

 

[JonDMiller]

Because little breaks fall the other way. The last few years we have played on the razor edge of the W/L column. Most of our games have been close. It doesn't take much to turn a 2 point win into a 1 point loss. Thus you can be a better team but have little things go the other way and turn your fortunes.

totally agree with this. Kirk said before 2009 that it could be a better team than 2008 with less wins...since losing by a field goal at Illinois in 2008, Iowa has won five of the seven games it has played decided by one possession. In 2008, it lost three in a row, then the Illinois game...going back to Tate to Holloway before beating PSU, Iowa lost most of the one possession games it played in...but 2002-2004, it won most of those games....in 2001, it lost those games...five losses by an average of less than six points.

These things come in cycles for programs like Iowa that are always on the edge of the knife as it comes to depth, and reloading talent...the reason why the elite programs consistently win these games is because they have depth and can overcome adversity better.

The adversity that Iowa has overcome the past two seasons to win 20 games is remarkable.

 

[EddyP]

Agree with 20, not at all concerned about Rick. Defense will be great as usual. O-line I think is the question mark but I think it will be fine. The margin for error is not great as with any Iowa team, but I'm not concerned about Rick as some fans are. I know I don't like the elevated expectations for next year. That hasn't been a good thing in the past, let's hope next year is different.

 

[ChocoLoco]

Pretty confident. Rick seems like a genuine good person who has his priorities straight and he will work his butt off to put himself in the best position to help his team. a healthy core of running backs will help out a ton as well...

I have a feeling we are staring down the barrel of 11-1 and a rose bowl berth. I don't think we go to Arizona and win... seems like that place is the kiss of death for the hawks.

How do you figure? By what precedent? I must be forgetting something.

 

[HawKCP]

I would say that Stanzi is just as big of a concern for me as the O-line heading into next season. Granted he was one of the reason we won some of those close games...especially Mich St...but if we don't win those games there are a lot of fans bringing heat on old Ricky.

I somewhat agree that Ricky's record is a reflection on his ability as a leader...and I'm don't chalk anything up to luck...you make your own breaks...but as a few others have noted we've had good teams with good quarterbacks who have lost the majority of the close games...if the close games had gone the other way last year I think many Iowa fans would be signing a significantly different tune about Rick Stanzi.

I tend to think that it works both ways...the quarterback tends to get way too much credit when things are going well and way too much blame when things start to go bad. Things are going well for Rick Stanzi right now...and many fans seem to want to take it for granted that had he played against tOSU we would have won...but if you take off the blinders...he is a quarterback with a lot of flaws and his penchant for turnovers does not work well with Iowa's "win the field position battle" style football.

I do like Rick...and I think he's a great guy...but as a quarterback he has his flaws. He'll certainly progress to some extent...how much of an extent he progresses by will mean a lot to this football team.

I think that it could come down to Iowa and tOSU to see who wins the Big Ten and potentially plays for a National Championship...and in both cases that will rely in large part on how much improvement they get out of the qb position.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Good post directly above this one...the less Rick has to throw next year, the better I'll feel. That would mean we are running the ball successfully and we're picking our spots to throw rather than having to have Stanzi carry the offensive load.

 

[tm3308]

Ricky takes far too much heat. A couple of those pick sixes and INT's weren't his fault. At Penn State, at least one of the picks he threw should have been caught by Sandeman. In the Orange Bowl, that was a good pass, and there was blatant pass interference that went uncalled. And at least one of the other pick sixes he threw I have a feeling were the result of a wrong route (McNutt was still learning the position, and Chaney has a history of running the wrong route).

Though I will say that Vandy gave us the best chance to win at OSU. Had Ricky been healthy, we'd have been 10-0 going in, but we wouldn't have fared any better at the Shoe.

But, I think Ricky will make some serious strides this year, due both to the experience he gained this year, and Vandy will push him in practice. I would feel pretty good if we threw the ball 50% of the time, no problem. Ricky is a damn good QB.

 

[HawKCP]

Ricky takes far too much heat. A couple of those pick sixes and INT's weren't his fault. At Penn State, at least one of the picks he threw should have been caught by Sandeman. In the Orange Bowl, that was a good pass, and there was blatant pass interference that went uncalled. And at least one of the other pick sixes he threw I have a feeling were the result of a wrong route (McNutt was still learning the position, and Chaney has a history of running the wrong route).

Really? I'm not even going to comment on the first two excuses. Did you just completely fabricate an excuse for at least one other pick 6? That is too much...keep it coming.

Even if your excuses were valid...I still wouldn't buy into it. That is the nature of the position...sometimes a receiver makes a ridiculous catch and bails a quarterback out of a bad throw...sometimes a defender drops one right in his breadbasket...sometimes a pass goes off a receivers hands and into the waiting arms of a defender. For the most part...the quarterbacks with the most interceptions are the ones who are most prone to throwing them. That's not to say a quarterback cannot improve upon that...but that's what I'll need to see from Ricky next year.

There is no way that Ricky takes far too much heat...he barely takes any at all. People making joking remarks about his pick 6s...if you want to see heat go back and look at what Christiansen took.

Not to be repetitive (but I'm about to be)...had the outcomes not been in Iowa's favor the gloves would have come off and it would have been just about as bad as Christiansen...ok maybe not that bad...but you get the point.

 

[tm3308]

Really? I'm not even going to comment on the first two excuses. Did you just completely fabricate an excuse for at least one other pick 6? That is too much...keep it coming.

Even if your excuses were valid...I still wouldn't buy into it. That is the nature of the position...sometimes a receiver makes a ridiculous catch and bails a quarterback out of a bad throw...sometimes a defender drops one right in his breadbasket...sometimes a pass goes off a receivers hands and into the waiting arms of a defender. For the most part...the quarterbacks with the most interceptions are the ones who are most prone to throwing them. That's not to say a quarterback cannot improve upon that...but that's what I'll need to see from Ricky next year.

There is no way that Ricky takes far too much heat...he barely takes any at all. People making joking remarks about his pick 6s...if you want to see heat go back and look at what Christiansen took.

Not to be repetitive (but I'm about to be)...had the outcomes not been in Iowa's favor the gloves would have come off and it would have been just about as bad as Christiansen...ok maybe not that bad...but you get the point.

I know you didn't just say Ricky doesn't take hardly any heat at all. Joking remarks? Have you been anywhere near Kinnick on Saturdays? He throws a pick, and all of the sudden everyone wants him out of there. Joking? Sorry, but that's gotta be what you're doing, cause it sure as hell ain't what was happening when Stanzi would make a mistake. Then when Stanzi got hurt, and Vandenberg struggled against NU, then Ricky was like the second coming of Christ, and we were doomed without him.

I'll be more clear about the pick sixes: the Arizona pick was the result of a wrong route. McNutt made an in-cut, and Stanzi threw to an out. The Michigan and ASU picks: those were on Ricky. As stated, the GT pick six wasn't anyone's fault, as there should have been interference.

 

[HawkDrummer]

Hey guys dont post on here much but I follow the football team pretty closely. Anyways I just want to get everybody's thoughts on Stanzi's senior season. I feel as if we have a lot of talent on next years team and have potential to be a very successful team, but I think a lot of it depends on how Stanzi plays and if he can cut down on his picks. How confident are you in RS next year?

Ricky is a great leader and an underrated passer, he'll be fine. The key is PROTECTING Ricky. How will our O-line develop?

 

[hawkfan2679]

As stated, the GT pick six wasn't anyone's fault, as there should have been interference.

Actually that one was on Ricky as well...he threw that pass about an hour too late. The defender was playing the ball...DJK could have come back to it a little bit, but that's a pass that should have been thrown when his back foot hit (i.e. just as DJK turned or maybe a little before), not a full second later. Plus, as a QB, you can see where the defender is in relation to the WR. If Stanzi throws that ball low to DJK's outside shoulder, there is almost no chance of it getting picked because the defender was sitting inside. But he threw it high and on the inside shoulder, and it almost looked like Tarrant (Was that the GT DB's name?) was the intended receiver moreso than DJK.

 

[tm3308]

Actually that one was on Ricky as well...he threw that pass about an hour too late. The defender was playing the ball...DJK could have come back to it a little bit, but that's a pass that should have been thrown when his back foot hit (i.e. just as DJK turned or maybe a little before), not a full second later. Plus, as a QB, you can see where the defender is in relation to the WR. If Stanzi throws that ball low to DJK's outside shoulder, there is almost no chance of it getting picked because the defender was sitting inside. But he threw it high and on the inside shoulder, and it almost looked like Tarrant (Was that the GT DB's name?) was the intended receiver moreso than DJK.

The defender has a right to play the ball, but cannot go through the receiver to do so, which is exactly what Tarrant did. He mowed DJK down to catch that pass.