RobHowe
Administrator
Hawkeyes Finish Ranked for 3rd Year in a Row
Iowa ties its second longest streak in program history.
STORY: Hawkeyes Finish Ranked for 3rd Year in a Row
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oregonhawkeye
Well-Known Member
Fun year- would like to have had a good bowl game for this year's iteration of the Hawks. Will miss Nixon and Gholston. That D was really good all year long and fantastic the last five games. I think we hang with all but the playoff teams.
Next year may be hard. In Phil we trust.
Next year may be hard. In Phil we trust.
BigD
Well-Known Member
At the of the day we still can’t manage to win our own division. Until that happens there won’t be any chance for a conference title. What is it now eighteen years now without conference title? Eighteen, think about that. Against the likes of a washed up Nebraska program, a Wisconsin team we owned for almost two decades and Minnesota.
Does anyone ever say to themself “This crap of finishing second or third in our division is getting old? Isn’t the goal to win a conference championship every year? Well that has to start by winning your division first.
When the new guys come into the program and they have a team meeting to discuss the goals for the upcoming season, how do the seniors keep a straight face when Kirk says their goal is to win a conference title? Yeah right, the freshmen were infants the last time that happened.
Are any of you going to be happy if the basketball team loses in the first round of the NCAA tournament? We know the answer to that don’t we? So why does the football program get a pass for almost two decades?
Yes we came back and finished strong but at the end of the day as usual this coaching staff wimped out. Does it matter whether we lost the two games we did lose in the middle of the schedule or at the beginning? No. We still finished below what used to be a bottom dweller.
We owned Wisconsin and Northwestern before Kirk got here. So are we all excited to cheer for second or third place again next year? We can then make up excuse then too on why finishing out of first place in our division is ok. It’s not ok.
Does anyone ever say to themself “This crap of finishing second or third in our division is getting old? Isn’t the goal to win a conference championship every year? Well that has to start by winning your division first.
When the new guys come into the program and they have a team meeting to discuss the goals for the upcoming season, how do the seniors keep a straight face when Kirk says their goal is to win a conference title? Yeah right, the freshmen were infants the last time that happened.
Are any of you going to be happy if the basketball team loses in the first round of the NCAA tournament? We know the answer to that don’t we? So why does the football program get a pass for almost two decades?
Yes we came back and finished strong but at the end of the day as usual this coaching staff wimped out. Does it matter whether we lost the two games we did lose in the middle of the schedule or at the beginning? No. We still finished below what used to be a bottom dweller.
We owned Wisconsin and Northwestern before Kirk got here. So are we all excited to cheer for second or third place again next year? We can then make up excuse then too on why finishing out of first place in our division is ok. It’s not ok.
HawkeyeFever
Well-Known Member
Amen, Big D. Finishing the season ranked in the top 25 is nice, but if the end results included a division and/or conference title, the ranking would take care of itself.
The battle cry for Iowa has gone from "We're Number One" (mid eighties, early nineties) to "We're Pretty Good". Overall, Hawkeye fans seem to be OK with that for some reason.
Edit: Nebraska joined the B1G in 2011 and the conference was split into the two divisions. Between 1985 and 2010, how many division titles do you think Iowa would have won if the East/West divisions had existed? I don't know the answer, but would bet it would have been over half of them. Since 2011, they have won ONE.
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NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Winning is hard. Every fan base wants more. We would like to be Wisconsin. Wisconsin fans would like to be Ohio State. Ohio State fans want to be Alabama. Indeed, I imagine the Buckeye Board is lit up with terms like "overmatched, outcoached, out-planned, out-recruited, need to make changes, etc." We are fans, fans are never satisfied. Except for Bama and Clemson maybe.
And, it could be a lot worse than having a team that consistently wins and is a Top 25 program. The clods to our West have not been relevant in over a generation and are mired in 4 straight losing season with another on the way. Perspective.
And, it could be a lot worse than having a team that consistently wins and is a Top 25 program. The clods to our West have not been relevant in over a generation and are mired in 4 straight losing season with another on the way. Perspective.
HawkeyeFever
Well-Known Member
I get all of that and know that it could be worse, but I am not asking to be at a level of Alabama, Clemson, or OSU. I am asking that we beat the likes of Wisconsin, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Nebraska more than once in ten years for a division title.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I guess the way I see it is as much as I'd rather be winning conference or even divisional titles they only way you get there is through recruiting and those recruits are influenced by rankings. We may not be winning conference titles now, but I think we're a hell of a lot closer the seasons after we finish ranked then the years we come up short.
ChosenChildren
Well-Known Member
Our last conference title was in 2004.
Our last division title was 2015.
Kirk will win another division title before he's done at Iowa. He's a very good coach.
Our last division title was 2015.
Kirk will win another division title before he's done at Iowa. He's a very good coach.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Yes...let's fire Fran and Kirk. Scott Frost will likely be available next year and maybe we can get Larry Eustachy also...he could buy beer for the underage players.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
We seem to beat Minnesota and Nebraska every year. Wisconsin has been a tough out for us and the one year we get them, a very good NW team nips us.
I am not saying I am happy with a lot of second places. It sucks. But, winning football games at this level is damn hard. KF is really really good, but he is not elite. Frank Solich was really, really good, but not elite. So was Mr. Davis. As those examples show, chasing that elite status can lead to two decades of shit show. Just sayin.
BigD
Well-Known Member
You shouldn’t have to be elite to beat out the likes of Wisconsin or Northwestern. I am assuming you are pretty young and don’t remember when BOTH teams were OUR doormat.
BigD
Well-Known Member
To be more specific I believe what you mean by we would have won half of them you are saying Hayden’s success would have easily handled all the teams in the division with the exception of Nebraska who back then under Osborn was a power house. I agree that by Hayden’s third season he would have figured Nebraska out and would have eventually won half of those games. Hayden owned the rest of the teams in the division, excepting the first few years when Michigan was in the division.
Recruiting also opened up and loosened up a little with Notre Dame, Michigan, and Nebraska being down programs from where they were under Hayden, let alone the Iowa program was a major train wreck when Hayden got here as Iowa was a cellar dweller or at best in the bottom one third of the conference.
Don’t get me wrong as Kirk has done a nice job and is a good coach but if your itching to be able to compete more often for a divisional title he apparently isn’t going to get it done. One in ten years isn’t going to get it done.
Where are we going with this kind of mindset? First we can’t expect to win a National Title because so few of teams on the NCAA playing field do it. Then it was we can’t expect to win conference titles because of Ohio State’s dominance. We have digressed to the point that we will have to settle on one out of ten years winning the division because BIG BAD Powerhouse Wisconsin is in our division. Wow.
You are correct and once again the coaching staff did not quite have the hawks ready those first two games. And it was the offense that was lagging again. It is like KF and BF and maybe Okeefe, if he has a say in game planning, that they do not know the identity of their team. I have to say that Cronk struggled in that Purdue game and we had a first year QB who was inconsistent in those first two games.
The best part is the 6 game winning streak, beating most teams big time, Petras improving, and a lot of Off linemen getting playing time.
With Wirfs and maybe another Off lineman gone it is good to get that experience.
For years the hawk's season was really measured by losing to inferior Iowa State and jNW teams. It is almost still that way as Kirk and his coaches just cant figure out the Wildcats.
I sure hope Peyton Ramsey is done there as the game against them in 2019 vs this year were night and day based on jNW having a very good experienced QB.
BigD
Well-Known Member
I get it as all you have to do is look over at the Nebraska fiasco and their last couple of coaches. Then again there is Alabama which had been a down program for many years until Saban showed up. Same with USC that was a down program until Pete Carrol showed up and built them into a National power.
We now know that Pete was doing unethical and illegal recruiting and it would not surprise me if the Alabama boosters didn’t help Saban out at Bama when he first got there. I think Saban is NOW at a point where his reputation now gets the best players without boosters helping out.
We aren’t talking about winning a couple of Nation Championships at the University of Iowa. We are talking about winning a division title more than one every ten years against the likes of Wisconsin. Given the teams in the West at a minimum we should be there at least once every third year or three or four in a ten year period. I think that is totally reasonable and realistic.
At some point good will, will diminish and the fans could come to recognize that Kirk’s Dairy Farm was busy milking thngs and that Gary was providing the milk trucks.
Then again who knows that Kirk won’t rise up next year and get it done. I certainly hopes so. I’d like to see him retire though if it doesn’t happen next season.
Then again maybe the Iowa fan base likes milkshakes.
NCHawker
Well-Known Member
We have to remember that Iowa is a developmental program and that is not going to change.
At the same time, most college football programs outside of the SEC and UM, OSU and PSU are developmental programs.
Iowa seldom recruits and plugs in freshmen. I wish it were different. When we start to see guys like Tyler Goodson showing up at other positions (ISM at WR) more often and in greater numbers, then we'll see the wins follow.
The Iowa Way or the Iowa Edge is necessary but not sufficient to get the program where the folx want it to be.
At the same time, most college football programs outside of the SEC and UM, OSU and PSU are developmental programs.
Iowa seldom recruits and plugs in freshmen. I wish it were different. When we start to see guys like Tyler Goodson showing up at other positions (ISM at WR) more often and in greater numbers, then we'll see the wins follow.
The Iowa Way or the Iowa Edge is necessary but not sufficient to get the program where the folx want it to be.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
I am 46. I readily remember 30 years ago when NW and Wisconsin sucked. Then Barry Alvarez and Barnett/Fitz came along. Now they are both good programs. If we want to complain that football is not what it was 30 years ago, we are no better than the stupid Husker fans we make fun of all the time. Times change.
And, by your logic, if we should be beating NW and Wisconsin regularly because we did back in the 80s and 90s, then Nebraska is still a national power and they would be beating us every year. You can't have it both ways.
You can't live in the past, man. Wisconsin is a Top 15 program nationally year in and year out and has been for some time. NW is probably as good a program as Iowa. Its not a tragedy we lose to them, but I do agree we are overdue to win the division again. Had we not blown the lead to NW......
Knight78
Well-Known Member
My brother was in the Hawkeye Marching Band and he graduated the first year of the Hayden era. He said they played the Iowa Fight Song for first downs because if they waited for scores they might not play it the entire game - that's how bad Iowa was, that's how much of a doormat we were then.
With both Hayden and Kirk we have enjoyed a long run of very good football teams. In the 42 years under these two coaches we have had only 9 seasons with a losing record and we have earned 31 bowl games. That's a pretty good run.
LoyalSon
Well-Known Member
I am old enough to remember when Northwestern and Wisconsin games were gimmees. I was at the Northwestern game when Hayden said he hoped we didn't "hurt their boys too bad." I also remember when a win over Michigan really meant something. Times change.
Like most everyone, I dream of seeing the Hawks win a national championship in something in addition to wrestling. All in all though, I'm satisfied with the results we have seen over the last 40 years. It could certainly be worse, I could have been an Iowa State fan for all of those years.
Like most everyone, I dream of seeing the Hawks win a national championship in something in addition to wrestling. All in all though, I'm satisfied with the results we have seen over the last 40 years. It could certainly be worse, I could have been an Iowa State fan for all of those years.
HawkeyeFever
Well-Known Member
I am going to try my hardest to sum up the last few posts..
WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...
WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...WE'RE PRETTY GOOD!...
