Team expectations in comparison to before the season

I feel better now than I did coming into the season....

QB - Vast improvement over last year. Seems to have embraced the offense, understands it, and isn't flustered by pressure. Has the ability to flush bad plays.
RB - About what I expected. Weisman is about the same. Bullock is the one disappointment to me, but Daniels, in the short time I've seen him, seems to be better than advertised.
OL - About what I expected. Better in run blocking than I thought they'd be, but a little more work to do in pass protection than I would have hoped.
WR/TE - In some respects, better than I expected....but in others, worse. They're better in their understanding of the offense and they look to be doing less thinking and more reacting. However, drops are still an issue. CJF is playing worse than I expected, but Hamilton is playing better than I expected.
DL - They are actually playing much better than I thought they would. I knew pass rushing wasn't going to be there, so that's no different, but they are clogging up the middle and staying disciplined and in their lanes much better than last year and better than I expected. Definitely doing a great job keeping the OL from getting to the 2nd level.
LB - Skilled and everything I hoped to see. Actually better considering they don't have to wade thru as much OL traffic to get to the ball carriers.
DB - Safeties are what I expected....pretty much awful. It's hard to judge the CBs since Lomax has been injured. King, I think, is doing as good as can be expected given that he's a true frosh. It's hard for me to judge if Lowery is not playing well or if the safety play has just been so putrid that it's made him look worse than he's really doing. All I know is that if we want to have a .500 season or better, the safety play HAS TO improve.

The one other thing that's made me feel better is the play of our bretheren in the B1G. MSU is worse than I expected. Michigan isn't near as dominating as I thought they'd be. Same for Nebraska. I think there's a game or two to be had that I chalked up as losses.

Go Hawks!
 
I feel worse about some things. And about the same about other area's.

I expected that the secondary would not be stellar. And they are not.

I expected the defensive line to be better than last year and they are.
Though not great they are getting a lot more push than last year.

Jake has done an excellent job. He makes minimal rookie mistakes but overall he makes good decisions. Better than expected.

I had hoped the offensive line would be more dominate than they are. Slight disappointment there, as it always seems to take a four or five games for them to come together.

The receivers are once again a disappointment. Still too many drops. No deep threat. Iowa's pass offense isn't going to keep anyone from loading up the box.

Running back. Weisman. Still the man. Bullock. Has got to be feeling the push from Daniels. The brief shots we have seen of Daniels leave me wanting to see him more. Canzeri. Need him in the slot more.

Special teams. Disappointment. Coverage is bad.

Coaching. It is what it is. I don't know that they are that much better or the team overall is better. They still seem uncoordinated.
I am still picking 6-6. Though with the disappointing loss to Northern Illinois, I don't know where the other three wins are coming from. I am guessing Minnesota, Purdue and ?
 
I thought 7-8 wins before season, based on OL, RB, and LB's, schedule and wishful dreaming. Now? Might get to 7, but only because the rest of B1G is down as well, probably more like 6. There are more winnable games on our schedule than sure losses. QB play is coming along very nice (like the unexpected mobility of JR), DB play is very disappointing, as is the many drops by receivers (do like that we have spread the targets around, and taken shots downfield). Passing game could improve on both sides of line. Special teams hopefully improves on execution, decision making and personnel.

I think we have decent components, and beatable opponents......the biggest intangible for us to overcome is game day coaching and adjustments; and we all know fully well how that has been (although, I like all the new wrinkles that are being implemented). Truthfully, at this point, I see only 4 more wins to go 6-6, but this has to include this week and Minn. With those two wins and sitting at 4-1, 3 more wins out of last 7 games doesn't seem unreasonable.
 
I feel better, and I'm surprised that so many people DON'T feel that way.

* The running game is good.
* The defense is stopping the run better than I've seen in several years - I think you could make an argument this is the best or 2nd best group of LBs during the Ferentz era.
* Jake Rudock is playing with a LOT more poise than is commonly seen out of a Sophomore: he gives a Hawk fan confidence not only for this year, but the future.
* We are taking shots downfield.
* We are sending pressure and getting teams off the field on 3rd down.

Concern:
* Our WRs are not getting it done, and I don't believe they'll get to even average this year. It is what it is. It will cost us a game or two, as somebody is going to eventually shut-down our running game, and we won't be able to make a play on the outside.

It's frustrating. HOWEVER - every team has a zit, and that is ours.
 
QB more dynamic but too many turnovers -- especially as much as he scrambles, to many fumbles (switch arms, Jake).

His play is offset by terrible DB play. Safeties routinely fall behind 2-3 steps (Thank God it's college football and, so far, the Iowa defensive credo of "count on the other team making mistakes" -- i.e. overthrowing open WR -- has "worked") and corners getting juked for huge passes / scoring bombs in every game. Without a D that can bail out young Jake's t.o.'s (like Ricky had in his first full year starting), there's nothing to be gained by improved, dynamic QB play until he stops turning it over.

Must give most of Bullock's and some of Mark's carries to Daniels for sustained power-rushing success / reduce likelihood of injury to Weisman. The only reason Daniels should not play is if he fumbles. Any other reason (outside of suspension) is squandering his talents and his contribution to what your offensive identity is evolving into -- a power-rushing offense based on a dominant OL and big, bruising running backs.

I predicted 6-6 (6-0 thru MSU, 0-6 to finish). They lost NIU and, so far, there's been no improvement that isn't offset by a step-back in some other area. That = 5-7. If Jake can eliminate the turnovers and they start giving Daniels more carries (at least 15-17, with Weisman getting 20-22) to firmly establish the power-rushing game, that would be 2 steps forward and I could see maybe 7 wins (Purdue and Nebraska make up for NIU loss).
 
While i am not going to sit and say we are loaded at wr and i am not going to say catchable balls have not hit the ground. I will say it again that when jake can lead them better and throw to a place it will have a major impact in both completions and yards after.
 
ibahawkeye said:
How do you feel about this team in comparison to prior to the start of the season?

I predicted 6-6 but actually feel better about the team now due to Ruddock's play and the coaching strategies. We are running the no huddle and a much higher number of offensive plays and we are blitzing more on defense than in years past.

I will say I've been disappionted with our Defensive backfield and thought this unit would be better than they have been.

As far as any other units, I would say they are playing as I anticipated. Felt we had a good run game coming into the year and our LB crew was solid. I think we all anticipated our WR And DL to struggle and I would say that has held true.

At this point I would feel comfortable predicting 7-5 which isn't much of a difference but in my 6-6 prediction I was counting on a W over N. Ill. So it's actually a 2 game swing.
Click to expand...

Be honest, you feel better because Iowa won its Super Bowl against ISU.
 
I picked them 4-8 at the start of the season and I'll stick with that. The pleasant surprise that has been Rudock is balanced out by our horrible secondary. Plus, unfortunately, the coaching philosophy has remained stagnant allowing every game against inferior opponents to be maddingly close. Ferentz wasn't paying attention to his mentor, Coach Fry, when Hayden was demonstrating how to put away lesser teams.
 
olddude said:
While i am not going to sit and say we are loaded at wr and i am not going to say catchable balls have not hit the ground. I will say it again that when jake can lead them better and throw to a place it will have a major impact in both completions and yards after.
Click to expand...
How has Jake struggled to lead this offense? As a RS Sophomore he has complete command of this offense, makes many checks at the line, and he has the confidence of the other ten guys on the field that he can get the job done.
 
He is young and doing very well. I have noticed many of his throws are a little behind and he throws to the person. He will get used to how fast each person is and lead them enough tbat they do not need to slow down and or reach back for the ball. He is doing great but when the window tightens up and people are catching in a full run you will see many many more dynamic plays.
 
The hawks haven't played their best ball by a long shot.

There will be a game this season where we will all be overwelmed and impressed at how dan'g good the hawks look, but that day they will not win. It will be the best they played all year.
 
Some interesting stats from a daily Iowan article

Iowa is second in the country and first in the big ten in offensive plays ran.

Iowa is 23rd in the country and third in the big ten in third down defense

Iowa is 9th in the country and first in the big ten in time of possession.

The first one really is a shocker.
 
NCHawker said:
The hawks haven't played their best ball by a long shot.

There will be a game this season where we will all be overwelmed and impressed at how dan'g good the hawks look, but that day they will not win. It will be the best they played all year.
Click to expand...
See OSU or Michigan games.
 
David79 said:
Some interesting stats from a daily Iowan article

Iowa is second in the country and first in the big ten in offensive plays ran.

Iowa is 23rd in the country and third in the big ten in third down defense

Iowa is 9th in the country and first in the big ten in time of possession.

The first one really is a shocker.
Click to expand...
Oregon must have run the most plays?
 
Predicted 4-8, nothing has changed. Win this week and beat Purdue, lose the rest. I could be talked into the Minny game but that would be it.
 
hawkinn3 said:
Predicted 4-8, nothing has changed. Win this week and beat Purdue, lose the rest. I could be talked into the Minny game but that would be it.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much it. Even Purdue looked better this week. Way better chance of Iowa winning three then Iowa winning seven.
 
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