the #1 reason we lost

HawkeyeWalker

HawkeyeWalker

Well-Known Member
I posted this in another thread but I need to vent, and really I don't think it can be overstated...

Run the damn ball when you can. We were averaging over 4.5 yards per carry as a team, we had just run the ball the whole damn length of the field for a touchdown, running blocking was very good, we were hitting cutback lanes for once!, we had a size advantage against a quick 3-4 defense that was getting pressure on passing plays...so what did we do when we had a chance to tie/lead and a short 3rd and 2???? We decide to pass, then pass about 30 times in a row !!!

W T F.

This is why we lost, period. And this is on Davis, and Kirk by default.

Yes, JR struggled, turnovers hurt, bad tackling hurt, a bad call on not reversing the fumble hurt....But NOT running the ball.... lost this game!!! This is Idiotic and there is no explanation other than utter incompetence by Greg Davis.

This alone should get Greg Davis fired, but if KF can't/won't see this then....it will be his undoing as well.

Hell, I don't care if we are úconservative, even boring ! But 37 pass plays in a row, one being Another idiotic play call that has now cost us 2 pick 6's ...dammmnit, THAT is not conservative!!! That's just stupid.
 
HawkeyeWalker said:
I posted this in another thread but I need to vent, and really I don't think it can be overstated...

Run the damn ball when you can. We were averaging over 4.5 yards per carry as a team, we had just run the ball the whole damn length of the field for a touchdown, running blocking was very good, we were hitting cutback lanes for once!, we had a size advantage against a quick 3-4 defense that was getting pressure on passing plays...so what did we do when we had a chance to tie/lead and a short 3rd and 2???? We decide to pass, then pass about 30 times in a row !!!

W T F.

This is why we lost, period. And this is on Davis, and Kirk by default.

Yes, JR struggled, turnovers hurt, bad tackling hurt, a bad call on not reversing the fumble hurt....But NOT running the ball.... lost this game!!! This is Idiotic and there is no explanation other than utter incompetence by Greg Davis.

This alone should get Greg Davis fired, but if KF can't/won't see this then....it will be his undoing as well.

Hell, I don't care if we are úconservative, even boring ! But 37 pass plays in a row, one being Another idiotic play call that has now cost us 2 pick 6's ...dammmnit, THAT is not conservative!!! That's just stupid.
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I agree. Game was lost at the 12 minute mark. Might not have won, but the 4th q is ENTIRELY different, with odds they are chasing us, rather than us chasing the game
 
Podolak said early in the game that West Virginia and other teams had gashed maryland going right at them between the tackles.

Dont our coaches see this on opponent game films , dont they have play charts and results , dont they have grad assistants who can chart this stuff for them to see the opponents weaknesses.

Running the ball down their throat will demoralize them
 
uihawk82 said:
Podolak said early in the game that West Virginia and other teams had gashed maryland going right at them between the tackles.

Dont our coaches see this on opponent game films , dont they have play charts and results , dont they have grad assistants who can chart this stuff for them to see the opponents weaknesses.

Running the ball down their throat will demoralize them
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I think the average football fan saw this. For whatever reason this incompetent staff did not. Watch Wisconsin rush for about 300 yards this weekend vs Maryland.
 
I have to believe Kirk was not liking that 3rd and 2 call, but he had the power to override it, and didn't do it.
 
The reason you're angry is that you couldn't pull rabbit out of your farmer's hat. Maybe you need to smell coffee and wake up to a beautiful cool morning!
Go Hawks.
 
uihawk82 said:
Podolak said early in the game that West Virginia and other teams had gashed maryland going right at them between the tackles.

Dont our coaches see this on opponent game films , dont they have play charts and results , dont they have grad assistants who can chart this stuff for them to see the opponents weaknesses.

Running the ball down their throat will demoralize them
Click to expand...

Why would we run Mark Weisman and gash them, like on many series, when
Greg Davis needs to get some horizontal, incomplete passes into the mix ????
 
okeefe4prez said:
I hadn't heard that angle. I thought if we threw the ball some more, we would have won.
Click to expand...

I know it was repetitive to post what so many have already. But it was absolute lunacy to NOT do what was working. This isn't like the quesswork that CJ is the obvious choice, or that KF is too conservative, or the conjecture that players aren't happy and are leaving....

Not running the ball when it was so obvious to do so, was/is the only question I currently care about....it should be driven home to death
 
While I'm not happy with the coaches and play calling. The simple fact of the matter is the players played TERRIBLE against Maryland. The O-Line was dominated by the pass rush, Jake had a terrible game, the D-Line was horrendous, the LB and Safeties took terrible angles, and nobody tackled on the defensive side of the ball at all. We had key penalties as well on top of the terrible play.

It is actually a miracle that we had the ball with a chance to tie the game at the end. We should have gotten beaten by 21 or more.
 
I agree. Maryland appeared to be undersized and I felt it was there for the hammer. If it's there, take it. Despite what was supposed to work or not supposed to work. If the pass is there, take it. It clearly was not. Bad bad game by the coaches
 
HawkIstate said:
Why would we run Mark Weisman and gash them, like on many series, when
Greg Davis needs to get some horizontal, incomplete passes into the mix ????
Click to expand...
You know, this quip and the OP's stuff are good examples of people who don't know a whole lot about football and use their favorite topics of conversation to unnaturally influence their analysis.

You guys say running the ball would have demoralized Maryland? Say what?!! How could Maryland be demoralized when Iowa's defense was so poor? Iowa's defense and physicality are/were its bread and butter. Iowa was the demoralized team in this game. Iowa's defense was pushed around.

This was a do or die situation for Maryland. With Maryland's upcoming schedule, loosing to Iowa might totally destroy any hopes of a good season for them.. talk about the potential for demoralization for Maryland for the rest of their season if they'd lost to Iowa.

If you've looked into the history of Iowa's season records and their offensive and defensive rankings nationally for seasons, you'd notice a successful correlation between a stout defense and a conservative offense (the kind the OP and HawkIstate advocates). This is not a season for a stout defense at Iowa. Taking time off the clock using a heavy dose of the running game could lessen the opportunities their offense has but Iowa's defense won't make as many defensive stands, either. Sidenote, that's what's different from last year to this. A much better defense. A defense the team's offense could ride and grind for a win.

If Iowa hands the ball off 30+ times in a game, how many of their defenders (or all upcoming opponent's defenders) in the box, say, by the 2rd quarter? I'll agree on this: going to a running game would help the OLine struggling to pass protect and the QB struggling for reads. Would running the ball in, let's say, 5+ yard chunks given Iowa enough points to win against Maryland ?
 
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HomerChampless said:
You know, this quip and the OP's stuff are good examples of people who don't know a whole lot about football and use their favorite topics of conversation to unnaturally influence their analysis.

You guys say running the ball would have demoralized Maryland? Say what?!! How could Maryland be demoralized when Iowa's defense was so poor? Iowa's defense and physicality are/were its bread and butter. Iowa was the demoralized team in this game. Iowa's defense was pushed around.

This was a do or die situation for Maryland. With Maryland's upcoming schedule, loosing to Iowa might totally destroy any hopes of a good season for them.. talk about the potential for demoralization for Maryland for the rest of their season if they'd lost to Iowa.

If you've looked into the history of Iowa's season records and their offensive and defensive rankings nationally for seasons, you'd notice a successful correlation between a stout defense and a conservative offense (the kind the OP and HawkIstate advocates). This is not a season for a stout defense at Iowa. Taking time off the clock could lessen the opportunities their offense has but Iowa's defense won't make as many defensive stands, either. Sidenote, that's what's different from last year to this. A much better defense. A defense the team's offense could ride and grind for a win.

If Iowa hands the ball off 30+ times in a game, how many of their defenders (or all upcoming opponent's defenders) in the box, say, by the 2rd quarter? I'll agree on this: going to a running game would help the OLine struggling to pass protect and Jake struggling for reads. Would running the ball in, let's say, 5+ yard chunks given Iowa enough points to win against Maryland ?
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A lot of words there....none if which answer the question of why not to run the ball, after having success, to score, shorten the game, and keep their dominating offense off the field. Can't argue with the rest, Nor would I try, football knowledge guru.
 
HomerChampless said:
You know, this quip and the OP's stuff are good examples of people who don't know a whole lot about football and use their favorite topics of conversation to unnaturally influence their analysis.

You guys say running the ball would have demoralized Maryland? Say what?!! How could Maryland be demoralized when Iowa's defense was so poor? Iowa's defense and physicality are/were its bread and butter. Iowa was the demoralized team in this game. Iowa's defense was pushed around.

This was a do or die situation for Maryland. With Maryland's upcoming schedule, loosing to Iowa might totally destroy any hopes of a good season for them.. talk about the potential for demoralization for Maryland for the rest of their season if they'd lost to Iowa.

If you've looked into the history of Iowa's season records and their offensive and defensive rankings nationally for seasons, you'd notice a successful correlation between a stout defense and a conservative offense (the kind the OP and HawkIstate advocates). This is not a season for a stout defense at Iowa. Taking time off the clock using a heavy dose of the running game could lessen the opportunities their offense has but Iowa's defense won't make as many defensive stands, either. Sidenote, that's what's different from last year to this. A much better defense. A defense the team's offense could ride and grind for a win.

If Iowa hands the ball off 30+ times in a game, how many of their defenders (or all upcoming opponent's defenders) in the box, say, by the 2rd quarter? I'll agree on this: going to a running game would help the OLine struggling to pass protect and the QB struggling for reads. Would running the ball in, let's say, 5+ yard chunks given Iowa enough points to win against Maryland ?
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We had NINE three and outs by my count (including a pick six and a fumble in the 1st three downs). The defense played poorly, but we aren't ever going to win playing like that on offense either. Also, it's really hard to sustain a drive when you're 7 of 21 on third downs.
 
You say Iowa can't win with this offense, however, previous Iowa statistics show Iowa can't win with last year's conservative offense and this year's defense. Can we change the defense? That would great, IMO. Then Iowa could play conservative football and grind out wins.

What do you propose Iowa do to win games while the defense is in flux? IMO, here's what the Iowa coaching staff (KF has probably been dragged kicking and screaming) has decided: open the offense up more.

You know, the whole business of Iowa trying to beef up the offense to compensate for the defense is very un-Ferentz-like. KF would rather the team take its lumps until the defense (any unit, really) can be a semblance of its stellar self again. If that takes a couple of years, so be it.
 
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hwk23 said:
We had NINE three and outs by my count (including a pick six and a fumble in the 1st three downs). The defense played poorly, but we aren't ever going to win playing like that on offense either. Also, it's really hard to sustain a drive when you're 7 of 21 on third downs.
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This is the real story of Saturday's outcome. Did the defense have a good game? No but it's hardly their fault we lost because there were several times during the game where the defense barely had time to get a sip of gatorade and they were back on the field. When facing a potent spread offense like Maryland, you HAVE to give the defense a chance to catch their breath but there were way too many instances where that wasn't the case. Despite the fact that Iowa put up some decent numbers offensively, there were simply way too many painfully short drives - including gift wrapping 7 points.
 
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