The 2013 Hawks like the 2008 squad.

[HawkeyeWalker]

Motivation, grit, heart, being pi$$ed off or whater you want to call it does not overcome a lack of talent. It can make a differnece if its close but thats about it. If the other guys is faster and stronger he will beat you even if he doesnt care as much.

Just one mans opinion, but I disagree except if the talent gap is very very large, which except for OSU and maybe 1 or 2 others, I don't believe is the case. Eddie Hinkle agrees with me.

I will agree though when you factor in lesser talent along with lack of experience....Good old' "want to" isnt enough at times.

 

[hawkinn3]

I think there is also some revisionist history in regards to previous hawk teams under Kirk that were successful. There seems to be the inclination to lower a recruit one star and reduce his 40 time when he signs to Iowa because of our unwarranted reputation for having a slow team that is completely developmental.

Our best teams under Kirk, 2002, 2004, 2009 had exceptional atheletes, they werent winning on heart (although they had it) they were winning with talent and execution.

The years when we struggle is because of attrition and a resulting lack of talent, not a lack of heart.

 

[desihawk]

I am surprised that the 2008 team is deemed a closer match than the 2003 version. The 2003 offense and defense were both virtual clones of the upcoming squad. On ST, there was Kaeding though, but then Meyer just might surprise on the upside.

 

[DDStretch]

Nobody knew who Shonn Greene was? Are you kidding me. Maybe you followed the line the media beat to death in 2008 ..."last year, he was unloading furniture"...as if he'd never played a down.

Greene came to the program with plenty of hype and played 2 years behind Albert Young & Damian Simms. After he left the team due to grades and then returned nobody knew what to expect from him. That I'll agree with.

There was plenty of debate in the summer of 2008. Will he be any good when he returns? Will he be in shape? Can we depend on him to be a significant contributor at RB? There were plenty of questions. People certainly knew who he was.

I was actually thinking the same thing. A good friend who played for the Hawks around this time was raving about Shonn Greene from his first fall camp."Beast" and "most talented running back at Iowa" were things I heard often all the way back to the beginning of Greene's career.

 

[g11]

Weisman had 100 yards a game up until his injury too. This includes MSU which was a top 15 defense and they stacked the box against him.. In the end, that MSU game made the Hawks a 4 win team last year though. We lost the o-line and Weisman and there was nothing left to be a threat offensively after.

In my opinion, the o-line and running game if healthy all year (pretty big if since they're going to carry the offense on their back this year).. Will be a threat to every team they play.

The d-line far surpassed all of our expectations last year I think. Add 10 lbs, muscle, and more conditioning and we should see some improvements. The linebackers are actually very talented across the board. Last year their biggest weakness seemed to be the angles they took to the ball. If this gets addressed there is no reason they can't be comparable to 08'. Obviously the secondary is the biggest question mark on defense, and probably won't be like 08' but you never know.. 08's secondary was pretty insane, we'd be extremely lucky to have anything near it.

 

[Eda]

Bump.

 

[Eda]

The comparisons to '08 were closer than most of us could have anticipated. I was surprised with how similar the numbers ended up being.

Let's end this one like '08!

Football team’s turnaround reminiscent of 2008 rebound | Hawk Central

 

[NCHawker]

This one surprised me

2007/2008 Rushing yards per game 126.2 188.7

2012/2013 Rushing yards per game 123.0 188.5

 

[NCHawker]

This one surprised me

2007/2008 Rushing yards per game 126.2 188.7 (4th in the BigTen)

2012/2013 Rushing yards per game 123.0 188.5 (7th in the BigTen)

 

[Sooby]

I sent this email out on August 15, 2011:

Where are they now (in NFL)? - Nov 8, 2008 starting roster vs. Penn St
If only Stanzi had started in the beginning, and been groomed to do so, and if only this team knew just how good it really was, I honestly believe we could have gone 12-0.
It hurts to look at that roster and realize that what they should have acheived versus what they did.

Also, think about the 2009 team.
When Stanzi got hurt against Northwestern, if we had a senior running back in Shonn Greene, who knows?!

Looking back, it shows you how special those teams were, but oh so close on so many fronts.

SR DB Bradley Fletcher - St. Louis Rams
SO DB Amari Spievey - Detroit Lions
FR SS Tyler Sash - New York Giants
SO FS Brent Greenwood - Pittsburgh Steelers
SO LB Jeremiha Hunter - New Orleans Saints
JR LB Pat Angerer - Indianapolis Colts
JR LB A.J. Edds - Miami Dolphins
SO DE Adrian Clayborn - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
SR DL Mitch King - New Orleans Saints
SR DL Matt Kroul - New York Jets
SO DE Christian Ballard - Minnesota Vikings

SO P Ryan Donahue - Detroit Lions
FR K Trent Mossbrucker - Iowa Hawkeye
SO LS Andrew Schulze - Atlanta Falcons

SO QB Ricky Stanzi - Kansas City Chiefs
JR RB Shonn Greene - New York Jets
SO FB Brett Morse - ?
SE WR Andy Brodell - ?
SO WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos - ?
JR TE1 Tony Moeaki - Kansas City Chiefs
SR TE2 Brandon Myers - Oakland Raiders
JR OL Kyle Calloway - Baltimore Ravens
SO OL Julian Vandervelde - Philadelphia Eagles
SR OL Seth Olsen - Minnesota Vikings
SO OL Bryan Bulaga - Green Bay Packers
SR OL Rob Bruggeman - Atlanta Falcons

All 11 defensive starters are now active in the NFL as of now.
Clayborn, Ballard, King, Kroul, Angerer, Edds, Hunter, Spivey, Fletcher, Sash and Greenwood.
Impressive!!

Not to mention, several starters from the offense as well including Stanzi and Greene.

Shame this team ended up in the Outback due to inexperience at the QB position and losing close games.
I bet the coaches would like that season back.

 

[Sooby]

Other than the go from no bowl to the Outback Bowl, I don't see the comparison, yet.

Look at the roster from 2008. No way that level of NFL-talent will be replicated.
2008, we beat a Penn State team ranked #3. Iowa didn't beat a ranked team this year.

 

[Eda]

Other than the go from no bowl to the Outback Bowl, I don't see the comparison, yet.

Look at the roster from 2008. No way that level of NFL-talent will be replicated.
2008, we beat a Penn State team ranked #3. Iowa didn't beat a ranked team this year.

Welp, the numbers are pretty similar.
Not only that, but KirFer said himself, the offseason vibe was pretty similar.
The questions at many postions (especially QB).
The way the team grew throughout the year. They didn't play bad at the beginning of the season; but by the end of the season, nobody would want any part of them. This team is playing with mucho confidence.
Sure we didn't beat anyone that was ranked; but then again, not a lot of B1G teams were ranked or stayed ranked for too long. The pollsters would drop a B1G team like a bad habit when they'd lose.
As far as NFL talent, let's just wait and see where some of this roster ends up. I think we may be surprised.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

This. Hyde turned into an excellent corner, but he was shaky as a sophomore at times. The whole situation was very similar to 2009, actually. If we'd had Fletcher for an extra year, that secondary would have been downright frightening.

The two biggest NCAA travesties were Dace and Lee Gray not getting hardship years.