This coming season

Hawkfromnorwalk

Hawkfromnorwalk

Well-Known Member
I hate myself for getting to this point but the start of practice and media day is just like the first day of Spring Training for baseball. Hope springs eternal right. I find myself getting more and more amped up for the season and as days go by in my heart I feel more confident that Iowa is going to surpass the grim predictions placed upon them by the media, even though my head still thinks this year could be a stinker.

Reading interviews with some of the players it's hard not to feel good. The seniors know they have only one shot left to get it right. I was reading Alvis talk about how hard they have been working and how they want to leave a good legacy behind. How he has heard all the scathing remarks about Iowa and how they've used that as motivation. I look at the pictures of those guys and some of them just look like beasts. I find it hard to imaging how they could be worse than last year. I just hope they don't let us down.
 
I agree. I don't care for Kirk and will always believe not hiring Bob Stoops will be looked at as one of the worst decisions of all time. Given that, I count down the Saturdays and as dog turdish as we were last year you believe the sun will rise again. Frankly I have been angry about the state of the program since the Wisconsin fake punt, very few good things have happened since that play. My heart tells me 8-4 is a possibility, my brain and history tells me 5-7 is more likely. NIU will be a great barometer for the season I think. If we blow them out I think (10 or more margin) a bowl is possible. If it is tight and our offense resembles anything from last year, no better than .500.
 
As a season ticket holder the past 10+ years, due to job instability and a trip to Florida in the fall I didn't renew this year. This had absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the team the past few years. That said, as the days go by and kick off gets closer I'm as jacked up as ever for the start of the season. Will definitely be different watching from home this year, but that said, I'm as excited as ever about the start of the season.
 
I always look forward to the season. My problem with last season, was that the team looked so bad at times. Particularly the Iowa State game. This season the team may not get to eight wins but I hope that they are competitive in every game.
 
HawkIMalaise said:
I agree. I don't care for Kirk and will always believe not hiring Bob Stoops will be looked at as one of the worst decisions of all time. Given that, I count down the Saturdays and as dog turdish as we were last year you believe the sun will rise again. Frankly I have been angry about the state of the program since the Wisconsin fake punt, very few good things have happened since that play. My heart tells me 8-4 is a possibility, my brain and history tells me 5-7 is more likely. NIU will be a great barometer for the season I think. If we blow them out I think (10 or more margin) a bowl is possible. If it is tight and our offense resembles anything from last year, no better than .500.
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I agree with most of what you have said, which seems to be rare. I was at that Wisconsin game. Not trying to be dramatic, but I'm not sure I've ever been as disappointed as I felt walking out of that stadium. I'm pretty much where you're at as far as the predictions go. I can see 8 wins as a possibility but I'm not sure it's realistic.

I would caution you on putting too much emphasis on the Northern Illinois game and it's outcome. If the Hawks lose that's one thing, but if they win I wouldn't read too far into it even if it is a close game. Only because that's just Iowa football. They play close games. Doesn't necessarily mean anything for the rest of the season. They needed 2 blocked fg's to beat UNI in game one a few years back, and then went on to have a pretty damn good season. It's just so hard to tell. Plus you have to consider NIU is going to be a solid team again this year.
 
I too see the Wisconsin game as a turning point. Worst defeat in many a year. Maybe worst loss since... I dunno 1997 Michigan?

That said, I'm looking forward to this year more than at any time since that 2010 season. Not in the same way as that year. I expected a championship that year. This year is just a s big in a different way. It's critical for the program to turn things around. The stakes are very high. This is a very big season for the future of Iowa FB.
 
So losing to the #13 team in the country was one of the most disappointing losses??? The fake punt was frustrating but they had plenty of chances to stop them. Wisconsin was pretty good that year. better than iowa. I think the Minnesota loss was the most dissapointing.
 
David79 said:
So losing to the #13 team in the country was one of the most disappointing losses??? The fake punt was frustrating but they had plenty of chances to stop them. Wisconsin was pretty good that year. better than iowa. I think the Minnesota loss was the most dissapointing.
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True Story. After being completely inebriated before during and after the OSU loss at home on Terrell Pryor's all too predictable scramble for a 1st down on 4th and a mile at the end of the game, I told my brother to chalk up a loss next weekend at Minnesota. He told me to f*ck off or go to hell, maybe both, well sure as hell they didn't even get off the bus for that last game. I felt I did my part when before the OSU game, the OSU charter was on the way to Kinnick and I gave Jim Tressel who was in the front seat of the first bus the finger as they all went bye.
 
The Minnesota loss wasn't very disappointing at that point cause it was easy to see coming. Last game of a very disappointing season with nothing really to play for.
 
What made the OSU and Wisconsin losses hurt for me was I felt our guys played as hard as they could both games but both times our coaches made critical errors that set the other teams up to win both games.
 
There was obvious holding on that play. OSu also cheated off the field so that game does not count. Osu did not win.
 
Late in the game we got the ball back with maybe 5 mins or so left called I think three straight pass plays all incomplete took almost no time off the clock punted back to OSU giving them plenty of time for the game winning drive.
 
I think this team is going to surprise everyone. It's like when the team lost to ASU the fallout was crazy. They ended up having an excellent year. This team is going to come out fighting with a purpose. It's like with The Dude, "Those guys ****** on my rug,man. This will not stand!"
 
HerkyDude said:
I think this team is going to surprise everyone. It's like when the team lost to ASU the fallout was crazy. They ended up having an excellent year. This team is going to come out fighting with a purpose. It's like with The Dude, "Those guys ****** on my rug,man. This will not stand!"
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The Dude abides.
 
joshhawk said:
Late in the game we got the ball back with maybe 5 mins or so left called I think three straight pass plays all incomplete took almost no time off the clock punted back to OSU giving them plenty of time for the game winning drive.
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A summary of the drive you're talking about:
7:38, 4th Quarter
1st and 10, Iowa 19, Stanzi sacked for -6 yards
2nd and 16, Iowa 13, Completion to McNutt for 11 yards
3rd and 5, Iowa 24, Incomplete pass
4th and 5, Iowa 24, Donahue Punt 52 yards, Fair catch at Ohio State 24
6:05, 4th Quarter

I'm not sure I would pin that drive on the coaches. With more than 7:30 to play and less than 1 TD game, there is too much time to count on just running the clock out. After the sack happened, they definitely needed to pass on second down, and they were successful. On a middle distance play, it is debatable what they should do, but they had a senior QB and a bunch of seasoned receivers, so it makes sense to me that they wouldn't put the ball in the hands of a true freshman running back on that play.

There's a lot you could pin on the coaching staff over the years, but I'm not sure that they deserve too much scorn for that particular drive.
 
joshhawk said:
Late in the game we got the ball back with maybe 5 mins or so left called I think three straight pass plays all incomplete took almost no time off the clock punted back to OSU giving them plenty of time for the game winning drive.
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And if we run the ball, Kirk gets raked over the coals for playing not to lose.

You people.
 
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