This may be a stupid question, but are we going to be any good this season?

VTHawk

VTHawk

Well-Known Member
Yeah I would like to know. Last year was a disappointment. I felt we should have, could have been better. There are a lot of reasons for that though I am sure it comes down to a few. I am not going to go all into it, and I am not a gridiron expert, but I can say that Iowa football seems stagnated. Like we won't change. This is probably obvious to most on here. It seems no matter what we have as player personnel we get no better. Just another disappointing letdown of a season.

So I say this with all sincerity, are we going to be good this year? Or anytime soon? And what I mean by that is are we going to have a team that can contend for the Big Ten Championship game? In other words, is anything going to change?

I feel that we have a losing psychology that kind of presents itself no matter what happens as of late. Were does that come from? Why?

(I think we already know the answer to this So seriously will we be any good this year?)

Is anything going to change?
 
Is anything going to change?

If you read the article on GoIowaAwesome about the philosophy of Iowa's offense, don't count on it. That's not the same question as to whether they'll be any good this year, but like most years, their margins are thin. I think they can be, but . . . there's always seems to be a "but".
 
Anyone that doesn't see it changing is blind.
Last year was disappointing. There is enough blame to go around for that.
All I can say is I have no doubt that if we would of had a better kicking/special teams play and a better run game, it wouldn't have been such a disappointment.
Yes Stanley needs to play better, and hopefully will, but when the importance of every throw is magnified because you simply can not count on the run game things sometimes get blown out of proportion.
Yes it would be nice to take a huge step forward in the passing game, from wr to qb, they can all do better. But remember the play action pass and the entire offensive philosophy is to be balanced. No team is good enough to be one dimensional.
So can we be good? Idk, can we kick? Can we cover kicks? Can we run?
It sounds promising.
I think the defense will more than pull it's weight.

The question is not can we be good. The question is can we be balanced and effective.
The real question is not if any team can be good, it's if they can be balanced and if not how well can they cover it up.
Remember Wisconsins qb wasn't all that great.
Remember when Nebraska had Taylor Martinez? He couldn't throw for crap.
But they both won games.
Alabama is not the greatest thing since sliced bread but they are balanced.

We definitely have work to do. First we couldn't pass, then everyone knew that our weakness was our passing game and keyed in on the run game. We simply were not good enough to over come that in balance.
Yes our run game needs work, but so does our passing game still.
 
The question is not can we be good. The question is can we be balanced and effective.

I was presuming by "good", it was meant - will Iowa win a lot of games this year. Production is nice, but winning is the goal.
 
Last year was a disappointment, I agree, but Iowa won 9 games and finished ranked in the top 25. It was a disappointment because we probably had the talent level of a top 15-10 type team (many of the computer models had us there). A punt bounces the other way against UW and a pass falls harmlessly to the ground at Happy Valley and we could have been a 10-11 win football team.

While there are certain things I wish our coaches did differently, including having more of a killer instinct, if we continue to put talented teams out there I think we will have some very good seasons. I believe that recruiting has really improved over the last 3-4 cycles, and it’s going to show itself in some much more talented teams the next few years.

I wouldn’t say we aren’t willing to change. We are in the midst of changing to a 4-2-5 defense in order to get more speed on the field defensively. Kirk has been a little more aggressive (albeit unwisely at times) over the last few years.

This year I like the talent we have in place (Sr QB, Strong tackles, All America DE) along with good experience and athleticism elsewhere. The problem is the schedule isn’t doing us many favors. I’m not willing to predict one way or another but I’m excited for the season.

The interesting thing about this year that not many are mentioning is the starting group I see on paper will only have 5 seniors (NS, Weiting, Lattimore, Reiff, OJ) (Paulsen’s and Welch in the mix as well but not starters), so in theory 2020 will have a ton of experience returning. Now we will likely lose AJE, Wirfs, and maybe one other to the draft but either way we should bring a lot back in 2020 in terms of experience.
 
I wouldn't characterize last year as a disappointment per se. It was okay... Not a ringing endorsement by any stretch. It could certainly have been much better. Some good games and a couple of stinkers. Finishing with a New Years day bowl win though, has to make it slightly better than disappointing, doesn't it? Close but no cigar?
This year could be rough. The talent is there but the conference schedule is pretty rough and little brother is probably going to be good.
The team could be better and have a worse record than last year. We aren't going to stink, but the results might not delight. One way or another, I'll watch every minute of it.
Cheers! and Go Hawks!!
 
Basically I think everyone is in agreement.
Yes we could be pretty good. Yes if everyone comes back 2020 could be awesome. Yes we have a hard schedule. Yes if we do well the rewards will show due to the hard schedule.
On the other side.
Yes we could be really good, but it doesn't show because of the schedule. That all depends on the players. They have to remember we have been playing these schools since forever. Hard, easy there really isn't that big of difference. Yes it seems like the b10 is getting better at the bottom. But so are we. All we can do is take it one game at a time.

I can't really predict just yet how I think we will do. Nothing I feel even remotely confident in. Everything is in place to be pretty good. It sounds like we had a productive off season so far. Like everyone has their heads on straight and focused.
So who knows. Let's see how the summer and beginning of fall look.
 
4thngoal said:
Basically I think everyone is in agreement.
Yes we could be pretty good. Yes if everyone comes back 2020 could be awesome. Yes we have a hard schedule. Yes if we do well the rewards will show due to the hard schedule.
On the other side.
Yes we could be really good, but it doesn't show because of the schedule. That all depends on the players. They have to remember we have been playing these schools since forever. Hard, easy there really isn't that big of difference. Yes it seems like the b10 is getting better at the bottom. But so are we. All we can do is take it one game at a time.

I can't really predict just yet how I think we will do. Nothing I feel even remotely confident in. Everything is in place to be pretty good. It sounds like we had a productive off season so far. Like everyone has their heads on straight and focused.
So who knows. Let's see how the summer and beginning of fall look.
Click to expand...

"Hard, easy there really isn't that big of a difference."

You are right on the $$$
 
Its April. So, yes, we will be awesome this year! Hope springs eternal in the Spring.

Now, when the bullets start to fly in the Fall, we shall see. Feels like 8ish wins again. Really good players in the trenches and at QB, which is great, but we lack enough explosive players at the skilled positions to make a special run.
 
VTHawk said:
Yeah I would like to know. Last year was a disappointment. I felt we should have, could have been better. There are a lot of reasons for that though I am sure it comes down to a few. I am not going to go all into it, and I am not a gridiron expert, but I can say that Iowa football seems stagnated. Like we won't change. This is probably obvious to most on here. It seems no matter what we have as player personnel we get no better. Just another disappointing letdown of a season.

So I say this with all sincerity, are we going to be good this year? Or anytime soon? And what I mean by that is are we going to have a team that can contend for the Big Ten Championship game? In other words, is anything going to change?

I feel that we have a losing psychology that kind of presents itself no matter what happens as of late. Were does that come from? Why?

(I think we already know the answer to this So seriously will we be any good this year?)

Is anything going to change?
Click to expand...

Iowa is 37-16 since 2015 in football. That's probably NOT its best 4 year stretch in school history, but it's close, probably 2nd. It's also better than 95% of the rest of college football in the same time. It's not championships but it aint stagnant and in need of "change" either. Iowa has changed a ton on both sides of the ball since 2015. It's recruiting is also on a major upswing. They have had 11 players drafted since 2015 not counting the 4 that are gonna get called on this weekend. That's gonna 15 players in 4 years. It's literally a football factory. One of the best programs year in and year out in the sport and a model of consistency. Not exactly a "losing psychology", so I doubt that comes from anywhere, other than your mouth.

Why anyone wants this to change is beyond me. I want it to stay as long as we can have it. I also want championships. I also am not satisfied. I want more. I expect more. I want this team to take another step this year. They are position to. But I also know that the same 4 or 5 teams from the B1G have won all the championships for the last 20-30 years. It's incredibly difficult.
 
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NorthKCHawk said:
Its April. So, yes, we will be awesome this year! Hope springs eternal in the Spring.

Now, when the bullets start to fly in the Fall, we shall see. Feels like 8ish wins again. Really good players in the trenches and at QB, which is great, but we lack the schedule to make a special run.
Click to expand...

FIFY
 
InGoodCo said:
Iowa is 37-16 since 2015 in football. That's probably NOT its best 4 year stretch in school history, but it's close, probably 2nd. It's also better than 95% of the rest of college football in the same time. It's not championships but it aint stagnant and in need of "change" either. Iowa has changed a ton on both sides of the ball since 2015. It's recruiting is also on a major upswing. They have had 11 players drafted not counting the 4 that are gonna get called on this weekend. It's literally football factory. One of the best programs year in and year out in the sport and a model of consistency. Not exactly a "losing psychology", so I doubt that comes from anywhere, other than your mouth.

Why anyone wants this to change is beyond me. I want it to stay as long as can have it. I also want championships. I also am not satisfied. I want more. I expect more. I want this team to take another step this year. They are position to. But I also know that the same 4 or 5 teams from the B1G have won all the championships for the last 20-30 years. It's incredibly difficult.
Click to expand...
01-04 is probably the best, going 38-12. .760 winning percentage, vs a .698 percentage. Still damned good for a 4 year stretch.
 
homes said:
Is anything going to change?

If you read the article on GoIowaAwesome about the philosophy of Iowa's offense, don't count on it. That's not the same question as to whether they'll be any good this year, but like most years, their margins are thin. I think they can be, but . . . there's always seems to be a "but".
Click to expand...
Kirk's approach to offense will always hold us back. Maybe it would work if he could somehow get top notch RB's and WR's.
 
MoseSchrute said:
Kirk's approach to offense will always hold us back. Maybe it would work if he could somehow get top notch RB's and WR's.
Click to expand...

It seems to be good enough to to have a decent winning percentage. His approach is fine.
However I do agree that wtf with the rb deal?
I mean really everyone is going spread except Wisconsin and everyone is out recruiting us?
Do we run the ball or not? Because we sure as shit don't act like it.
I remember my dad way way back saying what the hell, we need a gosh darn running back, while watching the Hawks.
I find that comical. I'm sorry.
 
InGoodCo said:
Iowa is 37-16 since 2015 in football.

But I also know that the same 4 or 5 teams from the B1G have won all the championships for the last 20-30 years. It's incredibly difficult.
Click to expand...

that is a good stretch of football since 2015. us hawk fans know there were some games that were lost that could be wins with a few dfferent plays going the hawks way.

And the hawks have 4 of those championships in the last 35 years. just randomly all Big 10 teams should have 3 to 4 titles in that time but that is not the case so the hawks have done well
 
There was a theory going around last year after Iowa lost to NW that Iowa may have simply been unlucky last year. At that point Iowa was 1-4 in games that were close in the 4Q and 5-0 in blowout games.

,but I believe that evened out after first blowing out ILL followed by close wins over Neb and Miss State.

That might be the the forgotten story from 2018. Iowa had some "bad luck" but instead of folding, they finished strong.

That could be looked as something hopeful for 2019.
 
The defense looks like it will be good. I like our chances when the defense is salty. The offense appears to be a work in progress. Too damn many holes to fill. Need to find receiving targets. Center of the offensive line needs to step up. Need improvement at running back.
 
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