This weekend (Pitt game) will tell us where this team is headed

HawkeyeRyno

HawkeyeRyno

Banned
Pitt has a mobile QB in Tino Sunseri and I'm sure he's drooling at the ISU/Iowa gametape. If Iowa struggles with him I think we know where we are headed because every team from here on, with the exception of Michigan State, has a mobile QB. Even UL-Monroe. If we can keep him in check then maybe we'll be okay. Also should see how our DL will be with pressure. Maine had 7...SEVEN...sacks Saturday against Pitt.
 
HawkeyeRyno said:
Pitt has a mobile QB in Tino Sunseri and I'm sure he's drooling at the ISU/Iowa gametape. If Iowa struggles with him I think we know where we are headed because every team from here on, with the exception of Michigan State, has a mobile QB. Even UL-Monroe. If we can keep him in check then maybe we'll be okay. Also should see how our DL will be with pressure. Maine had 7...SEVEN...sacks Saturday against Pitt.
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Kinnick still gives us a chance with most teams that will come in there. Home field advantage is big in college football, certainly ture at Kinnick. Pitt giving up seven sacks gives me hope that our D-Line can put a good game together and maybe get some confidence.
 
HawkeyeMHA said:
Kinnick still gives us a chance with most teams that will come in there. Home field advantage is big in college football, certainly ture at Kinnick. Pitt giving up seven sacks gives me hope that our D-Line can put a good game together and maybe get some confidence.
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Good point. Home field is a huge advantage for Iowa in the sense that the crowd really gets the players pumped because Ferentz isn't a coach that does that. It's just his demeanor. Look at how they act on the road vs at home. Kirk chomps his gum, while Paul Rhoads is high fiving the crowd, getting the fans jacked up and showing his love for his team in the locker room. It feels like when Iowa plays on the road recently they just run through the motions and play tight. Kinnick crowd fuels their emotion. I know you could say that about a lot of teams but for Iowa it seems more important because of our coaching staff's demeanor.
 
I think it will help us better gauge. First Big Ten game will be big too.

I certainly don't think Iowa is bad as some of the doomsdayers out there.
 
storminspank said:
I think it will help us better gauge. First Big Ten game will be big too.

I certainly don't think Iowa is bad as some of the doomsdayers out there.
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I agree, we still have a lot of good players that are capable of making plays. I think what we are seeing is how important it is to have (or not have as the case seems this year) a stout defensive line that doesn't allow people to run at us...and then subsequently allows our LB's to clean up everything else and look like game changers.
 
storminspank said:
I think it will help us better gauge. First Big Ten game will be big too.

I certainly don't think Iowa is bad as some of the doomsdayers out there.
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I don't either Justin, but I think the OP is right.

We all think that we walked into a hornets nest and that none of us should really be all that surprised by it.

But we looked flat out horrible on Saturday. We looked like a lower division Big 10 team.

If we come out and throttle Pitt, than it will be very likely a case of ISU being the typical thorn in our side.

If we come out and look like we did last week, it has serious program implications given the upward movement by some teams in the Big 10.
 
Agree with OP that the Pitt game will tell us a lot ... I absolutely expect us to tighten up and have a better performance on dfense (i.e. don't expect Pitt to light us up for 40+ points).

This will be game 3 ... If we somehow find a way to lose this game at home then we could be in for a long season. Winning at home is sacred. Lose your home games and hard to expect better outcomes on the road ... I still think this team will be okay. I do ... I think a lot was learned from the ISU game, and sometimes a game like that can be good for you ... Get the attention of our players that maybe gives them a little extra push for the rest of the season ... Also, you can bet the coaches learned a lot from the ISU game ... The ISU game is behind us ... Time to focus on Pitt ... We can't undo what happened in Ames on Saturday ... Have a solid performance against Pitt and life will be better again in Hawkeyeland :)
 
Ill never call a blowout because while we play vanilla and safe we shorten games and stay close. But, Pitt is like ISU with much better talent. We know Iowa won't change so our only hope is that we play much better. Hard to say but hard to imagine Sunseri doesn't go crazy on us. Pitt-24 Iowa 10
 
sunseri was benched and is not accurate. iowa played poorly on defense saturday but they wii adjust
 
Pitt does not have a good QB and I don't think their line is that good because they gave up 7 sacks against Maine, they also didn't play that well the first week. I think Iowa will come back strong and should win by 10.
 
spudhawk said:
sunseri was benched and is not accurate. iowa played poorly on defense saturday but they wii adjust
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While I may acknowledge that this is true. We were saying the same thing last week.

Norm needs to find a way to stop allowing average QB's look like pro-bowler's against us. Allowing the DEnds to actually rush the passer, rather than play patty-cake with the tackle's would be a good start...
 
sergeanthulka said:
spudhawk said:
sunseri was benched and is not accurate. iowa played poorly on defense saturday but they wii adjust
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While I may acknowledge that this is true. We were saying the same thing last week. Norm needs to find a way to stop allowing average QB's look like pro-bowler's against us. Allowing the DEnds to actually rush the passer, rather than play patty-cake with the tackle's would be a good start...
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completely agree about turning Binns loose. I understand contain is important but the d-line has to make some plays. Iowa also must tackle much, much better. arguably you could say tackling was the major difference between iowa and state.
 
I think.....Iowa didn't get much out of their 1st game of season against Tenn-Tech. With ISU being a test.....I'm expecting Iowa to make big strides from last week to this week.
 
If Iowa loses at home vs Pitt, they will be headed nowhere come December.

That's 2 non-conf L's with L's still to come against NW, Mich, MSU and Neb.
I still see Penn St, Minny and Purdue as 50/50, which odds say is at least 1 more L among the 3.

A loss to Pitt and your looking at 4-8 / 5-7 as best case.

Iowa will beat Pitt but, as I stated here, http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/football/32301-predict-our-record-year-2.html#post498110 it will probably be the highlight of the year.
 
STILLBUSTER said:
If Iowa loses at home vs Pitt, they will be headed nowhere come December.

That's 2 non-conf L's with L's still to come against NW, Mich, MSU and Neb.
I still see Penn St, Minny and Purdue as 50/50, which odds say is at least 1 more L among the 3.

A loss to Pitt and your looking at 4-8 / 5-7 as best case.

Iowa will beat Pitt but, as I stated here, http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/football/32301-predict-our-record-year-2.html#post498110 it will probably be the highlight of the year.
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What about a scenario of going 2-2 in non-conf, but going 6-2 in conf (losses to UM and Neb) - that would get them a bowl, I would have to think. Probably 4th B1G pick?
 
STILLBUSTER said:
If Iowa loses at home vs Pitt, they will be headed nowhere come December.

That's 2 non-conf L's with L's still to come against NW, Mich, MSU and Neb.
I still see Penn St, Minny and Purdue as 50/50, which odds say is at least 1 more L among the 3.

A loss to Pitt and your looking at 4-8 / 5-7 as best case.

Iowa will beat Pitt but, as I stated here, http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/football/32301-predict-our-record-year-2.html#post498110 it will probably be the highlight of the year.
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What will be so bad about this year is we WILL beat a ranked team at some point and look good doing it. We will all breath a little easier and then stink it up the next week against a bottom feeder.
 
I expect that the team will be better schooled this week than they were last week. In the past the coaching staff has bounced back from bad games with young players. This week will be a better showing than last week, from an execution point anyway.
I agree with Hawk4Life, Iowa got very little out of week one and week two was the real test.
Gooo Hawks!
 
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