To all who say they wont watch the hawks anymore

[Xerxes]

Didn’t you just “like” a post upstream about tempering expectations of rarely being ranked and have no shot at being a relevant program?

Lead the way

Yeah I did. I absolutely need to temper my expectations. I want Iowa to be contenders in the West. I want them to be on an even level with the Wisconsins and MSUs of the world.

But I learned last night that isn't realistic. Its far too much to ask for Iowa to beat the likes of an Alex Hornibrook led Wisconsin team that is way down compared to what they have been.

And that is unacceptable. That I have to have such low expectations for the Iowa program. I can't expect them to dominate Alex Horinbrook. I have to expect that he will pick their D apart. In 2 weeks I have to expect that a walk on FR will pass at will as well. Again, that is unacceptable. It shouldn't happen but I have to expect and accept that it will. That's what being an Iowa fan has become.

 

[uihawk82]

I honestly commend you for looking at the positives. They do look better than last season so I'll give them that. Hoping for a win in 2 weeks against Minnesota. I'll be there right behind the Iowa bench.

But Iowa isn't that young. Next year they lose Hesse, Brincks, M Nelson on the DL & Hockaday.

Offensively, they lose Easley, Fant, Reynolds, Render, and Ferguson.

They could also lose A Nelson, Hooker, & Hockenson early. Each guy is a better college player than Daniels was and he went early.

Thats a minimum of 4 starters on D, 3 of them important guys on DL and 5 guys on offense including huge OL losses. Possible to lose 3 more starters on top of that.

You are absolutely nuts if you think A Nelson, Hooker, and Hockenson are ready for the pros (Hockenson might be the closest). A lot of recent hawks who are free agents have not been getting on an NFL roster. Way too many good players.

A Nelson did not take over that game last night. They might have doubled him some , not sure

 

[Xerxes]

You are absolutely nuts if you think A Nelson, Hooker, and Hockenson are ready for the pros (Hockenson might be the closest). A lot of recent hawks who are free agents have not been getting on an NFL roster. Way too many good players.

A Nelson did not take over that game last night. They might have doubled him some , not sure

I total agree. They are not ready for the NFL. But each one of them is a better college player than James Daniels. He left after his JR year. So we can no longer take it for granted that good players like Nelson, Hooker, Hockenson will stick around until they're SRs

 

[BVHawk95]

You are absolutely nuts if you think A Nelson, Hooker, and Hockenson are ready for the pros (Hockenson might be the closest). A lot of recent hawks who are free agents have not been getting on an NFL roster. Way too many good players.

A Nelson did not take over that game last night. They might have doubled him some , not sure

He's been getting doubled all year (plus getting the shit held out of him most games too). Hooker is good, but I agree, not pro-ready.

We also have to take into account their personal goals. Do they want to leave Iowa without a division or even conference championship? What if they just really love playing here? Desmond King sure did.

 

[Caddy]

Don't be this guy. This is something Clown fans say. People are pissed bc it's the same shit over and over. Should've, could've would've.....People are tired of it.

Exactly. Good post.

 

[Caddy]

You are absolutely nuts if you think A Nelson, Hooker, and Hockenson are ready for the pros (Hockenson might be the closest). A lot of recent hawks who are free agents have not been getting on an NFL roster. Way too many good players.

A Nelson did not take over that game last night. They might have doubled him some , not sure

I was at the game. Nelson along with the rest of our Dline and Welch spent a lot of time on their back last night. They were dominated by the Wisconsin line. Welch was awful last night.

 

[Knight78]

I was at the game. Nelson along with the rest of our Dline and Welch spent a lot of time on their back last night. They were dominated by the Wisconsin line. Welch was awful last night.

I was also at the game. I saw AJ get held on at least 4 plays (two during the Wisconsin 4th quarter drive) where he was basically thrown to the ground and you could see his jersey stretch to the tackle's hands - that should be holding in ANY league. I saw Nelson get held on two plays that should have been obvious for the line judge to call as he had arms wrapped around his waist. I saw Hesse pushed to the ground and stepped on by an offensive lineman.

Yeah, there were calls missed, but it is beyond Iowa's control to have refs throw flags. But the biggest two plays that went against us were special teams plays. The fumble on the punt return and the touch of the punt by one of our return team players. Those are two plays we absolutely have control over and if those two plays go down as they SHOULD - the game is entirely different.

 

[archiehawk]

Everyone will keep watching. Just temper your expectations a little. If you tell yourself we will rarely be ranked and have no shot at being a relevant program then you won’t be so disappointed when we get beat. As long as Ferentz is here this will be the reality.

I watched my first game at "Hawkeye Stadium" in 1966. I seldom missed a home game until 2000. I suffered through coaching nightmares..Nader..Cummings etc. I never gave up hope. Then Hayden came and turned everything around. Some great years and my group had a ball watching. But now I agree with those that say lower your expectations and realize nothing will change under Ferentz. I'll still watch but I'm done letting any part of my life revolve around Iowa football.
.

.

 

[Stanzi]

I believe Iowa is easily better than everyone left on their schedule with the obvious exception of Penn State. However, the game last night showed me that we will probably drop a couple that we shouldn't because we make dumb mistakes and Stanley folds under pressure.

 

[Motigerhawk]

So 19 first downs (to their 19), 404 yards of total offense (to their 415), 256 yards passing (to their 205) isn't enough offense? We handed that game to them with turnovers. The player blocking on the punting team who inadvertently kicked the ball cost us a touchdown. The fumble on the punt return hurt us, even though Wisconsin didn't score on that turnover, because we would have had the ball at midfield instead of Wisconsin. Those two plays dictated what happened afterward. I didn't like the QB sneak on 4th and short but it has worked in the past so historically speaking we should have made it.

Its not the results, its the play calls. We do not exploit our strengths. Fant had no targets in the 1st half? Not good play calling.
Im tired of the ultra conservative nature. Where we rarely do anything to trick an opponent or use our strengths to hammer their weaknesses (see TEs).

Im done with this staff. This team is a lot better than that wiscy team that just beat us. But our coaching killed any chance ti win.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Its not the results, its the play calls. We do not exploit our strengths. Fant had no targets in the 1st half? Not good play calling.
Im tired of the ultra conservative nature. Where we rarely do anything to trick an opponent or use our strengths to hammer their weaknesses (see TEs).

Im done with this staff. This team is a lot better than that wiscy team that just beat us. But our coaching killed any chance ti win.

Here's the thing that pissed me off the most - the coaching was actually really good for like 85% of the game. There were just inexplicable brain farts in key moments.

 

[ModebaSan]

I agree that some of our coaching decisions are head scratchers. Not challenging Hornibrooks fumble, not challenging the refs on ball spots. The fourth down play calling in the red zone still perplexes me. Just seems that the coaches weren’t as focused as the players. That punt hitting Beyers in the leg was so stupid. One of the first things they teach you in high school is to stay away from the ball on punts! With all that, we were the better team on the field. We had plenty of opportunities to put this game outta reach but we didnt. We slowed up when we should of hit the gas. This coaching staff lacks the killer instinct. I guess the one good thing I can get outta this, is that Minnesota is going to be thinking that our boys are going be pissed when we roll in there. Fleck knows a major ass whooping is coming, and that is enough to make me smile. You never know whats lying around the corner. Not only can Wisky lose to Michigan and PSU, but they could also lay an egg at Purdue and Northwestern has been a thorn in their side. No one expected BYU to beat them, but it happened and it can happen again. On the flip side, maybe the Hawks learn from this, flush it, and improve. Everyone on our schedule is beatable including Penn St. We are not perfect either and we are beatable. You never know whats gonna happen on any given day. Thats why I watch and thats why I will continue to watch. Because the Hawks do give us some memorable moments that will always outlive the painful ones. Go Hawks!

 

[HuckFinn]

To those of you who threaten/promise to quit following the Hawks: See ya.

 

[Ben Rumson]

I was also at the game. I saw AJ get held on at least 4 plays (two during the Wisconsin 4th quarter drive) where he was basically thrown to the ground and you could see his jersey stretch to the tackle's hands - that should be holding in ANY league. I saw Nelson get held on two plays that should have been obvious for the line judge to call as he had arms wrapped around his waist. I saw Hesse pushed to the ground and stepped on by an offensive lineman.

Yeah, there were calls missed, but it is beyond Iowa's control to have refs throw flags. But the biggest two plays that went against us were special teams plays. The fumble on the punt return and the touch of the punt by one of our return team players. Those are two plays we absolutely have control over and if those two plays go down as they SHOULD - the game is entirely different.

And don't forget the plays that didn't happen with time on the clock and time outs in the pocket before half!

 

[InGoodCo]

I personally can't WAIT to watch this team play more. The offense has made a nice jump the last few weeks. Iowa lost a game, every team in football but maybe 1 or 2 a season do as well. That's tough, but it's what the game is. I think Iowa is top 25 material and they showed that Saturday. I am excited to see them again, it's too bad we have to wait 2 weeks.

 

[Knight78]

Its not the results, its the play calls. We do not exploit our strengths. Fant had no targets in the 1st half? Not good play calling.
Im tired of the ultra conservative nature. Where we rarely do anything to trick an opponent or use our strengths to hammer their weaknesses (see TEs).

Im done with this staff. This team is a lot better than that wiscy team that just beat us. But our coaching killed any chance ti win.

Did you even watch the game? Fant scored a touchdown on a pass reception in the second quarter. He also was double teamed with a safety almost every play.

And to say we didn't use our tight ends is simply absurd, proving to me again that you really didn't watch the game. Hockenson had a few catches due to Fant being doubleteamed.

I don't think it was coaching. I also think the teams were pretty evenly matched. To put it bluntly we made two mistakes we couldn't recover from: a fumble on a punt return which would have given us a short field for the only time in the game, and an inadvertent touch of a punted ball by a member of our punt team.

 

[Motigerhawk]

Did you even watch the game? Fant scored a touchdown on a pass reception in the second quarter. He also was double teamed with a safety almost every play.

And to say we didn't use our tight ends is simply absurd, proving to me again that you really didn't watch the game. Hockenson had a few catches due to Fant being doubleteamed.

I don't think it was coaching. I also think the teams were pretty evenly matched. To put it bluntly we made two mistakes we couldn't recover from: a fumble on a punt return which would have given us a short field for the only time in the game, and an inadvertent touch of a punted ball by a member of our punt team.

The coaching was terrible, again.

Hockenson had 3 receptions. And for 125 yards. SOmething tells me he was the go to guy, that we didnt go to.

Fant had 3 receptions. Only 3? You telling me that he cant beat a double team?

A QB sneak on 4th and a long 1 at their 5? Terrible call.

Fant against a 5'11" cb, by themselves on 3rd and 2 at their 5. And we run a pitch sweep tot he short side? Another terrible call.

I was truly disappointed in our lack of going after their weaknesses. We played right into their hands. Fant and Hockenson should have had 5-8 receptions or at least 10 -12 targets. a piece.

The poor kid that kicked the ball. That was coaching. The bad play calls that was coaching.

Im not sure you understand football.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I was truly disappointed in our lack of going after their weaknesses. We played right into their hands. Fant and Hockenson should have had 5-8 receptions or at least 10 -12 targets. a piece.

Part of me thinks the staff might be trying to sandbag Fant to get him to come back next year. They put Dakota Dixon on him in the red zone. Now if I'm a coach trying to win ball games, I'm throwing jump balls to that kid every time I smell the red zone until Wisconsin rolls a LB out there on him, then I'm running a QB draw right at the spot the LB vacated. Fant prolly should have had 4 TDs in that game. If you watch SEC football, the offensive playcalling in the red zone is so much better than that shit show we had to watch on Saturday because if you don't creative, you ain't getting the ball over the goal line.

 

[MoseSchrute]

The poor kid that kicked the ball. That was coaching.

That wasn't coaching. That was inexcusable, complete situational unawareness. I agree with the rest of your post, though.

 

[lightning1]

The coaching was terrible, again.

Hockenson had 3 receptions. And for 125 yards. SOmething tells me he was the go to guy, that we didnt go to.

Fant had 3 receptions. Only 3? You telling me that he cant beat a double team?

A QB sneak on 4th and a long 1 at their 5? Terrible call.

Fant against a 5'11" cb, by themselves on 3rd and 2 at their 5. And we run a pitch sweep tot he short side? Another terrible call.

I was truly disappointed in our lack of going after their weaknesses. We played right into their hands. Fant and Hockenson should have had 5-8 receptions or at least 10 -12 targets. a piece.

The poor kid that kicked the ball. That was coaching. The bad play calls that was coaching.

Im not sure you understand football.

The fact that a team can double team 1 of our TEs and hold us to 17 points, is the reason this coaching staff is awful!
THEY CANT RECRUIT SKILL POSITION PLAYERS.