Tough Loss

You could have stopped doing that after the ISU Loss.

Death, Taxes, Iowa playing a who cares bowl game in late December vs an SEC teams 3rds
Iowa will win out from here and end up 9-3 with a tough schedule. Maybe 10 win season with a bowl game.

We are on our way. Lester will continue to build the O. Already improved the QB room and will likely check out the portal for 2026. Running game will be top shelf. NY Times analysis digs deep into changes in Lester’s schemes. Fascinating.

Receivers will build. Take a look at the young ones currently on board. Recruits will ultimately take notice, as our QB situation continues to progress.

Barnett has the O line. D will reconfigure to rebuild every year as long as Phil is around. And special teams are always there.

KF is well aware and will stay around through his contract.

This team has its flaws but could easily be undefeated or a 1 loss Playoff team at this point in the season with 3 winnable games on deck.

There you go.

Iowa v. Texas in a bowl game wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
 


Really not totally disappointed in the game. Obviously a turnover in the red zone and a safety cost the game. The long snapper snafu's are unexplained. Surprised KF didn't use a timeout to try ice kicker. Iowa has lost three games that should of or could of won. Kind of is what it is. But I don't like Iowa playing with a one or two point lead with time on the clock. D seems to always allow failure in that scenario.
 




Really not totally disappointed in the game. Obviously a turnover in the red zone and a safety cost the game. The long snapper snafu's are unexplained. Surprised KF didn't use a timeout to try ice kicker. Iowa has lost three games that should of or could of won. Kind of is what it is. But I don't like Iowa playing with a one or two point lead with time on the clock. D seems to always allow failure in that scenario.

Moulton not getting his feet down on the 2 pt. conversion…you knew it was over. 1:51 and 3 timeouts left, they were going to get in FG position.
 


Iowa has 4 blowout wins and has been in 5 games that were close in the 4Q, in which they were 2-3.
Iowa managed to beat Rutgers and Penn St with strong 4Qs, but Iowa kinda blew it in last 2 minutes in all 3 losses against iowa St, Indiana and Oregon. But for some reason, I am not upset about it.
The thing that hurts is I think Iowa was the better team Saturday. If not for the two turnovers, we could have won. But that's football!
 


As someone who is not shy about criticizing Hawkeye teams and coaches in the past, I am surprisingly "OK" with this game.
Not suggesting this was some sort of 'moral victory' or am I excusing a loss, but this team is a big improvement over the last few years where we were embarrassed against Top Tier opponents in big games.

Iowa was competitive against a very good, playoff contender. Coordinators called good game on both sides of the ball. Players played hard.

This team is meeting or slightly exceeding my expectations - both in this game and so far this season. I thought they would go 7-5, losing to ISU, IU, PSU, OR and USC or NE. They are a game up on my projection due to the PSU implosion and have a real chance at 8-4.

Samesies. Except on the predictions part. I'm rotten at predictions. All I can do is wet my finger, stick it in the air and go with what I can feel.

Do I feel better today than I did on 11/9 of last year. Or the year before? I mean, that last time I felt this good was later in the evening of 11/9/2021 when #3 Iowa knocked off #4 PSU. That feeling lasted exactly 7 days. And since then, there was virtually zero realistic hope of beating a team ranked inside the top 10 in November.

It ain't perfect. But I'll take it.
 




Point 1: After the Penn St. game I said the top priority for Iowa coaches the following week should be designing 3-4 successful 2-pt conversion plays utilizing the current offensive players. With a power running QB, multiple good RBs, two 6'5" WRs, and a slot burner -- there is absolutely NO REASON to not be able to manufacture successful 2-pt plays at a high %! What DOESN'T work is calling a drop-back, pocket pass play for this QB to throw over the middle in a congested area. Simply stupid.
With as many close games as Iowa has played -- and WILL play -- this MUST become more of a priority.

Point 2: After giving up over 140 yds rushing in the 1st half while playing just 4 down Dlinemen, I was sure Parker would come out with 2nd half adjustments to slow down Oregon's run game, as he's often done in the past. Nope. Same 4 DLinemen, and gave up another what, 120 yds+ in the 2nd half? By comparison, Oregon averaged 159 yds/game rushing vs Penn St., Indiana, and Wisconsin. If Iowa would have stopped the run last night -- which could have been done by simply adding another defender at the LOS -- given the weather conditions, Iowa wins that game.

Point 3: Iowa's defense this season has really struggled to stop good teams at the end of halves -- both 1st and 2nd.
 


Point 1: After the Penn St. game I said the top priority for Iowa coaches the following week should be designing 3-4 successful 2-pt conversion plays utilizing the current offensive players. With a power running QB, multiple good RBs, two 6'5" WRs, and a slot burner -- there is absolutely NO REASON to not be able to manufacture successful 2-pt plays at a high %! What DOESN'T work is calling a drop-back, pocket pass play for this QB to throw over the middle in a congested area. Simply stupid.
With as many close games as Iowa has played -- and WILL play -- this MUST become more of a priority.

Point 2: After giving up over 140 yds rushing in the 1st half while playing just 4 down Dlinemen, I was sure Parker would come out with 2nd half adjustments to slow down Oregon's run game, as he's often done in the past. Nope. Same 4 DLinemen, and gave up another what, 120 yds+ in the 2nd half? By comparison, Oregon averaged 159 yds/game rushing vs Penn St., Indiana, and Wisconsin. If Iowa would have stopped the run last night -- which could have been done by simply adding another defender at the LOS -- given the weather conditions, Iowa wins that game.

Point 3: Iowa's defense this season has really struggled to stop good teams at the end of halves -- both 1st and 2nd.
Really good post bro
 




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