Tough Loss
- Thread starter Hawkman1961
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Ben Rumson
Well-Known Member
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.
trj
Well-Known Member
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.
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!
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.
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
I wish we could have thrown the ball downfield a bit more. They were not looking for us to pass very often. But it is what it is.
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.
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
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
It’s not just this season where they have been bad at the end of halves. Under 2:00 in the half or end of game we give up points almost every time.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Adding another defender at the LOS would simply have put us in a position to be hit over the top with play-action, and Phil knew it.
Our defensive line, perhaps other than Llewellyn, was completely dominated yesterday. Oregon quickly figured out that they could control our linemen with single blockers, freeing up the remaining linemen to get to the second level over and over and over. Once we lost the ability to two-gap, Sharar and Montgomery had no chance, leaving the DBs to make the tackles 8 yards down the field.
The talent gap was just too much to overcome. Perhaps if we had four Aaron Graves, but we don't.
That said, even when the opportunity in the gap was there, several of our defensive players repeatedly missed tackles that should have been made. That's the thing that will bother Phil the most.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I will see what I Chan do. I tried one method earlier but no luck. Maybe someone here with better tech skills can locate it.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
Two months ago we were talking about absolutely getting run out of Kinnick on Saturday. We had a secondary and LB group we had zero confidence in, a solid Oline and running game, and a QB we were absolutely convinced we'd over paid for. It's easy to get down after letting another win seem to slip through our fingers. I'm not happy about it, but I'm not happy about it because we've lost 3 games by a total of 10 points.
Do I know how the season's going to play out after another heartbreaking loss? No. That said I've seen a ton of heart from this team and have been pleasantly surprised with how the seasons played out. If anyone would have told me that we'd be in positions to take the lead in the final two-three minutes of two games against top 10 opponents I'd of thought you were insane. Again no idea how this is going to play out and we may end up absolutely pissing the season away in the next few weeks, but I'm not disappointed in this team the slightest bit and have am honestly impressed with the growth I've seen on the offensive side of the ball and out of our secondary as the season progressed. I'm optimistic and will remain so, that we finish strong and continue to improve offensively. I'm actually having fun watching us on offense this year and haven't said that in years so still looking forward to how things play out and not giving up for a second on this team.
Do I know how the season's going to play out after another heartbreaking loss? No. That said I've seen a ton of heart from this team and have been pleasantly surprised with how the seasons played out. If anyone would have told me that we'd be in positions to take the lead in the final two-three minutes of two games against top 10 opponents I'd of thought you were insane. Again no idea how this is going to play out and we may end up absolutely pissing the season away in the next few weeks, but I'm not disappointed in this team the slightest bit and have am honestly impressed with the growth I've seen on the offensive side of the ball and out of our secondary as the season progressed. I'm optimistic and will remain so, that we finish strong and continue to improve offensively. I'm actually having fun watching us on offense this year and haven't said that in years so still looking forward to how things play out and not giving up for a second on this team.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Yup.
HawkPowerlifter
Well-Known Member
My son and I talked quite a bit on the ride home. Maybe we were coping....LOL. However, a few mistakes were the difference even with the talent disparity. While I was frustrated with the inability to stop the run, I get what Phil had to do. He picked his poison per se.
The safety was an avoidable mistake. The fumble by Wetjen hurt almost more. We were marching at the 17 yard line of Oregon. Potentially 3 points or 7 points (and I felt like we were moving the ball for a sustained drive). It also lead to points off of turnover for Oregon as they went down and scored.
However, Iowa went on a 93 yard drive to go ahead late in the game. It was just a heart breaker. The Hawkeyes played their game by attempting to drag Oregon into deep water. The game was within grasps.
But those mistakes added up. You take the safety off the board and at least add 3 points on the Wetjen fumble. It could have been potentially 19-16 Iowa. But as we know, "could of, should of, would of."
It's also easy to Monday Morning Quarterback. Hopefully KF and the crew can reset and retool because USC has a very good running attack as well and will likely plan to attempt to expose the same weakness. Time to move on and refocus.
The safety was an avoidable mistake. The fumble by Wetjen hurt almost more. We were marching at the 17 yard line of Oregon. Potentially 3 points or 7 points (and I felt like we were moving the ball for a sustained drive). It also lead to points off of turnover for Oregon as they went down and scored.
However, Iowa went on a 93 yard drive to go ahead late in the game. It was just a heart breaker. The Hawkeyes played their game by attempting to drag Oregon into deep water. The game was within grasps.
But those mistakes added up. You take the safety off the board and at least add 3 points on the Wetjen fumble. It could have been potentially 19-16 Iowa. But as we know, "could of, should of, would of."
It's also easy to Monday Morning Quarterback. Hopefully KF and the crew can reset and retool because USC has a very good running attack as well and will likely plan to attempt to expose the same weakness. Time to move on and refocus.
Well said and I agree with your post. Looking at what the score could have been, it would probably have been 20-16 because we would have just kicked the extra point after the last TD. That would have forced Oregon to score a TD to win the game. So many what-ifs in this game.....
HawkPowerlifter
Well-Known Member
It's frustrating for sure, but anyone who has been around this program knows this is our style of play. What one thing I took away from this game was that our offense is starting show more capability. Marching 93 yards in the 4th quarter when we needed it against a defense ranked just behind Iowa in total defense showed a lot.
It's hard to find positives in a heartbreaker loss like this. And at the end of the day, a loss is just that...a loss. A short week for us, and USC also likes to run the ball and have done well doing so. Need to have a short memory and make a few adjustments and dial it in.
guffus
Well-Known Member
But in this alternate scenerio, would Iowa still go for the TD on 4th and goal? In theory the game would be tied 13-13 at that point. Kirk would probably run the clock and kick the FG.
HawkPowerlifter
Well-Known Member
That's the thing, we could scenario this thing til it's dead. But I will say, KF has rolled the dice more than what I thought he would. A 4th and 1 at midfield that Gronk did a sneak on. That's usually not a KF call.
But there were plays were plays we left out there. Gronk admitted after the game they wanted to start fast and he stated that he had some throws that he left out there. People are talking about the defensive hold on Phillips that Gronk threw a beautiful ball that likely would have been a touchdown. Or the towel throw on the two point conversion.
A successful execution of a play or maybe a called penalty could have potentially extended a drive or lead to a score. Incidentally, of course Duck fans are making excuses that they were without so many key players we would have been dog walked if they were at full capacity, or complaining how Iowa didn't get flagged for many penalties. (Which Iowa is the least penalized team in the country).
