Unfortunately, in the end, this one's on the defense

[Rawkhawk73]

Look, I understand we gave up a blocked punt, a KO for touchdown, a pick six and a blocked PAT......no excuses for any of that.

But the fact remains that we fought back from 27-7 to tie it up at 27-27. At that point, we had all the momentum. On TV, it sounded like Kinnick west, with all the Hawks going nuts and their fans in stunned disbelief. At this point, our defense had the chance to make a statement and stomp on their collective throats and give the ball back to our offense to put it away. They didn't.

So while it was our special teams that allowed the game to get out of hand and force our offense out of it's comfort zone......in the end, it was our defense that let us down and allowed Arizona to pull it out. That's probably why this stings so much. We've become so accustomed to having our defense come up big when it really matters that I think we're all still a little stunned that our defense gave up what it did on that last drive.

 

[HawkPhin]

Look, I understand we gave up a blocked punt, a KO for touchdown, a pick six and a blocked PAT......no excuses for any of that.

But the fact remains that we fought back from 27-7 to tie it up at 27-27. At that point, we had all the momentum. On TV, it sounded like Kinnick west, with all the Hawks going nuts and their fans in stunned disbelief. At this point, our defense had the chance to make a statement and stomp on their collective throats and give the ball back to our offense to put it away. They didn't.

So while it was our special teams that allowed the game to get out of hand and force our offense out of it's comfort zone......in the end, it was our defense that let us down and allowed Arizona to pull it out. That's probably why this stings so much. We've become so accustomed to having our defense come up big when it really matters that I think we're all still a little stunned that our defense gave up what it did on that last drive.

I respectfully disagree with your statement. Our D was put in a difficult situation to begin the game. It took AZ 3 plays to score from the 6 yrd line. I'm not going to pin those pts on the D. We gave up 2 drives in the first half that only resulted in 6 pts and pitched a shutout in the 2nd half except for the last drive. In actuality I believe our D kept us in the game and actually could have put us on top had it not been for the missed extra pt ( which by the way I thought was good). Blame whoever you want, but in my opinion you can't blame the loss on our D.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

I respectfully disagree with your statement. Our D was put in a difficult situation to begin the game. It took AZ 3 plays to score from the 6 yrd line. I'm not going to pin those pts on the D. We gave up 2 drives in the first half that only resulted in 6 pts and pitched a shutout in the 2nd half except for the last drive. In actuality I believe our D kept us in the game and actually could have put us on top had it not been for the missed extra pt ( which by the way I thought was good). Blame whoever you want, but in my opinion you can't blame the loss on our D.

You got it right. OP has it wrong.

 

[IowaNYYfan]

*pass coverage

Not the entire defense.

 

[iahawk20]

I dont think this loss is on any one unit. Lets face it defense, ST, and the offense all had some pretty big let downs. For me it is hard to get away from how poor our special teams unit was---blocked punt, kickoff return for td, and miss XP.

 

[DuffMan]

Im not going to be respectful. It's an idiotic statement. We gave up 21 points on special teams.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Im not going to be respectful. It's an idiotic statement. We gave up 21 points on special teams.

14, and if you really wanted to split hairs, 7. Special teams weren't on the field when McNutt whiffed.

 

[homes]

*pass coverage

Not the entire defense.

The Hawks had some veteran defensive backs out of position on some of those passes on AZ's final drive. As poorly as the special teams played in the first half, I do agree with the OP in that all of those sins would have been forgiven if the defense would have stopped AZ after Binns' pick six. They looked particularly out of sync on that drive. But there was enough bad stuff to go around to not lay it on one unit.

 

[homes]

Im not going to be respectful. It's an idiotic statement. We gave up 21 points on special teams.

You should try being more respectful, particularly if you're not going to be factual, it can have a tendency to boomerang on you otherwise.

 

[Rawkhawk73]

Im not going to be respectful. It's an idiotic statement. We gave up 21 points on special teams.

I'm going to remain respectful here.....we're all Hawk fans after all.....

We gave up a pick six, they gave up a pick six. We had a punt blocked that resulted in a touchdown, they had a punt return muffed that resulted in a touchdown. They also had a fumble inside of their own 20.

Look, I know the special teams....normally a strength.....let us down. But they made their own blunders that we capitalized on as well. However, in the end, with 9 minutes to go in the 4th, we had ALL the momentum. In a span of 4 minutes after that, the game was essentially over because our "best defense in Hawkeye history" couldn't get the stop when it mattered.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

I'm going to remain respectful here.....we're all Hawk fans after all.....

We gave up a pick six, they gave up a pick six. We had a punt blocked that resulted in a touchdown, they had a punt return muffed that resulted in a touchdown. They also had a fumble inside of their own 20.

Look, I know the special teams....normally a strength.....let us down. But they made their own blunders that we capitalized on as well. However, in the end, with 9 minutes to go in the 4th, we had ALL the momentum. In a span of 4 minutes after that, the game was essentially over because our "best defense in Hawkeye history" couldn't get the stop when it mattered.

What you're missing is that the defense wouldn't have been in that position in the first place had these three things - or hell, just two of them - not happened.

1. Blocked punt setting up a short field.
2. McNutt whiffs, watches it go the other way for six.
3. 101 kick return for a touchdown.

If any one of those things is avoided, Iowa wins.

 

[iahawk72]

There are three components to every game.

-Offense
-Defense
-Special Teams

Iowa's defense was responsible for 20 of their 34 points and I would argue that it was more like 13 because of the blocked punt inside our own 15.

The fact of the matter is that outside of the first long pass on Arizona's last scoring drive Iowa played their typical bend but don't break defense. They score a touchdown. You can't expect much more from that group.

They played well enough to win.

Iowa's offense was out of sync for much of the night and could only muster 14 points (the last offensive touchdown was a gift from special teams). Add in the ball that went through McNutt's hands which gave AZ a touchdown, the offense was a disappointment last night. Adam Robinson looked like he was running in sand and plays were wasted as he tried to beat the AZ defenders to the edge. It was never going to happen.

This game was lost primarily in special teams (giving up 14 points) with an assist from the offense (giving up 7 points).

Our defense played well enough to win.

Breakdown by Component:

-Special Teams - Were responsible for two of AZ's touchdowns but created one for Iowa. Net Effect of Iowa's Special Teams: -7 points

-Offense - Had two solid scoring drives but also gave up a pick six . Net Effect of Iowa's Offense +7 points

-Defense - Only gave up one touchdown scoring drive (albeit the one winning one in the 4th Q) but also scored a touchdown. Net Effect of Iowa's Defense -6 points.

By this simplistic evaluation, you can't ask much more of a defense. You can ask significantly more of special teams and the offense.

iahawk72

 

[sportstalent]

The three concerns I had with Iowa reared their head last night.
1. Stanzi's consistnecy. Blame McNutt on the one INT, but he missed open guys.
2. The Offensive Line. Iowa could not run the ball, but they also gave up on it too soon. The RB's were "running to darkness" all night.
3. The loss of Amari Spivey. The secondary was giving up too many 10 -15 yard passes all night, but that comes from players being out of position.
The sad thing is that with the meltdown on ST, Iowa still was in a position to win. Too many missed open guys and the inability to run and slow down the momentum in the first half cost the Hawks. No, you are not used to seeing a ST meltdown, but when two-thirds of the team don't play well you can't win.
I wouldn't lay it on the defense when they were in bad positions a lot of times, but remember they did get and INT that erased the AZ defensive touchdown. AZ has a good offense and a decent defense, the Iowa offense could not capitlize on its opportunities in the 1st half, they looked lost.

This is what I wrote on my blog:
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/blogs/sportstalent/47-3-keys-iowa-football.html

 

[HawkPhin]

The three concerns I had with Iowa reared their head last night.
1. Stanzi's consistnecy. Blame McNutt on the one INT, but he missed open guys.
2. The Offensive Line. Iowa could not run the ball, but they also gave up on it too soon. The RB's were "running to darkness" all night.
3. The loss of Amari Spivey. The secondary was giving up too many 10 -15 yard passes all night, but that comes from players being out of position.
The sad thing is that with the meltdown on ST, Iowa still was in a position to win. Too many missed open guys and the inability to run and slow down the momentum in the first half cost the Hawks. No, you are not used to seeing a ST meltdown, but when two-thirds of the team don't play well you can't win.
I wouldn't lay it on the defense when they were in bad positions a lot of times, but remember they did get and INT that erased the AZ defensive touchdown. AZ has a good offense and a decent defense, the Iowa offense could not capitlize on its opportunities in the 1st half, they looked lost.

This is what I wrote on my blog:
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/blogs/sportstalent/47-3-keys-iowa-football.html

When its all said and done, I blame this loss on AZ. Though I don't think they are a better team, the were a better team last night. They took advantage of every oppertunity that we gave them. Ultimately that is the name of the game, taking advantage of your oppertunities, AZ did and we did not.

 

[DuffMan]

We gave up 21 points on special teams and with a pick six. That being said we win as a team and lose as team.

To come on here and start blaming individual units makes you look increadibly stupid.

We were down 21-7 at the end of the 1st quarter, and our defence had been on the field all of 6 or 7 plays. They ended up giving 13 points the rest of the night.

 

[Rawkhawk73]

We gave up 21 points on special teams and with a pick six. That being said we win as a team and lose as team.

To come on here and start blaming individual units makes you look increadibly stupid.

We were down 21-7 at the end of the 1st quarter, and our defence had been on the field all of 6 or 7 plays. They ended up giving 13 points the rest of the night.

Nobody's "blaming" anyone for anything. You want to act like our special teams errors happened in a vaccum and Arizona didn't do anything in error at all. All of our miscues were matched by miscues on their end, so that all evened out.

It was a tie game with 9 minutes left and the defense couldn't rise to the challenge. Period. End of game.

You can call me stupid or any other name your juvinile mind can conjer up, but that is what happened.

 

[DuffMan]

"Unfortunately, in the end, this one's on the defense"

Yet we aren't blaming anything...

How bout blamming the run game which couldn't open holes, or Arob because he averaged 1 yard per carry, or blame McNutt for not catching that slant, or the oline for not protecting Stanzi on that last drive, or the punt team for giving up a blocked punt, or the KO coverage team for giving up a big one, or KOK for not calling a bubble screen on the last drive, or KF for not having his team prepared...

Wow it turns out we did lot's of things wrong huh? The team that made the fewest mistakes won this game (that's how it usually happens when 2 good teams play each other).

When you take all that into consideration, the guy that comes on here and says this one's all on the defense looks stupid.

 

[Imlivingthedream]

Greenwood was exposed last night. He missed a lot of tackles and didnt make a play on the ball all night. Just once I'd like to see him make a play on a ball in front of him or really hit someone. He's a drop off compared to Considine, Pagel or some of our recent FS. Usually hes get protected by our strong rush but last night that wasnt happening.

 

[loesshillshawk]

Football at any level is about special teams, turnovers, and field position. As the Good Captain said at half time our special teams are AWFUL. We turned the ball over numerous times, field position was awful. When you add all this up we were fortunate it wasn't like the last trip to the desert. Folks we all need to step back and realize goal #1 is still on the plate and that is winning the B10 and going to the Rose Bowl. This team is capable of doing that in a big way. I for one will be at all home games and yellin like hell...and at home rooting hard for the Hawks.
Bottom line we didn't take care of business and now we move on.

 

[SheagleHawk]

Greenwood was exposed last night. He missed a lot of tackles and didnt make a play on the ball all night. Just once I'd like to see him make a play on a ball in front of him or really hit someone. He's a drop off compared to Considine, Pagel or some of our recent FS. Usually hes get protected by our strong rush but last night that wasnt happening.

Agreed. Definitely didn't hear his name much, if at all. I knew Criner and company was going to make some big plays, but I thought either our LB's or secondary would've also had at least one pick. Especially with the pressure I anticipated coming from our front four. The AZ O-line kept our front four away from Foles long enough for him to pick us apart.