We ARE NOT Wisconsin

[battleofthebow]

That's a really good point. What would Wisconsin do with Riley M? What would WI do with Iowa's roster on Offense?

Imo, it is not a speed issue they just understand what they have in personnel. For example, if Riley McCaron was Wisconsin's best receiver they would never ask him to make people miss in space.

 

[vork22]

Wisconsin has the ability to be a top 10 team every year, Iowa has the potential to be top 10 once or twice in a decade. When we are top 10 we would get destroyed by the other 9. These programs a miles apart.

 

[Iahwk06]

Another is we pay our coach twice as much to get the same or less results

 

[battleofthebow]

If Eno goes to Wisconsin I will throw up.

 

[Seth53]

Alvarez >>>> Bowlsby/Barta combined.

Therein lies the answer.

 

[Seth53]

And, take a look at the basketball programs.

 

[thedukeofearl]

We did beat Wisconsin last season at Camp Randall

http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400763533

Of course, we had Travon, Jordan and VandeBerg at the time. They, among others, are sorely missed

And, of course, the Hawkeyes do Not have two excellent seasons two years in a row. Kirk insists that this not happen. As far as this endeavour is concerned, he is always successful

 

[ClintonIAfan]

I am glad that the Iowa program is stronger overall than the the bug eaters. The result this year was an abnormality. Iowa is 24-11-1 against them head to head in the last 26 games. Iowa has been to more total bowl games, and won more total bowl games than the bug eaters. I am fully confident that in the next game Iowa will once again show them who is boss!

 

[ClintonIAfan]

Also take a look at wrestling. Iowa has won 23 national championships. The bug eaters have won 0. Total domination by Iowa!

 

[Joshbrown]

I cringe every time I hear the argument. All the articles and forum posts I read this week were about how we are similar programs that play similar styles. It's getting really old and no longer true (probably since 2010).

All you have to do is watch the 2 teams play. Look at the badgers offense. They don't look anything like Iowa to me. I probably don't understand football as well as some of you, but tell how they are similar?

I feel like it used to be easy to compare the two in terms of style and success. It's pretty hard to argue that the two programs are similar anymore.

If there is one major thing I respect most about Wisconsin, is that they beat the teams they are supposed to beat. When was the last time they lost to MN?

When Bret was the HC they were very similar. So similar BB wanted all of Kirk's recruits. To his credit he surpassed KF. But now we're finding out just how much Alvarez meant to his success. And among Hayden's disciples, KF will end up being the . . .

 

[iloveyoularrystation]

Here's the thing. Iowa used to be Wisconsin. Then, Wisconsin decided to be Iowa. Then, Wisconsin became Wisconsin, and now Iowa is trying to be Wisconsin. Get it?

One of the most poignant, well stated, accurate, and deep posts of all-time. You nailed it.

 

[Knight78]

For those that didn't see it on Hawkeye Heaven, perhaps more fans should be like these Wisconsin fans:

 

[hawkeyemark]

They do this by playing to win. Identify mismatches and attack them. Keep attacking them. Iowa does none of this. They play every game the same.

The PROGRAMS are / should be similar, but clearly right now the TEAMS are not. Yes, coaching matters.

You describe accurately the closing innings of the Kirk era. With Brian's influence on the program now with him on track to take over the program at some point in the next few years I see a subtle shift which makes Iowa harder to pigeonhole than in years past. Brian clearly wants to play a more attacking style football within his dad's scheme which I don't see him altering very much. Things could become very interesting with him as head coach and Polasek as offensive coordinator which seems like a good bet for down the road.

 

[mopkins]

What Wisconsin has done with both football and basketball over the past 10 years has been nothing short of amazing.

 

[BlackNGold1982]

Your perception of the diverging paths between Iowa and Wisconsin is absolutely correct. Wisconsin continues to further their brand against better competition; Iowa is busy losing to NW and ND State. Mix in the poor creativity on both sides of the ball, you have your overall difference between these 2 programs. And it won't change for Iowa until a non-Ferentz is the HC.

Thank you for the response. That make sense to me. I suppose Iowa doesn't have the speed to run some of what Wisconsin does. Iowa just seems so predictable and limited in the plays they call. That's the biggest difference I notice when watching the 2 teams play. To me it seemed like Wisconsin was having success against Iowa and Ohio State in all areas of the field. Iowa seems to play a smaller field, and every now and then they break off a nice run. Sure would like to see a half dozen long plays per game instead of 2 or 3.

Thanks again for your repsonse. I am a die-hard hawk fan living in Badger country, and it hasn't been easy the last 5 years It used to be a big deal when the 2 teams played. It seems like many of my WI friends don't perceive Iowa the way they used to. It's more like they know Iowa is a team that CAN win, but they don't fear them anymore.

I've tried to argue Iowa's history and their BCS win, and last year. But Wisconsin seems to be running ahead on a national level (scheduling Alabama, LSU), having College GameDay show up, winning BIG ten titles, beating up on teams they should beat, etc. All that stuff is really making it hard to argue that we are not on the same level any more.

 

[hawkeyemark]

Your perception of the diverging paths between Iowa and Wisconsin is absolutely correct. Wisconsin continues to further their brand against better competition; Iowa is busy losing to NW and ND State. Mix in the poor creativity on both sides of the ball, you have your overall difference between these 2 programs. And it won't change for Iowa until a non-Ferentz is the HC.

People not happy with Kirk seem to assume that Kirk and Brian have the same kind of mindsets about football and as we used to say in the Navy you know what happens when you assume and I will let you fill in the rest. You can run a pro style scheme and play a much more varied and aggressive offense than what we have seen all these years with Kirk. I see Brian taking us in that direction to the extent Kirk will let him while he remains at the helm. IMO we have seen clear innovations in the offense already with a much improved passing game which I think Kirk wanted one way or the other. Look at the aggression we showed Saturday with the successful onside kick and fake punt both in the same game which not that long ago you could never have imagined. Stay in the moment and keep your mind open and things may look a little different.

 

[bitmap]

We are not Wisconsin because Wisconsin has Barry Alvarez and Iowa has Gary Barta. It starts at the top.

 

[HuckFinn]

Thank God this thread made room for ripping into Barta, KF and Doyle. I would have been devastated if some of the usual suspects would have been AWOL.

 

[Joshbrown]

What Wisconsin has done with both football and basketball over the past 10 years has been nothing short of amazing.

Andersen just got fired at Oregon State. BB is not far behind. Pretty clear who is responsible for all that success.

 

[NCHawker]

I imagine it works like this. Bary asks the coach to give him a list of his top recruits. Then Bary gets his people on it. He mobilizes the apparatus. And they sign with Wisconsin.