Will Iowa be the most overrated 7-1 team?

STILLBUSTER said:
QFT!! As will Denard and maybe even Gray (depending on how Kill turns out over the course of the season).

Until Morris and Miller can contain the middle of the field and Nielsen can set an edge and wrap up his tackles those teams with quick / mobile QB's who love the shifty RB release valve will abuse the underneath of this defense. (ULM made Nielsen look silly all day and had Morris' head spinning -- suPer-sa and shoelaces are salivating.)

As of today, this defense, against B1G talent with any spread tendencies, will not sniff 7-1.
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Good lord.

Do folks really realize how many young guys and/or first-year starters we have on the D?

I suppose that those same folks don't suppose that this D still has the ability to improve my leaps and bounds.

A few years ago folks were saying how Norm was a genius and even acknowledging what our D could do against "spread" teams.

Now many of those same folks have attempted to claim that Norm has troubles getting our D ready against spread Os.

I'm sorry ... but to those of you who are that type of poster ... you can't have it both ways!

For those who are even half logical, you quickly realize that the keys are and always will be DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENT EXECUTION.

The primary problems that our D has been having aren't earth shattering. Fortunately our players know more than our fans and know the primary stuff that they need to improve upon. Namely, the D has to tackle better, continue to swarm to the ball, and, for god's sake ... MAINTAIN CONTAIN!

Quite frankly, if the D makes improvement in those VERY BASIC areas ... the D won't get clocked like so many of you seem to presume.

And, quite honestly, it's not at all a stretch to believe that the players will continue to improve and make strides concerning those problem areas. After all, how many starts does either Alvis or Daniel have at DE? Is it a shock that they've given up containment as they have? I don't think so!
 
Section136 said:
No they will not. PSU doesnt have a QB and their OL is very shaky. We win in Happy Valley by 10+. This game does not scare me much any year and especially so this year.
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I really hope that you're right. They do have a lot of time to prepare so hopefully the D really improves by then. I keep having this feeling that this is the year that we finally lose to PSU, but finally beat those NW bastards. We'll see...
 
JonDMiller said:
I sure as heck hope we get a chance to debate this and or take the national heat for it ;)
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Exactly. Like to have that "problem". Tend to believe PSU is better than people may think. Temple crushed Maryland, and isn't your average MAC team. Alabama may be the best team in the country.

Pitt, and ISU are both bowl teams. If we go 7-1, and have steadily improved week-to-week i'll be very pleased and hopeful about the remaining games. If we eek out victories and show no real improvement I suspect we'll end the season with a thud.
 
With the way KF prepares his teams for bowl games, I like Iowa's chances in a bowl game vs a team on paper who appears to be out of our league.
 
"Penn St will be absolutely lusting to crush Iowa."

And Iowa wants to crush NW because of the NW curse, yet NW continues to beat Iowa almost every year.

The worst curse in the Big 10 is perhaps Iowa/OSU...Iowa has beaten OSU maybe 6 or 7 times in my entire life and I am 62.

Sometimes a team plays particularly well against another team. Iowa seems to do that against Penn St...Hayden was able to beat Penn St.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Iowa goes to Happy Valley and beats Penn St this year, and in fact, I think Iowa Beats Penn St. I also would not be surprised if NW beats Iowa...again.

Michigan always plays Iowa very very tough in Iowa City and beats Iowa most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan beats Iowa in Kinnick this year.

Fortunatley we do not play OSU this year. Wisconsin...Iowa and Wisconsin have a great rivalry and about anything can happen when those two teams meet. If Iowa played Wisky this year, I would not be surprised if Iowa beat Wisconsin. One of the finer and best kept secret rivalries in the country.

The Penn State/Iowa series may turn into a very nice rivalry over time, especially if Iowa continues to beat PSU. If PSU breaks the streak and the two teams begin trading wins, especially in important games, the series could develop into a very nice rivalry.

Good rivalries, though, take many years and there has to be games/situations that 'stir the pot' to up the ante with the fanbases. Good rivalries are when both teams and fanbases look forward to the game each year and want nothing more than to beat the other team.

Iowa has Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St, Illinois, NW (regardless of earlier history), and now Penn St (tell me their fans don't want to beat Iowa; very similar to Iowa desperately wanting to beat NW) when we play. Can't say that with Michigan/OSU because those two teams have dominated Iowa for so so long.

Nebraska/Iowa is not a rivalry yet simply because NE has dominated the series. If however both teams begin trading wins, winning important games--games that mean a season could be on the line (the very last game of the year), then it won't take long for a heated rivalry to develop. Especially with NE being a border state and Iowans living in NE and Nebraskans living in Iowa.

Personally I think that is why Missouri would be good for the Big 10. Missouri would create instant rivalries with Illinois (already is), Iowa, and Nebraska (and whatever other schools that would develop).
 
NewMexHawk said:
"Penn St will be absolutely lusting to crush Iowa."

And Iowa wants to crush NW because of the NW curse, yet NW continues to beat Iowa almost every year.

The worst curse in the Big 10 is perhaps Iowa/OSU...Iowa has beaten OSU maybe 6 or 7 times in my entire life and I am 62.

Sometimes a team plays particularly well against another team. Iowa seems to do that against Penn St...Hayden was able to beat Penn St.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Iowa goes to Happy Valley and beats Penn St this year, and in fact, I think Iowa Beats Penn St. I also would not be surprised if NW beats Iowa...again.

Michigan always plays Iowa very very tough in Iowa City and beats Iowa most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan beats Iowa in Kinnick this year.

Fortunatley we do not play OSU this year. Wisconsin...Iowa and Wisconsin have a great rivalry and about anything can happen when those two teams meet. If Iowa played Wisky this year, I would not be surprised if Iowa beat Wisconsin. One of the finer and best kept secret rivalries in the country.

The Penn State/Iowa series may turn into a very nice rivalry over time, especially if Iowa continues to beat PSU. If PSU breaks the streak and the two teams begin trading wins, especially in important games, the series could develop into a very nice rivalry.

Good rivalries, though, take many years and there has to be games/situations that 'stir the pot' to up the ante with the fanbases. Good rivalries are when both teams and fanbases look forward to the game each year and want nothing more than to beat the other team.

Iowa has Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St, Illinois, NW (regardless of earlier history), and now Penn St (tell me their fans don't want to beat Iowa; very similar to Iowa desperately wanting to beat NW) when we play. Can't say that with Michigan/OSU because those two teams have dominated Iowa for so so long.

Nebraska/Iowa is not a rivalry yet simply because NE has dominated the series. If however both teams begin trading wins, winning important games--games that mean a season could be on the line (the very last game of the year), then it won't take long for a heated rivalry to develop. Especially with NE being a border state and Iowans living in NE and Nebraskans living in Iowa.

Personally I think that is why Missouri would be good for the Big 10. Missouri would create instant rivalries with Illinois (already is), Iowa, and Nebraska (and whatever other schools that would develop).
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All that talk of rivals and you forgot about Purdue!!! How dare you. Good thing the Big Ten officials didn't forget the importance of the Iowa/Purdue rivalry.
 
eveningnewsteam said:
Its Iowa, Im not about to think any game on the schedule is a sure win.
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Yes, I am hopeful but my days of looking at the schedule and calling a W are done. I've learned that lesson too many times now so I just take them, as the coaches say, one game at a time. I'd recommend not looking ahead boys...take them as they come.
 
It doesn't matter what were ranked as long as we're playing in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Title. We've finished highly ranked before and came up just short and it left an empty feeling. Give me a chance to watch the Hawks in the Rose Bowl....they can keep their ranking.
 
God, wouldn't it be great to play in the title game? The thought crossed my mind today and it would be very cool. Totally off the radar to play in the title game. It'd make the season for me.
 
eveningnewsteam said:
Its Iowa, Im not about to think any game on the schedule is a sure win.
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I hear this. Given that we're 4-4 in our last eight and we've only played two opponents (Mizzou and OSU) that football fans nationwide wouldn't laugh at, I would think that we'd be a little more reluctant to count these baby chickens. We are 3-1. The end.
 
I am hoping that Persa gets the chance to meet up with a speeding truck named Jordan Bernstine. It would be awesome to see Persa do the backwards Superman like the ULM player last week. For some reason I have a feeling this is the year we get NW and make Fitzgerald go all whiny again. I like the sounds of 7-1 no matter what we are rated. That would be awesome for this group of Hawkeyes considering how far they have come so far and still need to go to reach that record after 8 games.
 
Here's my take, if you are 7-1 from a BCS conference 9 weeks into the season and ranked in Top 25 around #17 or lower, YOU ARE NOT OVER-RATED IMO because there are a lot of very average, inconsistent teams ranked at any given point in the season included the year-end. It's a coin toss.

Now if we got into Top 15 or 10 then based on what we've seen to date, I'd say absolutely we are over-rated.

However, I'll bring up 2003 when we started 2-2 and got bushwacked in AZ by ASU. We looked so bad you would have been certifiably crazy to suggest we'd win 4 or more games in B10. What happened? We reeled off 7 straight wins to claim B10 title, go to Cap One bowl and knock off the defending Nat'l Champs and finish the season ranked #8 with a 11-2 record. Crazy!
 
I think the good news is the new divisional format fits Kirk's coaching style a little better since he is more of an NFL style coach. You don't have to win all the games, just the ones in your division to get to the championship game. We already see this since he treats the non-con games as his preseason.
 
HawkinGoferLand said:
However, I'll bring up 2003 when we started 2-2 and got bushwacked in AZ by ASU. We looked so bad you would have been certifiably crazy to suggest we'd win 4 or more games in B10. What happened? We reeled off 7 straight wins to claim B10 title, go to Cap One bowl and knock off the defending Nat'l Champs and finish the season ranked #8 with a 11-2 record. Crazy!
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There you meant 2004 ... but I think that you provided a wonderful example.

The game against ASU marked an occasion where our guys played with poor fundamentals ... nor did they play with a whole lot of fire ... and obviously they were manhandled as a result!

I think that the ISU game could provide the '11 squad with a similar sort of lesson.

I don't expect us to have that special of a season ... but I do anticipate that we could still have a pretty darn solid one!
 
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