Your own column to recap the season
- Thread starter NCHawker
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NCHawker
Well-Known Member
Headline: Everyone said 10-2
This season was far more fun to watch than 2023’s 10 wins and 3 uncompetitive losses.
I assumed the QB position would be far better and it was only moderately better than last year. I wondered if the Oline was just bad or banged up, inexperienced and victim of aggressive schemes. The RBs were going to be fine. The WRs if healthy could be serviceable…maybe. A lot of the D was back thanks to NIL. I I was used to seeing Iowa win without offense.
Illinois State game started slow and for a few minutes we thought Oh Shit here we go again. Iowa wore them down and rolled to 40-0
Iowa state started good but a terrible interception, busted pass coverage and a O that got overwhelmed in the second half resulted in Iowa giving up a 13-0 lead to lose.
Troy came calling and shut out the hawks in the first quarter. They outscored Iowa in the second quarter 14-10. At the half we wondered WTF is going on. Iowa recovered and scored 14 in the next two quarter so cruise to a 38-14 win.
After 3 games, we saw K2 was the man, he had played 8 quarters and Iowa had played about 6 quarters of good football. There was cause for hope but also cause for concern. The pass D was suspect and the passing game, while improved wasn’t much.
Minnesota-Ohio State-Washington
The Iowa offense was productive for six of twelve quarters during this stretch. At half of the Minny game I was furious. The team flipped the switch and they simply destroyed the gophers in the 3rd quarter/. The game seemed to be over by early 4th quarter.
At OSU, the Hawks kept the inconsistent sputtering OSU in check but turnovers in second half opened the floodgates.
When Washington came calling, I was excited, and this was the most fun I’ve had watching Iowa play in years.
MSU, jNW, Wisky
Iowa offense was a no-show again in East Lansing. Only a few sparks but mostly vacant performance. The D got pushed around like I haven’t seen in a long time.
Northwestern’s offense never threatened but they kept the hawks offense in check allowing just 3 points in the first quarter and 9 in second quarter. Things pivoted and the season had a chance to end well when Sully came in and the team responded. It was fun to watch Iowa again!
Wisconsin – Iowa played great and after all the fun ya had to stop and wonder WTF happened to our Rival Wisconsin. Its not supposed to be that easy. It was my 2nd favorite game. Sully was the local hero. All the RBs had good games.
UCLA, Maryland, Nebraska
I had a bad feeling about the UCLA game. Maybe its because I watched how they played during the season…I saw that they’re decent. Maybe its because it’s a California game. In any case it started great but the O struggled…sully may have learned to ‘get down’ when running. Shaggy did deliver a TD drive which was pretty remarkable. Again, like at MSU, the D got pushed around and the Oline got dominated.
Maryland – the plan was to run run run and that’s what they did. It worked. A lunch bucket game.
Nebraska – Oline got dominated for 4 quarters just like ½ of Troy, ½ ISU, OSU, MSU, UCLA. I don’t know how much of it was numbers in the box or individuals getting beat. But the hawks hung in there showed fight and we saw one of the greatest plays in Iowa history. It was a culture win for the hawks.
This season was far more fun to watch than 2023’s 10 wins and 3 uncompetitive losses.
I assumed the QB position would be far better and it was only moderately better than last year. I wondered if the Oline was just bad or banged up, inexperienced and victim of aggressive schemes. The RBs were going to be fine. The WRs if healthy could be serviceable…maybe. A lot of the D was back thanks to NIL. I I was used to seeing Iowa win without offense.
Illinois State game started slow and for a few minutes we thought Oh Shit here we go again. Iowa wore them down and rolled to 40-0
Iowa state started good but a terrible interception, busted pass coverage and a O that got overwhelmed in the second half resulted in Iowa giving up a 13-0 lead to lose.
Troy came calling and shut out the hawks in the first quarter. They outscored Iowa in the second quarter 14-10. At the half we wondered WTF is going on. Iowa recovered and scored 14 in the next two quarter so cruise to a 38-14 win.
After 3 games, we saw K2 was the man, he had played 8 quarters and Iowa had played about 6 quarters of good football. There was cause for hope but also cause for concern. The pass D was suspect and the passing game, while improved wasn’t much.
Minnesota-Ohio State-Washington
The Iowa offense was productive for six of twelve quarters during this stretch. At half of the Minny game I was furious. The team flipped the switch and they simply destroyed the gophers in the 3rd quarter/. The game seemed to be over by early 4th quarter.
At OSU, the Hawks kept the inconsistent sputtering OSU in check but turnovers in second half opened the floodgates.
When Washington came calling, I was excited, and this was the most fun I’ve had watching Iowa play in years.
MSU, jNW, Wisky
Iowa offense was a no-show again in East Lansing. Only a few sparks but mostly vacant performance. The D got pushed around like I haven’t seen in a long time.
Northwestern’s offense never threatened but they kept the hawks offense in check allowing just 3 points in the first quarter and 9 in second quarter. Things pivoted and the season had a chance to end well when Sully came in and the team responded. It was fun to watch Iowa again!
Wisconsin – Iowa played great and after all the fun ya had to stop and wonder WTF happened to our Rival Wisconsin. Its not supposed to be that easy. It was my 2nd favorite game. Sully was the local hero. All the RBs had good games.
UCLA, Maryland, Nebraska
I had a bad feeling about the UCLA game. Maybe its because I watched how they played during the season…I saw that they’re decent. Maybe its because it’s a California game. In any case it started great but the O struggled…sully may have learned to ‘get down’ when running. Shaggy did deliver a TD drive which was pretty remarkable. Again, like at MSU, the D got pushed around and the Oline got dominated.
Maryland – the plan was to run run run and that’s what they did. It worked. A lunch bucket game.
Nebraska – Oline got dominated for 4 quarters just like ½ of Troy, ½ ISU, OSU, MSU, UCLA. I don’t know how much of it was numbers in the box or individuals getting beat. But the hawks hung in there showed fight and we saw one of the greatest plays in Iowa history. It was a culture win for the hawks.
NCHawker
Well-Known Member
Iowa football: Hawkeyes' loss to Missouri reinforces need to upgrade in transfer portal
Iowa football needs to upgrade an 8-5 roster that is already losing several key contributors.
www.hawkcentral.com
BigD
Well-Known Member
Stockholm Syndrome: What It Is, Symptoms & How to Treat
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response, a survival instinct, in which captives develop positive feelings toward their hostage-takers.
my.clevelandclinic.org
Hawkboys
Well-Known Member
At times they looked like an almost CFP level team. At other times they looked like a team not worthy of a bowl, especially on the road. And there were 2 specific times when they could make statement against teams of similar talent levels (ISU & MO), where they took 4Q leads and played not to lose, only to LOSE.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Bottom line
We lost to #19 Missouri by One FG
We seemed to give the game away at times
The Captain is rather a conservative fellow
Missouri had their hands Full the entire game
We lost to #19 Missouri by One FG
We seemed to give the game away at times
The Captain is rather a conservative fellow
Missouri had their hands Full the entire game
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thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Turned the TV on and caught the Last Minute of the Frist Half in the Penn State/Boise State game
The last minute lasted over a Half Hour
Penn State scored a FG in the last seconds
17-7 Nittany Lions
The last minute lasted over a Half Hour
Penn State scored a FG in the last seconds
17-7 Nittany Lions
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
Our conference games seemed to be an extreme. For them most part, we were either really good or really bad.
The good:
31-14 over MN
40-16 over Wash
40-14 over NW
42-10 over Wisc
29-13 over MD (vs a bad team but had 268 yds rushing. Held them to 200 yds total)
The bad:
35-7 to OSU
32-30 to MSU
20-17 to UCLA
13-10 over NEB
The Missouri game is who we were. Disappointing defense, especially the DB's which was supposed to be our strength. Improved offense. Running game was fun to watch because of a stud and good backups. OL improved. Anywhere from horrible to inconsistent play at QB. Watching Sully in the bowl game was like watching Drew Tate. Not talent wise, but the ups and downs. Great play followed by "what the hell was that". When the game's over, 24 points and "he only threw 4 incompletions? Bullshit.".
That's what I got.
Also, wishing you all a happy, safe, and healthy 2025. For those of you in Nebraska, happy 1995.
The good:
31-14 over MN
40-16 over Wash
40-14 over NW
42-10 over Wisc
29-13 over MD (vs a bad team but had 268 yds rushing. Held them to 200 yds total)
The bad:
35-7 to OSU
32-30 to MSU
20-17 to UCLA
13-10 over NEB
The Missouri game is who we were. Disappointing defense, especially the DB's which was supposed to be our strength. Improved offense. Running game was fun to watch because of a stud and good backups. OL improved. Anywhere from horrible to inconsistent play at QB. Watching Sully in the bowl game was like watching Drew Tate. Not talent wise, but the ups and downs. Great play followed by "what the hell was that". When the game's over, 24 points and "he only threw 4 incompletions? Bullshit.".
That's what I got.
Also, wishing you all a happy, safe, and healthy 2025. For those of you in Nebraska, happy 1995.
hawkeye12345
Well-Known Member
Poor clock management, poor personnel decisions, an uncanny willingness to play not to lose, missed opportunities, a head coach that places his own accomplishments ahead of the team, missed opportunities to grab the bull by the horns and instead continued to follow the mantra that punting is winning.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Yawn.
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
His own accomplishments are based on wins. Umm....
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
I would sum up this year as a transition year on both sides of the ball.
The offense was much improved and had the look and feel of being competent most of the time despite injury ravaging the QB room. Lester is a good OC. I expect continued improvement in the offense as he sets his QB room and his system. We saw in the bowl game that we have depth at RB and OL to replace what is being loss. Trend line is up on offense.
On defense, I think some of the shine has come off of Parker now that he doesn't have the West offenses to beat up on. Iowa's defense should have been better this year than it was, and frankly, the secondary was the most concerning part. It cost us the ISU and MSU games at least, and probably the bowl game too. Now, Iowa's defense is still very, very good. But, that was not an elite defense this year as it has been in year's past, and I think Parker may have to look in the mirror and determine what changes are needed to keep up with the upper echelon offenses in the conference. Trend line is flat, at best, on defense.
The offense was much improved and had the look and feel of being competent most of the time despite injury ravaging the QB room. Lester is a good OC. I expect continued improvement in the offense as he sets his QB room and his system. We saw in the bowl game that we have depth at RB and OL to replace what is being loss. Trend line is up on offense.
On defense, I think some of the shine has come off of Parker now that he doesn't have the West offenses to beat up on. Iowa's defense should have been better this year than it was, and frankly, the secondary was the most concerning part. It cost us the ISU and MSU games at least, and probably the bowl game too. Now, Iowa's defense is still very, very good. But, that was not an elite defense this year as it has been in year's past, and I think Parker may have to look in the mirror and determine what changes are needed to keep up with the upper echelon offenses in the conference. Trend line is flat, at best, on defense.
Westernhawk
Well-Known Member
Fantastic post. I agree with all of it.
I only went to two in-person games this year, Washington in Kinnick and UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Those two games could not have gone more differently, and to me, epitomized the season. There were lots of things to get excited about, but the defense was perplexing, given their experience. I guess a couple fantastic CBs make a huge difference.
After watching Iowa in their bowl game, I was heartened by a lot of it, but ultimately disappointed in our usual lack of scoring when it really mattered. It was also perplexing to see our defense get shredded.
I watched other teams play in bowls, and QB play sure does matter, as well as elite receiver play (OSU OMG!). Iowa does pretty well with the level of talent they have at key positions, but they do not have enough talent at QB and WR to make a lot of noise on the national scene.
I'll (maybe) learn to temper my blind hawktimism each year moving forward.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
my blind hawktimism
Most of us are victims to one extreme or another
It is a chronic problem
