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Some thoughts from the spring game

mepohawk

Scout Team
Nov 21, 2011
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Mitchell looked very good at running back for just moving to the position. Beathard did not look good and looked like he might be trying too hard. The offensive line did not do a good job protecting him. Overall the offense did not look good. The defense was better and I thought the defensive line looked very good. Could be a long season and losing Duzey will only add to the problems.
 
I thought Beathard looked good, several drops. Did miss Smith twice

Kittle looked decent

Not sure at RB, couple decent runs, nothing really stood out
 
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Can they use the spring game to evaluate whether an offensive coordinator will start or not? Maybe the new Run Game Coordinator position isn't the solution to that problem.
 
I watched about 90% online was not impressed by much of anything.

Mitchell had moments, so did Waldley but against the 2nd and 3rd D.

If Vandenburg is our go to WR we are screwed.

D looked slow but as fairly tough up front.

No returns were made no nothing to see there.

FG kicking was OK. Punting was just meh.

The highlight of the day was a easy bomb from Weinke that was dropped.
 
So basically it looked like a team that still won't get Kirk Ferentz fired at the end of the year.

Bau....

FIFY.

Btw, was there today. I know you can't tell much from spring ball, but I think we are going to be pretty bad. It's just not a B1G roster out there, not even close.

Thankfully we play a really bad schedule which might help us eek out the standard 6-7 wins.

Right now, it's a bad program, a bad roster, and a pretty bad team.
 
Sounds about like what I expected. Gonna be another ugly year. Hope I'm wrong, but I see nothing to indicate anything will change any time soon. Mediocrity has set in.
 
So basically it looked like a team that is going to get Kirk Ferentz fired at the end of the year.

Bau....

-.jpg
 
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I thought GD was a bad hire. Now, I am absolutely sure! I was upset that Kirk failed to make some serious changes after last season's disaster. I am no expert, and I hope I'm wrong, but I am not very optimistic about this fall. The only positive thing I took from the spring game was, we only got cold, not wet.
 
I thought the Hawks looked pretty good today. The defense looked aggressive and quicker to the ball. The LB's made their reads quicker and looked faster. The 1st unit D-Line was stout and some of the younger D-lineman like Nelson, Heese, Bazata Brinks , and Faith Ekakatie looked good as well. Melvin Spears looked like he is ready to make a positive contribution to the D. Beatherd has a big arm and threaded the needle several times. He does need to put alittle more loft on his deep throws though. The O-line needs to get better, and I am confident they will. They didn't run Daniels and Canzeri a lot, but they look pretty quick. Wadley is the fastest and most elusive back we have and he hung onto the ball. I thought Mitchell was impressive at running back as well. He runs tough and can make people miss. He also has good size as well. Smith , Vandenberg, and Hillyer will be solid and guys like Andre Harris and Jay Scheel look like they will help our receivers be better. Marshal Koehn looked good kicking FG's and the punting was decent. George Kittle made several good catches and runs very well after the catch. I think we will be better next fall. Go Hawks!
 
I thought GD was a bad hire. Now, I am absolutely sure! I was upset that Kirk failed to make some serious changes after last season's disaster. I am no expert, and I hope I'm wrong, but I am not very optimistic about this fall. The only positive thing I took from the spring game was, we only got cold, not wet.

Everyone knew GD was a bad hire that made no sense until you realize that he fit Kirks agenda.
 
You know things have hit a new low when the athletic department inflates the attendance figure for the spring game - no way on earth there were 8,000 people there. Per the CR Gazette this picture was taken 5 minutes prior to yesterday's start. If that's 8,000 people Kinnick must have a new capacity of 250,000:

AR-150429748.jpg&MaxW=995&MaxH=500
 
The only thing saving this team from disaster is the schedule and that might not be enough to save it. This is not a Big Ten roster and it's beyond ridiculous KF was allowed to bury this thing to where it currently stands.
 
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It is, indeed, sad. There's almost zero enthusiasm for Iowa football these days. And worse yet, there's really no reason for fans to have any hope that things will improve any time soon. We can pretty much chalk up another 6-6/7-5 regular season record and another lower-tier bowl game, with a legit shot at a losing record. Hope like heck I'm wrong and would love to eat some crow on this, but I just don't see it.
 
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The only thing saving this team from disaster is the schedule and that might not be enough to save it. This is not a Big Ten roster and it's beyond ridiculous KF was allowed to bury this thing to where it currently stands.

True, but I don't see how this team does any better than 7-5/6-6 even with the weak schedule. They've proven recently that weak schedules just help them to a mediocre record. I cringe to think about a year when the schedule gets tough. Unless something dramatic changes, this program goes sub-.500 with a tough schedule, almost guaranteed.

I suppose the wild card is Beathard. Maybe his willingness to sling it downfield and his ability to get out of the pocket and take off downfield open up the field for the offense for a change. But I think the weak O-line will be a problem. I don't think C.J. will have enough time to get the ball where he wants to put it most of the time. I think he'll be running for his life more often than not. And I don't see us generating much of a running game at all. I foresee lots of short offensive series and a decent but tired defense getting worn down as games progress.
 
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The only thing saving this team from disaster is the schedule and that might not be enough to save it. This is not a Big Ten roster and it's beyond ridiculous KF was allowed to bury this thing to where it currently stands.
Nebraska had 76,000 fans at their Spring Game. This looks more like 800 than 8,000.
 
Just like in the 1970's, we will see some big plays in a blowout loss and everyone will get excited again. But nothing will change!
 
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do bear in mind at least that the weather in iowa city was crappy. low 50s, decent chance of rain all day, windy...these conditions would have hampered spring game attendance anywhere. iowa does not, and never has, have a tradition of great turnout at this event. honestly, what's the most that have ever shown up? i'm not intending this to be a defense of ferentz, as i think he has at most 2, maybe 3 years left. i do think that he goes past this coming year, but mostly b/c of the uncertainty surrounding the iowa presidency. a new university president is not expected until 2016, and unless things go completely in the tank (4-8 or so), i'm not sure barta makes a move without knowing he has steady support behind him.

in better weather, i absolutely believe turnout would have been better. how much, i have no idea, but for the increasingly rabid anti-ferentz, choosing this to harp on seems like a waste. bad weather, coming off average season and embarrassing bowl game, as well as drake relays, etc..., there wasnt going to be great turnout. comparing this to nebraska, which has no one else to compete with in the state, had much better weather, or with ohio state, which just won the national championship, come on. no way iowa ever comes off well in that comparison. how much did northwestern draw back in march when they had theirs? or minnesota, or others in that range. so many things play a factor in this. of all the things to criticize ferentz for, and there are quite a few, this is not the best choice imo.

i have great respect for ferentz. what he has done with iowa over the length of his tenure here, has been wonderful. he has represented iowa well, on and off the field, which matters a great deal to me. the last few years have not been great, as he has not adjusted well to the changes in the college game. i hope like heck that he can end it on a high note, and ride off into the sunset so to speak, leaving behind a foundation that his successor can build on. and there is talent there, it's not the bare cupboard it was when he arrived. what is hurting the team now is not enough of it, especially in the skill positions.
 
btw, for those who were there, or watched online. one thing i was curious about from what i saw at the spring practice. it looked like iowa was experimenting some with the spread punt formation, as opposed to the nfl-style formation the hawks have always employed. i don't really know if there is any great advantage to one or the other, but i was curious to know if this continued at the spring game yesterday. did anyone see?
 
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That kind of weather maybe drops Nebraska's attendance to 70,000. Let's face it -- fans are largely disinterested in Iowa football these days. It's a stale program lacking momentum, with poor recruiting and declining talent, and void of any creativity from the coaching staff. It's basically a lame duck program. There's almost no reason for excitement. That, much more than the weather (which wasn't all that bad -- especially compared to what we often see in October and November), kept the fans away on Saturday.
 
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..as I said two months ago..recruiting is the land of misfit toys...and now it is showing..glaring right at us.
 
Adapt or die. Simple but true. This program is in denial and coming to a mediocre at best ending.
 
I thought the Hawks looked pretty good today. The defense looked aggressive and quicker to the ball. The LB's made their reads quicker and looked faster. The 1st unit D-Line was stout and some of the younger D-lineman like Nelson, Heese, Bazata Brinks , and Faith Ekakatie looked good as well. Melvin Spears looked like he is ready to make a positive contribution to the D. Beatherd has a big arm and threaded the needle several times. He does need to put alittle more loft on his deep throws though. The O-line needs to get better, and I am confident they will. They didn't run Daniels and Canzeri a lot, but they look pretty quick. Wadley is the fastest and most elusive back we have and he hung onto the ball. I thought Mitchell was impressive at running back as well. He runs tough and can make people miss. He also has good size as well. Smith , Vandenberg, and Hillyer will be solid and guys like Andre Harris and Jay Scheel look like they will help our receivers be better. Marshal Koehn looked good kicking FG's and the punting was decent. George Kittle made several good catches and runs very well after the catch. I think we will be better next fall. Go Hawks!
I'm teetering on that fine line between congratulating you on your over the top optimism, or getting on you about being completely insane.

Since I'm not 100% sure which applies, I'll just hope you're even remotely correct, and wish you a nice day...........................
 
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They have been experimenting with some different formations on special teams. That will be at least one change we'll see in the team next year.
The team is not going to be as bad as some are predicting. It sounds ridiculous to say that a strong will to win and playing with a chip on your shoulder makes a difference, but I believe it definitely can. This team will play much harder than we saw at the end of last year and with more juice. I think we will see 7-8 wins, carried by defense mostly. I'm not saying that's good or acceptable but the 4-5 win predictions are way off.
 
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You know things have hit a new low when the athletic department inflates the attendance figure for the spring game - no way on earth there were 8,000 people there. Per the CR Gazette this picture was taken 5 minutes prior to yesterday's start. If that's 8,000 people Kinnick must have a new capacity of 250,000:

AR-150429748.jpg&MaxW=995&MaxH=500
I was there. Attendance peaked at about 2pm, coincident with the start of the scrimmage portion of practice. I estimate there were 5k in attendance.
 
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btw, for those who were there, or watched online. one thing i was curious about from what i saw at the spring practice. it looked like iowa was experimenting some with the spread punt formation, as opposed to the nfl-style formation the hawks have always employed. i don't really know if there is any great advantage to one or the other, but i was curious to know if this continued at the spring game yesterday. did anyone see?
Iowa has (finally!) included the shield punt formation, and did use it yesterday. I assume it will be their choice for this year. There is a big advantage to its use in college, I believe: linemen are no longer required to hold their blocks before moving downfield. The shield punt allows the linemen to go, but still provides the punter with enough protection to get the kick off in time.
 
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They have been experimenting with some different formations on special teams. That will be at least one change we'll see in the team next year.
The team is not going to be as bad as some are predicting. It sounds ridiculous to say that a strong will to win and playing with a chip on your shoulder makes a difference, but I believe it definitely can. This team will play much harder than we saw at the end of last year and with more juice. I think we will see 7-8 wins, carried by defense mostly. I'm not saying that's good or acceptable but the 4-5 win predictions are way off.
I agree. The team's attitude seems tougher than last year. The defense is playing with an attitude; Brandon Snyder reminds me of Bob Sanders. He made several big hits and intercepted a pass. Our linebacker play is much improved. I think our RBs look better as well, with Mitchell a welcome addition to the roster.

My three areas of concern for this coming season are: 1) o-line play; 2) punting (punting, punt coverage, punt return); 3) receiver play. Our receivers are still dropping too many passes. I'll give KF the benefit of the doubt on #1, since that's his area of expertise. Kidd looked good yesterday, averaging approx 46y/punt going into/with the wind, and if Koehn could figure out how to harness his raw power, he could be a real weapon for punting. His form is extremely inconsistent at the moment, but even with his punts going end over end, he still averaged approx 40y/punt.
 
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I think we will see 7-8 wins, carried by defense mostly. I'm not saying that's good or acceptable but the 4-5 win predictions are way off.

That's only because we play one of the easiest schedules in the country. Take our East crossover opponents (Maryland and Indiana) and replace them with OSU and MSU, and we definitely would be looking at a 4 or 5 win season. It has nothing to do with "playing hard" or anything of the sort. This team just isn't very good.
 
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I take any assessments of these spring scrimmages with a big grain of salt. It's all relative -- we have marginal talent up and down the roster, and we'll face more talented teams more often than not in the Big Ten portion of the season (and quite possibly in the non-conference as well). How these guys look against each other means very little to me. The only real conclusions that can be drawn from these spring scrimmages, IMO, are how our guys look -- size, muscle, etc. (i.e., the eyeball test) -- and how the kickers and punters are kicking and punting. Players can look fantastic in these glorified practices going against sub-par opposition, but that, of course, is irrelevant to how they'll look against legit D1 opponents.

Let's see how they stack up against ISU and then the Big Ten schedule. I don't think it will be pretty.
 
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btw, for those who were there, or watched online. one thing i was curious about from what i saw at the spring practice. it looked like iowa was experimenting some with the spread punt formation, as opposed to the nfl-style formation the hawks have always employed. i don't really know if there is any great advantage to one or the other, but i was curious to know if this continued at the spring game yesterday. did anyone see?


Spread punt formation allows for more people to get down field quicker. Old nfl style rely heavily on 2 Gunnars to get down right away. Think Nebraska game example why we are experimenting.
 
NOW you might listen to me when i said we will lose to Ill State..

Shock another doom and gloom Iowa post makesachange aka mark stoops. I'm not a constant defender of KF and Iowa football and will criticize but seriously do you ever have one good thing to say. Cause either you are a troll or most miserable Iowa fan out there.
 
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Spread punt formation allows for more people to get down field quicker. Old nfl style rely heavily on 2 Gunnars to get down right away. Think Nebraska game example why we are experimenting.

oh, i definitely agree. it just surprised me because we all know that ferentz is a tad on the stubborn side. iowa might be the last team in the conference to use this formation. it actually gives me a little hope, that he is making this change. i don't know that one formation is utlimately better than the other, but i like that he's trying this.
 
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