3-2-1: Polls like the Hawkeyes
Kirk Ferentz came close to suggesting Parker Hesse as possible MVP of the team.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we discuss some of the other polls showing Iowa some love, Kirk Ferentz kind of suggesting an MVP, Graza's return, a secret scrimmage, and a prediction for the Hawkeyes at running back this weekend.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
FERENTZ SAYS HESSE IS THE MVP
It’s pretty rare to hear Kirk Ferentz single out a player like he did on Tuesday with Parker Hesse.
“I'm not promoting or campaigning for him being MVP of our team. In a lot of ways you can make that argument because he's such a strong, quiet leader on our football team. I don't know if 'quiet' is the right word. Parker is not necessarily outspoken, overall outspoken, not overall demonstrative with his actions. His steadiness, his determination, just his intensity and his work ethic are really rare. He's just a very special guy,” Ferentz said.
While Ferentz started out walking back the MVP talk, he leaned into a bit with his words the rest of the way. I think Ferentz is probably right. Coaches want their seniors playing their best football in their final year and Hesse has been doing that, particularly the last two weeks. While the coaches might be able to find a few mistakes that Hesse has made on the field, it’s hard to find them. He’s made the right play in just about every instance and more importantly, he’s quietly leading the best position group on the team.
GARZA IS BACK ON THE COURT
The best news coming out of the Iowa basketball program this week was that Luka Garza was cleared to return to practice.
The sophomore big man had surgery in early September to remove a nine pound cyst from his abdomen. When the surgery was announced, the recovery time was not determined, but most believed that Garza would be out a minimum of six weeks. He hit that mark almost exactly and now he’s back on the court.
Garza, who averaged 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season, has been working off the court to get his conditioning back following the surgery, but it will take some time to get him back into basketball shape. Having said that, Garza isn’t the type of player who likes to take things slow and the best guess is that he will be pushing for playing time and a spot in the starting lineup when the Hawkeyes play an exhibition game on November 4th before opening the 2018-19 season on November 8th against UMKC.
SOME OTHER POLLS LIKE IOWA FOOTBALL
The AP and USA Today Coaches Poll have come to an agreement this week that the Hawkeyes should be ranked 18th in the country. That’s a good spot for Iowa, who wasn’t ranked two weeks ago. A win this weekend would more than likely lead to a decent jump for the Hawkeyes, but that will be decided on the field.
What is interesting is that some other rankings certainly love the Hawkeyes. Jeff Sagarin, who has been doing this rankings thing for many years, has Iowa 9th in the country, just ahead of their opponent this weekend, Penn State.
The folks in the desert, who know a thing or two about gambling, have certainly taken a shine to the Iowa football team. The Vegas power poll has Iowa 12th this week. For comparisons sake, Penn State is 12th. FootballOutsiders.com, which does a great job on the analytics side of the game, has Iowa 12th as well, with Penn State down at 19th.
Another site, footballperspective.com, does a very interesting ranking. They have Iowa 7th in their rankings and second among Big Ten teams. Penn State is at 11th.
What does all this mean?
Probably not a whole lot other than a snapshot in time. However, the later we get in the season, the move evidence some of these rankings have to go on, so it makes them, on paper, more accurate.
Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes had a secret scrimmage on Sunday.
TWO THINGS WE LEARNED
WHAT’S THE RIGHT COMPARISON FOR THIS IOWA TEAM?
I’ve seen a lot written about this Iowa team and comparing it to other Hawkeye teams of the Ferentz era.
It’s pretty natural that pieces like this would be written given that the Hawkeyes are 6-1 and playing well on both sides of the ball. This week the most common comparison being made was to the 2002 Iowa team, which I still consider to be the best overall squad of the Ferentz era.
I wouldn’t compare this team to the 2002 squad. Honestly, I don’t see a whole lot of similarities other than the offense this year has been pretty dynamic, especially recently. I would probably compare this team to the 2009 Iowa team for a few reasons.
First, this is a committee backfield, like it was in 2009. Second, the defense really gained steam as the season went along and had several players emerge as the year progressed. Third, it had a quarterback who was in his second year as a starter and yeah, they both threw the ball to the other teams for unexplained reasons. Lastly, the defensive line on the 2009 was really good and probably the biggest driver of the team’s success.
The 2009 squad was littered with NFL players and I doubt this one will match it. This team is probably closer to the 2015 Iowa team in that regard.
We will see in the next month or so how the season plays out, but if they end up with a special year, I think the best comparison is 2009 and if A.J. Epenesa, wearing #94 blocks a punt and returns it for a touchdown on Saturday in Happy Valley, this comparison is going to be even more accurate.
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FROM IOWA’S SECRET EXHIBITION ON SUNDAY?
The main expectation is we won’t get a lot of news from the scrimmage. Some schools leak out a few details to selected members of the media about the scrimmage, but Iowa hasn’t been one of them in the past, so it’s doubtful there will be much for fans to learn. Maybe Missouri will share a bit of information, at least we can hope they will.
I think the Sunday scrimmage against Missouri will be interesting. Both teams are kind of built in a similar manner with big frontcourts and more limited in the backcourt as far as numbers. Missouri recently lost their best player, Jontay Porter, to a season ending knee injury. That’s going to be a huge void for the Tigers. However, they still have Jeremiah Tillman and Kevin Puryear up front. But, without Porter, Missouri’s probably not an NCAA Tournament team this year, IMHO. It would have been good for Iowa to face an NCAA level team to kind of get a feel for where the Hawkeyes stand in that regard.
PREDICTION
This will be the week that an Iowa running back finally cracks the century mark on the ground. They got close last week when Ivory Kelly-Martin rushed for 98 yards. This time he goes over 100.
Kirk Ferentz came close to suggesting Parker Hesse as possible MVP of the team.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we discuss some of the other polls showing Iowa some love, Kirk Ferentz kind of suggesting an MVP, Graza's return, a secret scrimmage, and a prediction for the Hawkeyes at running back this weekend.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
FERENTZ SAYS HESSE IS THE MVP
It’s pretty rare to hear Kirk Ferentz single out a player like he did on Tuesday with Parker Hesse.
“I'm not promoting or campaigning for him being MVP of our team. In a lot of ways you can make that argument because he's such a strong, quiet leader on our football team. I don't know if 'quiet' is the right word. Parker is not necessarily outspoken, overall outspoken, not overall demonstrative with his actions. His steadiness, his determination, just his intensity and his work ethic are really rare. He's just a very special guy,” Ferentz said.
While Ferentz started out walking back the MVP talk, he leaned into a bit with his words the rest of the way. I think Ferentz is probably right. Coaches want their seniors playing their best football in their final year and Hesse has been doing that, particularly the last two weeks. While the coaches might be able to find a few mistakes that Hesse has made on the field, it’s hard to find them. He’s made the right play in just about every instance and more importantly, he’s quietly leading the best position group on the team.
GARZA IS BACK ON THE COURT
The best news coming out of the Iowa basketball program this week was that Luka Garza was cleared to return to practice.
The sophomore big man had surgery in early September to remove a nine pound cyst from his abdomen. When the surgery was announced, the recovery time was not determined, but most believed that Garza would be out a minimum of six weeks. He hit that mark almost exactly and now he’s back on the court.
Garza, who averaged 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season, has been working off the court to get his conditioning back following the surgery, but it will take some time to get him back into basketball shape. Having said that, Garza isn’t the type of player who likes to take things slow and the best guess is that he will be pushing for playing time and a spot in the starting lineup when the Hawkeyes play an exhibition game on November 4th before opening the 2018-19 season on November 8th against UMKC.
SOME OTHER POLLS LIKE IOWA FOOTBALL
The AP and USA Today Coaches Poll have come to an agreement this week that the Hawkeyes should be ranked 18th in the country. That’s a good spot for Iowa, who wasn’t ranked two weeks ago. A win this weekend would more than likely lead to a decent jump for the Hawkeyes, but that will be decided on the field.
What is interesting is that some other rankings certainly love the Hawkeyes. Jeff Sagarin, who has been doing this rankings thing for many years, has Iowa 9th in the country, just ahead of their opponent this weekend, Penn State.
The folks in the desert, who know a thing or two about gambling, have certainly taken a shine to the Iowa football team. The Vegas power poll has Iowa 12th this week. For comparisons sake, Penn State is 12th. FootballOutsiders.com, which does a great job on the analytics side of the game, has Iowa 12th as well, with Penn State down at 19th.
Another site, footballperspective.com, does a very interesting ranking. They have Iowa 7th in their rankings and second among Big Ten teams. Penn State is at 11th.
What does all this mean?
Probably not a whole lot other than a snapshot in time. However, the later we get in the season, the move evidence some of these rankings have to go on, so it makes them, on paper, more accurate.
Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes had a secret scrimmage on Sunday.
TWO THINGS WE LEARNED
WHAT’S THE RIGHT COMPARISON FOR THIS IOWA TEAM?
I’ve seen a lot written about this Iowa team and comparing it to other Hawkeye teams of the Ferentz era.
It’s pretty natural that pieces like this would be written given that the Hawkeyes are 6-1 and playing well on both sides of the ball. This week the most common comparison being made was to the 2002 Iowa team, which I still consider to be the best overall squad of the Ferentz era.
I wouldn’t compare this team to the 2002 squad. Honestly, I don’t see a whole lot of similarities other than the offense this year has been pretty dynamic, especially recently. I would probably compare this team to the 2009 Iowa team for a few reasons.
First, this is a committee backfield, like it was in 2009. Second, the defense really gained steam as the season went along and had several players emerge as the year progressed. Third, it had a quarterback who was in his second year as a starter and yeah, they both threw the ball to the other teams for unexplained reasons. Lastly, the defensive line on the 2009 was really good and probably the biggest driver of the team’s success.
The 2009 squad was littered with NFL players and I doubt this one will match it. This team is probably closer to the 2015 Iowa team in that regard.
We will see in the next month or so how the season plays out, but if they end up with a special year, I think the best comparison is 2009 and if A.J. Epenesa, wearing #94 blocks a punt and returns it for a touchdown on Saturday in Happy Valley, this comparison is going to be even more accurate.
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FROM IOWA’S SECRET EXHIBITION ON SUNDAY?
The main expectation is we won’t get a lot of news from the scrimmage. Some schools leak out a few details to selected members of the media about the scrimmage, but Iowa hasn’t been one of them in the past, so it’s doubtful there will be much for fans to learn. Maybe Missouri will share a bit of information, at least we can hope they will.
I think the Sunday scrimmage against Missouri will be interesting. Both teams are kind of built in a similar manner with big frontcourts and more limited in the backcourt as far as numbers. Missouri recently lost their best player, Jontay Porter, to a season ending knee injury. That’s going to be a huge void for the Tigers. However, they still have Jeremiah Tillman and Kevin Puryear up front. But, without Porter, Missouri’s probably not an NCAA Tournament team this year, IMHO. It would have been good for Iowa to face an NCAA level team to kind of get a feel for where the Hawkeyes stand in that regard.
PREDICTION
This will be the week that an Iowa running back finally cracks the century mark on the ground. They got close last week when Ivory Kelly-Martin rushed for 98 yards. This time he goes over 100.
