Brian Ferentz isn't the problem. You've been convinced.....
Convince Me that Brian Ferentz isn’t the Problem…
- Thread starter BlackNGoldBleeder
- Start date
You're right. Tired old eyes, eh? Interestingly, Kent St. plays Maryland My Maryland the week before the Hawks rustle up some turtle soup.
Offensive points per drive for those that want to get rid of pace of play:
2021: 70
2020: 56
2019: 74
2018: 52
2017: 75
2016: 81
2015: 46
2014: 72
2021: 70
2020: 56
2019: 74
2018: 52
2017: 75
2016: 81
2015: 46
2014: 72
Meh, I mess up on here all of the time. I do think that Kent St. team is much better than the scores against A&M and Iowa.
Yes. But don't get trapped in the negative or in unrealistic expectations for a program like Iowa-unimportant in the national scheme of things.
Take it from a guy whose seen his share of ups and downs, and been through a lot of ups and downs with others. Once someone starts focusing on the negative it becomes easy to see the mistakes or failings in a much larger frame as the negatives start to squeeze out appreciation of the positive. It doesn't make someone dumb or ignorant of the game. More of a natural progression once the negativity creeps in like a slowly metastasizing cancer.
For example, the guys that focus on every bad throw Spencer makes. Well Saturday he only had 11 incompletions. Some were close misses, some were throw aways and some were head scratchers-which might also have been the receiver not being in the right spot or being unprepared to receive the ball or dropping a catchable ball (e.g. Tyrone tripping on a great call and throw); so, there simply were not many bad throws on which to focus. Yet several posters came out with their usual ass ripping of Spencer's play and the offensive play calling.
Here's what its taken almost a lifetime for a miserable, negative, cynical and deplorable old prick like me to learn: never become more jealous of what you lack than grateful for what you have. There's 120 or so programs that would trade places with us in a heartbeat.
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Iowa’s offense leaves the defense on the field far too long? Who’s defense? The opponents? Iowa’s methodical grind it down play is often times, by design. If you’re saying Iowa’s defense is on the field too much, go check the first three games possession times
I really love this post. Well done.
Like I’ve always said, this is merely entertainment for me. Kirk Ferentz has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know. I just think we need to broaden the discussion beyond “Petras sucks!”
The Iowa fan base can be funny and fickle at the same time. From my experience on this board, the same group of Iowa fans always projecting a B1G Ten title and beat down of Ohio State based off their observations from the thrilling 48-13 route of Middle Tennessee State are the same fans who want everyone fired and stripped of their scholarships the week Iowa stubs their toe against Northwestern. Conversely, there’s another group of holier than thou art fans who believe any constructive analysis/discussion of the team or program is sacrilegious because they still suffer from PTSD from the 1960s and ‘70s.
I belong to neither group.
Which is of course why you went with the rarely seen and original "does our offensive coordinator suck?"
Groundbreaking.
I like this response. Very BNG-like.
In fairness, it’s an interesting discussion, if you don’t have a bur up your butt. And yes, I wanted to do my man Petri dish a solid and draw some of the static away from him. It’s all in the spirit of altruism. Or, as Mullet Man Gundy once put it: “Come after me! I’m a man!”
Brian simply isn't going to put the team in a bad spot to make fans happy. Sure we could dial up some double reverses, statue of liberty, the annexation of puerto rico... but if we can't effectively block zone lead left and zone read right, we aren't going deeper in the playbook to find something else we can't do. If we start winning the LOS in the run game, and if open guys don't drop passes, and our backs stop putting the ball on the turf in every game, its amazing where the playbook can go.
I agree, so how much of the blame does Brian shoulder for his guys not being ready? I’m genuinely asking.
I think he gets a little bit of a pass for having 4 new starters on the line and all underclassmen. In a developmental program its hard to have cohesion with that many new faces in new spots. Getting Schott back full time will help more than many realize.
Yep you are correct - we have had the ball more than our opponents, I went and checked.
ISU we had it for 3 min more, 4 min more vs Indiana, and Kent State 12min more. Kent should have been a blow out and seen the 2's get a full quarter of play. If we don't blow away CSU and get the 2's in for a full quarter I don't see how BF cannot shoulder 90% of the fault.
For the time of possession difference we should be scoring far more points (especially vs KS).
Did BF fumble the ball? Did he overturn a completed catch on another drive? Also had way more penalties against Kent State then they had the first two games. Players have to execute. There are plenty of great plays BF calls in the passing game that gets guys open but you can't go out there and help Petras read the field and unfortunately, that is the best QB Iowa has so you play the hand you are dealt.
Yeah ... I've had to remind myself that my expectations coming into the season was that we'd likely start the season with a 1-1 record ... with a VERY real possibility of going 0-2.
Furthermore, the early departure of Kallenberger added to my concerns ... because it's always tough to break in 2 new OTs. On top of that ... if you really break down our DL ... most of those guys had very few quality game reps prior to this season. The level of play that we've been seeing from our DL is a credit to both the players and to Coach Bell and Coach Niemann.
Anyhow, I was wholly expecting Iowa's run D to be lacking this season ... and with so much inexperience on the DL ... I wasn't certain how well the secondary would hold up if the guys up front were having difficulties mustering a pass-rush. Usually, if we have troubles defending the run ... our scoring D slips ... and that equates to more losses.
Consequently, if you would have asked me during the summer if the Hawks would have ANY lofty rankings this season ... I would simply say "maybe" ... but I'd only see it happening by the end of the season.
Yeah ... I rewatched the game last night ... I totally had forgotten that IKM's first fumble occurred when we were on an "obvious" scoring drive (near the Kent State 20 yard line). Similarly, the Hawks were driving ... right when the zebras took away Tyrone's completion. Given how the Hawks were moving the ball ... that could have been a promising series too.
Also first drive stalled because Tracy tripped over his own feet. Brian had a great screen dialed up and Tracy fell on his own.
The QB's ability is a reflection of the coaches.
The penalties are reflection of the coaches.
Execution is a reflection of the coaches.
I have yet to see consistent pass play calling that has gotten guys open more than a flat route.
The team reflects the coaches ability to coach, pregame, scout, etc.
IMHO.
Technically it was a blowout - winning by 23 is a pretty decent margin although it didn't always seem that comfortable. The officiating in general was pretty shoddy, but good teams find ways to win despite getting bad breaks. And Kent State's not awful by any stretch. I won't be surprised one bit if they upset Maryland, because even when Iowa's not playing sharp, its still more disciplined than UMD.
There were 2 key events that probably prevented our backups from seeing more playing time that day - the IKM fumble and the overturned catch by Tracy that by really should have been confirmed, or at least stood. That was probably 10-14 points left on the table.
For the reversed catch, would love to hear that person's reasoning from them directly as to why that catch was overturned.
I think saw him fail to have total control through the ground, now it could be argued he had previously secured the football and controlling it to the ground is irrelevant, but that's not what that official saw...
So we should probably fire Kirk and start from scratch. People seem surprised by this years offense as if it hasn’t been anything close to what we’ve seen for the last 20 years
Ferentz certainly has had success at Iowa mostly due, in my opinion, to the genius of Phil Parker. He is a bit over 50% in the win-loss ratio in Big Ten games. He is solid but average at best. It is nice to have winning seasons even if most years 4 of the 8 wins are due to playing the non-conference inferior teams. I see Ferentz as the "runner-up, the bridesmaid" type coach, especially in the big games, such as the Big Ten championship game in 2015 versus Michigan State and the Rose Bowl fiasco in which "game over" described the game after the first half of the first quarter. The "problem" for me, not necessarily others, is that Ferentz coaches not to lose rather than to win. He has earned the reputation as very boring and very conservative. Many applaud this style but I'm not one of them.
2021 Ferentz is an evolved version of himself, he hasn’t remained entirely static, There was a 5 year period in the middle of his tenure where he was getting a bit stale but KF has been closer to excellent than solid the last 5 years. A 74% win rate since 2015 isn’t something to scoff at. i do think he can get better but still appreciate him for what he is.
I disagree that Kirk plays not to lose. I think he has changed quite a bit and has been way more aggressive in his approach to finishing games.
You of course realize that we tied for two B!G titles, invited to two Top Tier Bowl games (Orange) coming off 11 win seasons, won the Orange Bowl and had I think three other 10 win seasons before Phil Parker became DC, right? How many TEs were All Big Ten and then on to the pros? How many O Linemen to the NFL, too many to remember without research. Two Heisman runners up (a QB and a RB) before Phil was DC. Phil Parker, who is the best DC in the country, had nothing to do with any of that offensive success.
Just a suggestion, but don't you think you might be happier following some other team? Iowa is never going to provide what you're seeking in a team. Your post demonstrates exactly my point above: so obsessed with the negative you see no positives or you trivialize the positives. Like going 9-4 or 10-3 and finishing nationally ranked is a good season at a small school with virtually no media cache and shitty weather is remarkable.
Yeah, absolutely. After 2014, I was ready for a change. The program had gotten stale, recruiting was subpar, and there just wasn’t that much excitement around Iowa football. Kirk, to his credit, evolved. And I’m not sure if there’s been a better six-year run in Iowa football history than from 2015-present. I’m sure someone can chime in on that.
In truth, there have been times over the past few years where I’ve kinda sorta wanted Kirk to step down because I’ve grown tired of watching the same anemic offense, but big picture I’m really glad he has not. So, yeah, even though I often feel like the offense could be better, it’s still enjoyable to watch Iowa’s consistency in playing winning football. Outside of that Rose Bowl disaster, Iowa really doesn’t get blown out in games. At least not very often. I love it that Kirk has the program in a place where they can compete with about anyone.
Still, I want the offense to evolve dammit! Lol. The lot of a Hawkeye football fan.
Yeah Kirk has completely changed his philosophy on 4th downs since 2015. Goes for it a lot. The year escapes me but the 4th down pass to Hock against Nebraska sticks out. Iowa kicked fg and won, would have likely lost punting.
Agreed, but I just want to clear it up for folks that it wasn't "clearly" a catch (if you agree with their "hadn't completed the process call") -- it should have been called "stands" regardless of what was called on the field.
It is clearly a catch unless you have a pic of the ball touching the ground at any point. It could ricochet off an eligible receiver and
three defenders then land on his belly with him flat on his back and still be a catch. The ball never touched the ground. And how many steps does it take to establish control? Does ANYONE know the answer to that?
Agreed, super offensive to those of us who believe in the Lord.
It's just not necessary.
I certainly feel like if anything it was a catch, then down by contact. But what the refs claimed is that he hadn't yet "finished the catch." IF you agree with that, then I would agree that it wasn't a catch based on that angle and this one:
Pretty clear to me that the ball is on the ground, then the other angle shows that he lost control. What I am saying is that four things happened:
1. Tyrone catches the ball and establishes forward progress
2. Tyrone is tackled
3. Simultaneous with being "down" the ground dislodges the ball
4. Tyrone loses control and then regains control
Refs said that #1 and #2 didn't happen, which if true would mean "no-catch". Everyone else argues that #1 and #2 did happen, so #3 and #4 are irrelevant.
Here's the video on twitter that I screencapped:
I certainly feel like if anything it was a catch, then down by contact. But what the refs claimed is that he hadn't yet "finished the catch." IF you agree with that, then I would agree that it wasn't a catch based on that angle and this one:
Pretty clear to me that the ball is on the ground, then the other angle shows that he lost control. What I am saying is that four things happened:
1. Tyrone catches the ball and establishes forward progress
2. Tyrone is tackled
3. Simultaneous with being "down" the ground dislodges the ball
4. Tyrone loses control and then regains control
Refs said that #1 and #2 didn't happen, which if true would mean "no-catch". Everyone else argues that #1 and #2 did happen, so #3 and #4 are irrelevant.
Here's the video on twitter that I screencapped:
Not clear the ball is on the ground. You can't see a thing from the pic you posted. If his hand was between the ball and the ground (which your pic doesn't define), it doesn't matter the ball came loose. Again, there is ZERO indisputable evidence the ball made contact with the ground which is supposed to be the standard for overturning a call.
Scoring offense under BF:
2020: 31.4 pts/gm (2nd in Big Ten)
2019: 25.8 pts/gm (10th in Big Ten)
2018: 31.2 pts/gm (4th in Big Ten)
2017: 28.2 pts/gm (5th in Big Ten)
Last year of Greg Davis
2016: 24.9 pts/gm (10th in Big Ten)
2020: 31.4 pts/gm (2nd in Big Ten)
2019: 25.8 pts/gm (10th in Big Ten)
2018: 31.2 pts/gm (4th in Big Ten)
2017: 28.2 pts/gm (5th in Big Ten)
Last year of Greg Davis
2016: 24.9 pts/gm (10th in Big Ten)
Frustrating part of that is look at performances before and after that game. To play devils advocate as great as that game was we had a lot more duds that year.
19 vs PSU (L) 10 vs Sparty (L), 10 vs NW (L in OT), 17 vs MN (W), 14 vs WI (L and both TDs were pick 6s and one of worst offensive performances I've seen from an Iowa team) and 15 vs Purdue (L). But in our other wins that year in conference we had 45 vs IL and 56 vs Nebby. So yes that OSU game was a thing a beauty but yet it left a question for lot of people, including myself, asking why did things click so well for that game that we couldn't replicate as much compared to the many anemic performances that year?
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