Enough of the Tiny Deac Energy

[Iowa2525]

Haven't we seen enough of this guy?

Do we really want the QB who was third team at lowly Wisconsin and forced to transfer? We can see why the only team interested in the portal was Fordham. But then the highly paid QB guru Budmyr had to swoop in (due to the utter lack of development out of Labas) and score the recruiting coup of the century to steal him away from D2. Looks like the joke is on Iowa.

The ironic thing is, Deac would not have even started at Fordham. Fordham's starting QB has thrown for 1,800 yards, completing 64% of his passes, with 17 touchdowns and 0 interceptions! In other words, Iowa's starting QB would be the backup even at the D2 level. That's an embarrassment. If D2 is the best recruiting we can do, shouldn't Bud have at least gone after the best QB on Fordham's roster? Did Loras not have anyone available?

At what point do we pull the plug on the tiny Deac energy? If Labas is that bad, why not give the freshmen a try? Starting QBs at any level (including peewee league and powder puff) are unanimously benched when completing just 38% of their passes while averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt. Then there's the unavoidable discontent he's creating among a bunch of scholarship WRs, who get zero targets because tiny Deac locks onto the TE from the moment the ball is snapped.

"What's the upside" in giving Marco Lainez a few series this week? Sure, he trained under Tony Rassiopi, the guy who trained Petras. But Lainez was offered by several Big 10 teams, he put up great numbers in high school, and schools with much better offenses are willing play their freshmen QBs this year. Colorado State has a freshmen throwing for 323 yards per game this year. South Florida's freshmen QB has thrown for 12 touchdowns. UCLA's freshmen QB has already thrown for 1,300 yards. Even Iowa State's redshirt freshmen has thrown for 1,500 yards. Being a freshmen doesn't make a guy incompetent. Here's what Lainez did in high school:

As a senior, completed 97-of-125 pass attempts (77.6%) for 2,182 yards, with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions… also rushed for 573 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior completed 93-of-116 attempts (80.2%) for 1,761 yards and 21 touchdowns, with two interceptions.

There is not a QB in college football who could do worse than a 38% completion percentage with 4.4 yards per attempt. With half a season left and a lot to play for, let's see if anyone else can provide competent QB play because Deac is not the guy. Otherwise, with zero semblance of an offense and no chance at beating a ranked opponent, what's the point of winning the west?

I don’t know why this post bothered me so much. But it did. Iowa law —sit down and shut your trap. Don’t shit on these players, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They have the worst offensive coordinator in college football coaching them. They have the worst QB coach in college football. We have a former lineman who never played a down of football from the quarterback position coaching it. Until we get a new offensive coordinator, point the finger at Junior. These players are doing their best with what’s given to them. Kirk is the most stubborn man I know. The more we scream for the back up. The more he will send Bacon out there.

 

[IowasLaw]

Remember when Petras was playing and everyone demanded that Padilla play because he couldn't be any worse? And then he was.

And then remember how excited everyone was when Petras was done and Iowa brought in Cade to resurrect the QB position at Iowa? And then statistically he was worse.

And now we have Hill who a lot of people, including me, were hoping that a 2 legged Qb would allow the playbook to be expanded to capitalize on the increased mobility. And then it got worse.

And finally, remember how everyone the past 2 years kept saying the offense is so bad it can't possibly get any worse? And somehow it got worse every single year.

I think it's time for Iowa fans to stop making ridiculous statements like
"Iowa cannot do worse" with respect to anything regarding the Iowa offense. If fans have learned anything these past few years, it is that it can always get worse, and it's likely that it will.

This is a weak point. To follow it to its conclusion, failure should be rewarded because the "next man in" could potentially be worse than the guy failing. That's the mentality that allowed Brian to fail upward to OC and QB coach. It also allowed Budmyr to keep getting jobs despite failing.

That loser's mentality would work out real well in the NFL or in the business world as well...for Enron or Blockbuster.

 

[jonesy5960]

This is a weak point. To follow it to its conclusion, failure should be rewarded because the "next man in" could potentially be worse than the guy failing. That's the mentality that allowed Brian to fail upward to OC and QB coach. It also allowed Budmyr to keep getting jobs despite failing.

That loser's mentality would work out real well in the NFL or in the business world as well...for Enron or Blockbuster.

What is a weak point? I just stated what's occurred over the last few years. I guess if there was a point, it's that from an offensive perspective, the staff has had no answers and somehow succeeds only in taking something that is broken and making it worse with every subsequent move.

 

[BGHAWK]

The QB isn't the problem at Iowa and it hasn't been for several years. I've watched receivers at all levels of football get open and quarterbacks at all levels deliver the ball to them consistently, but not at Iowa and not for a long long time.

 

[BrotherHawkeye]

Per the point made above, Padilla just had to be better than Petras, until we found out why he wasn't playing ahead of Petras. Point being, I think the coaches are putting in the guy who they think is the best available at the time. Are they always right? No. Hill will now be starting his third game. His first game jitters as starter, then his next game against the school he was at are over. Then his primary target goes down. Not making excuses, just trying to put his first two games in context. He should be settled in by now as the starter, meaning all the nerves, etc. should be somewhat under control. This Saturday I think we'll see what he's about.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

S. Fla is 3-4

CSU is 3-3

ISU is 4-3.

To surmise, you'd be happy being a .500 team as long as the QB throws for 300 a game. Iowa Slaw strikes again!

Got it!

Jesus Christ. Do you Ferentz apologists not understand circular reasoning and that it’s extremely stupid?

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

How can this coaching staff be so poor at recognizing QB talent?

Who would guess OL guys, KF & BF, who have both publicly stated they know nothing about QB play, be so bad?

Yeah real brain buster.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Remember when Petras was playing and everyone demanded that Padilla play because he couldn't be any worse? And then he *immediately lead the offense on two TD drives at Northwestern, completing 20+ yard passes on both drives, helping Iowa to win on the road against a program that had typically had our number?*

FTFY.

This revisionist history BS has got to stop.

First two drives, touchdown, touchdown. Facts, not opinion. Facts.

 

[myteamcanbeatupyourteam]

Jesus Christ. Do you Ferentz apologists not understand circular reasoning and that it’s extremely stupid?

Do you?

 

[jonesy5960]

FTFY.

This revisionist history BS has got to stop.

It's not revisionist. Padilla wasn't a good QB at Iowa. He's not a good QB today. History tells us he was statistically much worse than Petras was throwing under 50% and a passer rating in the 80's. That might be the worst in Kirk's 24 years. Today he's a backup at SMU that won't see the field outside of injuries.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

KF/BF offense has had a 3 year string now of going from almost as bad as you can get to as bad as you can get. I don't think Fans calling for change expected Kirk Ferentz to double down (keeping Petras as starter) and triple down on his stupidity (naming BF QB coach, relying on Budamyr as the offense whisperer).

The Petras/Padillo controversy overall had no effect on W/L or maybe a net positive. In Padillo case, the original NW game Padillo first subbed in for Petras, Padillo won that game and he won a tough game vs Minny and Illinois. When Padillo stumbled vs Nebraska, Petras came in and played better than he had before he went down. There really has been no downside to playing the backup QBs and I think overall it was a positive. We learned who couldn't play--- Padillo transferred out. Carson May must also have been a bust not being worthy of PT, so also addition by subtraction.

I don't blame Deacon for all the passing woes. He's got a the worst offensive head coach in P5 and the worst offensive coordinator in P5 and the cupboard is bare on WR talent and TE position hit by injuries. That said, Deacon lacks mobility and he needs to be able to throw like Tom Brady to be a big asset, but instead he's worse than Petras in accuracy. I do think Deacon stands in in the pocket better than Petras did and takes more shots downfield.

I would give Deacon another game as starter. If Labas is healthy, I saw nothing in that Kentucky bowl game to make me think he is worse option than what Deacon has shown the last two games. If Labas not worthy of starting given Deacon's stats, then he needs to transfer out. Hopefully BF takes a hike after the end of this season. The worst thing about possibly going 11-1 into Indy is KF is going to think he's the reason, when everyone knows it is Phil Parker.

An astute review.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

It's not revisionist. Padilla wasn't a good QB at Iowa. He's not a good QB today. History tells us he was statistically much worse than Petras was throwing under 50% and a passer rating in the 80's. That might be the worst in Kirk's 24 years. Today he's a backup at SMU that won't see the field outside of injuries.

Look it, that may be all correct but you can’t dismiss ->what he actually did<- to try and make your point.

The fact is he came into the Northwestern game in a tough spot and played well enough to get us the W. 18/28 & 172 yards passing.

He was clearly and obviously better than Petras that day, Petras had bruised ribs and never should have even been playing. Also played better than Petras had been playing recently. Petras had 4 count them 4 INTs vs Purdue just 2 games prior.

If 4 INTs doesn't get a QB benched, what will? I thought KF valued not turning the ball over, I guess it’s selectively applied.

 

[jonesy5960]

Look it, that may be all correct but you can’t dismiss ->what he actually did<- to try and make your point.

The fact is he came into the Northwestern game in a tough spot and played well enough to get us the W. 18/28 & 172 yards passing.

He was clearly and obviously better than Petras that day, Petras had bruised ribs and never should have even been playing. Also played better than Petras had been playing recently. Petras had 4 count them 4 INTs vs Purdue just 2 games prior.

If 4 INTs doesn't get a QB benched, what will? I thought KF valued not turning the ball over, I guess it’s selectively applied.

I think you're reading more into my comments than was intended. I'm not defending anything or anyone. I was at that Northwestern game. Petras never should have seen the field that day. His throwing shoulder was toast. There is no doubt that on that day Padilla should have started. I think that in itself was just another indictment of the ability of this staff to field an effective offense. Petras had to remove himself as opposed to the staff making the only logical decision that day. They then felt compelled to play him until he started struggling only to be replaced by Petras.

I'm just suggesting that the answers to fixing the Iowa offense aren't as simple as replacing the QB. Maybe Labas is capable of running the offense more effectively than Hill today. It's also possible that Labas is medically cleared but not physically where he should be to perform as he has previously. This staff is clueless from an offensive perspective so who knows? I only know that Labas at his best wasn't capable of being an efficient QB in this offense today.

 

[littlez]

Look it, that may be all correct but you can’t dismiss ->what he actually did<- to try and make your point.

The fact is he came into the Northwestern game in a tough spot and played well enough to get us the W. 18/28 & 172 yards passing.

He was clearly and obviously better than Petras that day, Petras had bruised ribs and never should have even been playing. Also played better than Petras had been playing recently. Petras had 4 count them 4 INTs vs Purdue just 2 games prior.

If 4 INTs doesn't get a QB benched, what will? I thought KF valued not turning the ball over, I guess it’s selectively applied.

18/28 and 172 yards this year would get a gold star. We probably won't hit that the rest of the year combined. If Big Deac continues to toss it for 37 yards a game it certainly won't happen!

 

[littlez]

I think you're reading more into my comments than was intended. I'm not defending anything or anyone. I was at that Northwestern game. Petras never should have seen the field that day. His throwing shoulder was toast. There is no doubt that on that day Padilla should have started. I think that in itself was just another indictment of the ability of this staff to field an effective offense. Petras had to remove himself as opposed to the staff making the only logical decision that day. They then felt compelled to play him until he started struggling only to be replaced by Petras.

I'm just suggesting that the answers to fixing the Iowa offense aren't as simple as replacing the QB. Maybe Labas is capable of running the offense more effectively than Hill today. It's also possible that Labas is medically cleared but not physically where he should be to perform as he has previously. This staff is clueless from an offensive perspective so who knows? I only know that Labas at his best wasn't capable of being an efficient QB in this offense today.

You actually don't know that. None of us know that. I know some on here say he can't grasp the offense and tosses picks in practice. 14-24 for 139 yards against Kentucky last year. Not great, clearly, but 38 and 37 yards passing is not effectively running the offense. Is what it is but you certainly can't say Deacon is being efficient. And I'm not blaming Deacon, I'm placing 100% of the blame on Kirk and Brian. We've totally given up on offense and we're going to win w/defense and special teams. And honestly it's probably the best way to do it. Because they can't figure it out any other way.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

KF/BF offense has had a 3 year string now of going from almost as bad as you can get to as bad as you can get. I don't think Fans calling for change expected Kirk Ferentz to double down (keeping Petras as starter) and triple down on his stupidity (naming BF QB coach, relying on Budamyr as the offense whisperer).

The Petras/Padillo controversy overall had no effect on W/L or maybe a net positive. In Padillo case, the original NW game Padillo first subbed in for Petras, Padillo won that game and he won a tough game vs Minny and Illinois. When Padillo stumbled vs Nebraska, Petras came in and played better than he had before he went down. There really has been no downside to playing the backup QBs and I think overall it was a positive. We learned who couldn't play--- Padillo transferred out. Carson May must also have been a bust not being worthy of PT, so also addition by subtraction.

I don't blame Deacon for all the passing woes. He's got a the worst offensive head coach in P5 and the worst offensive coordinator in P5 and the cupboard is bare on WR talent and TE position hit by injuries. That said, Deacon lacks mobility and he needs to be able to throw like Tom Brady to be a big asset, but instead he's worse than Petras in accuracy. I do think Deacon stands in in the pocket better than Petras did and takes more shots downfield.

I would give Deacon another game as starter. If Labas is healthy, I saw nothing in that Kentucky bowl game to make me think he is worse option than what Deacon has shown the last two games. If Labas not worthy of starting given Deacon's stats, then he needs to transfer out. Hopefully BF takes a hike after the end of this season. The worst thing about possibly going 11-1 into Indy is KF is going to think he's the reason, when everyone knows it is Phil Parker.

Great post - this post deserves ‘The Handshake’. (Baking Challenge reference - which my wife (no pic) watches)

We seemingly have had a turnstile of really bad QBs come thru our program of late. I also think our WR room had been one of the worst in the BT by far as well. Truth be told Vines, Rags, and Anderson probably would not sniff the field for the Indiana Hoosier program without even looking at their roster. Yet back in the spring, all 3 were hyped up and people were doing cartwheels that Rags was coming back for a 6th year.🤪

Having said that, there is plenty of blame to go around - OC, OL, QB, also contribute for a witches brew of a horrible offense.

Luckily we seem to recruit/develop TEs and RBs great for some odd reason….😎

 

[jonesy5960]

You actually don't know that. None of us know that. I know some on here say he can't grasp the offense and tosses picks in practice. 14-24 for 139 yards against Kentucky last year. Not great, clearly, but 38 and 37 yards passing is not effectively running the offense. Is what it is but you certainly can't say Deacon is being efficient. And I'm not blaming Deacon, I'm placing 100% of the blame on Kirk and Brian. We've totally given up on offense and we're going to win w/defense and special teams. And honestly it's probably the best way to do it. Because they can't figure it out any other way.

Yup. I think everyone should just enjoy the beauty of this defense and special teams and embrace the suck on offense, because the team is still winning and there is no hope of fixing it this year.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Yup. I think everyone should just enjoy the beauty of this defense and special teams and embrace the suck on offense, because the team is still winning and there is no hope of fixing it this year.

 

[jo12208]

Do you?

No he does not.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Do you?

Do I what?

 

[MitchLL]

What's the upside?????

Bring a damn RPO QB in or start recruiting that way.
The Ferentz Boyz have no idea how to develop QBs. Any kid that was a successful QB at Iowa succeeded In SPITE OF, not BECAUSE OF a Ferentz.

 

[IowasLaw]

Just when you thought the tiny deac couldn't get any smaller, we actually had shrinkage, as if he just came out of a freezing cold pool.

10 of 28 with 3 turnovers and averaging just 4.1 yards per attempts (my fav, of course was the 3rd and 10 when he threw a 2 yard pass). Out of 30,000 students at the U of Iowa, including 85 scholarship football players, THIS is the guy who gives Iowa the best chance to win? NOT POSSIBLE.

 

[Iowa2525]

Again. You are shitting on a player that has the worst coaching staff and no jimmy and joes on the offense. Knock it off. Blame ferentz family

 

[TRHawkeye145]

There's a clear 1, 2 and 3 tho.... just absolutely brutal. Big FU from kirk

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Can you imagine being any other QB in the Iowa Football program and thinking KF/BF think you are clearly and significantly worse than Deacon Hill?

The entire QB room should enter the portal tomorrow.

 

[Garbanzo Joe]

Play the Freshmen. Brian hasn't had enough time to ruin them.

 

[IowasLaw]

Play the Freshmen. Brian hasn't had enough time to ruin them.

Remember when, just 1 year ago, Joe Labas was the "star of the scout team" opening a lot of eyes? Well, no one has ever said that about Deac. It is not possible that Labas would do worse than 3 turnovers and 30% completions in a game against a bad opponent. If the union card is Kirk's excuse for staying with the starter, what about Labas who has been around for 3 years? If talent is the excuse, why not let the freshmen see what he can do. If ability is the excuse, even a walk on could come in and play better.

 

[herkyhawk00]

Haven't we seen enough of this guy?

Do we really want the QB who was third team at lowly Wisconsin and forced to transfer? We can see why the only team interested in the portal was Fordham. But then the highly paid QB guru Budmyr had to swoop in (due to the utter lack of development out of Labas) and score the recruiting coup of the century to steal him away from D2. Looks like the joke is on Iowa.

The ironic thing is, Deac would not have even started at Fordham. Fordham's starting QB has thrown for 1,800 yards, completing 64% of his passes, with 17 touchdowns and 0 interceptions! In other words, Iowa's starting QB would be the backup even at the D2 level. That's an embarrassment. If D2 is the best recruiting we can do, shouldn't Bud have at least gone after the best QB on Fordham's roster? Did Loras not have anyone available?

At what point do we pull the plug on the tiny Deac energy? If Labas is that bad, why not give the freshmen a try? Starting QBs at any level (including peewee league and powder puff) are unanimously benched when completing just 38% of their passes while averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt. Then there's the unavoidable discontent he's creating among a bunch of scholarship WRs, who get zero targets because tiny Deac locks onto the TE from the moment the ball is snapped.

"What's the upside" in giving Marco Lainez a few series this week? Sure, he trained under Tony Rassiopi, the guy who trained Petras. But Lainez was offered by several Big 10 teams, he put up great numbers in high school, and schools with much better offenses are willing play their freshmen QBs this year. Colorado State has a freshmen throwing for 323 yards per game this year. South Florida's freshmen QB has thrown for 12 touchdowns. UCLA's freshmen QB has already thrown for 1,300 yards. Even Iowa State's redshirt freshmen has thrown for 1,500 yards. Being a freshmen doesn't make a guy incompetent. Here's what Lainez did in high school:

As a senior, completed 97-of-125 pass attempts (77.6%) for 2,182 yards, with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions… also rushed for 573 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior completed 93-of-116 attempts (80.2%) for 1,761 yards and 21 touchdowns, with two interceptions.

There is not a QB in college football who could do worse than a 38% completion percentage with 4.4 yards per attempt. With half a season left and a lot to play for, let's see if anyone else can provide competent QB play because Deac is not the guy. Otherwise, with zero semblance of an offense and no chance at beating a ranked opponent, what's the point of winning the west?

As bad as Hill has been, KF has shown he won’t make that change. He just simply won’t.

 

[drew_hawk]

Just when you thought the tiny deac couldn't get any smaller, we actually had shrinkage, as if he just came out of a freezing cold pool.

10 of 28 with 3 turnovers and averaging just 4.1 yards per attempts (my fav, of course was the 3rd and 10 when he threw a 2 yard pass). Out of 30,000 students at the U of Iowa, including 85 scholarship football players, THIS is the guy who gives Iowa the best chance to win? NOT POSSIBLE.

 

[IowasLaw]

Did anyone catch tiny Deac's responses in his post-game press conference following another embarrassing performance?

"I acknowledge it might not be fast enough for the people outside the building, but this offense is growing each week."

WTF!? First off...he's implying the players and coaching staff inside the building believe the offense is fine. It's just the bratty fans that have a problem with scoring 1 touchdown per game.

Then he says the offense is "growing each week?" Growing at what? They just played the worst defense in the Big 10, yet tiny only managed to throw for 65 yards all game, including another bad interception. WRs caught a total of 4 passes. That's improvement?

Worse yet, the running game in Iowa's "power offense" managed to average just 2.5 yards per carry.

If Deac is happy with his performance and his "improvement," it's time for him to retire from football.