Have Iowa fans become Nebraska fans, expecting to win a minimum 10 games a year, no exceptions?

[Franisdaman]

Sometimes I wonder.

Are the fans on this board as delusional as Nebby fans?

There is thread after thread of getting rid of KF; well, keep those threads coming, but he isn't going anywhere. Then there is thread after thread of getting rid of BF; well, keep those threads coming, too, because he isn't going anywhere, either.

Discuss.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

No....

8-4, play well with a chance to win 2-3 more is what we ask. Right now our offense has been disgusting and not acceptable. Yet we may hit 8-4. I give Iowa a 25/75 chance, but still possible.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Additionally if we were Nebraska, Ferentz would've been fired after 2012.

 

[whoboppin]

As a Nebraska fan, I don't understand Iowa fans mindset. Beating OSU, that was awesome, better win than Nebraska has had in the past decade, but to turn around and then lose like that to Wisky? Its like 1 step forward 2 steps back with Iowa. I dont understand how a fan base is cool with 5 average years if the coach has 1 great year. Does not compute in my Nebraska brain. I would ebt he exact opposite, Im cool with 1 down year, if the coach is giving me 5 good to great years.

I dont mind having a few down years (Riley) when it was obvious that Bo Pelini wasnt going to get it done for Nebraska. At least Nebraska is taking the chance. Iowa fans seem to be so afraid of becoming Purdue or Illinois, that they are fine with winning 6-8 games. Does not make sense to me. 6-8 wins is garbage. But maybe Iowa has a smaller margin of error compared to Nebraska when it comes to hiring coaches.

 

[hawkinne]

As a Nebraska fan, I don't understand Iowa fans mindset. Beating OSU, that was awesome, better win than Nebraska has had in the past decade, but to turn around and then lose like that to Wisky? Its like 1 step forward 2 steps back with Iowa. I dont understand how a fan base is cool with 5 average years if the coach has 1 great year. Does not compute in my Nebraska brain. I would ebt he exact opposite, Im cool with 1 down year, if the coach is giving me 5 good to great years.

I dont mind having a few down years (Riley) when it was obvious that Bo Pelini wasnt going to get it done for Nebraska. At least Nebraska is taking the chance. Iowa fans seem to be so afraid of becoming Purdue or Illinois, that they are fine with winning 6-8 games. Does not make sense to me. 6-8 wins is garbage. But maybe Iowa has a smaller margin of error compared to Nebraska when it comes to hiring coaches.

Then welcome to garbage. This ain’t the Big 8.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

I think fan unrest (from an Iowa perspective) is just as much about wins/losses as it is style of play and having a team to watch that passes the eye test.

Fan expectation is unrealistic anywhere. Two seasons ago after Alabama lost to Ole Miss (for the second season in a row) several Bama fans were blogging, tweeting, whatever, that it was time for Saban to go. Seriously. And then Bama won the national championship.

So, to answer your question, yes. However, with that said, as I've always stated, successful programs, like any company that follows a good business model I suppose, routinely consider what innovations are needed to enhance creativity and attractiveness (which lead to increased sales). IMHO, if the Iowa football program was a business, it would need a serious overhaul. Recruiting is still mediocre and the product on the field (minus the unbelievable performance against Ohio State) is rather stale and uninspiring to watch. So, for me, it's not so much about the wins/losses as it is the fact the product on the field frequently leaves a lot to be desired in terms of fun and creativity.

Like we've witnessed on this board in the span of one week, it's easy to knee-jerk react to one game, but the greater question is, what direction is the program heading? In all honesty, I'm willing to keep an open mind. In time, Brian Ferentz could seriously revamp the Iowa offense into respectability. I like Nate Stanley; I like the prospect of a relatively young offensive line growing and becoming more consistent in years to come; I like our young TEs and think the WRs coming up have a chance to be decent. I'll be most interested, however, in if the style of play improves (like what we saw against Ohio State) and how they compete in January bowls. To me, those two things are what I'm looking at the most. Sure, as I've stated before, I was ready for a coaching change after 2012. At this point, however, I'm going to keep an open mind. Not much other choice unless you want to be miserable stewing about Ferentz going nowhere.

 

[General Tso]

I just want an offense that performs half as well as the defense. Then let the chips fall.

 

[HawkLogic]

If BF is in charge, then he needs to be in charge. A below average offense has been the most consistent aspect of KF's coaching. One becomes suspicious that the boundaries KF puts on his offensive coordinators is what is resulting in crappy offense. The QB talent has been there, decent RBs, some of the linemen are making it in NFL, most of the starting TEs we've had in last 10 years are in NFL or at least sniffed the NFL-- it comes down to scheme/ CEO management.

I'm okay with KF, but its boring product like Lickliter put out and his career winning record has a lot to do with soft schedules. This year is different, schedule is pretty tough. We have a pretty good team but the offense sucks despite seemingly having some talent.

 

[mlb1399]

Lol, nice try

 

[Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll]

If your going to make a claim that there are multiple threads about firing the coaches you should atleast back it up. There is 1, count them, 1, thread about "who would you pick as a replacement", and the OP's pick..... Brian Ferentz." we have had the same coach for 19 years if you don't think there is going to be some window shopping each season your foolish. Don't think of it like a marriage think of it like owning a vehicle. If you owned the same vehicle for 19 years every now and then your probably going to get caught looking at the latest and greatest.

 

[soybean]

As a Nebraska fan, I don't understand Iowa fans mindset. Beating OSU, that was awesome, better win than Nebraska has had in the past decade, but to turn around and then lose like that to Wisky? Its like 1 step forward 2 steps back with Iowa. I dont understand how a fan base is cool with 5 average years if the coach has 1 great year. Does not compute in my Nebraska brain. I would ebt he exact opposite, Im cool with 1 down year, if the coach is giving me 5 good to great years.

I dont mind having a few down years (Riley) when it was obvious that Bo Pelini wasnt going to get it done for Nebraska. At least Nebraska is taking the chance. Iowa fans seem to be so afraid of becoming Purdue or Illinois, that they are fine with winning 6-8 games. Does not make sense to me. 6-8 wins is garbage. But maybe Iowa has a smaller margin of error compared to Nebraska when it comes to hiring coaches.

I got some news for you...losing to Wisconsin this year is not taking a step back. Secondly, you did not just take a chance with Riley - you made a desperate gamble instead.

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

I had us going 8-4 with a losses to PSU,MSU,OSU,WISKY and a win against NW. I realize my Hawks are a average B1G team and wish we could take that next step but let's face it, after 19yrs, it's not going to happen.

 

[Hans81]

I had us going 8-4 with a losses to PSU,MSU,OSU,WISKY and a win against NW. I realize my Hawks are a average B1G team and wish we could take that next step but let's face it, after 19yrs, it's not going to happen.

I say an 8-4 record in the B10 is "above" average. However, the Hawks do need to start winning their bowl games.

 

[MGOHAWK2]

As a Nebraska fan, I don't understand Iowa fans mindset. Beating OSU, that was awesome, better win than Nebraska has had in the past decade, but to turn around and then lose like that to Wisky? Its like 1 step forward 2 steps back with Iowa. I dont understand how a fan base is cool with 5 average years if the coach has 1 great year. Does not compute in my Nebraska brain. I would ebt he exact opposite, Im cool with 1 down year, if the coach is giving me 5 good to great years.

I dont mind having a few down years (Riley) when it was obvious that Bo Pelini wasnt going to get it done for Nebraska. At least Nebraska is taking the chance. Iowa fans seem to be so afraid of becoming Purdue or Illinois, that they are fine with winning 6-8 games. Does not make sense to me. 6-8 wins is garbage. But maybe Iowa has a smaller margin of error compared to Nebraska when it comes to hiring coaches.

I got some news for you...losing to Wisconsin this year is not taking a step back. Secondly, you did not just take a chance with Riley - you made a desperate gamble instead.

I think it was a step back. Kind of a microcosm of KF tenure. Seems whenever the program gains momentum they shoot themselves in the foot. Example...going 12-0 and getting embarrassed by Stanford. Seems Iowa rarely capitalizes on a good season with good recruiting.

 

[Champions-Not]

As a Nebraska fan, I don't understand Iowa fans mindset. Beating OSU, that was awesome, better win than Nebraska has had in the past decade, but to turn around and then lose like that to Wisky? Its like 1 step forward 2 steps back with Iowa. I dont understand how a fan base is cool with 5 average years if the coach has 1 great year. Does not compute in my Nebraska brain. I would ebt he exact opposite, Im cool with 1 down year, if the coach is giving me 5 good to great years.

I dont mind having a few down years (Riley) when it was obvious that Bo Pelini wasnt going to get it done for Nebraska. At least Nebraska is taking the chance. Iowa fans seem to be so afraid of becoming Purdue or Illinois, that they are fine with winning 6-8 games. Does not make sense to me. 6-8 wins is garbage. But maybe Iowa has a smaller margin of error compared to Nebraska when it comes to hiring coaches.

I don't much like the mindset either. 19 years and we have to keep starting over. Nothing has been built, or even maintained. And the fans act like we don't deserve anything better, or are afraid to try.

 

[Suterman]

First off, 8-4 is not mediocre, it's above average. Secondly, we all want to win all of our games every year but it ain't gonna happen. Thirdly almost all fans are delusional, to a point, when it comes to their teams. Iowa is never going to be a perennial Top 5 team. For 3 straight years we finished at #8 in the nation. It probably ain't gonna get better than that regardless of who our coach is. I will stick with Coach Ferentz even considering the ABSURD showing in Madison.

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

I say an 8-4 record in the B10 is "above" average. However, the Hawks do need to start winning their bowl games.

I should have been more clear with my meaning of " AVERAGE " I was referring to conference games against other B1G teams (5-4). Not the OOC games that do nothing but pad all the power 5 teams win column's. These are the B1G teams I consider better then Iowa in no order.
OSU,PSU,MSU,WISKY,NW,MICH

 

[Kranepool2]

I dont know age groups here, who do the 18-30’ year olds want to compete against financially. Success costs money.
Roy Carver was a very succesful business man. He donated millions, thus Carver Hawkeye Arena!! But that was in 1982-83.
Now what?

 

[LuciousBDragon]

Sometimes I wonder.

Are the fans on this board as delusional as Nebby fans?

There is thread after thread of getting rid of KF; well, keep those threads coming, but he isn't going anywhere. Then there is thread after thread of getting rid of BF; well, keep those threads coming, too, because he isn't going anywhere, either.

Discuss.

If by “games” you mean my tobacco chewin’ cousins, and by “win” you mean making sweet sweet love. Then yes, slap me red and call me Debbie the delusional Nebby fan.

 

[Kranepool2]

If we say yes, will you and your neverending posts, go away?

 

[N.Legend]

Then welcome to garbage. This ain’t the Big 8.

No its the Little 7 and the Big 1

 

[General Tso]

I think it was a step back. Kind of a microcosm of KF tenure. Seems whenever the program gains momentum they shoot themselves in the foot. Example...going 12-0 and getting embarrassed by Stanford. Seems Iowa rarely capitalizes on a good season with good recruiting.

This. When you crush OSU then gain the fewest yards against WI in the history of their program... that is more like 10 steps back.

 

[trippnschmidt]

I think it was a step back. Kind of a microcosm of KF tenure. Seems whenever the program gains momentum they shoot themselves in the foot. Example...going 12-0 and getting embarrassed by Stanford. Seems Iowa rarely capitalizes on a good season with good recruiting.[/QUO

I seem to see a lot of freshmen playing this year. When would they have been recruited?

 

[kcgolfer]

Obviously we are not going to fire Kirk. I did want to several years ago but that time has passed. What disturbs me most is he has never grasped the concept that an offense can win games, it doesn't always have to be the defense. His recruiting of projects works reasonably well for defense but clearly does not for offense. He just doesn't recruit the playmakers needed to run a high powered offense which is why we seem to be always near the bottom of college offenses. If he wasn't a good coach, he would not win as many games as he does with such an anemic offense. The type of offense he runs is not going to attract top flight recruits and he seems ok with that. I am not.

 

[trippnschmidt]

If BF is in charge, then he needs to be in charge. A below average offense has been the most consistent aspect of KF's coaching. One becomes suspicious that the boundaries KF puts on his offensive coordinators is what is resulting in crappy offense. The QB talent has been there, decent RBs, some of the linemen are making it in NFL, most of the starting TEs we've had in last 10 years are in NFL or at least sniffed the NFL-- it comes down to scheme/ CEO management.

I'm okay with KF, but its boring product like Lickliter put out and his career winning record has a lot to do with soft schedules. This year is different, schedule is pretty tough. We have a pretty good team but the offense sucks despite seemingly having some talent.

No...just no.

 

[Mr.Basketball98]

I should have been more clear with my meaning of " AVERAGE " I was referring to conference games against other B1G teams (5-4). Not the OOC games that do nothing but pad all the power 5 teams win column's. These are the B1G teams I consider better then Iowa in no order.
OSU,PSU,MSU,WISKY,NW,MICH

Lol at NW being considered a better team then Iowa in the big10. If you think this because NW beat Iowa lately then you have to put Iowa > Michigan because Iowa has been winning lately against them. I would rate Iowa 6th out of 14.

 

[Mr.Basketball98]

2 years ago I would have put them the 2nd best team in the big10 during the regular season.

 

[SoDakHawk]

So I will be the first to admit that I expect Iowa to win a minimum of 9-10 games a year. Look at the schedule, there are practically 6 built in wins a year.

2 - body bag games against MAC/G5/FCS teams
1 - ISU. Argue all you want but Iowa should win 9/10 against ISU. Hayden set the standard.
3 - Big Ten West. 3 is the minimum number of wins acceptable in this division each year as half the teams in this division should be automatic wins any given year.

So of the 6 remaining games, 3 Big West & 3 crossover, the expectation should be a .500 record. A .500 record in the half of your schedule that is actually competitive is not too much to ask. Especially now that our stated crossover game for most years will be PSU and we'll avoid UM and OSU and that it will be very rare to have to play 2 out of 3 in any given year. So 2/3 cross over games are going to be against the bottom half of the East, unless we draw MSU which should be a winnable game 50% of the time.

KF's problem has not been going .500 against the meat of the schedule. He's been able to do that and can pull off the big game win. His issue is losing games to the 6 teams that should be easy wins. That is what has prevented Iowa from being a consistent 9-10 game winner each season.

Let's analyze this season:

G5 - WYO, North Texas - 2 wins
ISU - 1 win
KF took care of business against the OOC teams he should beat.
BIG West - 2-2 so far but can get to 4-2
BIG East - 1-2. Losing record against the East.

OSU, PSU, and MSU was a tough draw against the East this season. Going 1-2 against that is not terrible. The problem is that the West is really weak this year with the only big program being Wisconsin. Lost that game. I am going to assume we win out against Purdue and Nebraska, a couple of putrid 4-6 teams right now. Lose to either one of those and forget about it, anywhere else but Iowa and we'd be looking for a new head coach. The turd this year that would prevent a 9 win season would be the loss to NW. Can we agree that was a turd of a game and a loss that should not have happened?

 

[Franisdaman]

I think fan unrest (from an Iowa perspective) is just as much about wins/losses as it is style of play and having a team to watch that passes the eye test.

Fan expectation is unrealistic anywhere. Two seasons ago after Alabama lost to Ole Miss (for the second season in a row) several Bama fans were blogging, tweeting, whatever, that it was time for Saban to go. Seriously. And then Bama won the national championship.

So, to answer your question, yes. However, with that said, as I've always stated, successful programs, like any company that follows a good business model I suppose, routinely consider what innovations are needed to enhance creativity and attractiveness (which lead to increased sales). IMHO, if the Iowa football program was a business, it would need a serious overhaul. Recruiting is still mediocre and the product on the field (minus the unbelievable performance against Ohio State) is rather stale and uninspiring to watch. So, for me, it's not so much about the wins/losses as it is the fact the product on the field frequently leaves a lot to be desired in terms of fun and creativity.

Like we've witnessed on this board in the span of one week, it's easy to knee-jerk react to one game, but the greater question is, what direction is the program heading? In all honesty, I'm willing to keep an open mind. In time, Brian Ferentz could seriously revamp the Iowa offense into respectability. I like Nate Stanley; I like the prospect of a relatively young offensive line growing and becoming more consistent in years to come; I like our young TEs and think the WRs coming up have a chance to be decent. I'll be most interested, however, in if the style of play improves (like what we saw against Ohio State) and how they compete in January bowls. To me, those two things are what I'm looking at the most. Sure, as I've stated before, I was ready for a coaching change after 2012. At this point, however, I'm going to keep an open mind. Not much other choice unless you want to be miserable stewing about Ferentz going nowhere.

Nice post.

Jim Harbaugh can't seem to beat Michigan State and Ohio State; how much more patience will Michigan's fans have? I wonder how much longer he will last (he seems to get tired of one place after a few short years).

Look at Hayden Fry. SEVEN of his final 11 seasons were very mediocre; why didn't he keep making progress after being #1 in 1985? Instead, he had up and down seasons, just like KF.

If Hayden couldn't win 10 games every year with all of his "exotics" and scratching where it itches, what does that say? Maybe it says that it is not so easy to win at Iowa as some fans think?

We play a pro style offense, and I think CJ doing so well with the 49'ers and Nate looking like an NFL prospect have to help when it comes to recruiting. I do think that BF is going to bring more to the offense over time.

One thing that does frustrate me is I did not expect to win at Wisconsin but I did not like the way we lost. We rarely get blown out. Iowa sees Wisky's 3-4 defense every year. They can prepare for it in fall camp and in the week leading up to the game. Why do we have no idea how to block it and attack it? NOTE: Northwestern went TO Wisconsin and their OFFENSE put up 24 pts in a 33-24 loss. Purdue went to Wisconsin and battled, losing 17-9 (their OFFENSE produced 3 field goals). Iowa's offense put up 0 points. Can you explain this? Northwestern and Purdue gave Wisconsin a game at Camp Randall and we can't?.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Nice post.

Jim Harbaugh can't seem to beat Michigan State and Ohio State; how much more patience will Michigan's fans have? I wonder how much longer he will last (he seems to get tired of one place after a few short years).

Look at Hayden Fry. SEVEN of his final 11 seasons were very mediocre; why didn't he keep making progress after being #1 in 1985? Instead, he had up and down seasons, just like KF.

If Hayden couldn't win 10 games every year with all of his "exotics" and scratching where it itches, what does that say? Maybe it says that it is not so easy to win at Iowa as some fans think?

We play a pro style offense, and I think CJ doing so well with the 49'ers and Nate looking like an NFL prospect have to help when it comes to recruiting. I do think that BF is going to bring more to the offense over time.

One thing that does frustrate me is I did not expect to win at Wisconsin but I did not like the way we lost. We rarely get blown out. Iowa sees Wisky's 3-4 defense every year. They can prepare for it in fall camp and in the week leading up to the game. Why do we have no idea how to block it and attack it? NOTE: Northwestern went TO Wisconsin and their OFFENSE put up 24 pts in a 33-24 loss. Purdue went to Wisconsin and battled, losing 17-9 (their OFFENSE produced 3 field goals). Iowa's offense put up 0 points. Can you explain this? Northwestern and Purdue gave Wisconsin a game at Camp Randall and we can't?.

No, I can't explain the performance at Wisconsin anymore than I can explain the performance the week prior. Iowa clearly has issues on the road in conference play, but what we saw last week goes beyond that. It was just down right pitiful.

I would say Hayden got a little conservative in the latter part of his tenure and wasn't quite as "exotic" as his offenses were in the 1980s. How much of that is attributed to his assistants leaving for head coaching opportunities is anyone's guess. I would also add that in Hayden's day you pretty much played every conference opponent, so he never got the benefit of some cupcake schedules like Iowa has enjoyed the past couple seasons prior to this year.

 

[Hans81]

I should have been more clear with my meaning of " AVERAGE " I was referring to conference games against other B1G teams (5-4). Not the OOC games that do nothing but pad all the power 5 teams win column's. These are the B1G teams I consider better then Iowa in no order.
OSU,PSU,MSU,WISKY,NW,MICH

I should have been more clear with my meaning of " AVERAGE " I was referring to conference games against other B1G teams (5-4). Not the OOC games that do nothing but pad all the power 5 teams win column's. These are the B1G teams I consider better then Iowa in no order.
OSU,PSU,MSU,WISKY,NW,MICH

Here's where we differ...of the 6 teams that you mentioned, I don't consider MICH, MSU, or NW to be "better" than Iowa. At the very least, I consider Iowa to be on par with those three teams. Anyway, a quick google search supports my contention...over the past 10 games Iowa is 6 - 4 vs MICH, 5 - 5 vs MSU, and 4 - 6 vs NW (which include a couple OT losses to NW).

 

[m.stoops2013]

No, expecting to beat 3 dumpster fire schools & go around .500 in conference would put you at 8 or 9 wins min. So idt its too much to ask 4.

 

[anon_gjzkhykcp9iuj]

No. They simply expect:
(1) a competent offense
(2) some consistency
(3) to not lose to one of the sisters of the poor almost every year
(4) for a school thought of as OLU to perform better on the line than they usually do
(5) to not consistently see linemen be pretty good in college and then blow up in the pros, as if they were held back in college