I read this and my first thought was Pitt beat Notre Dame? Would love to see it happen, but I don't think Pitt runs the table.
I am still skeptical about this team....
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I read this and my first thought was Pitt beat Notre Dame? Would love to see it happen, but I don't think Pitt runs the table.
Uhhhh, it took the longest kick in the history of historic kinnick stadium...longer than anything legend Nate kaeding himself ever kicked, and certainly longer than anything the kicker himself every kicked, as time expired, to win the game.
You brilliant football scholars might call that business as usual or a chip shot...but to most in college or the nfl, nailing a 57 Yarder to win is pretty miraculous and would maybe go in one out of 25 attempts.
You brilliant football scholars might call that business as usual or a chip shot...but to most in college or the nfl, nailing a 57 Yarder to win is pretty miraculous and would maybe go in one out of 25 attempts.
You realize that game was tied and missing that kick doesn't definitively mean Iowa doesn't win that game, right??
Oh, and in 25 tries I'll take to over on Koehn.
SHHHHHHHH....don't spoil the fun1
(P.S. I bet the odds are better making that kick in 25 tries than blocking a punt in 25 tries and returning it for a TD.)
There's a difference between expecting undefeated, and having confidence this team can get us home to the title game. I get tempering expectations, but dare to dream big! I mean come on, man, are you even enjoying the season so far?
Of course I am. I prefer to take each game as they come and not look ahead. I'll worry about the West title if/when they are in position to lock it down.
Agree. If you are a real Hawkeye fan how can you NOT enjoy this???? Some people need to stop worrying and enjoy this. What's the worst that can happen....we win 10 games? My good lord if that is the bad case scenario I am all in. These guys are fighters. They are sick and tired of what many have been saying the past two years and what many non believers have said about this year. When I saw Jordon C come back to the sidelines in a boot to watch his team getting the crowd involved I told my son "damn these guys are different. They are not going to lose because they are not a team. Somebody is going to have to BEAT these guys because they believe in each other". Time to believe in them Hawk fans. This is frickin fun!!
I am not sure what being "skeptical" about this team means. So far, they have performed like a top 15 team and that's what I think they are, and that's why I don't think they should have a problem with Maryland or Indiana. At the same time, I also recognize that top teams get upset every weekend. According to ESPN's FPI (not perfect, but a good non-biased predicting system) we have a 93% chance of beating Maryland at home and a 75% chance of beating Indiana on the road. Personally, I think our odds are better against Indiana than they're giving us credit for, but regardless I think those percentages are relatively accurate.
What those percentages also represent is that we have an almost 1 in 3 chance of losing one of those two games. That's a pretty good chance, realistically. If we do happen to lose one of those games, there will be many on these boards telling us how they knew not to trust this team. However, I don't think us dropping a couple games the rest of the season means that this isn't a very good team. The margin between a 50th ranked team and a 15th ranked team is not that large, and having just a few factors go against us could result in a loss, however that does not mean this isn't a very good team.
This team has a number of strengths, but the one that has me most confident going forward is our ability to run the ball. We have faced some very good defenses and we have been able to effectively run the ball against all of them. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that we have had significant injuries to 40% of our starting offensive line, our starting RB has been ineffective due to injury since our second game, and our second string RB went out early against a defense that entered the game as a top 10 team defending the rush. I have seen many people here say that they don't think Daniels is impressive, but if you look at what he was doing before he got hurt, he was having a great start to the season (averaging 5.0 yards per carry). Beyond just what Daniels did in the first two games this season, in the offseason he appeared to get into the best shape of his life whereby he lost at least 20 lbs and went on to set a number of Iowa weightlifting, speed, and agility records for Iowa RB's under Kirk Ferentz. Physically, Daniels is one of the most talented RB's Ferentz has ever had, and I am excited to see what he can do if he returns 100%. Moreover, even if Daniels cannot play at 100%, we have seen high productivity from Mitchell and Wadley. I don't see anyone on our schedule that should keep us under 150 yards rushing, and I would bet that we average more than 200 yards rushing per game from here to the end of the season.
We also have one of the best QB's in the Big 10, especially when he is healthy. I do have my doubts that CJ will ever get close to being 100% until our bowl game, but an extra week of rest should benefit CJ going forward. CJ has not played well the last 3 weeks, but a lot of that also had to do with the fact that he was missing Tevaun Smith at WR, and he also has not had the benefit of throwing to Duzey all season. With those weapons coming back after our bye week, I think CJ's numbers will bounce back in a big way. His injuries might prevent him from being a big running threat, but he still has a cannon for an arm and can make any throw on the field. Finally, one of the biggest reasons CJ has struggled the past few weeks is because our offensive line has done a poor job of defending the pass rush. I would expect pass protection to improve for a couple reasons: (1) we should get healthier and get our starting tackles back, (2) even if we don't get our tackles back, the unit that has been playing now has more experience together and will improve going forward, and (3) the opposing defenses coming up on our schedule are not as strong as the defenses we have played in recent weeks.
Defensively, our run defense is stout. I don't see anyone having much success on the ground. The only liability I see defensively is our pass defense, which has still been pretty good statistically. However, we admittedly have not played against many good QB's. West Lunt is probably the best we have played against and he threw for over 300 yards. This is what would scare me most about the Indiana game.
This has been a long-winded answer to essentially say that I am not skeptical of this team. By this point in the season we know they are good. We know what their strengths and weaknesses are. However, this does not mean that I am confident we will end the season undefeated. In fact, I would bet against that happening; so maybe by some fans' standards you could consider me skeptical.
What those percentages also represent is that we have an almost 1 in 3 chance of losing one of those two games. That's a pretty good chance, realistically. If we do happen to lose one of those games, there will be many on these boards telling us how they knew not to trust this team. However, I don't think us dropping a couple games the rest of the season means that this isn't a very good team. The margin between a 50th ranked team and a 15th ranked team is not that large, and having just a few factors go against us could result in a loss, however that does not mean this isn't a very good team.
This team has a number of strengths, but the one that has me most confident going forward is our ability to run the ball. We have faced some very good defenses and we have been able to effectively run the ball against all of them. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that we have had significant injuries to 40% of our starting offensive line, our starting RB has been ineffective due to injury since our second game, and our second string RB went out early against a defense that entered the game as a top 10 team defending the rush. I have seen many people here say that they don't think Daniels is impressive, but if you look at what he was doing before he got hurt, he was having a great start to the season (averaging 5.0 yards per carry). Beyond just what Daniels did in the first two games this season, in the offseason he appeared to get into the best shape of his life whereby he lost at least 20 lbs and went on to set a number of Iowa weightlifting, speed, and agility records for Iowa RB's under Kirk Ferentz. Physically, Daniels is one of the most talented RB's Ferentz has ever had, and I am excited to see what he can do if he returns 100%. Moreover, even if Daniels cannot play at 100%, we have seen high productivity from Mitchell and Wadley. I don't see anyone on our schedule that should keep us under 150 yards rushing, and I would bet that we average more than 200 yards rushing per game from here to the end of the season.
We also have one of the best QB's in the Big 10, especially when he is healthy. I do have my doubts that CJ will ever get close to being 100% until our bowl game, but an extra week of rest should benefit CJ going forward. CJ has not played well the last 3 weeks, but a lot of that also had to do with the fact that he was missing Tevaun Smith at WR, and he also has not had the benefit of throwing to Duzey all season. With those weapons coming back after our bye week, I think CJ's numbers will bounce back in a big way. His injuries might prevent him from being a big running threat, but he still has a cannon for an arm and can make any throw on the field. Finally, one of the biggest reasons CJ has struggled the past few weeks is because our offensive line has done a poor job of defending the pass rush. I would expect pass protection to improve for a couple reasons: (1) we should get healthier and get our starting tackles back, (2) even if we don't get our tackles back, the unit that has been playing now has more experience together and will improve going forward, and (3) the opposing defenses coming up on our schedule are not as strong as the defenses we have played in recent weeks.
Defensively, our run defense is stout. I don't see anyone having much success on the ground. The only liability I see defensively is our pass defense, which has still been pretty good statistically. However, we admittedly have not played against many good QB's. West Lunt is probably the best we have played against and he threw for over 300 yards. This is what would scare me most about the Indiana game.
This has been a long-winded answer to essentially say that I am not skeptical of this team. By this point in the season we know they are good. We know what their strengths and weaknesses are. However, this does not mean that I am confident we will end the season undefeated. In fact, I would bet against that happening; so maybe by some fans' standards you could consider me skeptical.
I completely agree. With the 7-0 start and the remaining schedule I think some are now expecting that the Hawks should end up 12-0, if thinking that won't happen is considered being skeptical then it's probably warranted. I doubt there is a single poster here prior to the season saw the absolute ceiling over 10 wins, with the majority being lower (and many much lower).
I'm going to just sit back, cheer on the Hawks, enjoy the ride, and hope they play to the best of their ability. If they do that, 11 or 12 wins and a trip to Indy is very possible.
Except BuddyRydell, who, on April 2nd, predicted them to go 12-0 (scores included) and beat Michigan in the championship game.
I don't understand the concept of expecting things that I have no control over.
We must rediscover the distinction between hope and expectation.
Ivan Illich
That's what it is. My memory is not as good as I thought it was.. getting sports mixed up.
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