"What the hell just happened" is the common theme of sheer disappointment following Iowa's shocking 20-19 loss to lowly Iowa State (minus their 3 top LBs). Every Ferentzian cliché smacked fans in the mouth this game (i.e. poor clock management, head scratching personnel decisions, ultra conservative play calling, awful QB play without repercussions, and being outcoached). So where does Iowa go from here?
1. X Nwampa Continues Underachievement Campaign. IowaLaw has been hard on X over the years. After all, Kirk guaranteed the 5 star recruit a starting job in exchange for agreeing to come to Iowa. Sometimes those deals work out, but X has been a disaster. Not only did he fail to record a single tackle, pass breakup, sack, or anything else against Iowa State (he was never even in the same screen as a tackle made), but he randyed around enough to make Iowa State's WRs look like Ohio State's WRs. His repeated blown coverages and lack of discipline were on full display. The time has come to start playing some of the lesser known guys on the bench. Entringer replaced X in the 4th quarter and played well. He needs to be given a chance regardless of X's union card.
2. Johnson Looks Elite. 25 rushes for 187 yards and 2 TDs is an elite stat line for an Iowa RB against a Big 12 opponent. Johnson has all-Big 10 talent and needs to be the focal point of this offense. What is concerning is how the coaching staff managed to go away from Johnson in the 4th quarter when he seemed to be the only player on offense capable of making a play (averaging 7.5 yards per carry). Hell, Johnson was even Iowa's second leading receiver with 3 catches.
3. Cade Has More Confidence Than Ability. De ja vu all over again. Watching Cade complete 4 of his last 20 passes for 19 yards & 2 interceptions was like watching Deacon Hill all year last year. Just disgusting. The Hawks played the entire second half not to lose, and Cade's lack of mobility and arm strength were the primary reason. Cade was timid, made terrible reads, and lacked the vision to find the open man. He has an all-American TE who didn't have a single catch. So what is it going to take to give the backup QB a shot? Kirk feels like he owes Cade more than hsi over priced $1,000,000 NIL deal while guys like Drew Stevens, who actually contribute, paid their own out-of-state tuition to come to Iowa. Would Iowa have held on to a double digit lead with Sullivan out there in the 2nd half? OF COURSE. The guy had a 65% completion percentage last year. He was a Big 10 starter without two blown knees. Why is Kirk out there saying "I haven't even thought about it" when asked why Sullivan didn't get a chance?
4. Higgins Dominates. The Hawks are lucky Higgins chose to come back. He is a man among boys out there. 11 tackles and a nice interception are nice stats to pad his Butkus Award campaign, but more importantly Higgins simply has a nose for the ball. Even when he didn't make a tackle, Higgins was always right there on the play. He plays great along side Jackson (8 additional tackles) and to see the Hawks waste this elite LB group is tragic to see. Sama averaged just 3.4 yards per carry against the Hawks...but the DBs let them down.
5. RVZ Reverts to the Mean. Fans starved for WR talent were hopelessly optimistic after Vander Zee's performance in week 1. It gave fans hope that despite WR recruiting & retention bottoming out over the past decade, maybe this 6'4 true freshmen could be the savior. Wishful thinking? RVZ was targeted quite a bit in the first half but didn't come down with any of them (part of it was on the QB, obviously). RVZ finished the day with just 1 catch on about 6 targets for 10 yards, which is more in line with expectations for a 3 star recruit true freshmen. Jacob Gill looked good out there, but #1 receiver Brown, who was expected to have a break out year, is now 2 games into the season without a catch.
6. Again No Wetjen? Clearly the new OC doesn't read IowaLaw's posts, because this was the second week in a row where the staff is making Wetjen look like Charlie Jones. Buried on the depth chart behind inferior WRs, not designing a single play or package for him, yet watching him continue as an elite punt returner. How do you waste that kind of talent while repeatedly getting the ball in the hands of a freshmen RB who averaged just 2.3 yards per carry against Iowa State? Great coaches understand how to get their most talented players on the field. They develop packages for their 2nd team QB and for their speedsters. They don't waste them.
1. X Nwampa Continues Underachievement Campaign. IowaLaw has been hard on X over the years. After all, Kirk guaranteed the 5 star recruit a starting job in exchange for agreeing to come to Iowa. Sometimes those deals work out, but X has been a disaster. Not only did he fail to record a single tackle, pass breakup, sack, or anything else against Iowa State (he was never even in the same screen as a tackle made), but he randyed around enough to make Iowa State's WRs look like Ohio State's WRs. His repeated blown coverages and lack of discipline were on full display. The time has come to start playing some of the lesser known guys on the bench. Entringer replaced X in the 4th quarter and played well. He needs to be given a chance regardless of X's union card.
2. Johnson Looks Elite. 25 rushes for 187 yards and 2 TDs is an elite stat line for an Iowa RB against a Big 12 opponent. Johnson has all-Big 10 talent and needs to be the focal point of this offense. What is concerning is how the coaching staff managed to go away from Johnson in the 4th quarter when he seemed to be the only player on offense capable of making a play (averaging 7.5 yards per carry). Hell, Johnson was even Iowa's second leading receiver with 3 catches.
3. Cade Has More Confidence Than Ability. De ja vu all over again. Watching Cade complete 4 of his last 20 passes for 19 yards & 2 interceptions was like watching Deacon Hill all year last year. Just disgusting. The Hawks played the entire second half not to lose, and Cade's lack of mobility and arm strength were the primary reason. Cade was timid, made terrible reads, and lacked the vision to find the open man. He has an all-American TE who didn't have a single catch. So what is it going to take to give the backup QB a shot? Kirk feels like he owes Cade more than hsi over priced $1,000,000 NIL deal while guys like Drew Stevens, who actually contribute, paid their own out-of-state tuition to come to Iowa. Would Iowa have held on to a double digit lead with Sullivan out there in the 2nd half? OF COURSE. The guy had a 65% completion percentage last year. He was a Big 10 starter without two blown knees. Why is Kirk out there saying "I haven't even thought about it" when asked why Sullivan didn't get a chance?
4. Higgins Dominates. The Hawks are lucky Higgins chose to come back. He is a man among boys out there. 11 tackles and a nice interception are nice stats to pad his Butkus Award campaign, but more importantly Higgins simply has a nose for the ball. Even when he didn't make a tackle, Higgins was always right there on the play. He plays great along side Jackson (8 additional tackles) and to see the Hawks waste this elite LB group is tragic to see. Sama averaged just 3.4 yards per carry against the Hawks...but the DBs let them down.
5. RVZ Reverts to the Mean. Fans starved for WR talent were hopelessly optimistic after Vander Zee's performance in week 1. It gave fans hope that despite WR recruiting & retention bottoming out over the past decade, maybe this 6'4 true freshmen could be the savior. Wishful thinking? RVZ was targeted quite a bit in the first half but didn't come down with any of them (part of it was on the QB, obviously). RVZ finished the day with just 1 catch on about 6 targets for 10 yards, which is more in line with expectations for a 3 star recruit true freshmen. Jacob Gill looked good out there, but #1 receiver Brown, who was expected to have a break out year, is now 2 games into the season without a catch.
6. Again No Wetjen? Clearly the new OC doesn't read IowaLaw's posts, because this was the second week in a row where the staff is making Wetjen look like Charlie Jones. Buried on the depth chart behind inferior WRs, not designing a single play or package for him, yet watching him continue as an elite punt returner. How do you waste that kind of talent while repeatedly getting the ball in the hands of a freshmen RB who averaged just 2.3 yards per carry against Iowa State? Great coaches understand how to get their most talented players on the field. They develop packages for their 2nd team QB and for their speedsters. They don't waste them.
