It's amazing what an easier opponent can do for morale. Iowa didn't play much better than they did in the blowout loss last week, but came away with a 26-16 win against a reeling MSU team playing without 6 starters on defense and their head coach.
1. A Healthy Deacon is Better Than Permanently Gimpy Cade. Let's face it, Cade has been no better than Petras all year. Week 5 was no different. The Iowa offense lives and dies by play action passing. When you have a gimp at QB with more confidence than athleticism, it makes it nearly impossible to run the offense. Deacon is no speedster, but his ability to fake a handoff and roll out to find open receivers was a breath of fresh air. That was CJ & Stanzi's bread and butter. In addition, Deacon actually throws the ball down the field rather than staying entirely with 2 yard dink and dunk passes. His stats weren't great, 11/27 for 115 yrds, but he took 2 late hit penalties and gained 2 huge pass interference calls by throwing the ball down the field.
2. It's Time for WR Coach to Go. It's always funny to hear Iowa's WR coach interviewed. Never once has he taken responsibility for his unit being the worst in college football year after year. It's always "well I don't call the plays." Here's the problem. The WR coach recruits the players, coaches them on route running, and runs drills on catching. Yet six WR drops (the TEs had some too) is unacceptable even at the high school level. Diante Vines, who is in his 4th year in the program after picking Iowa over powerhouse Holy Cross, has no business playing WR at a Big 10 school. How many times today did the WRs just nonchalantly run a generic, slow developing out route without making any effort to get open. That falls on the coaches.
3. Run Game is Garbage. I get that Iowa's starter and 3rd stringer are hurt. But how is it possible that lowly Michigan State had 3 guys average more yards per carry than anyone on Iowa's roster. Moulton & Williams ran hard, but averaged just 3 yards per carry against a defense that was carved up last week. On the flip side, MSU's starter averaged 5.5 yards against Iowa's top notch defense.
4. X Finally Shows Up. I have been noting all year what a disappointment Nwankpa's performance had been. This week, however, he finally stepped up and played like the 5***** safety he's capable of. A career high 8 tackles, plus a pass deflection and a tackle for loss. More importantly, he got in there on some crucial 3rd down plays where he single handedly stopped the guy short of the first down. The Hawks desperately need X to continue playing at this level if they are ever going to beat a decent team.
5. Zero Pass Rush Yet Again. Yet another subpar QB was given all day long to pick apart the Iowa defense thanks to a complete lack of pass rush. The Hawks finished with zero sacks for the day, yet again. At this point, it's time to start blitzing on 3rd down because it's painful to watch these QBs stand back there and wait 5 seconds before casually completing passes down the field. Kim was 25/44 for 200 yards and their WRs had 18 catches to Iowa's 6.
6. "The Wave" Needs Fixed. The Wave is the best tradition in football. No question. But has anyone else noticed lately when they try to show the kids waiving down at the field, there are about 15 adults standing around the window for every 1 actual kid staying at the children's hospital. This is supposed to be about cheering up the sick kids, not a chance for 40 or 50 adults to stand in front of the window (blocking any view for the kids) and get a cool view.
7. Kudos to Drew Stevens. Just an annual reminder that Drew Stevens wasn't even recruited and chose to walk-on at Iowa and pay out of state tuition out of his own pocket despite growing up on the other side of the country. The kid has single handedly kept Iowa in games week after week with his clutch, reliable kicks and his booming kickoffs. When all is said and done, he very well could erase many of Nate Kaeding's records.
