Well, this was IowaLaw's third visit to see the Hawks play in the famous Rose Bowl. It was also the third time he left utterly disappointed in the team's failure to come prepared to play. The surging Hawks lose 20-17 in the ugliest of ways to 3-5 conference doormat UCLA. The Hawks have yet to beat a single team with a pulse and have no other ranked teams on the schedule for the remainder of the season. Where do we go from here after starting the season with legitimate playoff hopes?
1. Johnson Struggles Mightily. The last goal of any prestige this season (beating a .500 team in the Duke's Mayo bowl doesn't count) has effectively been eliminated. Gone is any chance at Johnson receiving an invitation to the New York Athletic Club for the Heisman Trophy presentation. While Ashton Jenty was out running for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns against a Top 20 opponent, Johnson was completely ineffective against a very weak UCLA. 18 rushes for just 49 yards is a major step back for Iowa's superstar, who just didn't seem to have his running legs in LA. Not to mention, he was not even in there in the 4th quarter of a tied game? Sure, the OLine was atrocious and allowed penetration on almost every down, but there's no excuse for an NFL caliber back averaging 2.7 yards per carry against any team...let alone UCLA. They say live by the run and die by the run. On this night, the Hawks died by the run.
2. Gill Steps Up. Well how about that? Gill, who would have been Northwestern's 5th string WR and barely saw the field this year, is far and away Iowa's top receiver (which isn't saying much given who else is in the WR room). The guy takes bigger hits than I can remember a Hawkeye WR taking, yet he keeps bouncing back and making plays. 6 catches for 140 yards is the best game I can remember a WR having since Brian was installed as the OC many years ago (Charlie Jones went over 100 yards once, not sure anyone else did). Gill looks poised to be one of the key pieces to next year's offense.
3. DLine With Springs on their Shoulder Pads. Ouch. The tackling out there looked like what you'd see in a PeeWee league game playing against "baby Gronk." To add insult to injury, it was the nation's LAST ranked rushing attack who carved up the DL like Thanksgiving turkey. The Bruins backup RB somehow rushed for 125 yards for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. UCLA also had 3 other players average more than 5 yards per carry. Where was the tackling? The DL can't rely on guys like Cooper DeJean & Jay Higgins to clean up their mess week after week. Just awful across the board.
4. Is Sullivan Our Guy Next Year? Sully was tentative but serviceable...and far better than Cade ever was. However, if you want to win Power 5 games, one dimensional quarterbacking rarely works. Sullivan had decent stats in 6/9 for 157 yards and 10 yards rushing, but his 3 turnovers were backbreakers (and I'm sure Kirk made him afraid of his own shadow after each one). Everyone on the UCLA sideline (and their fans) knew Iowa had no depth at QB behind Sullivan...yet the Hawks insisted upon randying around and calling QB sneaks where Sullivan unnecessarily took a half dozen massive hits without it even occurring to him to slide. Whether Sully is the guy once Cade is healthy this season is up in the air...but will Sullivan be the guy next year or does Kirk go fish? QB is the most important position on the field. I just don't think Sullivan, with his shot put throwing motion, is a good enough QB to give a team a prayer at a playoff birth. You've gotta hit the portal hard and see if there's interest out there.
5. RIP Tight End U. Kudos to the Tim Lester offense for finally including the WRs and a small amount of down field passing. But the tight ends combined for 0 catches against UCLA after getting just 3 receptions the previous week. I was at the game in person and didn't see the telecast, but thought Lachey was cleared to play. If so, what happened? Lachey has just 24 catches all year, which is even worse than he did two years ago as an unknown backup. I'm fine with de-prioritizing the TE position like Iowa has de-prioritized the fullback position if it means a more dynamic, big play offense that utilizes a group of talented WRs. But without any real WR threats out there, it's pretty strange to completely go away from the TEs.
6. The Stellar Defense Forced Just 1 Punt? The elite Iowa defense only managed to force UCLA's low octane offense to punt 1 time all game? Far too many easy third down conversions to wide open receivers. Too many 8 yard runs on first down making it impossible to force a punt. All-American Castro missing tackles? 5 star safeties playing like walk-ons? I just don't get it. What happened to these guys and their Broyles Award winning coach. How about the recently promoted "associate head coach" Seth Wallace, to pocket a MAJOR pay raise after last season's defense? It's unacceptable. The defensive staff is extremely well paid compared with their peers and they've got more talent that virtually any other Big 10 team. This loss falls on the staff.
1. Johnson Struggles Mightily. The last goal of any prestige this season (beating a .500 team in the Duke's Mayo bowl doesn't count) has effectively been eliminated. Gone is any chance at Johnson receiving an invitation to the New York Athletic Club for the Heisman Trophy presentation. While Ashton Jenty was out running for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns against a Top 20 opponent, Johnson was completely ineffective against a very weak UCLA. 18 rushes for just 49 yards is a major step back for Iowa's superstar, who just didn't seem to have his running legs in LA. Not to mention, he was not even in there in the 4th quarter of a tied game? Sure, the OLine was atrocious and allowed penetration on almost every down, but there's no excuse for an NFL caliber back averaging 2.7 yards per carry against any team...let alone UCLA. They say live by the run and die by the run. On this night, the Hawks died by the run.
2. Gill Steps Up. Well how about that? Gill, who would have been Northwestern's 5th string WR and barely saw the field this year, is far and away Iowa's top receiver (which isn't saying much given who else is in the WR room). The guy takes bigger hits than I can remember a Hawkeye WR taking, yet he keeps bouncing back and making plays. 6 catches for 140 yards is the best game I can remember a WR having since Brian was installed as the OC many years ago (Charlie Jones went over 100 yards once, not sure anyone else did). Gill looks poised to be one of the key pieces to next year's offense.
3. DLine With Springs on their Shoulder Pads. Ouch. The tackling out there looked like what you'd see in a PeeWee league game playing against "baby Gronk." To add insult to injury, it was the nation's LAST ranked rushing attack who carved up the DL like Thanksgiving turkey. The Bruins backup RB somehow rushed for 125 yards for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. UCLA also had 3 other players average more than 5 yards per carry. Where was the tackling? The DL can't rely on guys like Cooper DeJean & Jay Higgins to clean up their mess week after week. Just awful across the board.
4. Is Sullivan Our Guy Next Year? Sully was tentative but serviceable...and far better than Cade ever was. However, if you want to win Power 5 games, one dimensional quarterbacking rarely works. Sullivan had decent stats in 6/9 for 157 yards and 10 yards rushing, but his 3 turnovers were backbreakers (and I'm sure Kirk made him afraid of his own shadow after each one). Everyone on the UCLA sideline (and their fans) knew Iowa had no depth at QB behind Sullivan...yet the Hawks insisted upon randying around and calling QB sneaks where Sullivan unnecessarily took a half dozen massive hits without it even occurring to him to slide. Whether Sully is the guy once Cade is healthy this season is up in the air...but will Sullivan be the guy next year or does Kirk go fish? QB is the most important position on the field. I just don't think Sullivan, with his shot put throwing motion, is a good enough QB to give a team a prayer at a playoff birth. You've gotta hit the portal hard and see if there's interest out there.
5. RIP Tight End U. Kudos to the Tim Lester offense for finally including the WRs and a small amount of down field passing. But the tight ends combined for 0 catches against UCLA after getting just 3 receptions the previous week. I was at the game in person and didn't see the telecast, but thought Lachey was cleared to play. If so, what happened? Lachey has just 24 catches all year, which is even worse than he did two years ago as an unknown backup. I'm fine with de-prioritizing the TE position like Iowa has de-prioritized the fullback position if it means a more dynamic, big play offense that utilizes a group of talented WRs. But without any real WR threats out there, it's pretty strange to completely go away from the TEs.
6. The Stellar Defense Forced Just 1 Punt? The elite Iowa defense only managed to force UCLA's low octane offense to punt 1 time all game? Far too many easy third down conversions to wide open receivers. Too many 8 yard runs on first down making it impossible to force a punt. All-American Castro missing tackles? 5 star safeties playing like walk-ons? I just don't get it. What happened to these guys and their Broyles Award winning coach. How about the recently promoted "associate head coach" Seth Wallace, to pocket a MAJOR pay raise after last season's defense? It's unacceptable. The defensive staff is extremely well paid compared with their peers and they've got more talent that virtually any other Big 10 team. This loss falls on the staff.
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