Realistic thoughts...

[KOKhawk]

My thoughts (in no particular order):
1. Canzeri looked like Fred Russell last night. I think he's finally understanding how to run behind a competent but not dominant zone blocking line
2. Beathard needs to get hit waaaay less often. Pass protection needs to improve and CJB needs to learn to dive/slide when a LB or safety is gunning for him.
3. Can we get a pass rush, please?
4. WRs have sticky hands. I love it...now just work some more on separation from the DBs
5. Aside from Niemann (sp?) overrunning a few plays in the 1st games, our LB play has been much improved over last year.
6. Desmond King=defensive MVP all year
7. Where did the Greg Davis haters go? (tongue-in-cheek)

I have pretty similar opinions. I think the pass rush will come. Nate Meier is having his best season by far. Also, we're currently 6th in the nation in sacks.

I quit reading after OP saying King is bigger than Mabin. King 5-11, 200 Mabin 6-2, 200

This. Plus its not like Boyd is a big physical receiver. He's more of a natural WR that runs routes well, catches 50/50 balls, and finds ways to get open.

 

[SeaBassWins]

Here are some realistic thoughts, hawks are 3-0 which is great, but now for some context.

FCS Illinois State is 2-1 and most recently beat 0-3 Eastern Illinois by a FG.
Clones are 1-2 and most recently lost to FCS Toledo.
PITT is 2-1 and beat FCS Youngstown by 8 points.

Say what you want about playing up and down to competition, but there is not a quality win yet in the 2015 season.

Here's a question, are wisky, minn and NE losses considered quality losses at the hands of good teams?
Those schools have lost to Bama (not close), TCU by a TD, Miami in OT and BYU hail mary.

IMO, time will tell. Playing a tough out of conference could pay dividends in B1G play, where wins matter. However, if hawks continue winning ways in B1G play maybe there is no benefit to scheduling tough out of conference. Weak out of conference scheduling has often been a staple of the SEC, so who knows.

 

[whatsup12579er]

Here are some realistic thoughts, hawks are 3-0 which is great, but now for some context.

FCS Illinois State is 2-1 and most recently beat 0-3 Eastern Illinois by a FG.
Clones are 1-2 and most recently lost to FCS Toledo.
PITT is 2-1 and beat FCS Youngstown by 8 points.

Say what you want about playing up and down to competition, but there is not a quality win yet in the 2015 season.

Here's a question, are wisky, minn and NE losses considered quality losses at the hands of good teams?
Those schools have lost to Bama (not close), TCU by a TD, Miami in OT and BYU hail mary.

IMO, time will tell. Playing a tough out of conference could pay dividends in B1G play, where wins matter. However, if hawks continue winning ways in B1G play maybe there is no benefit to scheduling tough out of conference. Weak out of conference scheduling has often been a staple of the SEC, so who knows.

I don't think you know what FCS means... Toledo is a MAC team and was favored by over a TD vs. ISU

 

[KOKhawk]

I don't think you know what FCS means... Toledo is a MAC team and was favored by over a TD vs. ISU

Yes, but CONTEXT!

 

[SeaBassWins]

I don't think you know what FCS means... Toledo is a MAC team and was favored by over a TD vs. ISU

Maybe you didn't hear, the NCAA just downgraded all MAC schools to FCS status. Before you go and check, I am kidding. My mistake on that one. Please accept my apology. Thank goodness for the fact checkers. I will look forward to reading your fact checking on all the other ridiculous statements made on this board.

 

[SeaBassWins]

Here are some realistic thoughts, hawks are 3-0 which is great, but now for some context.

FCS Illinois State is 2-1 and most recently beat 0-3 Eastern Illinois by a FG.
Clones are 1-2 and most recently lost to FCS Toledo.
PITT is 2-1 and beat FCS Youngstown by 8 points.

Say what you want about playing up and down to competition, but there is not a quality win yet in the 2015 season.

Here's a question, are wisky, minn and NE losses considered quality losses at the hands of good teams?
Those schools have lost to Bama (not close), TCU by a TD, Miami in OT and BYU hail mary.

IMO, time will tell. Playing a tough out of conference could pay dividends in B1G play, where wins matter. However, if hawks continue winning ways in B1G play maybe there is no benefit to scheduling tough out of conference. Weak out of conference scheduling has often been a staple of the SEC, so who knows.

It has been pointed out to me that Toledo is indeed a MAC school and not an FCS school. Insert MAC in place of FCS and the point is the same.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

I will stick to my original prediction and say that this a 9+ win season, 9 being the minimum win total and there is a chance we get to more wins

 

[KOKhawk]

Here are some realistic thoughts, hawks are 3-0 which is great, but now for some context.

FCS Illinois State is 2-1 and most recently beat 0-3 Eastern Illinois by a FG.
Clones are 1-2 and most recently lost to FCS Toledo.
PITT is 2-1 and beat FCS Youngstown by 8 points.

Say what you want about playing up and down to competition, but there is not a quality win yet in the 2015 season.

Here's a question, are wisky, minn and NE losses considered quality losses at the hands of good teams?
Those schools have lost to Bama (not close), TCU by a TD, Miami in OT and BYU hail mary.

IMO, time will tell. Playing a tough out of conference could pay dividends in B1G play, where wins matter. However, if hawks continue winning ways in B1G play maybe there is no benefit to scheduling tough out of conference. Weak out of conference scheduling has often been a staple of the SEC, so who knows.

Context in terms of who beat who and by how much isn't a great measuring tool IMO. The number one team in the nation just beat a MAC school by a TD. TCU beat Minn by less than a TD. Minn struggled with a Mountain West team and Kent State (not sure of conference). Kent State got crushed by Illinois. Illinois got whooped by UNC.... It goes on and on and on...

There are question marks for sure, but I hate when people talk about this team beating that team and so on... We don't know if Pitt will be considered a quality team or not at this point. They definitely looked the part in the second half.

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

You mean Toledo that beat then #18 Arkansas in Little Rock before ISU took them to OT on Saturday? THAT Toledo?

And you may have noticed that #1 Ohio State drilled MAC school N. Illinois 20-13, top 25 Missouri rolled over that juggernaut called UConn 9-6, and Minnesota whupped up on Kent State by 3.

Buy a clue, then you'll have one.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

If you bothered to watch any of the games they should be 3-0. Pretty simple.

Are you serious?!?!?! DId you watch the entire Miami game, Nebby got their ass kicked the whole game besides like 5 min comeback....BYU game could have gone either way, oh and its BYU, and yes they beat directional school as they should.....Nebby=not very good

 

[SeaBassWins]

Context in terms of who beat who and by how much isn't a great measuring tool IMO. The number one team in the nation just beat a MAC school by a TD. TCU beat Minn by less than a TD. Minn struggled with a Mountain West team and Kent State (not sure of conference). Kent State got crushed by Illinois. Illinois got whooped by UNC.... It goes on and on and on...

There are question marks for sure, but I hate when people talk about this team beating that team and so on... We don't know if Pitt will be considered a quality team or not at this point. They definitely looked the part in the second half.

"We don't know if Pitt will be considered a quality team or not at this point." The same could be said of hawks and that's the point. Hating the context argument is your prerogative, but how do you propose to compare teams and wins or losses? Do you prefer the woulda, coulda, shoulda statements that litter this board?

 

[SeaBassWins]

You mean Toledo that beat then #18 Arkansas in Little Rock before ISU took them to OT on Saturday? THAT Toledo?

And you may have noticed that #1 Ohio State drilled MAC school N. Illinois 20-13, top 25 Missouri rolled over that juggernaut called UConn 9-6, and Minnesota whupped up on Kent State by 3.

Buy a clue, then you'll have one.

You have a rapists like wit.

 

[SeaBassWins]

Are you serious?!?!?! DId you watch the entire Miami game, Nebby got their ass kicked the whole game besides like 5 min comeback....BYU game could have gone either way, oh and its BYU, and yes they beat directional school as they should.....Nebby=not very good

Please provide a similar rant about the hawks and end it with what the hawks equal. Why even respond to the silly trolls?

 

[KOKhawk]

"We don't know if Pitt will be considered a quality team or not at this point." The same could be said of hawks and that's the point. Hating the context argument is your prerogative, but how do you propose to compare teams and wins or losses? Do you prefer the woulda, coulda, shoulda statements that litter this board?

I don't prefer either. I prefer taking things for what they are. Iowa is currently 3-0 and they look a lot better than they have in the past two seasons.

 

[SeaBassWins]

I don't prefer either. I prefer taking things for what they are. Iowa is currently 3-0 and they look a lot better than they have in the past two seasons.

I can get on board with that, maybe others will as well. Obviously, my post was MO about the thread title of "Realistic thoughts..." I was simply stating how I arrived at my realistic thoughts. Have a great week.

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

What I was most disappointed in last year was our defensive tackling. Since Ferentz has been at Iowa, Iowa has been one of the best tackling teams in the country. It was a point of pride how few big plays our defense gave up, especially in the run game. Last year was a complete 180 and our defense routinely got torched by opposing RB's.

This year I think we've been great so far in the tackling department. We rank 5th in the country in rushing defense which is impressive, even after taking into account our schedule. We played an FCS school that featured a RB that ran for over 2,200 yards last season, as well as a former Big 10 QB that had over 400 yards rushing as a part time QB his last year at Indiana. Iowa State's running game is not strong, but Pitt featured a couple talented RBs even though Connor was out with injury. Qadree Ollison had set a Pitt freshman record for running yards in a game a couple weeks ago on just 16 rushing attempts in one half of football.

So far we have completely shut down opposing rushing attacks, and we have also done a good job of limiting yards after catch in the passing game. If the defense keeps playing the way it has been, there isn't a game on the schedule we shouldn't have a decent chance at winning.

Offensively, we can beat teams a lot of different ways, even though we might not be great at any one attribute. Our offensive line has been okay so far. It was our biggest offensive question mark going into the season, and the fact that they have looked at least average so far is a positive sign. We have two solid running backs, and if Daniels can get healthy I think he has a chance to be a special player. Canzeri looks like he is moving a lot better than last year as he dealt with nagging injuries throughout last season. I hope Daniels's ankle injury does not limit him like Canzeri's injuries limited him last year. Additionally, Canzeri has already reached a career high in receiving yards through just 3 games.

WR's were a question mark going into this season as well. We knew Tevaun Smith was a good WR, but outside of him not much had been proven. So far I think Vandeberg has been better than most expected. Still, this group is only average at best and I think Pitt had a pretty good gameplan against us where they played an aggressive man-to-man defense, daring our WR's to beat them. Our WR's struggled to get separation, but they did make some tough catches that helped keep drives alive. Even though our WR's struggled to get open, we found other ways to beat the Pitt defense by setting up RB screens to Canzeri, finding our TE's in the middle of the field, and CJ burned the Pitt defense with his legs a few times. Our offense still has a lot of progression to make, but we're not bad at any single aspect of the game right now so we should be able to find a way to put up points from week to week.

Going into this season, I expected to see an average team against a week schedule win 6-8 games. I expected this average team to be 2-1 through 3 games. What I've seen so far is a team that I think looks closer to good than average, and the fact that they're 3-0 means I would move my expectation up to 8 or 9 wins, but I definitely see the potential for a double-digit win season.

 

[JBJRFL]

You have a rapists like wit.

Pure WOB!!

 

[pocha444444]

Never thought I would see someone say Mabin is too small.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Are you serious?!?!?! DId you watch the entire Miami game, Nebby got their ass kicked the whole game besides like 5 min comeback....BYU game could have gone either way, oh and its BYU, and yes they beat directional school as they should.....Nebby=not very good

Yes, the Miami game was much more of a whooping than the score made it seem. First off Nebraska was getting dominated on the lines, both sides. The speed difference was painfully obvious, and they are seriously suspect defending the pass.
Miami had two easy TD's that were called back because of holding,..STUPID holding penalties on Miamis part by the way. Miami went all conservative the last quarter and it nearly cost them. Nebraska has issues right now, and they had best just admit it and move forward. BYU game also could have been much worse had the 1st string QB not went down at least half the game with injury.

 

[swihawk]

Nebraska should be 3-0,

Uh, no they shouldn't. Like all teams, they earned their record.

 

[swihawk]

A lot of people had low expectations for the team this season. We generally have our best seasons when expectations are low. Below I have some thoughts on how we will continue to win and where we need to improve.

1. This team has grinders that we haven't had in past seasons.
2. Desmond King needs to cover the best WR 100% of the time. Mabin is to small for the stars like Boyd.
3. Our DL isn't getting the same praise as the last few years, but if you ask me this DL is probably the best since Ballard/Clayborn days. I feel like we have 4 Mitch King/Karl Klug type of guys out there... Grinders who just get the job done.
4. Boone Myers is a huge handicap to the OL. Playing him at LT nearly got Beathard killed today. He got smoked repeatedly in the running and passing game. Boettger needs to be moved to LT or find someone else, because that is going to cost us a game eventually.
5. I love the balance of this team. You can't specifically plan for a particular player. Vandeberg has been our main WR target, but as we saw today Smith and Hillyer made the huge grabs to really set us up and build momentum. Daniels struggled to get rolling in the backfield and we are able to switch to a more agile quick hitter like Canzeri to open up Pitt in the second half.
6. I love the mentality of this defense! Like I said already this team is full of grinders! The defense doesn't particularly have a ton of speed or strength, but they don't get out of place much and they make plays! Jewell and Fisher were absolutely stellar in this game. I only saw 1 legit mistake where Fisher gave up the 4th and 15 play to the TE. Jewell was someone I felt deserved a Scholly much earlier in the recruiting process than he received it. Well he eventually got it and he has proved himself. The man can lay the wood!
7. The kicking game. Think about all the years when Iowa has impressive seasons... Great punter and great kicker. Kidd has been bombing punts and Koehn has gotten past is previous jitters. Ferentz knew he would be a stud, but he mainly showed it in practice. Today he proved it in a game winning fashion. That would have been good for 63-65 yards.

I would like to curb expectations, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 10-11 wins this year. Given the schedule we face and the fact we look better than expected. Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Indiana I would anticipate that we will be favorites. That leaves Maryland, Wisconsin, and Northwestern as the toughest games. Northwestern struggled with Duke, so I think Stanford was a bit of a fluke.

I am usually happy if the hawks can win more than they lose and not look too bad in the process.

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

If CJ has to keep running around things could get ugly quick. Hope the OL pulls it together soon. 9-3

 

[David1979]

A lot of people had low expectations for the team this season. We generally have our best seasons when expectations are low. Below I have some thoughts on how we will continue to win and where we need to improve.

1. This team has grinders that we haven't had in past seasons.
2. Desmond King needs to cover the best WR 100% of the time. Mabin is to small for the stars like Boyd.
3. Our DL isn't getting the same praise as the last few years, but if you ask me this DL is probably the best since Ballard/Clayborn days. I feel like we have 4 Mitch King/Karl Klug type of guys out there... Grinders who just get the job done.
4. Boone Myers is a huge handicap to the OL. Playing him at LT nearly got Beathard killed today. He got smoked repeatedly in the running and passing game. Boettger needs to be moved to LT or find someone else, because that is going to cost us a game eventually.
5. I love the balance of this team. You can't specifically plan for a particular player. Vandeberg has been our main WR target, but as we saw today Smith and Hillyer made the huge grabs to really set us up and build momentum. Daniels struggled to get rolling in the backfield and we are able to switch to a more agile quick hitter like Canzeri to open up Pitt in the second half.
6. I love the mentality of this defense! Like I said already this team is full of grinders! The defense doesn't particularly have a ton of speed or strength, but they don't get out of place much and they make plays! Jewell and Fisher were absolutely stellar in this game. I only saw 1 legit mistake where Fisher gave up the 4th and 15 play to the TE. Jewell was someone I felt deserved a Scholly much earlier in the recruiting process than he received it. Well he eventually got it and he has proved himself. The man can lay the wood!
7. The kicking game. Think about all the years when Iowa has impressive seasons... Great punter and great kicker. Kidd has been bombing punts and Koehn has gotten past is previous jitters. Ferentz knew he would be a stud, but he mainly showed it in practice. Today he proved it in a game winning fashion. That would have been good for 63-65 yards.

I would like to curb expectations, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 10-11 wins this year. Given the schedule we face and the fact we look better than expected. Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Indiana I would anticipate that we will be favorites. That leaves Maryland, Wisconsin, and Northwestern as the toughest games. Northwestern struggled with Duke, so I think Stanford was a bit of a fluke.

Mabin too small???
Myers will only get better as the year goes on. And they only gave up one sack against a good aggressive blitzing defense that provided a lot of different looks some of the new starters haven't ever played against.
Iowa isn't going to be a favorite at Nebraska. And Maryland won't be a favorite.