Sparty a three point favorite

[David1979]

Basically an even game at MSU. Their defense appears to be better than last year but not elite. On offense, their running game hasn't been very good and it seems they rely heavily on their QB as he has the most rushing yards on the team.

ESPN's FPI gives Iowa a 60% chance to win the game.

 

[SpartanJD]

Hey SpartanJD, serious question here, what was the reason for last year's huge dropoff from '15? Did MS go 3-9 in '16? We're there a lot of injuries or what?

Cancerous locker oom issues and QB play were the main reasons. Also had an OL shuffle going on with injuries. But we've heard cliques formed (city vs rural) we had an assistant named Blackwell from Detroit who may have helped it. McDowell played for himself. A lot of the drama and off field issues came from highly rated guys.

Young guys thought they were better. Older guys felt they earned pt due to rank. We heard players weren't close off the field.

Just a combo of shit. People also think Dantonio is too loyal to his staff.

 

[SpartanJD]

Basically an even game at MSU. Their defense appears to be better than last year but not elite. On offense, their running game hasn't been very good and it seems they rely heavily on their QB as he has the most rushing yards on the team.

ESPN's FPI gives Iowa a 60% chance to win the game.

Agreed. Our defense is ok to decent. Our run game is good because we use our QB and jet sweeps to amass yards. Not a lot of production from RBs. Scott was going to have a good game against ND until he fumbled going into the endzone. He's our most talented but has ball security issues.

 

[Hawkfan5220]

Huh, didn't know that. I would have thought with you guys having that really good stretch in the early '10's that players would have bought into the "system" and listened to the staff.

 

[SpartanJD]

Huh, didn't know that. I would have thought with you guys having that really good stretch in the early '10's that players would have bought into the "system" and listened to the staff.

Dantonio said last year and pre season that he felt some players thought they were born on third base and didn't have to earn it. Also, I forgot to mention that players were sleeping with their teammates girls. Reschke, our stud LBer who is white, had a black TE on our team sleep with his girl. In a rant to his g/f, he called the guy a racial slur, and she posted it online. He's a stud and would be a senior this year. Instead, he got kicked off the team.

So yeah, we had it all. Racial divides, entitlement, players playing for themselves, and coaches getting fat and happy.

Not to mention 4 of the guys booted off team for legal trouble were all top 250 kids, 4 stars.

Oh, and in case you didn;t follow, our young black recruiting coordinator from Detroit (Blackwell) was fired for not doing mandatory reporting. Apparently the kids called him up after the night in question in he told them to stay silent and lawyer up (good advice) but the problem was he was an employee of the university and failed his mandatory reporting duties.
.

 

[JStandefer]

I really like the psychological aspect of this. Iowa is coming off a heart breaking loss, and being an underdog to Sparty might just be what the doctor ordered for this team.

I hope I am wrong, but I have the opposite take. I hope the Penn State lost doesn't beat us twice. That game reminded me of the big 10 championship game

 

[Sett1997]

MSU has a very stingy d and put over 500 yards offense on Notre Dame. Also 296 yards rushing on Western Michigan.

 

[ichawks]

Also, I forgot to mention that players were sleeping with their teammates girls. Reschke, our stud LBer who is white, had a black TE on our team sleep with his girl. In a rant to his g/f, he called the guy a racial slur, and she posted it online. He's a stud and would be a senior this year. Instead, he got kicked off the team.

So yeah, we had it all. Racial divides, entitlement, players playing for themselves, and coaches getting fat and happy.
.

Sounds like Iowa's version of Brandon Wegher.

 

[kwik44]

Cancerous locker oom issues and QB play were the main reasons. Also had an OL shuffle going on with injuries. But we've heard cliques formed (city vs rural) we had an assistant named Blackwell from Detroit who may have helped it. McDowell played for himself. A lot of the drama and off field issues came from highly rated guys.

Young guys thought they were better. Older guys felt they earned pt due to rank. We heard players weren't close off the field.

Just a combo of shit. People also think Dantonio is too loyal to his staff.

Interesting. I don't think Iowa's had city/country boy problems ever, but I can definitely see where that brings a team to it's knees quickly. Does Dantonio look for a specific type or is it get the most highly ranked guys as possible? Iowa did have a bit of that in their '06-'08 recruitment. Now, it seems Ferentz knows exactly what he wants.

 

[SpartanJD]

Interesting. I don't think Iowa's had city/country boy problems ever, but I can definitely see where that brings a team to it's knees quickly. Does Dantonio look for a specific type or is it get the most highly ranked guys as possible? Iowa did have a bit of that in their '06-'08 recruitment. Now, it seems Ferentz knows exactly what he wants.

I've also heard with how tense politics were last fall with the election it didn't help.

It seems like he's always gone after a mix of highly rated guys and 'under the radar types'. Seems like him and his staff has done a good job of evaluating guys not highly rated that they think they can mold.

After we started winning big a few years ago, he hired a recruiting coordinator (Blackwell) to try and connect to and land bigger fish. It ended up biting Dantonio in the ass.

 

[TKingpin]

Hey, JD, Thank you for coming onto the board and being both informative and civil! It is refreshing compared to other unnamed B1G fans.

Be warned, though, that some smart ass will probably come on and type "Go away, your school is full of nothing but _____\". Please understand that is the minority's of the real Hawk fans.

 

[SpartanJD]

MSU has a very stingy d and put over 500 yards offense on Notre Dame. Also 296 yards rushing on Western Michigan.

A decent amount happened in the last 20 minutes of the game when ND had a big lead. But our offense can move the ball and we have playmakers all over the field. Turnovers have killed the team--LJ Scott has two fumbles inside the 1 going in for a TD already this year.

We were just getting our running game going, again, when LJ fumbled inside the 1 vs ND and then the air was taken out of the stadium.

I don't think Lewerke is ready yet to have games put on his shoulder. We need a run game.

 

[jhawkinaz]

rose bowl

Chuck Long

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

A decent amount happened in the last 20 minutes of the game when ND had a big lead. But our offense can move the ball and we have playmakers all over the field. Turnovers have killed the team--LJ Scott has two fumbles inside the 1 going in for a TD already this year.

We were just getting our running game going, again, when LJ fumbled inside the 1 vs ND and then the air was taken out of the stadium.

I don't think Lewerke is ready yet to have games put on his shoulder. We need a run game.

I know that the Spartans have a great tradition at WR, however, I was struck that MSU's top 5 receiving options this year (at least top 5 statistically) only have a combined 24 prior career receptions. Thus, no matter the amount of talent ... there usually is going to be inconsistency that goes with that level of inexperience. To complement that, as you indicated, your QB doesn't have THAT much experience and, furthermore, he had to rehab from his broken leg ... and that impacted his development during the off-season to some degree.

I'd agree that the Spartans definitely NEED a running game. Furthermore, although I love my Hawks ... the Hawkeye run D still has been rather suspect to date. They've shown flashes ... but there continue to be breakdowns in terms of technique (like maintaining outside leverage and tackling) that have undermined the group in terms of effectiveness.

On the flip-side, Iowa fans are quick to lament about our lack of experience among our pass-catchers ... however, among our top 5 guys (receiving options) we return 150 D1 receptions plus a guy who had 89 receptions in the JUCO ranks. Ordinarily, I'd downplay the impact of a JUCO transfer - but that young man (Easley) has easily been our most contributor at WR.

Anyhow, the match-up is an interesting one. Both teams are "built" for phone-booth football. The Spartans own the home-field advantage, however, in many respects Iowa owns the experience advantage. Just like you indicated early ... I anticipate a close, hard-fought game.

 

[MeetTheFerentz]

Hear "rose colored glasses" are selling like hot cakes in Iowa City. As to who is right? I'll go with Vegas before message board predictors.

What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of Lee's latest pick-6.

 

[jdw10224405]

I was a bit surprised by the line initially figuring the Hawks would be near even or a slight favorite. The more I think about it, it's somewhat reasonable. The PSU score did not reflect the game very well if you just looked at the statistics, so the Hawks didn't get as much credit. On the flip side, MSU put up good offensive stats vs. ND except the score. Also, it's the second road game for Stanley who's making his 2nd Big Ten start and 5th in college. As stated earlier though, -3 at home is basically a toss up and I would take the Hawks to win straight up (+150 money line), but it's far from a lock. O/U at 45 seems low given combined offensive potential and recent defensive struggles.

 

[laidbackdude2011]

How is MSU different from all those other mediocre Iowa years when we pull off an unexpected upset. Hawk fans have short memories. Our first few games were not jaw dropping. And our offense last week was horrendous

 

[obfuscating]

We really aren't but once conference play starts throw out the on paper bs. Our best talent for the most part are 1st and second year players. Lewerke is a third year guy but broke his leg last season and it hurt off season growth.

We have two true frosh and two rs frosh in our top 7 for OL. Left tackle is third year guy first time starter. We have experience at RB but Scott can't hold onto ball. Our WRs are very talented.

Defensively we have good DTs but DEs are mediocre. Our LBers are ok. Secondary features a true frosh at one cb and a true soph first year starter at other. Safeties have problems vs top athletes over the top and in space.

We played 11 true frosh last week vs ND. I fear we will lose the los scrimmage battle this week and a costly turnover will lose us s close one 24-20.

I dont see msu scoring as much or close to as much, no barkley in your backfield.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I've also heard with how tense politics were last fall with the election it didn't help.

It seems like he's always gone after a mix of highly rated guys and 'under the radar types'. Seems like him and his staff has done a good job of evaluating guys not highly rated that they think they can mold.

After we started winning big a few years ago, he hired a recruiting coordinator (Blackwell) to try and connect to and land bigger fish. It ended up biting Dantonio in the ass.

what on earth would this have to do with ballin' and screwin'?

 

[ottumwan in tx]

How is MSU different from all those other mediocre Iowa years when we pull off an unexpected upset. Hawk fans have short memories. Our first few games were not jaw dropping. And our offense last week was horrendous

iowa struggled with ISU for goodness sakes

 

[Dauminator]

Instead, he got kicked off the team.
.

Hmm. Girlfriend cheats on you, get kicked off the team. Sucks to be him.

what on earth would this have to do with ballin' and screwin'?

I took that the caustic rhetoric of the election exacerbated preexisting division on the team.

 

[SpartanJD]

I dont see msu scoring as much or close to as much, no barkley in your backfield.

Once again, don't use transitive properties especially when in conference play.

PSU got almost 600 yards on offense, right? You guys gave up 40 to Iowa St?

Scoring in the 20s for MSU doesn't seem crazy, does it?

 

[SpartanJD]

Hmm. Girlfriend cheats on you, get kicked off the team. Sucks to be him.


I took that the caustic rhetoric of the election exacerbated preexisting division on the team.

I think Dantonio put it to a team vote

 

[Scott559]

Have no idea how this game will go, really is a pick em game from my perspective.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

what on earth would this have to do with ballin' and screwin'?

You really don't see how political issues last year (BLM, kneeling for anthem, and Donald Trump's rhetoric) could create division in a diverse locker room?

 

[Pepperman]

Once again, don't use transitive properties especially when in conference play.

PSU got almost 600 yards on offense, right? You guys gave up 40 to Iowa St?

Scoring in the 20s for MSU doesn't seem crazy, does it?

You're absolutely right that this transitive property doesn't work or tell you anything.

I actually think Iowa State is a pretty good team for once. Well, we should know more about them soon as they host Texas Thursday night. Tune in for that and see what you think of their offense. I think they have two VERY GOOD players in Lazard (WR) and Montgomery (RB). And a few other good players such as QB Park and WR Butler. Don't be surprised at all if ISU beats Texas, even though they are 6.5 dogs. In fact, I'd bet on them +6.5 for sure.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

We all know this will be kind of a 'boring' game that ends up 20-17 or something.

We need to stop with the turnovers though.

Well that's good because I just picked 38 points in my pick em'. I was wondering if either team will actually make it to 20. I have an odd feeling we are going to open up and throw a bunch in the first half for some reason. My brain is telling me that I am stupid for thinking that after watching Iowa football my whole life. We all know we are running on 1st down.

 

[SpartanJD]

Well that's good because I just picked 38 points in my pick em'. I was wondering if either team will actually make it to 20. I have an odd feeling we are going to open up and throw a bunch in the first half for some reason. My brain is telling me that I am stupid for thinking that after watching Iowa football my whole life. We all know we are running on 1st down.

The day Dantonio and Fetentz come out throwing the ball all over the field will be a first.

 

[luvmyhawks]

Interesting. I don't think Iowa's had city/country boy problems ever, but I can definitely see where that brings a team to it's knees quickly. Does Dantonio look for a specific type or is it get the most highly ranked guys as possible? Iowa did have a bit of that in their '06-'08 recruitment. Now, it seems Ferentz knows exactly what he wants.

Yes, as I was reading Jd's post, is was having flashbacks to the 2005-2008 classes. Not sure there was divide, but certainly entitlement and some bad seeds.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

well, now we are in a spot here where we wonder if iowa can win any games. I'm sure they will, but which ones?

 

[And1Hawk]

well, now we are in a spot here where we wonder if iowa can win any games. I'm sure they will, but which ones?

IL for starters ..., I'm not sure how we could lose that game as that is as bad of a team as I have seen in a long time. Lose that game and the entire coaching staff should be let go immediately. That's the type of game we could look good though and think 'all is well' when it's not.