If Nate has a 2:1 TD INT ratio, we won't be having a very good season.
Special Year?
- Thread starter TreyVega
- Start date
I agree with this 100% . I think the NFL caliber guys start looking to the future and realize how risky every play can be. It reminds me of 2010 season post Wisconsin. I think once the conference title/BCS bowl were out of play, the older guys with draft potential moved on mentally, (I cite Icebowl game at MN as evidence, shout out to DJK though, he did leave it all on the field that day). The same thing happened to Wisconsin last year, coincidentally the Gophers benefited there too.
We will also see more Bosa situations like last year, in fact I bet J. Taylor gets dinged up at some point and hangs up his college cleats mid-season. If I am correct, I won't begrudge him one bit. I know others disagree, but these guys have to look out for their own well-being because there are few outside of their family that will. While it sucks when then best players move on, it gives young guys an opportunity to shine which is one of the best parts of college ball. Almost every year Iowa has some unknown player step up and become a star.
As others have pointed out, recruiting does seem to have stocked the cupboards fairly well so hopefully a 2012 will be hard to duplicate.
There were a lot more issues on that team than that. With Sapp getting booted from the squad ... Iowa's situation in the secondary was most definitely a concern. Also, while Bob Sanders was the pre-eminent figure who helped our D to be become veritable "bullies" ... his cover skills were still developmental entering his 3rd year. My point here being ... Iowa's pass-D was largely reliant on making WRs feel "nervous" about catching the ball in traffic AND on a very strong pass-rush.
As the '02 Trojans proved ... an offense that could spread the field with speed ... and gash you both on the ground and through the air ... that was quite a susceptibility for the Hawk D. Back then, the Os simply didn't appear to be quite as varied as they are now. The plethora of different offensive philosophies on the current college-football landscape can exert much greater pressures on defenses. Consequently, Ds have had to adapt correspondingly ... and that has forced them away from overspecializing. The '02 Iowa D was first and foremost built around stopping the run ... and then, against the pass, it simply attempted to prevent big plays getting behind them. Beyond that ... the Hawks were reliant on a pretty high-octane O to score more points.
As for "predicting" the success of the '02 squad ... what information did you know that the rest of us didn't? To even the freakish die-hards ... none of use knew what to expect from Fred or Jermelle. The primary "proven" pieces of the equation were the OL (pretty much all of it), CJ Jones, Dallas Clark, and the fact that Brad Banks saw A LOT of quality snaps in '01. While the promise of the OL might inspire some confidence ... how often have we seen promising Iowa OLs get hammered and hampered by injuries? (answer - plenty) Did we have any guarantee that the '02 Iowa OL would remain so freakishly healthy? (answer - absolutely not) Furthermore, while Clark and Jones gave us some "scaffolding" at skill spots ... were were in intense need for those "emerging stories" that Ferentz always talks about. Who the hell saw the emergence of Mo Brown coming? Lastly, while Brad Banks had flashed moments of brilliance in '01 ... who could every imagined that he would have put up such a historically good season that year? He regularly made great plays with his feet ... all while almost always making great decisions with the ball too. Usually when you're stuck improvising like that ... it often leads to guys making foolish decisions too. The game Banks had against Northwestern that year might just have been the closest thing I've witnessed to a "perfect" game by an Iowa QB ... even against an inferior opponent.
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nca...-leonard-fournette/1q03w8dm5x7bn14e40cjzndrnb
If you can't handle that middle ground, then the changing college football landscape soon won't be for you much longer. Take it from Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, a 20-year head-coaching veteran with the Hawkeyes, who was not surprised by Bosa's decision.
"It's all reflective of the world we live in," Ferentz said on the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday. "There's a business side of things, and there's a football side of things. You just don't want a player to do something stupid. We're living in a place where nothing would surprise me. You can't really be surprised, and you can't let it ruin your day."
I don't think the HC had that attitude when Drew Ott was being put on the field after major injury in 2015. But we're all glad to hear you won't begrudge someone for an imaginary scenario that you've created to push a false narrative about 2010 which puts the blame on players rather than the people drawing large paychecks . . . Gary
This is fair criticism so far as 2010 wasn't 100% on the players, I haven't watched those games in some time so I would assume there was some coaching decisions that factored in and perhaps other factors I am missing as well. I do think player apathy/motivation was one of those factors but I didn't intend to portray it as all their fault that 2010 didn't go down how we all wanted it to.
He not only played center in high school but an opposing coach said he was the best center he had ever seen at that level. Better than Austin Blythe.
Why is it that fans can be so slow to place the responsibility for success on the shoulders of the players? Is it 100% on the players .... heck no! However, their feedback to the coaches directly impacts what plays get called and how personnel gets utilized. Furthermore, we had a guy like Coach Kaz ... and he killed the morale of one of the more talented units we had on that squad.
At a place like Iowa where the coaches were already proven to be excellent at teaching the fundamentals ... they coaches already have one of the most important parts of their part of the business taken care of. For a program like Iowa ... I'd say that 80% of the success of the team falls into the hands of the players. The other 20% goes to the coaches. If the players execute well as a team ... then success usually follows.
That’s great to hear and reassuring but it means nothing yet at the next level. I’m not criticizing the player at all or saying he can’t be special. I’m saying tap the brakes some and give players a chance to get some experience under their belts instead of heaping mounds of expectations on them and then being tremendously disappointed if it does not turn out that way immediately. He’s yet to take a live snap at the D1 level and has not played across from someone that’s 6-2 to 6-4 and 300+ lbs from the center position. When you start tossing out words like ‘special’, ‘champion’ and potential ‘playoff’ team and don’t consider there’s going to be some players in Tyler’s position that may need some game experience that’s when the reality check needs to come in. This is why football is difficult.
You obviously haven’t been looking at the last 4 recruiting classes. We are getting better players every year.
Outside of Iowa State. We beat every other team convincingly and that was still a two score game. If 2 or 3 plays go differently we could have blown out Wisco and beat Purdue. We got ran against NW, and didn’t run the ball, and PSU was the better team but we still had a chance.
I think 2018 will be looked at as one of those “wtf” seasons, the NFL talent is going to be staggering and the schedule wasn’t daunting.
LOL...just an example. Not a serious comparison. Hopefully we have some good surprises this year.
I honestly don't believe that PSU was the better team. We failed to contain a hobbled McSorley ... that was inexcusable. Anthony Nelson was subbed in for Hesse ... and maybe because he didn't play on the right side as much ... but he lost defensive leverage and Trace got to the outside making that big run. That play was pivotal in putting the Hawks more on the defensive for the rest of the game ... up until that point, it appeared that the Hawks were on the verge of truly seizing the momentum in that game.
I honestly believe Iowa's players matched up well with every team they played last year except possibly Miss St and they found a way to win that game. That is the very reason it was such a disappointing season. It also gives hope for the future, though, knowing the Hawks have brought in more guys who can compete with the best in the conference. The only thing really limiting my expectations this year is the schedule. I am preparing myself for 7-5 and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
You're wrong about this play. I've pointed it out before. Hesse and Nelson were both in their normal positions. Hesse got shoved inside and Nelson almost made the play from the left side. The play went to Hesse's side. He was in. You should stop placing blame on Nelson for this play. Here is the video. Watch it. Jack Hockaday could have made the play if he wouldn't have gone left.
16 Ints? That's a benched QB. Also 32 is a huge reach.
The real story on the play was the LBs. There was no OLB maintaining edge responsiblity there. Hockaday jumped in the A gap right away. Hesse clearly thought someone had edge responsibility or he wouldn't have crashed down. This was a bust on whichever LB was on that side.
I agree. I edited my post to add that right before you posted this. I just wanted it to be known that it wasn't Anthony Nelsons responsibility
I watched video in the AA game, there is no quit in that young man. He is a fighter who hates to lose. Will he make some mistakes, sure. Everything I've read says he is smart and quick to adapt. He could be the core of several good OL's in a row.
16 ints. I suppose some definition of the down and distance on when that happens would be in order. I think an INT on 3rd and 9 - with the throw way down the field at 35 yards to a receiver that is great at getting the ball (Randy Moss type - maybe one of the Iowa TEs) would be OK. But a 2nd and 10 into the flat that goes for a pick six might hurt a bit more? In other words - I'm good with a QB that knows the difference - I'm sick of the guy that throws the ball 40 yards out of bounds on 3rd and 15 to save this dumb ass Statistic.
I'll take the 32 TDS - as long as the 16 INTs are worth the risk!
I don’t think they were much better, and perhaps a more level-headed and healthy Stanley could have lead us to a win.
I do think Penn State controlled the game with their run defense and pass rush. Our offense eventually took the form of throwing the ball to Mekhi in the flats every play. Stanley actually had some great moments leading up to the gaf on the goal line. If Stanley can learn to calm himself in the big moments he could do some special things year.
On a positive note, I think our OT’s are going to make life very easy for Stanley, and the run game might do the same. Stanley should lean on the defense too, I think they are going to be a salty group and could force a lot of turnovers.
Would you bench a QB with 26td's and 15int. Would that be a bad season? That Chuck Long sure did suck his senior year, huh?
Times have certainly changed. You no longer win the Maxwell for those numbers.
Ok. No, I would not be happy with 26/15. Can't imagine many people would be thrilled with that production..
Yeah ... Stanley was seemingly suffering a little from the yips through three quarters of the game ... then he comes alive more in the 4th quarter ... only to throw that late INT on the goal-line.
Definitely not one of Stanley's better performances ... lots of missed opportunities in that game. However, I also think that is the sort of game that a guy can learn from too. Nate is the kind of guy who will probably take the lessons learned from that game ... and build off of it. He was harassed every bit as much against Mississippi State ... and he played great against them!
I have a lot of hope for the '19 season.
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