Hooray. A 3rd year senior made 3 throws against a terrible defense after he shit the bed to be in that position in the first place. I'm so excited to see him play yet another game for the Hawkeyes.
Stanley's first half
- Thread starter pondscum
- Start date
The reality is we won the game and part of that win was the result of three big time passes by Nate Stanley in the clutch.
No sarcasm; just fact.
Plus, he wins with class and with the support of his coaches, his brothers on the field, and with most Hawkeyes.
Hey, I know it can seem I get my rocks off by bashing a kid. I've been a long time supporter of Kirk and this program. But the last few years with Brian at coordinator I have sought some sanity by coming to this board to find people who can agree with me that I'm not retarded, crazy, or my eyes deceive me.
Nate Stanley should've been benched last year in the Penn State game. Brian Ferentz needs to go, and anybody still defending this offense either hasn't a clue about football, or are far for patient and far less passionate about this team than me.
There is zero reason to defend Nate Stanley the QB (I'm not saying he's a trash person who should die, just that he's not worthy of quarterbacking this team) and zero reason to have turned to one of the backups at some point given how awful he's played and how much he's hamstrung the entire team.
I blame Ferentz for not benching him, and it irks me that we all have to watch the awful offense, the players have to miss out on a magical season, all because we want to sing the praises of a guy who is not that good at quarterback. Why is it such a sin to say he needs to be benched? If the tackle were a turnstile or the kicker could only hit 50% of his field goals, we wouldn't hesitate to call for a change. But because it's the QB, it's worthy of exile to criticize him? Come on.
And as far as glass half full, I really don't see this team ever getting better now. Brian Ferentz will never change and this offense will always be in the 100s. That's unacceptable and you shouldn't feel the need to apologize for it because "we won."
I don't think Iowa has fielded a better defense, side to side, than this team. They can really stretch plays horizontal & get to the football. It's amazing to watch three or four guys maul a ball carrier in the backfield.
I agree this defense laterally has been a real strength along with the secondary. What’s been interesting is watching teams punch holes against this D right up the middle. Look back at the rushing yards that Wisconsin, IL and now Nebby got, most of which came right between tackles and many right up the gut.
It’s been a true bend-but-don’t break yielding yards and time of possession but doing a really good job of keeping teams out of the end zone. Opponents have had to resort to trick plays to score on big plays.
I see a lot of talk regarding the bend don't break defense. And while It's true they have had that style for a good while, it's also true that it's the only style you can play when your offense goes 3 and out on the vast majority of its possessions.
5 of 14 possessions is hardly "vast majority," but starting the 2nd half with 4 in a row sure made it seem like it there for awhile.
So your narrative is Phil is playing a style of defense to be on the field longer because of our offense goes three and out? Can we hire you?
Sorry, I should've made it "fewer than 5 plays" because even on the TDs it was quick. 11 drives were 4 or fewer plays. You can't play fast and furious on defense if that's how long the offense is on the field.
And even when they have had the ball for 7 plays (not this game specifically) they'll only gain like 11 yards. Ever since Brian has taken over, this offense struggles mightily to put together drives. It's one quick hitter and then nothing for long stretches. It gives me the impression that Brian doesn't set things up and he's not thinking ahead...it's always "ok we're going to score on this play" every single play. And that's unsustainable for both the offense and defense.
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My narrative? No. I'm saying if your offense can't do shit, then your defense has to play contain and can't be aggressive. That's just common knowledge.
