This may surprise you, but the vitriol after losing to #13 Wisconsin on the road is surprising to me

[HumbleP1e]

The last thing we need is another contentious thread pitting fan against fan, so let me try to spit some sense. Try.

The single least surprising event of the season, by far, is that Wisconsin ran it down our throats and got pressure on our QB. The end result wasn't exactly determined by those two factors ahead of time, but it's the same refrain for going on a decade. We still have poor interior line play at least in pass protection. It's been true all year. We still have no interior linebacker hammer. Our tackling is to latch on and ride. That works against small teams but not big, physical teams. It's been true all year. I believe Campbell will be the guy, but can you think of a more uphill situation for a true frosh? He didn't even get all of the preseason with an injury. We look small compared with them every year, and by technique we probably overcome that a lot. But, not when in a phone booth like with 3 minutes left. They have one of the poorest QBs we've played, and the lineplay and power backs they have made it moot. This is not new. I'm not sure why people are so all-the-sudden upset.

We're still 6-3 and ranked in the top 25 (somehow). If we get our heads out of our asses and punch Minnesota in the mouth, we SHOULD finish 9-3 with a chance for 10 wins. That's a good season no matter where you are outside of Tuscaloosa and Clemson.

I'm certainly frustrated, too, but calling for people's heads at this time isn't very useful. I have many things to say about the play and coaching, but it simply isn't going to help. They need to refocus as the staff has proven capable in the past and hope we get it right again.

A few "bonus thoughts":
1) Let the Brian Ferentz as future head coach issue drop. His offense's performance to date against good teams would make that decision an embarrassing scar on Kirk's legacy that no one at the AD could possibly stomach. Let it go till after the season. But, we can't hold his last name against him IF HE does deserve it someday.
2). A mere 5-6 weeks ago the board was thrilled (THRILLED!) with BF's offensive adjustments. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.
3). The single most maddening post on this board is any attack on Stanley. I will be the first to say he hasn't been great, but have you seen games live?... watching the whole field? 3 possible results are happening when we pass: 1) no one is open. I mean no one. 2) AND/OR he has no time. None. Or, 3) he's making a solid effort/play. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.

Again, main point: try to find some balance. We're neither great nor awful. We're where we should be from 2 weeks ago as much as that sucks. We actually played really well in a few areas we hadn't before the Wisconsin game. We need a Herculean crowd effort and continued growth v. Minnesota.

 

[TonyTheTiger.1865]

It is the way they lose. I never watched the game because I was 100 percent sure of the outcome.

 

[Im4Iowa]

Honestly, I’m not pissed the Hawks lost to a good team yesterday; Im mad at how they lost. The game is 4 quarters and the offense was sleep walking for 3 of them. It’s been the same script against Wisconsin the last 5-6 years. Play not to lose and take a close loss.

Flipping back and forth between games yesterday it was depressing going back to ours and watching the offense. Trying to play keep away against good teams and not attacking is silly.

 

[ICWestfan]

Honestly, I’m not pissed the Hawks lost to a good team yesterday; Im mad at how they lost. The game is 4 quarters and the offense was sleep walking for 3 of them. It’s been the same script against Wisconsin the last 5-6 years. Play not to lose and take a close loss.

Flipping back and forth between games yesterday it was depressing going back to ours and watching the offense. Trying to play keep away against good teams and not attacking is silly.

I think I'd go further and say that Iowa plays not to lose and its against any ranked team, not just Wisconsin. The other half that is it isn't just the offense, it's the defense as well. It always seems that against the ranked, Iowa plyas poorly in all parts of the game.

 

[arizonahawkI]

It is the way they lose. I never watched the game because I was 100 percent sure of the outcome.[/QUOT wow what app for fan you are. You can tell you're not from Iowa

 

[NevadaHawk]

The last thing we need is another contentious thread pitting fan against fan, so let me try to spit some sense. Try.

The single least surprising event of the season, by far, is that Wisconsin ran it down our throats and got pressure on our QB. The end result wasn't exactly determined by those two factors ahead of time, but it's the same refrain for going on a decade. We still have poor interior line play at least in pass protection. It's been true all year. We still have no interior linebacker hammer. Our tackling is to latch on and ride. That works against small teams but not big, physical teams. It's been true all year. I believe Campbell will be the guy, but can you think of a more uphill situation for a true frosh? He didn't even get all of the preseason with an injury. We look small compared with them every year, and by technique we probably overcome that a lot. But, not when in a phone booth like with 3 minutes left. They have one of the poorest QBs we've played, and the lineplay and power backs they have made it moot. This is not new. I'm not sure why people are so all-the-sudden upset.

We're still 6-3 and ranked in the top 25 (somehow). If we get our heads out of our asses and punch Minnesota in the mouth, we SHOULD finish 9-3 with a chance for 10 wins. That's a good season no matter where you are outside of Tuscaloosa and Clemson.

I'm certainly frustrated, too, but calling for people's heads at this time isn't very useful. I have many things to say about the play and coaching, but it simply isn't going to help. They need to refocus as the staff has proven capable in the past and hope we get it right again.

A few "bonus thoughts":
1) Let the Brian Ferentz as future head coach issue drop. His offense's performance to date against good teams would make that decision an embarrassing scar on Kirk's legacy that no one at the AD could possibly stomach. Let it go till after the season. But, we can't hold his last name against him IF HE does deserve it someday.
2). A mere 5-6 weeks ago the board was thrilled (THRILLED!) with BF's offensive adjustments. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.
3). The single most maddening post on this board is any attack on Stanley. I will be the first to say he hasn't been great, but have you seen games live?... watching the whole field? 3 possible results are happening when we pass: 1) no one is open. I mean no one. 2) AND/OR he has no time. None. Or, 3) he's making a solid effort/play. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.

Again, main point: try to find some balance. We're neither great nor awful. We're where we should be from 2 weeks ago as much as that sucks. We actually played really well in a few areas we hadn't before the Wisconsin game. We need a Herculean crowd effort and continued growth v. Minnesota.

Excellent analysis.

 

[General Tso]

None of the frustration is in vacuum. It's how we lose, with a defense always having to bail out a bad offense. It's the fact that we pile up wins against cupcake teams and seem to no longer be able to beat good teams. It's that we lost the three most meaningful games this season. It's that we've been owned by an arch rival this decade and seem to try the same ****ing thing every year we play them.

 

[Scott559]

A few weeks ago a pretty good percentage of Iowa fans thought the Hawks had no shot in this game.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

Honestly, I’m not pissed the Hawks lost to a good team yesterday; Im mad at how they lost. The game is 4 quarters and the offense was sleep walking for 3 of them. It’s been the same script against Wisconsin the last 5-6 years. Play not to lose and take a close loss.

Flipping back and forth between games yesterday it was depressing going back to ours and watching the offense. Trying to play keep away against good teams and not attacking is silly.

This x100. Just bland, vanilla, boring, and GUTLESS football. Primary by our offense.

 

[BBHawk]

I am happy that the O finally woke up, and against a good defense on the road. I am unhappy with the outcome, but I hope that both the O and the D bring their "A" game the rest of the season.

And I hope the O goes up tempo more. They were rocking it when they did.

 

[Hawk fan in MN]

I will say this I was pissed that we lost yesterday. Frustrated at how are offense performed just like I think most hawk fans were. However, at the start of the year when I looked at this game I thought it would be a loss. The only one we have lost so far this year I didn't think we would lose when I had looked at the schedule is the PSU game but they turned out to be better than I thought.

We will see what kind of team we have when we see how they respond this week. They could legit be 9-3 or legit be 6-6

 

[OutbackBowl2017]

It’s year 21 and KF has only won the west once in 10 years since the league divided into divisions. He’s had more than enough time to get it done then hires his son to be the OC with no D1 experience. It shouldn’t be On Iowa.......should be Only at Iowa.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Iowa is 2-11 versus winning teams the last three years.

Up yours OP and to heck with all the fans that still support this shit show.

 

[Sett1997]

I will say this I was pissed that we lost yesterday. Frustrated at how are offense performed just like I think most hawk fans were. However, at the start of the year when I looked at this game I thought it would be a loss. The only one we have lost so far this year I didn't think we would lose when I had looked at the schedule is the PSU game but they turned out to be better than I thought.

We will see what kind of team we have when we see how they respond this week. They could legit be 9-3 or legit be 6-6

Legit be 12-0 if we had any semblance of an offense at all.
Kirk isn't smart enough after forty years to recognize this? To know the right people and hire them? It's a freaking joke at this point.

 

[TJFant]

The last thing we need is another contentious thread pitting fan against fan, so let me try to spit some sense. Try.

The single least surprising event of the season, by far, is that Wisconsin ran it down our throats and got pressure on our QB. The end result wasn't exactly determined by those two factors ahead of time, but it's the same refrain for going on a decade. We still have poor interior line play at least in pass protection. It's been true all year. We still have no interior linebacker hammer. Our tackling is to latch on and ride. That works against small teams but not big, physical teams. It's been true all year. I believe Campbell will be the guy, but can you think of a more uphill situation for a true frosh? He didn't even get all of the preseason with an injury. We look small compared with them every year, and by technique we probably overcome that a lot. But, not when in a phone booth like with 3 minutes left. They have one of the poorest QBs we've played, and the lineplay and power backs they have made it moot. This is not new. I'm not sure why people are so all-the-sudden upset.

We're still 6-3 and ranked in the top 25 (somehow). If we get our heads out of our asses and punch Minnesota in the mouth, we SHOULD finish 9-3 with a chance for 10 wins. That's a good season no matter where you are outside of Tuscaloosa and Clemson.

I'm certainly frustrated, too, but calling for people's heads at this time isn't very useful. I have many things to say about the play and coaching, but it simply isn't going to help. They need to refocus as the staff has proven capable in the past and hope we get it right again.

A few "bonus thoughts":
1) Let the Brian Ferentz as future head coach issue drop. His offense's performance to date against good teams would make that decision an embarrassing scar on Kirk's legacy that no one at the AD could possibly stomach. Let it go till after the season. But, we can't hold his last name against him IF HE does deserve it someday.
2). A mere 5-6 weeks ago the board was thrilled (THRILLED!) with BF's offensive adjustments. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.
3). The single most maddening post on this board is any attack on Stanley. I will be the first to say he hasn't been great, but have you seen games live?... watching the whole field? 3 possible results are happening when we pass: 1) no one is open. I mean no one. 2) AND/OR he has no time. None. Or, 3) he's making a solid effort/play. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.

Again, main point: try to find some balance. We're neither great nor awful. We're where we should be from 2 weeks ago as much as that sucks. We actually played really well in a few areas we hadn't before the Wisconsin game. We need a Herculean crowd effort and continued growth v. Minnesota.

You make way too much sense!

 

[ctghawk]

The last thing we need is another contentious thread pitting fan against fan, so let me try to spit some sense. Try.

The single least surprising event of the season, by far, is that Wisconsin ran it down our throats and got pressure on our QB. The end result wasn't exactly determined by those two factors ahead of time, but it's the same refrain for going on a decade. We still have poor interior line play at least in pass protection. It's been true all year. We still have no interior linebacker hammer. Our tackling is to latch on and ride. That works against small teams but not big, physical teams. It's been true all year. I believe Campbell will be the guy, but can you think of a more uphill situation for a true frosh? He didn't even get all of the preseason with an injury. We look small compared with them every year, and by technique we probably overcome that a lot. But, not when in a phone booth like with 3 minutes left. They have one of the poorest QBs we've played, and the lineplay and power backs they have made it moot. This is not new. I'm not sure why people are so all-the-sudden upset.

We're still 6-3 and ranked in the top 25 (somehow). If we get our heads out of our asses and punch Minnesota in the mouth, we SHOULD finish 9-3 with a chance for 10 wins. That's a good season no matter where you are outside of Tuscaloosa and Clemson.

I'm certainly frustrated, too, but calling for people's heads at this time isn't very useful. I have many things to say about the play and coaching, but it simply isn't going to help. They need to refocus as the staff has proven capable in the past and hope we get it right again.

A few "bonus thoughts":
1) Let the Brian Ferentz as future head coach issue drop. His offense's performance to date against good teams would make that decision an embarrassing scar on Kirk's legacy that no one at the AD could possibly stomach. Let it go till after the season. But, we can't hold his last name against him IF HE does deserve it someday.
2). A mere 5-6 weeks ago the board was thrilled (THRILLED!) with BF's offensive adjustments. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.
3). The single most maddening post on this board is any attack on Stanley. I will be the first to say he hasn't been great, but have you seen games live?... watching the whole field? 3 possible results are happening when we pass: 1) no one is open. I mean no one. 2) AND/OR he has no time. None. Or, 3) he's making a solid effort/play. We've simply run into teams with better lineplay.

Again, main point: try to find some balance. We're neither great nor awful. We're where we should be from 2 weeks ago as much as that sucks. We actually played really well in a few areas we hadn't before the Wisconsin game. We need a Herculean crowd effort and continued growth v. Minnesota.

Our biggest win of the year was largely based on a blocker for the opposing punt return backing into the return man at the end of the game.

If not for that, our most impressive win was against Middle Tennessee State.

It's not really worth devoting 4 hours each week to anymore, and it makes me sad more than it makes me mad....

 

[speed4power]

A few weeks ago a pretty good percentage of Iowa fans thought the Hawks had no shot in this game.

Yeah. Turns out Wisconsin isn't as good as people thought.

 

[speed4power]

And I hope the O goes up tempo more. They were rocking it when they did.

I agree, but not going to happen. Up tempo no huddle is the complete antithesis to Ferentz's scheme/philosophy.

 

[Wango Z Tango]

The philosophy of playing not to lose is getting real old. Might be fair on defense but no playmakers on offense and no playmakers in the offensive coaching staff. Heck, at least Fry wouldn't mind getting an opponent down and then stomping on their throat. Ferentz is behind and taking a knee before halftime AGAIN.

 

[Sett1997]

I agree, but not going to happen. Up tempo no huddle is the complete antithesis to Ferentz's scheme/philosophy.

Everytime they have ever gone up tempo they rock it, it's not the players. It's the coaches.
If we are going to continue the same b.s., which we are, they at least need a mobile QB.
Up tempo is perfect for Stanley.
Everyone sees it , but the millionaire coaches. Lol

 

[Sett1997]

The philosophy of playing not to lose is getting real old. Might be fair on defense but no playmakers on offense and no playmakers in the offensive coaching staff. Heck, at least Fry wouldn't mind getting an opponent down and then stomping on their throat. Ferentz is behind and taking a knee before halftime AGAIN.

It's the coaches, not the players.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

A few weeks ago a pretty good percentage of Iowa fans thought the Hawks had no shot in this game.

I still think they have no shot at winning this game

 

[ghostpony]

Didn’t read anything other than the title.
Our offense has sucked and sucked and seems to continue to suck with no end to the sucking in sight. It ****ing sucks.

 

[LeftyLarry]

Yeah. Turns out Wisconsin isn't as good as people thought.

unfortunately we have the same kind of staff as Iowa, where you complain your staff plays not to win but not to lose
Badgers seem to get the lead in the first half, often the first quarter and then just try to hang on and limp home to victory.We play not to lose , take the pedal off the metal as soon as we have a lead.
We were in control of the Illini game too, obviously we weren’t as good as OSU.

 

[mikesright]

I think that there are some existential questions that need to be asked this offseason because this coaching staff did not get the most out of the players this year and its now an open question as to whether Iowa’s philosophies on offense in terms of players or scheme take enough advantage of the rules (or average B1G personnel) in place in college football now.

Minnesota seems to be thriving right now on offense. Their staple is RPO. They seem to have similar personnel to us (I’d take their WR’s but its close), but they arguably have less high end talent than we do overall. They can run the ball effectively.

Wisconsin’s staple is a heavy 65%+ run game based upon really heavy 330 lb+ lineman and outstanding running back recruiting due to their tradition. They are highly varied in their running schemes. They seem to take advantage of the B1G going largely to more athletic and quicker players built to stop the spread. They run the football routinely in the top echelon of offenses.

We seem to be in no man’s land between these two. We generally don’t have nearly as big lineman as Wisconsin, and we run a primarily zone running game similar to Minnesota, however the RPO schemes make defenses account for 1 more player than ours does. Teams are quicker and more athletic up front than they used to be as a result of chasing spread offenses.

The big thing that could equalize all of this is an athletic QB that can effectively run play action and the boot or could scramble a little from shotgun. Nate is a great spread QB but can do exactly NONE of the above effectively. As a result, we have essentially been running an offense all year that has no constraint plays. This looks and is DUMB da DUMB DUMB DUMB and makes for an incredibly frustrating watch as a fan and is a losing football strategy.

So this raises 2 questions for me. A) why was Nate untouchable if the coaching staff was insistent that we continue with the same offensive strategy or B) why didn’t we attempt to mold an offense around Nate’s strengths, which is clearly more oriented to wide open spread concepts with tempo and RPO?

At the end of the day, I’m not anxious to burn the place to the ground and fire everybody. But I am upset they wasted my time. And whatever the last 3 years were...were a waste of time.

 

[speed4power]

unfortunately we have the same kind of staff as Iowa, where you complain your staff plays not to win but not to lose
Badgers seem to get the lead in the first half, often the first quarter and then just try to hang on and limp home to victory.We play not to lose , take the pedal off the metal as soon as we have a lead.
We were in control of the Illini game too, obviously we weren’t as good as OSU.

Yeah and you guys need better QBs. It seems like Wisconsin is always playing with an average or below average QB other than Russell Wilson, and when you had him you guys were a national title contender.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

At the beginning of the season everyone thought we would lose these three games. Something happened where Iowa fans got hope for some reason. Turns out Iowa is who you thought they were in August. Life goes on.

 

[Sett1997]

Didn’t read anything other than the title.
Our offense has sucked and sucked and seems to continue to suck with no end to the sucking in sight. It ****ing sucks.

This is a fact.

 

[Sett1997]

Give us Bob Stoops, Cambell, Klieman, any of them and keep Parker.
We are a major threat. Our offense sucks!!
Parker is a great D coach.

 

[takai]

Admittedly, I think you're right. I was angry that we lost a game that I had predicted we would lose, long before the season even started. I think it's the fact that I despise Wisconsin so much is what got me frustrated, regardless if we lost by a lot or a little.

I also agree about that Stanley part. Definitely not all his fault. We have a very bad O-Line that gives him no time to even think. I still think he lacks pocket awareness, stares down receivers, and is very inaccurate though.

 

[anon_gjzkhykcp9iuj]

The anger is because the offense sucks. The anger is because the coaches wait until it is pretty much too late to try something different offensively. Then they try something different, and it works well and we score points. But again, as so many times in the past, they wait until it is pretty much too late to have an effect on the outcome of the game. the coaches and the offense beat their heads against the wall for nearly three quarters before they decided to try a different approach, an approach that worked well. But it was too late.

 

[PlutoDroid]

This good team lost to Illinois, got throttled by Ohio State. Think you may want to try and spread them out, possibly take them out of their comfort zone of twenty something points to win?

They are bigger and stronger, so yeah just keep trying to outsmash them. Putting your statue QB behind on just about every possesion, giving them obvious looks into when to blitz him.

 

[BetterLuckNextTime]

Legit be 12-0 if we had any semblance of an offense at all.
Kirk isn't smart enough after forty years to recognize this? To know the right people and hire them? It's a freaking joke at this point.

This. I have a hard time believing he's not smart enough. Maybe he likes to surround himself with yes men because he likes to control everything, and that is more important to him.

 

[Cougar63]

Lost to the #9, 14, and 15 teams by a total of 14 points and everyone thinks the world is coming to an end.

 

[grayhair81]

It was one more chance to show they could beat a good team in a meaningful game. They showed once again they can't do that. Watching Minny go up and down the field against a team that throttled Iowa's offense didn't help. I think a lot of people were HOPING for a breakthrough.

 

[blackandgoldPT]

This. I have a hard time believing he's not smart enough. Maybe he likes to surround himself with yes men because he likes to control everything, and that is more important to him.

does Brian strike you as a yes man?

 

[Nipigu]

I stopped reading after the word: existential.

I think that there are some existential questions that need to be asked this offseason because this coaching staff did not get the most out of the players this year and its now an open question as to whether Iowa’s philosophies on offense in terms of players or scheme take enough advantage of the rules (or average B1G personnel) in place in college football now.

Minnesota seems to be thriving right now on offense. Their staple is RPO. They seem to have similar personnel to us (I’d take their WR’s but its close), but they arguably have less high end talent than we do overall. They can run the ball effectively.

Wisconsin’s staple is a heavy 65%+ run game based upon really heavy 330 lb+ lineman and outstanding running back recruiting due to their tradition. They are highly varied in their running schemes. They seem to take advantage of the B1G going largely to more athletic and quicker players built to stop the spread. They run the football routinely in the top echelon of offenses.

We seem to be in no man’s land between these two. We generally don’t have nearly as big lineman as Wisconsin, and we run a primarily zone running game similar to Minnesota, however the RPO schemes make defenses account for 1 more player than ours does. Teams are quicker and more athletic up front than they used to be as a result of chasing spread offenses.

The big thing that could equalize all of this is an athletic QB that can effectively run play action and the boot or could scramble a little from shotgun. Nate is a great spread QB but can do exactly NONE of the above effectively. As a result, we have essentially been running an offense all year that has no constraint plays. This looks and is DUMB da DUMB DUMB DUMB and makes for an incredibly frustrating watch as a fan and is a losing football strategy.

So this raises 2 questions for me. A) why was Nate untouchable if the coaching staff was insistent that we continue with the same offensive strategy or B) why didn’t we attempt to mold an offense around Nate’s strengths, which is clearly more oriented to wide open spread concepts with tempo and RPO?

At the end of the day, I’m not anxious to burn the place to the ground and fire everybody. But I am upset they wasted my time. And whatever the last 3 years were...were a waste of time.

 

[David1979]

I don’t know if I have seen vitriol. People are just ready for change bc it’s the same thing year after year.

 

[BAE94]

People rant on these threads because they can, with no accountability themselves. If they actually had to explain their views in public and use legitimate data, their song may be different, or at least more under control.

 

[LeftyLarry]

Yeah and you guys need better QBs. It seems like Wisconsin is always playing with an average or below average QB other than Russell Wilson, and when you had him you guys were a national title contender.

Russell Wilson was a finished project when he arrived in Madison and we lost three games that season including the Rose Bowl.
It’s our passing game design and play calling, Coan has great touch, I think he’s still completing over 70% with a high percentage of completions when he throws it downfield which is like not even once every game, he only has three Ints all season, that in itself is an indictment.LOL
When they finally let him throw a bit longer to Cephus Saturday, we had a quick TD on back to back completions.
Nothing wrong with Coan, he can run a little too, we just don’t let him play.
All our QBs are game managers under Chryst, Hornibrook,Houston, Stave who looks good out there?
I actually think when he was OC for Russell Wilson he only let him score some points because Chryst was ready for an HC job was showcasing himself and took the Pitt job after the season.
We have plenty of frustrations also but we aren’t calling for Christ’s head, there’s plenty of good there too , both programs need to recruit a little better and coaches need to trust their players more.
Probably still have the same 1-3 losses usually but the losses would be different, errors of co-mission instead of omission.
Fleck said he wanted to follow the Wisconsin model and right now he’s out-Wisconsining Wisconsin with those huge talented OL’s who can stand up to anybody.
Our OL isn’t huge and talented like often in the past, it’s a solid OL but we have some great prospects in the pipeline at OL, especially in last years, this years and next years recruiting classes.

We thought our passing game was going to look like this early on: watch the deeper passes late on the video, of course we had WRs Chryst wanted who were visiting that day!