Today's Hawk team can win out!! My take and what did you see?

[intrepodor]

Iowa is a solid program. Let’s not pretend they’re anything more than that. Unfortunately we get fooled into thinking Iowa is a top tier status and should be playoffs every few years (due to scheduling, not cause of talent).

Kirk’s philosophy won’t ever let the program try to take that next step. There would need to be a serious overhaul in recruiting and offensive play calling.

Kirk would also need to play a QB who can improvise and not be afraid of making mistakes

So you're saying new coach with new philosophy?
That's an original thought!

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

"He can run a little"? Yes, yes he can. In fact, he could run a lot, were he allowed to play. It's always been tough to do anything while sitting on the bench. Ask Brad Banks . . . or Ricky Stanzi . . . or CJ Beathard, among others.

Haven't seen him pass under pressure? Not while wearing an Iowa uniform. That's true. See above.

Kirk himself, including this season, has said you cannot truly evaluate a player until you see him in a game. So KF wisely keeps Sullivan nailed to the bench. And when he does send him in with 2 mintues to play, he lets him hand off. Wouldn't wanna upset Washington, or whoever, by scoring. Maybe KF should worry about developing his backup QB more than about hurting the opponent's feelings. Iowa is the only "developmental" program in the country, after all.

McNamara, through no fault of his own, moves like an old man. Even in warm-ups, he's awkward and slow. Sullivan would add a whole new dimension to the Iowa offense. Right now, with Cade, Iowa is playing with one hand tied behind its back. The QB can't even run a little, and he can't throw the ball very far. Sullivan can do both. And maybe you're unware, but he's not some untried rookie, like the great Deacon Hill. Sullivan has started and played significant minutes in the Big Ten, and he's played well. But once you're the annointed QB at Iowa, the back-up might as well forget about it. Only a major injury will get him on the field . . . or a well-timed letter to a newspaper written by his dad.

Cade is doing the best he can, but he's not the best QB on the Iowa roster. He's just KF's favorite and the highest paid.

Sully obviously brings another dimension to the QB spot with his running ability, but we don't really know whether he throws a better deep ball. At NU he showed that he is accurate with short and medium length passes, which is what we're seeing from Cade.

 

[swihawk]

Sully obviously brings another dimension to the QB spot with his running ability, but we don't really know whether he throws a better deep ball. At NU he showed that he is accurate with short and medium length passes, which is what we're seeing from Cade.

Yup. Sully brings another something. He tried to turn the ball over near the goal line yesterday, but luckily his knee was down. in the Minnesota game, about a minute to go, he tried a run play, fell down, losing 6-8 yards. He may not be what some of us hoped.

We'll see.

 

[Zooropa_NCR]

So you're saying new coach with new philosophy?
That's an original thought!

Yes. Kirk has made the program stale. He’s playing for Outback bowl cause that was a success in the 80s

We beat most teams and that’s great. Better than losing to most teams. Were outclassed when we play teams with higher end talent. We’re not even in the game.

My view is I want a coach that is willing to adapt each year with the goal of reaching the playoffs

Instead we get “Iowa does what it does and won’t apologize for it”

Good for 8-9 wins, not good enough to be relevant

 

[swihawk]

Yes. Kirk has made the program stale. He’s playing for Outback bowl cause that was a success in the 80s

We beat most teams and that’s great. Better than losing to most teams. Were outclassed when we play teams with higher end talent. We’re not even in the game.

My view is I want a coach that is willing to adapt each year with the goal of reaching the playoffs

Instead we get “Iowa does what it does and won’t apologize for it”

Good for 8-9 wins, not good enough to be relevant

Kirk tries to win every game and wins more than most. Check your history and the HUGE number of irrelevant programs out there.

College Football Team Win Trends - All Games

Free college football team win trends and splits in simple, easy to read tables. This page tracks all games results.

www.teamrankings.com

 

[swihawk]

Yes. Kirk has made the program stale. He’s playing for Outback bowl cause that was a success in the 80s

We beat most teams and that’s great. Better than losing to most teams. Were outclassed when we play teams with higher end talent. We’re not even in the game.

My view is I want a coach that is willing to adapt each year with the goal of reaching the playoffs

Instead we get “Iowa does what it does and won’t apologize for it”

Good for 8-9 wins, not good enough to be relevant

BTW. Who is this next coach that will bring Iowa to "relevance"?

 

[SolarHawk]

Sullivan is not the guy. He may not even be the guy next year.

Well Cade sure as shit isn't the guy, so why not make a change at the QB position. Or are you one of those "what's the upside" dipshits?

 

[Honda Hawk]

Sullivan is not the guy. He may not even be the guy next year.

He reminds me of Jake Christensen.

 

[Zooropa_NCR]

BTW. Who is this next coach that will bring Iowa to "relevance"?

Don’t know ? Someone who values offense ? Maybe not lose every game against top competition by over 100+ point differential

It’s ok if you accept the program being stale in the age of playoffs. There’s no promise of anything. It’s nice to have a program that wins consistently against bad competition. We could end up like Purdue or even Nebraska.

Considering the cupcake schedule Iowa has OOC, and around 3-4 Big10 West opponents i feel confident that any new coach could at least match Kirk’s program and maybe be more entertaining to watch

 

[hawkdave007]

Sullivan is not the guy. He may not even be the guy next year.

It isn't really clear where things will be at next year. But I think they are setting him up to be the guy, so they're getting him reps now so he'll be more comfortable next year. In the meantime, he's getting snaps and earning punches in his KF union card.

Word on the street is that he isn't acting unhappy in the backup role, which is probably a major thing to get brownie points with KF.

But a lot can happen in the off-season. He may bolt for another school or someone may pass him in the spring, or we may land a rock star in the portal. Who knows anymore.

 

[yrunvs]

Exactly. Chances are it would do him (Sully) no favors by making him #1 and likely he would agree. He's a role player and I suspect he likes it that way. Next year is wide open. As it stands CM is the horse we rode in on and barring an injury Sullivan will be the backup/role player.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

The screen pass to KJ for the TD was a beautifully designed play. Iowa had 3 receivers lined up on the right side (where KJ would receive the screen). Two of the recievers slanted across the field while vanderzee ran a curl towards the middle of the field. All of that movement cleared out the right side for KJ to easily run into the endzone. It goes without saying, I'm a big Lester fan. Kirk finally has the OC he's needed all these years.

Agreed. The play design and calling are light years ahead of whatever Brain thought he was doing. It's refreshing to see Iowa running an offensive scheme with some creativity and to see plays called in a much less predictable manner.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

He reminds me of Jake Christensen.

I don't really see much similarity at all.

Sullivan is much bigger and taller, he runs better, and he's a more accurate passer.

 

[Honda Hawk]

Haven't seen enough of him - lots of hype though...like Christensen.

 

[Dauminator]

I agree that Saturday's Iowa team can win out.

I have no reason to believe that same team will show up every week. For one thing, this was the first game that team DID show up for nearly 60 min. But even so: Washington beat themselves a LOT. Are teams going to have field goals blocked, timely turnovers, a smattering of failed fourth downs, etc? Did we forget the game started with UW going on two lengthy drives while Iowa putzed around?

Yes, what Iowa did in using special teams and key plays to turn the tide is the classic Iowa way. But I don't feel confident in pulling wins out of the hat every single week if the defense is going to give up drives like they did Saturday.

 

[HawkDoggy]

He reminds me of Jake Christensen.

Not in the least. Terrible comparison. Did you watch him at all when he got playing time at Northwestern?

 

[HawkDoggy]

The screen pass to KJ for the TD was a beautifully designed play. Iowa had 3 receivers lined up on the right side (where KJ would receive the screen). Two of the recievers slanted across the field while vanderzee ran a curl towards the middle of the field. All of that movement cleared out the right side for KJ to easily run into the endzone. It goes without saying, I'm a big Lester fan. Kirk finally has the OC he's needed all these years.

This was a terrific play....but it's so fundamental in nature that it really demonstrates what an idiot Brian was while here as the OC. There is no genius in that play design. Just a well-executed fundamental play.

 

[uihawk82]

It isn't really clear where things will be at next year. But I think they are setting him up to be the guy, so they're getting him reps now so he'll be more comfortable next year. In the meantime, he's getting snaps and earning punches in his KF union card.

Word on the street is that he isn't acting unhappy in the backup role, which is probably a major thing to get brownie points with KF.

But a lot can happen in the off-season. He may bolt for another school or someone may pass him in the spring, or we may land a rock star in the portal. Who knows anymore.

I just wish KF would let Sullivan throw the ball some in mop up time. Against UWash with a huge lead let him throw some safe passes, passes that are wide open or he throws the ball away or tucks and runs.

We need to see and I would think Lester would want to see him throw the ball against a real team that wants the ball.

 

[SI_NYC]

This was a terrific play....but it's so fundamental in nature that it really demonstrates what an idiot Brian was while here as the OC. There is no genius in that play design. Just a well-executed fundamental play.

We were so deprived of misdirection plays, I feel like it's genius seeing Iowa run them.

 

[DanHawkPella]

It's the teams with strong run defenses that should worry us.

Teams with the lowest allowed Yards/Rush are below. The one's highlighted we have yet to play.

Surprisingly Wisconsin isn't near the Top 30-40 on this list which I would have thought before pulling the data.

Nebraska will be tough for us in particular.

Rank	Team	G	Opp Rush	Opp Rush Yds	Yds/Rush	Opp Rush TDs	YPG
1	Ole Miss	7	238	466	1.96	1	66.6
5	Tennessee	6	213	478	2.24	3	79.7
2	Kansas St.	6	170	430	2.53	5	71.7
7	Nebraska	6	187	505	2.70	0	84.2
8	Ohio St.	6	192	518	2.70	4	86.3
15	UTSA	6	208	572	2.75	10	95.3
31	Pittsburgh	6	232	651	2.81	4	108.5
3	Michigan	6	160	458	2.86	4	76.3
9	Northwestern	6	181	525	2.90	4	87.5
16	SMU	6	196	576	2.94	5	96.0
22	Texas	6	208	622	2.99	2	103.7
6	Indiana	6	167	503	3.01	4	83.8
10	Kentucky	6	175	536	3.06	4	89.3
-	NIU	6	188	578	3.07	4	96.3
41	Oklahoma	6	230	705	3.07	4	117.5
26	Boise St.	6	206	634	3.08	9	105.7
4	Army West Point	6	151	470	3.11	2	78.3
25	Boston College	6	202	628	3.11	2	104.7
32	South Carolina	6	212	660	3.11	10	110.0
24	Louisiana Tech	6	198	625	3.16	8	104.2
13	UCLA	6	175	555	3.17	7	92.5

 

[hawkdave007]

I don't really see much similarity at all.

Sullivan is much bigger and taller, he runs better, and he's a more accurate passer.

Some people have said he reminds them of Beathard.

I don't know if there's a really good Iowa QB comparison.

IMO, the best overall comparison would be Josh Allen when he was at Wyoming, but a little more controlled.

Here's the shortened version of Sullivan's victory over Maryland last year.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Because of the weakness of their remaining schedule, I actually think they can win out -- can't believe I'm saying that -- but there's obviously very little margin for error. They could just as easily go 3-3. Crazy season. If nothing else, it's uncertain and an entertaining ride.

That is the key.
Not only is the remaining schedule very weak, the 2 teams left with a pulse they get at home.
Nothing is a given, but they've got about as easy a remaining schedule as you could ask for.

 

[ronnh]

Calling it now. ISU & Iowa both get into playoffs.

What a dreamer. You probably thought Iowa had a chance against Ohio State. Ohio State never even got sweaty against Iowa. They were looking ahead to their game against Oregon. If Iowa State played anyone on their schedule like Ohio State they would have a loss as well.