Wash Rinse and Repeat.. The Beat Goes On

[PlutoDroid]

Looking at the remaining schedule I only see one definite loss on the schedule. Honestly at Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska isn't intimidating. Playing Wisconsin, Washington UCLA and Purdue doesn't instill any fear. So realistically Kirk will get close to ten wins with a putrid offense. The defense will come together playing offenses like Illinois or Minnesota and Kirk will get lauded as doing more with less.

Only difference is he won't get to the CCG to get an extra blowout. The narrative more with less is a bit deceiving. If Iowa had to play Oregon, USC, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State yearly plus a tough OOC game like Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan do every year and win even half of those I would agree. But Iowa plays teams like Northwestern. Kirk purposely makes younger more talented guys sit behind older players that have earned his respect.

Meanwhile Nebraska is starting a true freshman that has put life into that program. Ohio State has their 100th freshman WR phenom making plays and Florida learned their lesson by putting in their highly touted QB freshman because if they didn't that coach would be gone. Florida also has a meat grinder of a schedule so it likely won't matter, but it's the expectations.

Iowa under a coach with a fire under his butt would've kicked the tires on Kyle McCord, Cam Ward or Will Howard. But the program under Kirk is stable and while everyone is upset now, things will go back to normal after Iowa beats all the teams they should. Kirk will get his ten wins and ride into next year. His backers will point to his tenure as the most impressive thing ever.

Wash, Rinse and Repeat. The beat goes on.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Looking at the remaining schedule I only see one definite loss on the schedule. Honestly at Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska isn't intimidating. Playing Wisconsin, Washington UCLA and Purdue doesn't instill any fear. So realistically Kirk will get close to ten wins with a putrid offense. The defense will come together playing offenses like Illinois or Minnesota and Kirk will get lauded as doing more with less.

Only difference is he won't get to the CCG to get an extra blowout. The narrative more with less is a bit deceiving. If Iowa had to play Oregon, USC, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State yearly plus a tough OOC game like Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan do every year and win even half of those I would agree. But Iowa plays teams like Northwestern. Kirk purposely makes younger more talented guys sit behind older players that have earned his respect.

Meanwhile Nebraska is starting a true freshman that has put life into that program. Ohio State has their 100th freshman WR phenom making plays and Florida learned their lesson by putting in their highly touted QB freshman because if they didn't that coach would be gone. Florida also has a meat grinder of a schedule so it likely won't matter, but it's the expectations.

Iowa under a coach with a fire under his butt would've kicked the tires on Kyle McCord, Cam Ward or Will Howard. But the program under Kirk is stable and while everyone is upset now, things will go back to normal after Iowa beats all the teams they should. Kirk will get his ten wins and ride into next year. His backers will point to his tenure as the most impressive thing ever.

Wash, Rinse and Repeat. The beat goes on.

So how many games do you want Iowa to lose?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

It's interesting that you can have a coach that takes the program to a certain level of success, and then get bashed for not taking it further.

Iowa has a very good football program. So good in fact that we can look down our noses at about 80% of the P4 teams and claim they don't have a pulse. Then when the Hawks lose a game to one of the 80% it's because of the HC.

Like the OP says, rinse and repeat.

 

[blubberhawk]

Looking at the remaining schedule I only see one definite loss on the schedule. Honestly at Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska isn't intimidating. Playing Wisconsin, Washington UCLA and Purdue doesn't instill any fear. So realistically Kirk will get close to ten wins with a putrid offense. The defense will come together playing offenses like Illinois or Minnesota and Kirk will get lauded as doing more with less.

Only difference is he won't get to the CCG to get an extra blowout. The narrative more with less is a bit deceiving. If Iowa had to play Oregon, USC, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State yearly plus a tough OOC game like Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan do every year and win even half of those I would agree. But Iowa plays teams like Northwestern. Kirk purposely makes younger more talented guys sit behind older players that have earned his respect.

Meanwhile Nebraska is starting a true freshman that has put life into that program. Ohio State has their 100th freshman WR phenom making plays and Florida learned their lesson by putting in their highly touted QB freshman because if they didn't that coach would be gone. Florida also has a meat grinder of a schedule so it likely won't matter, but it's the expectations.

Iowa under a coach with a fire under his butt would've kicked the tires on Kyle McCord, Cam Ward or Will Howard. But the program under Kirk is stable and while everyone is upset now, things will go back to normal after Iowa beats all the teams they should. Kirk will get his ten wins and ride into next year. His backers will point to his tenure as the most impressive thing ever.

Wash, Rinse and Repeat. The beat goes on.

most of the teams you mentioned above are not all that different than ISU. If Iowa can't beat ISU at home, what makes you think they can run the table against the rest? Silly to even think about 10-02. Start with the next game and go one by one. Hell, Iowa could well be an underdog at Minnesota in two weeks and 20+ underdog at OSU.

As far as moving forward, Iowa should give a half to each of their top two quarterbacks against Troy and see how it plays out. Iowa seems to be the only team in the country afraid to change quarterbacks.

 

[coorsoriginal02]

If we can lose against that kind of [average] Iowa State team, it’s possible we drop every single conference game.

History tells us we won’t, but it could happen. Every team should scare us.

Ya know what? As I type this my brain is asking Why…..Why am I even responding b/c my interest level in watching this same old crap is so damn low at this point.

I certainly have Ferentz Fatigue in a big way 👎🏼

 

[PlutoDroid]

So how many games do you want Iowa to lose?

I don't root for losses from a head coach just like I don't want political agendas to not work. Why would I want my life to get worse because I don't like the leader? I like Kirk btw. But I want progress, I would like to see the "greatest" coach in program history with 26 years of tenure to win everything.

Michigan didn't play an attractive style, they won the whole thing though. Nick Saban won several titles playing dog crap style games. Remember the 2003 Sugar, 2009 and 2011 BCS Titles? Then he started hiring guys to run up tempo offenses with first round QBs and won more titles with better aesthetics.

2002 is often seen as Kirk's best year. The team that won that year and ended the Hurricanes run was Ohio State led by Craig Krenzel😑.

Iowa isn't winning anything against anybody with a pulse under this regime. They never have even in the best years. 2015 Stanford and 2002 USC come to mind. You could say 2009 vs Georgia Tech was the exception..But that was a triple option attack, Iowa was built to stuff the run. They can't cover on the outside against speed. We'll find that out in a few weeks and with no more western division as a buffer, there aren't going to be anymore empty division banners going up.

So how many losses do I want? Zero. Do I want to see Kirk humbled and sent on his way Lane Kiffin style? Absolutely not. He's a good man and has been a good leader, but the game has passed him by. Just like it did to Bear Bryant, Hayden Fry, Bo Schembechler, Bobby Bowden, Lou Holtz, Woody Hayes and Joe Paterno.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Looking at the remaining schedule I only see one definite loss on the schedule. Honestly at Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska isn't intimidating. Playing Wisconsin, Washington UCLA and Purdue doesn't instill any fear. So realistically Kirk will get close to ten wins with a putrid offense. The defense will come together playing offenses like Illinois or Minnesota and Kirk will get lauded as doing more with less.

Only difference is he won't get to the CCG to get an extra blowout. The narrative more with less is a bit deceiving. If Iowa had to play Oregon, USC, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State yearly plus a tough OOC game like Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan do every year and win even half of those I would agree. But Iowa plays teams like Northwestern. Kirk purposely makes younger more talented guys sit behind older players that have earned his respect.

Meanwhile Nebraska is starting a true freshman that has put life into that program. Ohio State has their 100th freshman WR phenom making plays and Florida learned their lesson by putting in their highly touted QB freshman because if they didn't that coach would be gone. Florida also has a meat grinder of a schedule so it likely won't matter, but it's the expectations.

Iowa under a coach with a fire under his butt would've kicked the tires on Kyle McCord, Cam Ward or Will Howard. But the program under Kirk is stable and while everyone is upset now, things will go back to normal after Iowa beats all the teams they should. Kirk will get his ten wins and ride into next year. His backers will point to his tenure as the most impressive thing ever.

Wash, Rinse and Repeat. The beat goes on.

Putrid offense? All they have to do is hand the damn ball off and it's more than serviceable

 

[AEG82]

Putrid offense? All they have to do is hand the damn ball off and it's more than serviceable

Is that all they need to do? Aren't you the one who holds KF in such high regard? Surely then, you can explain why he isn't doing that already.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Is that all they need to do? Aren't you the one who holds KF in such high regard? Surely then, you can explain why he isn't doing that already.

No, I can't.

I would assume he's letting Lester try to do his thing, and will eventually spank him into shape, as he's previously done with his OC's come late October/November.

Why it takes that long, and why KF hasn't been more committed to the run is beyond me.

I will say though, that I am in a completely uninformed position, compared to KF, when it comes to Iowa football. And that I have no problem with, in fact feel blessed by his overall results.

I also know that when it comes to running the ball, I am a sicko. I would pound the thing pretty much every play. But you aren't going to hear me calling for coaches' jobs because they don't run every play

 

[kwik44]

Kirk’s demeanor is a reflection of his teams.

Ebbs & Flows - never get too high or get too low.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

It's interesting that you can have a coach that takes the program to a certain level of success, and then get bashed for not taking it further.

Iowa has a very good football program. So good in fact that we can look down our noses at about 80% of the P4 teams and claim they don't have a pulse. Then when the Hawks lose a game to one of the 80% it's because of the HC.

Like the OP says, rinse and repeat.

When "smells like 7-5, 8-4" becomes a punch line for your program, regardless of reality.............that's a perception problem.

Iowa is typically too arrogant to address it. They'd rather let their play do the talking and convince recruits behind closed doors "what's really up".

It's just too bad that isn't helping us do any better than 10 wins max and not looking competitive/winning against an 8+ win team since 2019......................

I know it's not helping us get better recruits/convincing them to stay, despite their expectations that it will sort itself out.

The problem is it's taking too long, and KF isn't getting any younger, for this program to take that next step. Winning championships should ALWAYS be a goal, and especially at Iowa. It doesn't have to be the end-all like it is at Alabama, Texas, or Ohio State, but we're not Indiana, or even Iowa State either.

It took us forever to get out from the rut of winning 7-8 games almost every year like we did from 2010-2014. Had the breakthrough year in 2015, then went back to more 7, 8, 9 win seasons before finally turning a corner where we can be a consistent 10-win ceiling team like we've been since 2020 (I'm counting 2020 as a team that would've won 10 games with a full schedule). The problem then became our garbage offense creating an impenetrable ceiling that also set our offensive recruiting back an entire cycle of classes (4 yr window). The transfer portal can only help a place like Iowa so much especially with the staff and head coach, in particular, that we have.

Don't get me wrong. I'm more appreciative of these 10 win seasons than most glass-half empty fans and certainly any staunch pessimistic Iowa fans, but KF and Co took their sweet ass time turning that corner, all the while allowing their to be a definitive ceiling that the program was never going to overcome no matter how much the fanbase hoped and prayed that they would. And the fans that encouraged that to be okay should be ashamed of their acceptance of settling/complacency/never wanting to take real chances in life and failing.

I have no doubt that this team could possibly rebound to go 10-2, but then what? The ceiling is still there, even if we're finally attempting to remodel it after 7-8 years. And there's not enough portal help or money in the world that's gonna keep us from taking a major step backwards next year, even if Kirk retires and we bring in a new coach with fresh ideas and aspirations.

I'll leave you with this fact. 2024 is still suffering from the side effects of the previous offensive regime, so essentially Brian Ferentz (and Kirk) wasted two entire generations of recruits (freshmen to senior) on Brian's bad offenses/definitive barrier to real postseason success that isn't a glorified exhibition in 2024.

That's why some people are pissed, and no it's not okay to disagree with that or think we're asking for too much from Iowa.

Deal with it and I hope that helps.

 

[coorsoriginal02]

Putrid offense? All they have to do is hand the damn ball off and it's more than serviceable

Not at all true. Does running into a stacked box work? We know the answer.

You need to be able to pass the football.

 

[kwik44]

I think his complimentary football mandate is what hinders Kirk & his teams success the most. They just don’t know when they need to press for points (let alone the manner they need to accomplish that) or when they can truly let the defense finish.

19-7 isn’t near a large enough lead in today’s game. With several opportunities to finish the game off, they regress.

 

[Iron Doc]

The Capt must go away.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Not at all true. Does running into a stacked box work? We know the answer.

You need to be able to pass the football.

Putrid offense? All they have to do is hand the damn ball off and it's more than serviceable

What you say has truth. It can also be argued it against.

My post was to make a point, and never literally said don't throw at all. I'll fix it for you and say all they have to do is hand the ball off more and the offense will be more than serviceable

 

[eyesofhawk]

The Capt must go away.

Go away Doc

 

[Iron Doc]

Go away Doc

Many readers would be pleased to see you ride off into the sunset, Herr Komandant.

 

[Gonzo Bloor]

Iowa football is trapped in the same cold, stale bowl of plain and watery oatmeal for as long as KF remains coach. Saturday was Exhibit A. He can't adapt. We go into halftime with a tenuous 13-point lead (whar the f*cking tush push on those goal line series?), then we throw a pick, and KF does what he's always done trying to nurse a small lead to victory. He turtles up. One more first down on that last drive and the game is over. But no. Instead of actually trying to get the first down and WIN the game, KF gives up, runs three straight into the defense, and punts hoping that Uncle Phil will bail him out again.

 

[Hawkbaby]

You could see the ending of this game coming from the moment Kirk went for 2. He decided he needed only 21 points to win. He was going to shut it down. Which he still did after not converting. He has not evolved in any way offensively in all these years. Time and score management was horrendous at the end of the game by both the offense and defense. I know Phil is the sacred cow but not taking away the sideline in the last drive was just stupid. Kirk’s mismanagement is too long to list.

 

[DewHawk]

You could see the ending of this game coming from the moment Kirk went for 2. He decided he needed only 21 points to win. He was going to shut it down. Which he still did after not converting. He has not evolved in any way offensively in all these years. Time and score management was horrendous at the end of the game by both the offense and defense. I know Phil is the sacred cow but not taking away the sideline in the last drive was just stupid. Kirk’s mismanagement is too long to list.

agreed, and nothing will be achieved under Ferentz except more of the same and getting pounded by any quality team.

 

[ButtersHawk]

I think his complimentary football mandate is what hinders Kirk & his teams success the most. They just don’t know when they need to press for points (let alone the manner they need to accomplish that) or when they can truly let the defense finish.

19-7 isn’t near a large enough lead in today’s game. With several opportunities to finish the game off, they regress.

I truly think Kirk has a problem embracing success. This is why you never see him state a team goal of Indy or Playoffs. For instance I bet he felt gross watching his team put up 40 last week and felt icky scoring more than needed in the 2nd half Saturday.

I liked Norm Parker(GREAT DC) but Phil has elevated the defense's consistency and effectiveness past whatever level Norm set it at. I bring this up because when Kirk retires whenever it may be, I will remember him as the coach who grew an extra set of lips in his pants in Columbus in '09 and also wasted 10+ years of BCS Bowl and Playoff caliber defenses. Also I'll remember him for the most egregious case of sports nepotism in recent memory.

For the record I do not hate Kirk, I've wanted him gone since '09 but he isn't going to change. I am not apathetic with Iowa football but I am with Kirk and have been for a long time.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

When "smells like 7-5, 8-4" becomes a punch line for your program, regardless of reality.............that's a perception problem.

Iowa is typically too arrogant to address it. They'd rather let their play do the talking and convince recruits behind closed doors "what's really up".

It's just too bad that isn't helping us do any better than 10 wins max and not looking competitive/winning against an 8+ win team since 2019......................

I know it's not helping us get better recruits/convincing them to stay, despite their expectations that it will sort itself out.

The problem is it's taking too long, and KF isn't getting any younger, for this program to take that next step. Winning championships should ALWAYS be a goal, and especially at Iowa. It doesn't have to be the end-all like it is at Alabama, Texas, or Ohio State, but we're not Indiana, or even Iowa State either.

It took us forever to get out from the rut of winning 7-8 games almost every year like we did from 2010-2014. Had the breakthrough year in 2015, then went back to more 7, 8, 9 win seasons before finally turning a corner where we can be a consistent 10-win ceiling team like we've been since 2020 (I'm counting 2020 as a team that would've won 10 games with a full schedule). The problem then became our garbage offense creating an impenetrable ceiling that also set our offensive recruiting back an entire cycle of classes (4 yr window). The transfer portal can only help a place like Iowa so much especially with the staff and head coach, in particular, that we have.

Don't get me wrong. I'm more appreciative of these 10 win seasons than most glass-half empty fans and certainly any staunch pessimistic Iowa fans, but KF and Co took their sweet ass time turning that corner, all the while allowing their to be a definitive ceiling that the program was never going to overcome no matter how much the fanbase hoped and prayed that they would. And the fans that encouraged that to be okay should be ashamed of their acceptance of settling/complacency/never wanting to take real chances in life and failing.

I have no doubt that this team could possibly rebound to go 10-2, but then what? The ceiling is still there, even if we're finally attempting to remodel it after 7-8 years. And there's not enough portal help or money in the world that's gonna keep us from taking a major step backwards next year, even if Kirk retires and we bring in a new coach with fresh ideas and aspirations.

I'll leave you with this fact. 2024 is still suffering from the side effects of the previous offensive regime, so essentially Brian Ferentz (and Kirk) wasted two entire generations of recruits (freshmen to senior) on Brian's bad offenses/definitive barrier to real postseason success that isn't a glorified exhibition in 2024.

That's why some people are pissed, and no it's not okay to disagree with that or think we're asking for too much from Iowa.

Deal with it and I hope that helps.

That's all fine and good.

But, some feedback -

And the fans that encouraged that to be okay should be ashamed of their acceptance of settling/complacency/never wanting to take real chances in life and failing. The fans here have no say. It's not up to any of us to take a chance. And, winning 10 games doesn't feel settling/complacency.

KF and Co took their sweet ass time turning that corner, all the while allowing their to be a definitive ceiling that the program was never going to overcome. They allowed it?

That's why some people are pissed, and no it's not okay to disagree with that or think we're asking for too much from Iowa. I have no problem with fans being pissed. So am I. If you re-read my post I said it was "interesting" that fans always demand more, no matter what they have.

I want them to be better too. But we all want nice things!

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Go away Doc

1-1

 

[Iron Doc]

1-1

And so it begins.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

That's all fine and good. (It better be.)

But, some feedback -

And the fans that encouraged that to be okay should be ashamed of their acceptance of settling/complacency/never wanting to take real chances in life and failing. The fans here have no say. It's not up to any of us to take a chance. And, winning 10 games doesn't feel settling/complacency.

The fans have no say, you say?................Is that what you think?


Nah, no.....i won't say anymore. 🤫

KF and Co took their sweet ass time turning that corner, all the while allowing there to be a definitive ceiling that the program was never going to overcome. They allowed it?

That's why some people are pissed, and no it's not okay to disagree with that or think we're asking for too much from Iowa. I have no problem with fans being pissed. So am I. If you re-read my post I said it was "interesting" that fans always demand more, no matter what they have.

Well, it's about progress.

I want them to be better too. But we all want nice things!

 

[IowaHawk1994]

Looking at the remaining schedule I only see one definite loss on the schedule. Honestly at Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska isn't intimidating. Playing Wisconsin, Washington UCLA and Purdue doesn't instill any fear. So realistically Kirk will get close to ten wins with a putrid offense. The defense will come together playing offenses like Illinois or Minnesota and Kirk will get lauded as doing more with less.

Only difference is he won't get to the CCG to get an extra blowout. The narrative more with less is a bit deceiving. If Iowa had to play Oregon, USC, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State yearly plus a tough OOC game like Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan do every year and win even half of those I would agree. But Iowa plays teams like Northwestern. Kirk purposely makes younger more talented guys sit behind older players that have earned his respect.

Meanwhile Nebraska is starting a true freshman that has put life into that program. Ohio State has their 100th freshman WR phenom making plays and Florida learned their lesson by putting in their highly touted QB freshman because if they didn't that coach would be gone. Florida also has a meat grinder of a schedule so it likely won't matter, but it's the expectations.

Iowa under a coach with a fire under his butt would've kicked the tires on Kyle McCord, Cam Ward or Will Howard. But the program under Kirk is stable and while everyone is upset now, things will go back to normal after Iowa beats all the teams they should. Kirk will get his ten wins and ride into next year. His backers will point to his tenure as the most impressive thing ever.

Wash, Rinse and Repeat. The beat goes on.

This schedule lol. How KF gets these cupcake conference schedules is just amazing. There will be some losses to these crappy teams. Nebraska's qb and D are much better than Hawks. MichSt is terrible but can complete passes, so that will be a dog fight. Whisky, Minny and Purdue will be close. Washington and UCLA are way down but one will beat KF. OhioSt will be the usual blowout.
Imagine if KF got Michigan's schedule lol.

 

[pistachio1999]

This schedule lol. How KF gets these cupcake conference schedules is just amazing. There will be some losses to these crappy teams. Nebraska's qb and D are much better than Hawks. MichSt is terrible but can complete passes, so that will be a dog fight. Whisky, Minny and Purdue will be close. Washington and UCLA are way down but one will beat KF. OhioSt will be the usual blowout.
Imagine if KF got Michigan's schedule lol.

Dang you sound like a Clone fan. You sure you aren't?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

The fans have no say, you say?................Is that what you think?


Nah, no.....i won't say anymore. 🤫

Well, it's about progress.

It seems obvious to me that the fans have no say. If they did -

- BF would have been gone several years ago

- Fran would have been gone several years ago.

- KF would have been gone a decade ago.

You have to be a pretty big booster to have a voice.

 

[pistachio1999]

It seems obvious to me that the fans have no say. If they did -

- BF would have been gone several years ago

- Fran would have been gone several years ago.

- KF would have been gone a decade ago.

You have to be a pretty big booster to have a voice.

On sideline of first football game, Beth and Fran ran into each other on sideline and they gave a big hug to one another. True story. No way I am hugging my boss or direct report unless they just had a close relative pass away.

 

[Bow.to.the.Narrative]

Putrid offense? All they have to do is hand the damn ball off and it's more than serviceable

 

[eyesofhawk]

Iowa football is trapped in the same cold, stale bowl of plain and watery oatmeal for as long as KF remains coach. Saturday was Exhibit A. He can't adapt. We go into halftime with a tenuous 13-point lead (whar the f*cking tush push on those goal line series?), then we throw a pick, and KF does what he's always done trying to nurse a small lead to victory. He turtles up. One more first down on that last drive and the game is over. But no. Instead of actually trying to get the first down and WIN the game, KF gives up, runs three straight into the defense, and punts hoping that Uncle Phil will bail him out again.

Conference championship game participant in 2 out of 3 years is stale? You must be a biscuits and gravy type of guy.

So you wanted the conservative tush push in the first half, but complain about being too conservative in the 2nd half? Lol, you can't make this stuff up.

Are you aware that's Iowa's first loss since 2014 when having led in the 2nd half by 10? There are reasons for that