Were we just not ready to play?

[OnceAhawk]

Ok, so the Rose Bowl is still bothering me.

Hats off to Stanford; they deserved to win. I just don't think the margin of victory should have EVER been that large.

Some thoughts:

1) We just did not mentally look into this game. Stanford was fired up. Iowa players were just there.
2) Tackling. How the hell did we whiff on so many tackles all game long when we had been so solid all year long? The TV announcers mentioned this several times. First play of the game? A TD pass? Untouched? The 2nd TD by Stanford's QB? Another whiffed tackle. The punt return for a TD? Iowa players all around yet not even close to tackling McCaffery.

3) Was the Stanford DL really that good? Our OL owes CJ an apology. CJ got beat up all game and if our OL had shown a mean streak at all, things might have turned out a bit better.

I think it was CJ who said "we were not ready to play." Not a fun thing to hear, whether you are a coach or a fan.

Again, hats off to Stanford. They were fired up, they smelled blood, and they clobbered us.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

"we were not ready to play." is putting it mildly

 

[SoonerBeAHawk]

I've been thinking a lot about it too.

I have no new theory to advance but in my ruminations thought of similar failures in Rose Bowls past and came up with an interesting tidbit. Recalling that we rather handily defeated UCLA at Kinnick in Hayden's first Rose Bowl season, I was curious how UCLA did in the Pac10. A little research revealed: pretty good.

UCLA had only 2 losses by the narrowest of margins (1 and 3 pts) to USC and Stanford, and 1 tie with WaSU.

Here's the crazy thing though: UCLA annihilated Washington 31 - 0. Yes, the same Washington which would turn around and smash the Hawks 28 -0 in the Rose Bowl.

I know comparative scores are perilous, but .... .... C'mon! Those three results together are so odd. It's just never in the cards for Iowa ... anymore.

 

[OnceAhawk]

"we were not ready to play." is putting it mildly

did the Michigan State game pop our balloon? I.e., when we lost by 3 to Mich State, we lost our shot at the B1G title and the final 4. The wind was knocked out of us.

Was the Rose Bowl just a meaningless game that we had to play, similar to losing in the basketball Final 4 and then playing for 3rd place? In both cases, it is almost like who cares about these consolation games; we lost our shot at the national title with our last loss.

 

[OnceAhawk]

from ESPN.com:

The bowls are over, and unless you're a Clemson or an Alabama fan, you're probably in a reflective mood.

So, how do you feel about your team?


DOWN IN THE DUMPS

Iowa: A team-record 12 wins should be celebrated, and Iowa fans, among the best in college football, will oblige. But those folks also deserved a lot better from their team in Pasadena. Iowa finally had gained some national respect with the Big Ten championship and had an even bigger opportunity against Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Instead, the Hawkeyes looked overwhelmed and unprepared. Such performances damage programs that are striving for a bigger place in the spotlight.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14516710/rating-mood-all-bowl-teams

 

[DrVenkman]

A young team overwhelmed by the moment.

Iowa was not ready to play a veteran team that had played in Rose Bowls. Stanford o-line had 4 SRs on it. Satan (#5) went by Lomax on the first play like he was standing still and he never stopped. Iowas lines were not ready to battle. Don't know if KF was outcoached and Stanford had a new scheme just for Iowa or what, but it was like we had never seen them and they knew EVERYTHING we were going to do.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

did the Michigan State game pop our balloon? I.e., when we lost by 3 to Mich State, we lost our shot at the B1G title and the final 4. The wind was knocked out of us.

Was the Rose Bowl just a meaningless game that we had to play, similar to losing in the basketball Final 4 and then playing for 3rd place? In both cases, it is almost like who cares about these consolation games; we lost our shot at the national title with our last loss.

Who knows. I didnt even recognize the team in black, thats for sure. Stanford's a good team, but Iowa wasnt going up against the 01 Miami Hurricanes here. Iowa didnt even offer resistance, I think Stanford couldve put up 80 that day if they choose. I think both teams had completely different attitudes going into that game. One team was coming off a conference championship and played their way in and the other fell back to the game which now felt like a consolation prize. Iowa said all the right things leading up to the Rose Bowl, but not sure how much of it was sincere. I think Iowa was crushed after MSU and couldnt get off the canvas. I think injuries from the MSU game were worse than many thought too.

 

[thewop]

I'm with the OP that the score should have NEVER been so lopsided. There are all kinds of reasons it may have happened, but at this point we'll never know for sure, so they're all just excuses. Let's hope the players use it as motivation for 2016 and move on.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Folks, I'm in the same boat. Iowa's last four Rose Bowl appearances have been inexplicable. Period.

I know I was totally depressed, as a fan, by the MSU game. So close to the Big Ten title. So close to the Final Four. Change one or two plays, and Iowa wins. It's still gut-wrenching to think about. I couldn't even re-watch for over a week...

I know I wasn't excited about the Rose Bowl the way I should have been. I wasn't ready for it as a fan. But my hope was that the Hawkeyes, being young and resilient and a team oozing with character, would use the time to lick its wounds and then bounce back stronger than ever. Why, an article in the P-C just before the game was headlined something like "How Coaches Know Hawkeyes are Dialed In."

Then the game started, and it was, "Oh, no! We're not assigning anyone to McCaffrey?! We just let that happen? Oh, the horror...." And it only got worse.

So I am left to believe that it was all mental. The MSU game drained the Hawkeyes, and they just couldn't fill those emotional tanks again that soon. And I think the coaches must have been in the same boat, because Iowa's game plan on both sides of the ball and special teams--what we could see of it--was dumb and disjointed. Punt the ball to the world's greatest return man?! Keep running off tackle down 21-0 and 28-0 and 31-0?

You mean Iowa doesn't have an emergency plan to go no huddle? Remember that comeback against Pitt in Kinnick a few years ago? Where was that offense? Where was that urgency?

This was not the time for the Hawkeyes to return to the Rose Bowl. As others have said in various threads, when MSU scored with 27 seconds left, they took the heart out of the Hawkeyes. I know they took it out of me. I tried to care about the Rose Bowl; I wanted to care about the Rose Bowl. I just couldn't do it. Sadly, neither could the Hawkeyes.

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

View embedded media

Doesnt surprise me. As fans, we know how crushing the MSU loss was, for the players it was 100x worse. In Iowa's case, it would tough to bounce back from

 

[whatsup13579er]

I really don't know if the team was unprepared as much as everything just snowballed on them.

1st TD - 1 missed tackle and off to the races for 75 yards
2nd TD - Stanford scored in 8 plays
3rd TD - Pick six after Iowa drove nearly 40 yards into Stanford territory
4th TD - Punt Return TD after trading 3 and outs
5th TD - Stanford scored in 8 plays

3 flukie plays for touchdowns. Make a tackle here and there and not make a really bad throw and the game is within reach in the 2nd half. Iowa actually stopped Stanford a couple times in the first half. It sure didn't feel like it.

I haven't watch the broadcast of the game yet but after looking at the drive chart it doesn't look like the beat down like it felt like it was in person. If CJ doesn't throw the pick six and Iowa is able to keep driving and score a TD. Then KF can kick a FG when Iowa turned it over on downs at the Stanford 26 yard line. 28-10 is still a game at halftime.

Ifs and buts...

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

I think the physicality of the championship game combined with Stanford's near home field advantage, nagging injuries to CJ, Stanford's awesome offense and 3 RBs in four years just made a perfect storm for them to kick our ass. I think MSU might have also suffered from the physical beating that went down in Indy.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Put yourself in the players shoes -

"We started this journey in January after stinking up the place against Tenn. We worked our butts off for 7 months before fall camp even starts! Then, we went four months working our tails off to win games. Tremendous effort expended! Battling teams that had equal talent, but we overcame and won every game!

Then we go to Indianapolis and play in the biggest game of our lives! Max effort and we lose by inches! So close to the playoffs and dreams of a NC!

Then we take a week off, prepare for finals, see our families for Christmas and go to warm, sunny So. Cal. The press clippings have been very complementary, and the talking heads have admitted they were wrong. Iowa is a good football team - vindication! What an accomplishment! The effort the last 11 months has paid off.

But, we are not done. We have to (get to) play another game .... another big game! THE ROSE BOWL! First time in 25 years! But, I need to find some tickets for my family and friends! Wow, look at all this cool stuff we got just for being here! Man, is it beautiful here!

Got to get ready! The coaches have been hammering on us that Stanford is a great team! If we were playing Michigan or tOSU it might be easier to be hyped up! Wow! Look at beautiful the mountains are around the stadium! What a great reward for all of our hard work.

Bummer. These guys are really good! Crap, nobody runs like that in the B1G. We're down how much? Well .... shoot."

I do not think that the "moment" was too big. The B1G championship was bigger than the Rose Bowl for these guys.

These are young human beings ... giving 110% all the time is almost impossible. The Cubs beat the Cards in the division series and got swept by the Mets - and those are professionals.

Lots of teams got stomped in the Bowl games. I find it incredible, but not surprising, that all 8 teams that lost their championship games lost their bowl games. It's hard to keep climbing the mountain.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Sorry, but I don't buy this whole MSU sucked all the life out of them. They had a month to recoup and prepare for the game...it's not like they only had a week.

The way I see it is they buckled under extreme pressure and stanford, feeling disrespected and with very little pressure, came out spitting nails.

I think if Iowa could have kept it closer and had a little time to calm their nerves, we might have seen a closer game....but it didn't work out like that on that day.

It's a shame that Iowa will take a hit for one game...but they will. Looks at the cardinals(az) and seahawks. How does a team win 39-32 and then go lose to the same team they beat 36-6. Packers got destroyed by those Cards recently, does that mean they can't beat them in the playoffs? NO!

It's sports anything can happen and anything will happen. " It is was it is. " That's what makes it fun . The bad thing about football is there are no redos(understandably). There aren't 3-5-7 game series. If you choke one game, that's it!

 

[Golfer51031]

Only thing Hawks showed up for was the beef bowl which King said Iowa won with ease. Gameplay showed it bc those guys were lethargic out there.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Don't compare pros to college. Everyone has talent in the pros. Players trade teams, tendencies, etc. College level talent is going to win most of the time. ( not all but most, hence the disrespect for Iowa ) Most important player is the QB and ours was hurt, theirs was starting his 3 Rose Bowl, healthy and had the best RB in the country to give the ball to. Our line got manhandled and McCaffery had a head of steam and 10 feet to juke by the time he got to the LBs. Not many LBs are going to tackle that kid in space. BTW you only have to go back one season for a bigger Rose Bowl blowout. # 3 FSU with their Heisman QB blown out by Oregon by 39 points, 59 - 20. It happens to the best of them.

 

[southlakehawk]

I just heard Musburger (on DFW ESPN Radio) say that they asked the Iowa coaches about what they're going to do regarding McCaffrey and their reply was they (Iowa) was going to play their base defense.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

It looked that way, and as we all saw, it was a brilliant plan. LOL

 

[augHAWK]

I just heard Musburger (on DFW ESPN Radio) say that they asked the Iowa coaches about what they're going to do regarding McCaffrey and their reply was they (Iowa) was going to play their base defense.

This is all too familiar. Though I do recall how Norm changed things up to deal with Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl a few years back. Had we not changed our approach for that game the outcome very well could have been different.

 

[Hawks n' Horns]

I'm too lazy to do the research, but I'd be curious to see how many bowl games we won after losing the previous game. Seems like when we've won bowl games we haven't "backed" in to. The Rose should have been a great conciliation prize, but it it still was a conciliation prize. Just the facts of the new playoff era.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

Iowa played very tentative in the Rose Bowl. McCaffery is a great player, but you saw every time he was in a 1-1 situation our guys just sat on their heels and waited for him to make the move. Instead of being the aggressor and trying to tackle him.

It was a very sad day, but its time to move on. Iowa has the chance to get back there next year. Just need to keep everyone healthy.

I didn't realize that Stanford had that many seniors in their starting line-up. McCaffrey is good, but how will he be able to handle a whole new line and QB next year. Could be some tough sledding early on.

 

[bigfridaynite]

I know these kids write down personal and team goals every year and turn them in and I'll bet about everyone said win a B10 championship and very few if any said play in the Rose Bowl.
Goals are huge for these young men and I think that Championship game took a huge toll on them.JMO

 

[cruhawk]

Ok, so the Rose Bowl is still bothering me.

Hats off to Stanford; they deserved to win. I just don't think the margin of victory should have EVER been that large.

Some thoughts:

1) We just did not mentally look into this game. Stanford was fired up. Iowa players were just there.
2) Tackling. How the hell did we whiff on so many tackles all game long when we had been so solid all year long? The TV announcers mentioned this several times. First play of the game? A TD pass? Untouched? The 2nd TD by Stanford's QB? Another whiffed tackle. The punt return for a TD? Iowa players all around yet not even close to tackling McCaffery.

3) Was the Stanford DL really that good? Our OL owes CJ an apology. CJ got beat up all game and if our OL had shown a mean streak at all, things might have turned out a bit better.

I think it was CJ who said "we were not ready to play." Not a fun thing to hear, whether you are a coach or a fan.

Again, hats off to Stanford. They were fired up, they smelled blood, and they clobbered us.

1.) They had an elite offensive player, and knew how (and knew enough) to get him the ball.

2.) That said, Iowa definitely wasn't ready. Much of what happened to the Hawks was self-inflicted.

 

[B1G]

I call BS on the letdown talk. If we were talking OSU then yeah, I could believe it, but Iowa? And if it is true, then Kirk and the coaches did a poor job of motivating the players. And there is poor leadership among the players.

 

[Pepperman]

I just heard Musburger (on DFW ESPN Radio) say that they asked the Iowa coaches about what they're going to do regarding McCaffrey and their reply was they (Iowa) was going to play their base defense.

If that is really what our staff thought, I'm pretty angry about it. I said for a couple of weeks that the ONE guy Iowa couldn't get "beat" by was McCaffrey. No matter what happened in that game, even if it was still 45-16, as long as Iowa made somebody else beat them... wow. I hope the above is NOT true, but my gut tells me it probably is.

 

[greenelite]

Buried in game flow + no answer for McCaffery + owned in trenches + wrong shoes = final result