What did we learn?
This will be a big week for Iowa football. Can they recover from two tough losses?
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
Nearly every team faces a point where their season could go one way or the other.
Saturday night when I listened to Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa players, it sure felt like this Hawkeye team had reached that spot. A crossroads, if you will.
Iowa had just suffered their second last minute loss and this one essentially eliminated their chances to win the Big Ten West and play in the conference title game just down the road in Indianapolis.
A season that started 6-1 with the Hawkeyes rising in the national rankings and a few college football writers even mentioning Iowa in the College Football Playoff discussion if everything went right was quickly going in the wrong direction.
At this point I always go back to the old coaching quote, “You are what your record says you are.”
Yeah the Big Ten West was pretty wide open this year and the Hawkeyes had every opportunity to make this a season to remember. However, they just weren’t good enough and that’s probably the harsh and unpopular reality. Maybe this team wasn’t as good as we thought they were when they were riding high a few short weeks ago.
Which brings us to this week.
A couple of years ago when Iowa lost in the Big Ten title game to Michigan State in the final minute, I’ve never seen a more disappointed and mentally drained group of players. They were so spent a few Hawkeyes couldn’t even talk coherently about the game they just played.
They left it on the field that day and as we saw a month later, they never recovered.
While the level of disappointment wasn’t the same on Saturday night at Purdue after a last second field goal beat the Hawkeyes, it was there for Ferentz and the players. The Iowa program preaches a one day and one game at a time approach and that has served them well, but it will be put to a significant test this week.
Now, on to what we learned this week and since we have basketball officially back, there’s plenty to discuss.
1. It was good to get the Nate Stanley that we had seen from the third to the sixth week of the season back on the field. With his right thumb wrapped up, Stanley completed 21 of 32 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown. He also didn’t throw an interception for the first time since the Iowa State game.
This week was filled with anxiety about Stanley with some even calling for a potential change at quarterback. Early in the week there were rumors that Stanley’s thumb was in bad shape and perhaps Iowa wouldn’t have choice because he might have a difficult time throwing a football. Those rumors ended up being false. Stanley’s thumb probably isn’t 100%, but he can certainly make the throws necessary to play the quarterback position and played a solid game against Purdue.
2. It was a rough afternoon at Ross Ade Stadium for Iowa’s true freshmen cornerbacks. After playing pretty well since being inserted into the starting lineup, Julius Brents and Riley Moss had their first tough day at the office. Both Brents and Moss graded out poorly according to Pro Football Focus grading system and eventually, Moss was pulled from the game and replaced by Michael Ojemudia.
Purdue didn’t do anything special, but what they did do was follow some of their game plan from last year in Iowa City. They found the situations where either Moss or Brents were in single coverage without help and they went on the attack. Credit to Jeff Brohm for another very good game plan and quarterback David Blough for throwing some great passes. There will be better days ahead for Brents and Moss, but on this day, they got picked apart by a good coach and a veteran signal caller.
3. Each week we need to take a minute to give a tip of the cap to an underappreciated Iowa player and this week it’s time to talk about Sam Brincks.
He’s the latest in a long line of really good walk-on stories and Brincks is writing a nice final chapter.
Last year, Brincks started to get into Iowa’s defensive line rotation at end, but this spring he dipped his toes into the tackle position. He’s now found a home in the middle of the line as a starter and the senior is making the most of it.
This week he had his highest graded week according to Pro Football Focus and he has quietly become one of Iowa’s best defensive tackles.
4. I know it’s way too early to look ahead to next year, but the safety pairing of Amani Hooker and Geno Stone has a lot of potential.
Hooker has been spending most of his time playing linebacker in recent weeks. In the spring, Phil Parker had talk about using a hybrid linebacker, but most thought those plans were probably going to be scraped once Brandon Snyder left the team before the start of fall camp.
Injuries at linebacker certainly played a role in Parker’s decision to move to his ‘Cash’ personnel grouping, but you get the sense that it was just as much about getting Stone on the field. The talented sophomore hasn’t disappointed with three interceptions and he’s one of the best pure tacklers on the Iowa roster.
Hooker has been really good all season and this week he was the highest rated defensive player according to Pro Football Focus. He and Stone could be a pretty dynamic playmaking duo at the back end of the Iowa defense.
5. Did the officials blow the Purdue game?
Maybe.
I’m not one to complain about officiating very often. I’ve always been a believer in the idea that you should be able to overcome the guys in the striped shirts, even when they are bad. But, Saturday was pretty bad and they were bad at the wrong time where a team had no chance to recover.
Let’s go back to Iowa’s final drive. First, there was a holding call against Iowa center Keegan Render. It wasn’t holding. It just wasn’t. On first and ten, Iowa was pushed back ten yards. After getting six yards back, Mekhi Sargent was called for holding on a play where Nate Stanley ran for seven yards. Instead of being third and seven, Iowa was second and 24. Now, the Sargent call was borderline, but I don’t think it was a hold.
Then there was the call on Julius Brents. Facing a 2nd and 18 situation, David Blough threw towards the end zone to wide receiver Isaac Zito. The pass was incomplete, but Brents was flagged for interference. If that play was interference, then you could call it on every single passing play. It was two players going up to make a play. So, instead of being 3rd and 18 for the 31 with a kicker who didn’t have a make this season from beyond 38 yards, Purdue was 1st and 10 from the Iowa 16 yard line. Basically, it’s game over at that point.
I know some Iowa fans want Kirk Ferentz to send the plays into the Big Ten office for review and I am sure he will, but it won’t change the outcome of the game.
6. What about a bowl game for the Hawkeyes?
The last two weeks haven’t done much to help the Hawkeyes cause for a bigger game. As mentioned earlier, the Big Ten title game is off the table as are the New Year’s Six games, including the Rose Bowl.
The Citrus and Outback Bowls are supposed to be in Iowa City this coming weekend, so they are still very interested in the Hawkeyes. The Citrus Bowl, which is played in Orlando, will have been to Iowa games in four of the last five weeks.
As we mentioned in past updates, with this being the fifth of six years in the Outback Bowl contract, even though Iowa has been there during this cycle, they could go back.
I still think the most likely destination is the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. They have been very interested in Iowa in the past few years, but the Hawkeyes haven’t been available to them. This year they probably will be, but I think Iowa has to win at least two of the last three to get there.
We might want to get the Redbox Bowl on our radar. It’s played at the 49’ers stadium in Santa Clara, but essentially, San Francisco hosts the bowl game against a Pac 12 opponent. Both the Redbox and Holiday Bowl games are scheduled for New Year’s Eve.
7. On to a little basketball talk this week because the official start of the season is officially upon us.
I’ll do my fearless forecast early this week, but I remain fairly bullish on the Iowa basketball team turning things around this season. If you aren’t as optimistic about the upcoming season, I get it. Iowa was awful last year, especially on defense and most of the guys who played poorly last year are back.
I go back to my main point from last week when I wrote about the basketball team, I just don’t think it’s possible for them to be as bad as they were last season on defense. I don’t think they will be a great defensive team, but I think they will be better and the offense will be stronger than last year.
This will be a big week for Iowa football. Can they recover from two tough losses?
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
Nearly every team faces a point where their season could go one way or the other.
Saturday night when I listened to Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa players, it sure felt like this Hawkeye team had reached that spot. A crossroads, if you will.
Iowa had just suffered their second last minute loss and this one essentially eliminated their chances to win the Big Ten West and play in the conference title game just down the road in Indianapolis.
A season that started 6-1 with the Hawkeyes rising in the national rankings and a few college football writers even mentioning Iowa in the College Football Playoff discussion if everything went right was quickly going in the wrong direction.
At this point I always go back to the old coaching quote, “You are what your record says you are.”
Yeah the Big Ten West was pretty wide open this year and the Hawkeyes had every opportunity to make this a season to remember. However, they just weren’t good enough and that’s probably the harsh and unpopular reality. Maybe this team wasn’t as good as we thought they were when they were riding high a few short weeks ago.
Which brings us to this week.
A couple of years ago when Iowa lost in the Big Ten title game to Michigan State in the final minute, I’ve never seen a more disappointed and mentally drained group of players. They were so spent a few Hawkeyes couldn’t even talk coherently about the game they just played.
They left it on the field that day and as we saw a month later, they never recovered.
While the level of disappointment wasn’t the same on Saturday night at Purdue after a last second field goal beat the Hawkeyes, it was there for Ferentz and the players. The Iowa program preaches a one day and one game at a time approach and that has served them well, but it will be put to a significant test this week.
Now, on to what we learned this week and since we have basketball officially back, there’s plenty to discuss.
1. It was good to get the Nate Stanley that we had seen from the third to the sixth week of the season back on the field. With his right thumb wrapped up, Stanley completed 21 of 32 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown. He also didn’t throw an interception for the first time since the Iowa State game.
This week was filled with anxiety about Stanley with some even calling for a potential change at quarterback. Early in the week there were rumors that Stanley’s thumb was in bad shape and perhaps Iowa wouldn’t have choice because he might have a difficult time throwing a football. Those rumors ended up being false. Stanley’s thumb probably isn’t 100%, but he can certainly make the throws necessary to play the quarterback position and played a solid game against Purdue.
2. It was a rough afternoon at Ross Ade Stadium for Iowa’s true freshmen cornerbacks. After playing pretty well since being inserted into the starting lineup, Julius Brents and Riley Moss had their first tough day at the office. Both Brents and Moss graded out poorly according to Pro Football Focus grading system and eventually, Moss was pulled from the game and replaced by Michael Ojemudia.
Purdue didn’t do anything special, but what they did do was follow some of their game plan from last year in Iowa City. They found the situations where either Moss or Brents were in single coverage without help and they went on the attack. Credit to Jeff Brohm for another very good game plan and quarterback David Blough for throwing some great passes. There will be better days ahead for Brents and Moss, but on this day, they got picked apart by a good coach and a veteran signal caller.
3. Each week we need to take a minute to give a tip of the cap to an underappreciated Iowa player and this week it’s time to talk about Sam Brincks.
He’s the latest in a long line of really good walk-on stories and Brincks is writing a nice final chapter.
Last year, Brincks started to get into Iowa’s defensive line rotation at end, but this spring he dipped his toes into the tackle position. He’s now found a home in the middle of the line as a starter and the senior is making the most of it.
This week he had his highest graded week according to Pro Football Focus and he has quietly become one of Iowa’s best defensive tackles.
4. I know it’s way too early to look ahead to next year, but the safety pairing of Amani Hooker and Geno Stone has a lot of potential.
Hooker has been spending most of his time playing linebacker in recent weeks. In the spring, Phil Parker had talk about using a hybrid linebacker, but most thought those plans were probably going to be scraped once Brandon Snyder left the team before the start of fall camp.
Injuries at linebacker certainly played a role in Parker’s decision to move to his ‘Cash’ personnel grouping, but you get the sense that it was just as much about getting Stone on the field. The talented sophomore hasn’t disappointed with three interceptions and he’s one of the best pure tacklers on the Iowa roster.
Hooker has been really good all season and this week he was the highest rated defensive player according to Pro Football Focus. He and Stone could be a pretty dynamic playmaking duo at the back end of the Iowa defense.
5. Did the officials blow the Purdue game?
Maybe.
I’m not one to complain about officiating very often. I’ve always been a believer in the idea that you should be able to overcome the guys in the striped shirts, even when they are bad. But, Saturday was pretty bad and they were bad at the wrong time where a team had no chance to recover.
Let’s go back to Iowa’s final drive. First, there was a holding call against Iowa center Keegan Render. It wasn’t holding. It just wasn’t. On first and ten, Iowa was pushed back ten yards. After getting six yards back, Mekhi Sargent was called for holding on a play where Nate Stanley ran for seven yards. Instead of being third and seven, Iowa was second and 24. Now, the Sargent call was borderline, but I don’t think it was a hold.
Then there was the call on Julius Brents. Facing a 2nd and 18 situation, David Blough threw towards the end zone to wide receiver Isaac Zito. The pass was incomplete, but Brents was flagged for interference. If that play was interference, then you could call it on every single passing play. It was two players going up to make a play. So, instead of being 3rd and 18 for the 31 with a kicker who didn’t have a make this season from beyond 38 yards, Purdue was 1st and 10 from the Iowa 16 yard line. Basically, it’s game over at that point.
I know some Iowa fans want Kirk Ferentz to send the plays into the Big Ten office for review and I am sure he will, but it won’t change the outcome of the game.
6. What about a bowl game for the Hawkeyes?
The last two weeks haven’t done much to help the Hawkeyes cause for a bigger game. As mentioned earlier, the Big Ten title game is off the table as are the New Year’s Six games, including the Rose Bowl.
The Citrus and Outback Bowls are supposed to be in Iowa City this coming weekend, so they are still very interested in the Hawkeyes. The Citrus Bowl, which is played in Orlando, will have been to Iowa games in four of the last five weeks.
As we mentioned in past updates, with this being the fifth of six years in the Outback Bowl contract, even though Iowa has been there during this cycle, they could go back.
I still think the most likely destination is the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. They have been very interested in Iowa in the past few years, but the Hawkeyes haven’t been available to them. This year they probably will be, but I think Iowa has to win at least two of the last three to get there.
We might want to get the Redbox Bowl on our radar. It’s played at the 49’ers stadium in Santa Clara, but essentially, San Francisco hosts the bowl game against a Pac 12 opponent. Both the Redbox and Holiday Bowl games are scheduled for New Year’s Eve.
7. On to a little basketball talk this week because the official start of the season is officially upon us.
I’ll do my fearless forecast early this week, but I remain fairly bullish on the Iowa basketball team turning things around this season. If you aren’t as optimistic about the upcoming season, I get it. Iowa was awful last year, especially on defense and most of the guys who played poorly last year are back.
I go back to my main point from last week when I wrote about the basketball team, I just don’t think it’s possible for them to be as bad as they were last season on defense. I don’t think they will be a great defensive team, but I think they will be better and the offense will be stronger than last year.
