What kind of 8-4 is a good 8-4?

[JStandefer]

another Ferentz on the hot seat article with some good quotes from Moorehouse and Patrick Vint.

Nothing new or earth-shattering. They bring up 'The Contract' again. But say the buyout is really a non-factor after this year.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-college-football-preview-iowa-hawkeyes-kirk-ferentz/

 

[frydaze]

another Ferentz on the hot seat article with some good quotes from Moorehouse and Patrick Vint.

Nothing new or earth-shattering. They bring up 'The Contract' again. But say the buyout is really a non-factor after this year.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-college-football-preview-iowa-hawkeyes-kirk-ferentz/

For this season I think a "good" 8-4 does NOT include losses to Illinois State (no way in the hell can you afford to lose to a sub-Division football team), Iowa State, North Texas, Indiana, Illinois, To me, those 5 games MUST be victories because our program should be, and prove, we are better than those 5 programs. If we were to win 3 more games on top of these 5, then I think people would be happy because it would represent beating 3 schools considered just as good as us, and some even better.

So, long story short, Kirk MUST win all the games he should (the 5 I mentioned). One thing that has been salt in the wounds in the past 5 seasons is the games we lose to bad teams--most notably Iowa State.

I have said this before: the sinking season ticket sale base will impact KF's future more than anything. For people to start coming back who have given up their tickets, or for many new season ticket holders to come on board, Iowa must have a dynamic 2015 season--meaning winning at least 9 games and appearing in an outstanding bowl game. Even a ho-hum 8 wins this year that includes a couple losses to opponents we shouldn't lose to, just won't excite the fan base a lot and make ticket sales go in the other direction.

We can not continue to have a shrinking season ticket base.

 

[dawgs_04]

If CJ throws for 4,000 and we go 7-5, many will return.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Win all your home games, lose 4 hard-fought road games to teams that were favored, beat Iowa State and have a lot of good players returning. That would be a good 8-4.

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

For this season I think a "good" 8-4 does NOT include losses to Illinois State (no way in the hell can you afford to lose to a sub-Division football team), Iowa State, North Texas, Indiana, Illinois, To me, those 5 games MUST be victories because our program should be, and prove, we are better than those 5 programs. If we were to win 3 more games on top of these 5, then I think people would be happy because it would represent beating 3 schools considered just as good as us, and some even better.

So, long story short, Kirk MUST win all the games he should (the 5 I mentioned). One thing that has been salt in the wounds in the past 5 seasons is the games we lose to bad teams--most notably Iowa State.

I have said this before: the sinking season ticket sale base will impact KF's future more than anything. For people to start coming back who have given up their tickets, or for many new season ticket holders to come on board, Iowa must have a dynamic 2015 season--meaning winning at least 9 games and appearing in an outstanding bowl game. Even a ho-hum 8 wins this year that includes a couple losses to opponents we shouldn't lose to, just won't excite the fan base a lot and make ticket sales go in the other direction.

We can not continue to have a shrinking season ticket base.

Add Purdue to that list of five ! They haven't been good since Joe Tiller left 2008

 

[N.Legend]

Setting the tone for the 2015 season. Not a very high bar.

 

[frydaze]

Add Purdue to that list of five ! They haven't been good since Joe Tiller left 2008

Completely agree about Purdue. I forgot to add to my list. Purdue is horrible and we get them at home and their head coach is likely gone at the end of this season.

So therefore, 6 games Ferentz absolutely can not afford to lose.

 

[icu81222]

So 9 should be very doable then

 

[DarkThunder#61]

So 9 should be very doable then

Not with this team, no.

But if you knew nothing about the team and simply looked at the program name "Iowa" and then their schedule, then yeah sure 9 wins is doable......................................................expectations!

 

[yerpHAWK]

2013 was a good 8-4 season, with a tough schedule. This is not a good 8-4 season...

 

[swihawkeye]

The kind of 8-4 that includes a win over nebby is a good 8-4. The other 8-4 are mediocre.

 

[herecomethehawkeyes]

Win all your home games, lose 4 hard-fought road games to teams that were favored, beat Iowa State and have a lot of good players returning. That would be a good 8-4.

Pretty much this.....but I will also add that it would be nice to thoroughly thrash teams that most competent Power 5 teams would be able to....sure would be nice to get the backups some 2nd half reps

 

[PHXIowaClub]

2013 was a pretty easy schedule. They played 3 good teams all regular season (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin) and lost to all 3 of them. Lost to Northern Illinois at home, even thought that was a decent NIU team, losing to them at home= not a successful season.

 

[MITCH492]

Is any 8-4 season a good 8-4 season?

 

[DarkThunder#61]

2013 was a pretty easy schedule. (Every schedule Iowa has ever played has been a pretty easy schedule. Why?....Because I said so. It's my opinion and I value that over someone who might suggest otherwise.) They played 3 good teams all regular season (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin) and lost to all 3 of them. Lost to Northern Illinois at home, even thought that was a decent NIU team, losing to them at home= not a successful season. (That's was also Jake Rudock's first game as a starter. Made a rookie mistake throwing that short route that got jumped for the game-winning pick. Losing the first game of the season didn't ruin the rest of the season just because you're bitter about it, regardless of how much you value your opinion on the matter. True story. Have fun with that.)

Beat 7-win Michigan after they torched us the year before. They returned several players from that team.

Beat 8-win Minnesota, holding them to 7 pts for a rare win at TCFBank Stadium.........

Beat a Pat Fitzgerald-coached Northwestern team the year they were expected to compete for a division title, in which they also fell flat on their faces....it was also a year after all our fans wanted Fat Pat as our coach. LOL @ our bitter fanbase.

Beat 9-win Nebraska at Nebraska for the first time in decades. And in convincing fashion.

Won 4 of 5 road games, including in Ames, with the only loss being a respectable performance at Ohio State. That doesn't happen too often in the KF era.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

That Nebraska team was not good. That Michigan team was not good. That Minnesota team was not good. B1G was bad that year minus the top 3. I will repeat, there were 3 good teams in the B1G that year and Iowa lost to all 3. Iowa also lost to NIU at home and had ZERO offense against LSU in the bowl game. 2012-2014 was not a down-up-down span. It has been a steady below average span.

Answer me this, when is the last time Iowa beat a great team? When is the last time Iowa had a great win? 2010 Insight Bowl over Mizzou? 2011 Michigan game was the last time Iowa beat a ranked opponent. 4 years ago......4!

 

[DarkThunder#61]

That Nebraska team was not good. (Does your grading scale only have good/bad on it?) That Michigan team was not good. That Minnesota team was not good. B1G was bad that year minus the top 3. I will repeat, there were 3 good teams in the B1G that year and Iowa lost to all 3. (Were they suppose to?) Iowa also lost to NIU at home and had ZERO offense against LSU in the bowl game. (Yeah based on those two results alone and nothing else, sounds like a bad season to me, man. A lost season, that year was..........) 2012-2014 was not a down-up-down span. It has been a steady below average span.

Answer me this, when is the last time Iowa beat a great team? When is the last time Iowa had a great win? 2010 Insight Bowl over Mizzou? (Did you just answer your own question? Why keep that in your post if you did?...............) 2011 Michigan game was the last time Iowa beat a ranked opponent. 4 years ago......4!(csb)

Yeah, sorry but here at Iowa an 8-win season like in 2013 does not equal below average. I know you want it to, but your bitterness doesn't change reality. 2013 does not equal 2012/2014.

Have fun watching Iowa go 5-7 this year.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Two of those wins were over 5-7 and 7-6 teams. (And your point is?....) OSU was a loss, but I see you're following Barta's lead and playing the moral victory card. (Maybe there is such a thing as playing respectably in defeat...maybe there's not........maybe go f*** yourself. - Mark Wahlberg, in some movie)
Mighty Minnesota finished 8-5 with a bad bowl loss. (Would you prefer we lost to them, and that they finished with 3 wins, instead? Beggars can't be choosers....) Nebraska had basically their entire starting offense out with injury and played a 3rd string walk-on at QB. (Lol, so you're making excuses for teams we beat, but it's wrong for other Iowa fans to make excuses for themselves. Classic troll mistake.......Backed yourself into a wall on that one, didn't ya, buddy.)

That team lost every game against a ranked opponent by double digits (I'm going to make excuses for Iowa since you got to make excuses for Nebraska, fair? We had 2 or 3 solid scoring opportunities that came up short against Michigan State that would've made it a much more interesting game. We were tied with the talent-whoring Urban Meyer Buckeyes going into the 4th qtr and they just took over and won by 10 points....They were a 28 point favorite a few weeks before that game. The Wisconsin game was basically like last year's game except without the 2nd half offensive explosion......and Melvin Gordon going off. Iowa's defense did everything they could, but our offense was non-existent. That is true.) except for LSU, which was a complete mismatch everywhere but the scoreboard. (And how many times has Iowa outplayed an opponent for a majority of a game, only to lose in the end? Are comebacks not allowed at Iowa because Kirk Ferentz is the coach?)

Seasons don't get anymore mediocre than that one. (Yes, they do. Because I said so, Kurt Ferrets, and my opinion outweighs yours. Sorry, but it's true.)

 

[theIowaHawk]

I like milk with my Cheerios, I'm consistently amazed on here what many posters have in theirs.

 

[markfromj]

I have eaten over 4 million Cheerios.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

Dark Thunder, you realize your signature video is from 7 years ago? Why don't you update that with something more recent.......oh wait, you can't.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

Maybe you could find a video with a 7 yard run by Mark Weisman in 2013

 

[NomisHawk]

For this season I think a "good" 8-4 does NOT include losses to Illinois State (no way in the hell can you afford to lose to a sub-Division football team), Iowa State, North Texas, Indiana, Illinois, To me, those 5 games MUST be victories because our program should be, and prove, we are better than those 5 programs. If we were to win 3 more games on top of these 5, then I think people would be happy because it would represent beating 3 schools considered just as good as us, and some even better.

So, long story short, Kirk MUST win all the games he should (the 5 I mentioned). One thing that has been salt in the wounds in the past 5 seasons is the games we lose to bad teams--most notably Iowa State.

I have said this before: the sinking season ticket sale base will impact KF's future more than anything. For people to start coming back who have given up their tickets, or for many new season ticket holders to come on board, Iowa must have a dynamic 2015 season--meaning winning at least 9 games and appearing in an outstanding bowl game. Even a ho-hum 8 wins this year that includes a couple losses to opponents we shouldn't lose to, just won't excite the fan base a lot and make ticket sales go in the other direction.

We can not continue to have a shrinking season ticket base.

I think a good 8-4 is winning those 5 games listed and then pulling off an unlikely victory against Wisconsin. Good start to the Big Ten season, experience a bit of a mid season slump, then close out with a classic victory against Nebraska at the end. More than anything, I just want to play good football. I don't care what style we play, what formations we use, I just want quality executed football against a quality opponent. If we win 8 games, including one or two that we shouldn't have lost, I think Iowa football is on its way back.

 

[theIowaHawk]

Bad 8-4:
L - ISU
L - Minny
L - Nebraska
L - Wisconsin

That would be losing every trophy, winning all of the others won't make up for that.

A good 8-4:
L - 1 of Minny/Nebraska
L - 2 of Ill/Purdue/NW/MD
L - Pitt

That would mean winning 3/4 trophies. Beating Nebraska would be better than Minnesota, due to being last game. Even though losing to Pitt and two B10 bottom feeders would hurt, the highs of the season (Wiscy, ISU, Neb) would outweigh the lows.

I think it largely all hinges on Wisconsin. If Wisconsin is good, that will be an important, fun game.

 

[Duhawk47]

Is any 8-4 season a good 8-4 season?

Depends. If the 4 loses amount to getting totally blown out in most games like we did in the bowl game plus losing to ISU....then 8-4 is as bad as it gets. Blowing out those that we should coupled with very close games in those we lose would be palatable, not great but maybe enough for KF to save his job imo.

 

[ping72]

A good 8-4 is when you go 8-4 with a 6-6 talent-level team.

 

[MarkRules]

I have eaten over 4 million Cheerios.

I assume this has been discussed on OT board?

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Dark Thunder, you realize your signature video is from 7 years ago? Why don't you update that with something more recent.......oh wait, you can't.

What kind of actual Iowa fan bases their comeback on whether or not another person could find a more recent play of significance just to try and prove that Iowa has been a below average team?

I mean, really? You must really not enjoy Iowa football right now, if that's all you got.

In fact, I'll go ahead and let you have a redo, so you can comeback with something better. That wasn't good enough, just like Iowa football, right? Hey-oh.....

Btw here's something more recent, since you asked for it:

Or this failure of a play:

Oh and while searching I found this and am going to share it with the board because it needs to be watched (no I don't care how old it is, it's still awesome and I've never seen it before....there I said it.)

 

[Bigfann1966]

another Ferentz on the hot seat article with some good quotes from Moorehouse and Patrick Vint.

Nothing new or earth-shattering. They bring up 'The Contract' again. But say the buyout is really a non-factor after this year.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-college-football-preview-iowa-hawkeyes-kirk-ferentz/

My mind tells me 8-4 and a bowl win would quiet most fans for one more year. I don't think you can go 8-4 with the softness of our schedule and call it a success? Next year looks a little tougher, but it is really 17 when the rubber hits the road.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

I don't find this such an easy call.
Sure, you want to beat all the weak sisters on this schedule, and there are plenty of them.
But, how satisfying would that be to be 4-0 in the below average non-con portion, then go 4-4 in the B1G and lose to wisky, nebby, minny, and northwestern. That's about as unsatisfying an 8-4 as you can get, unless indy, maryland, illanoy, and purdont go gangbusters this year.

 

[swihawkeye]

The beat down of nebby by 3 tds was a great win. If you don't agree, that's YOUR opinion and you problem.

 

[J_Heater]

For me 8-4 is you won twice as many as you lost. But Im not like most people here. The others aren't stuck in mediocrity like me. They expect more. In fact they have expected a 5-7 or 6-6 season, so 8-4 would piss them off to no end. Especially when we have crappy players, crappy coaches, crappy schemes, crappy marketing department and a crappy atmosphere with storm trooper cops that won't allow people to throw beer bottles at opposing fans. So 8-4 to them is a perfect scenario. It allows them to be pissed off at the world because a team they thought was going 5-7 went 8-4 but it;s because the schedule is so weak. So they have created this world where they cannot be happy. 8-4 after expecting 5-7, well that's just not good enough considering their enormous contributions to KF's salary. They don't accept mediocrity. They want to be able to stand up and brag about a win that they had no part in. They want that participation ribbon and they won't rest until they get it. 8-4 with this schedule is unacceptable even though we suck. This thread alone lets me know I got a pretty damn good weekend ahead of me. Cheers everybody. I'll drink a beer for the optimists this weekend. I'll drink two for the rest of you.