I refuse to accept that Stanford was simply 29 points better than Iowa. I truly believe they caught lightning in a bottle that ended the game before Iowa could even break a sweat. We may not have won, but if that pick 6 didn't occur I think we get at least 3 points on that drive and the rest of the game would have felt different. That game was completely out of character for this team. I'm just trying to find a way to feel bettrr about the whole thing,
What transpires if CJB doesn't throw the pick 6?
- Thread starter General Tso
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Iowa probably punts and McCaffery probably either returns it or rushed it in a few minuets later.
Iowa loses 45-22 ...(MK would have missed the extra point)
Stanford can't play any better and Iowa can't play any worse is what transpired. It's nothing more or less than that. I've seen both teams play numerous times over the year and neither team was themselves.
I think the pick 6 is being overblown. I don't think Stanford is 29 points better than Iowa, either, but this stuff happens. We totally blew out a very, very good MSU team in Kinnick back when Micah Hyde got the pitch from Sash after the pick and took it to the house. We weren't that much better than MSU, either, but we made them look silly that day.
This was one of those games. Pretty much nothing went right for Iowa, and everything went right for Stanford. To their credit, they were ready, and to our detriment, we weren't. But I still think the pick 6 was a drop in the bucket in that game. We weren't stopping them, we weren't moving the ball, and our staff wasn't making any adjustments. Might have lost by 20 or so instead, but that game was a nightmare from start to finish. One play wasn't going to change much, IMO.
This was one of those games. Pretty much nothing went right for Iowa, and everything went right for Stanford. To their credit, they were ready, and to our detriment, we weren't. But I still think the pick 6 was a drop in the bucket in that game. We weren't stopping them, we weren't moving the ball, and our staff wasn't making any adjustments. Might have lost by 20 or so instead, but that game was a nightmare from start to finish. One play wasn't going to change much, IMO.
Obviously. Iowa would have won by three touchdowns-had that not happened
The way our defense was playing, Stanford lonely getting 45 points was probably the low end of the range of outcomes. I mean, look at the total number of touches Mccaffery got, it was only something like 18 total. If they would have needed to, God only knows how many yards and TDs he could have gotten. That being said, it's probably safe to say that 15 points from us was the low range of possible outcomes (couldn't be much worse). If they replayed the game without the pick6 as you suggest, I would imagine the final score might be something like 55-30.
So many uncharacteristic things by Iowa with all the penalties and dropped passes. Pick by CJ rather uncharacteristic but credit Stanford. Stanford was clearly better but Iowa played their absolute worst.
Has anything been said about Iowa slipping all over the place? Granted, several times it was more McCaffrey breaking the ankles of the Iowa defenders, but often the Hawks just slipped. Wrong shoes?
Has anything been said about Iowa slipping all over the place? Granted, several times it was more McCaffrey breaking the ankles of the Iowa defenders, but often the Hawks just slipped. Wrong shoes?
We were discussing the cleat thing at my game watch. I have a hard time believing this 12-1 team traveled 2,000 miles to play in our first RB in 25 years...only to wear the wrong cleats. If that DID happen, then holy s--t.
I don't get this logic, they played the starters until the end.
I guess Oregon called the dogs off TCU at halftime too
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It was just a feel I got. Not going for it on fourth and less than 1 once in our territory. Also declining the penalty on the field goal. Would have been 4 the and 1 inside the 10. Surely they knew they could easily get the first down in both cases. Yeah I know you don't take points off the board but if they were trying to run it up, they surely would have taken the penalty to try for a TD. Their playcalling seemed a lot more conservative in the second half, as you would expect with a 35 point lead.
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anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba
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I do think Iowa probably gets points on that drive as we go for it on 4th down, even if we didn't convert. Even if Iowa makes it 14-7 or 14-3 I still think they lose. I just think it'd be more of a 35-21 type game. Iowa's offensive game plan sucked....
So, morally, we won this one given that us being ourselves would have overwhelmed them being themselves, obviously?
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anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba
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A FAR better question is why punt the ball to the world's greatest return man? Now THAT is just plain ignorant. Kick it out of bounds. Anything is better than giving the ball to the very guy who is most likely to beat you. Asinine coaching. And if you recall, Iowa did the same thing against Maryland, kicking the ball to the conference's top return man who, like McCaffrey, obliged by returning it for a touchdown. Iowa beat Maryland anyway and would have lost to Stanford anyway, but that doesn't alter the fact that those are two of the most boneheaded coaching moves you'll ever see.
Stanford clearly got more conservative with their play calling. Even though he had 350+ all purpose yards, they under utilized Mccaffrey given the success he had whenever he got the ball.
The slipping is a result of, for whatever reason, the team not being at their physical peak. Why they've been sluggish and lethargic the past two bowl games is something I think Ferentz and Doyle will be looking at very closely this offseason.
Iowa stil loses by atleast 20 points around 42-21 or so. I do think that was the last straw and the team just quit the rest of the first half after that. Iowa got outplayed and outcoached right from the kick off. The very first play has me wondering more though cause the LB slipped and couldn't get back to the middle to cover up McCafferys option route and Lomax got burnt. I think if the LB doesn't slip maybe it's only a 12-15 gain and and the defense gets a chance to feel out the offense and get their barrings. My changes in the game plan would have been put a spy on McCaffery the entire game, don't even punt it to him and the offense needed to take more shots deep. Stanfords DB's were playing up all game and a simple double move by smith on that Pick 6 and he's going in for 6. The other things I noticed was we could have easily ran a fake punt and got it, stanford would rush 4-5 and as soon as they took 1 step forward everyone went back to set up a return except one guy. On one punt we could have ran for 20-25 yards before anyone even noticed.
I was noticing that too, the players sort of kept checking their cleats and didn't seem to plant with confidence as they were scared to lose their footing. Does anyone think maybe it has to do with playing on more artificial surfaces these days and stanford just might be a little more prepared. Just a thought not an excuse.
45-16 The who, why's and what if's don't really matter. I don't recall anyone questioning why we were 30 points better than Northwestern 40-10. The games over, it was a good season.
This sums up my thoughts as well. Putting a spy on McCaffery all game would probably have left us exposed in other areas but honestly it couldn't have been any worse. McCaffery going for 30 yards every time he touched the ball just left our team shell shocked and contributed to our general deer-in-the-headlights demeanor from the first quarter on. If we would have sold out to make sure he didn't beat us, likely their other players would have hurt us and we still would have lost, but maybe we wouldn't have been so shell-shocked that we couldn't do anything right until Stanford eased off the gas after getting out to a 38-0 lead.
After the game those were the first words out my brothers mouth. He said some days you have it and other days you don't. That was hands down Iowa's worst game of the year and Stanford played well and went with it. They didn't let up on the gas and got out to a big lead. McAffery is every bit as advertised and Iowa seemed to play on their heels. They weren't the same physical defense we saw all year.
