It may be a bit early for football, but I have 2 questions for you. Did you see improvement last year? (if not in wins then in play?) Anyone going to make it out to Kinnick?
Hello Rutgers
- Thread starter Wingman137
- Start date
Question 1 - Don't know, can only hope.
Question 2 - Yes, looking forward to it. Trip is all planned. First time to Kinnick, and Iowa, for that matter. Any suggestions for a "can't miss" sight or event?
Question 2 - Yes, looking forward to it. Trip is all planned. First time to Kinnick, and Iowa, for that matter. Any suggestions for a "can't miss" sight or event?
What srru said, except for my visiting.
Will Iowa take a step back? Any buzz on Travis Vokolek, or too early?
No, he's a Hawkeye. It's all cornfields out that way and hard to keep them apart.
Actually, I think we will be better than last year. As for Travis, a bit too early. KF doesn't talk about players too much. As for what to do, I know they are throwing around different dates with concerts ect... Just be prepared for lots of good food and lots of beer if beer is your thing. Most people leave confused by how nice most of the people are. (We have a few ***-hats, but they are the minority.) Most people will invite you to their tailgates, offer you food, beer, water, pop, or whatever.
Wingman, blowout losses to Kansas and Buffalo set a very low bar for improvement.
That is not exactly right. Compared to the utter disaster RU was the first half of the year, the team showed a pulse against Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State. I'm not big on moral victories, and winning matters, but the team, especially the defense, did not look totally incompetent in those games.
My bad, it's all cornfields and blurs together. No offense, wingman.
Knight Shift, When KF took over, we went 0-11 the first year and won 1 in year 2. But we could see improvement the entire 2nd year. Gave us some hope. 3rd year made a Bowl Game and 4th year, made the Orange Bowl, where we got our teeth kicked in. At least we saw improvement. In your case, it's hard to measure improvement just because of how tough your division is. The B1G East is nasty tough.
They gave up 31 to a not that great Wisconsin, scoring above their average that year so let's kick that one out. Northwestern and MSU were not offensive juggernauts last year, MSU was ranked 125th in scoring, Northwestern 99th. psu I'll give you they played great. The improvement gets overplayed because they looked like a walking disaster under Niemann's tutelage. So they went from total disaster to well below average. I mean if we're trying to build Rome here, then yes it could be considered progress. But really we're just straining for any glimmer of hope.
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You are going to have to change those initials, because KF around here means "Kyle Flood". That name triggers violent reactions, convulsions and post traumatic stress disorder from the flood damage he inflicted on RU football.
And I have to correct you. Year one of Captain Kirk, you guys were 1-10, then 3-9. After that, you guys have consistently won 6 or more games a year, except in 2012.
It looks like 1999 was indeed a rough year for the Hawkeyes with some bad blowouts. In 2000, you guys did not get blown out, except by a 5-6 Illinois (31-0). Most of your games were close.
The problem many here see is no incremental improvement year over year. Ash was 2-10, then 4-8, and we thought we were on our way to improvement, and then he dropped to 1-11 with blowout losses to Kansas and Buffalo, and the usual blowouts by Michigan and Ohio State.
My wife has cousins from Iowa who are Hawkeye fans and a few years ago (probably pre-2015), they were complaining that Ferentz was overpaid. It's all relative. If you guys want to do a straight up swap of head coaches let us know.
My apologies on the records KS. It was meant to show that if you are improving you can do well. Most important thing for Rutgers is to keep the talent close to home there.
wingman
Even though Kirk Ferentz been there for years,
when Hawkeye football is mentioned I think of Hayden Fry .
Is it that way in Iowa or has Kirk become the name most Iowa fans think of as the best HC Iowa had or is Forest Evashevski looked on as the one.
Even though Kirk Ferentz been there for years,
when Hawkeye football is mentioned I think of Hayden Fry .
Is it that way in Iowa or has Kirk become the name most Iowa fans think of as the best HC Iowa had or is Forest Evashevski looked on as the one.
No worries--but the keeping talent at home results are not happening under Ash. He has had a few solid local recruits, but the best talent is going to the blue bloods of the B1G or other top teams.
2019 is a make or break year for Ash.
I noticed something about your coaches--tremendous stability.
From 1999-2011- Iowa had the same OC and DC. Only after Norm Parker retired did you guys promote our current DC from DBs coach. On OC you had O'Keefe for 13 seasons, he left and is now back as QBs coach. Your OC after that was there for 5-6 years, before Ferentz' son took over.
RU had 10 OCs in 10 years. This is the first year we have had the same OC 2 years in a row at RU for quite some time. That is not a recipe for success.
We will be a 'W' for your folks when we come to town. Most on this board think Ash destroyed the program. I actually think he is still rebuilding. The prior coach torched the success left by Greg Schiano. That was the real travesty. Ash did not help himself with some early bad hires for OC and DC that further sunk the program. He also did not have the charisma to attract top talent so he has to work extra hard to just get solid players, which he is doing, and molding them into B1G players. I think he is learning and evolving and putting pieces in place. Even if he is gone after this year, there will be more to work with for the new coach. I think the team will show improvement, but don't expect us for finish with more than 3-4 wins. While pieces of the team come together, its been a while since they have learned to win. That will be the next evolution for this team. We are not a storied program so our rebuild is taking a lot more time and effort than most fans on this board care to understand or believe.
Losing to Kansas and Buffalo in year 3,and having 11 straight loses,two b10 entire winless seasons means there shouldn't be another year for Ash and that's ZERO progress.then again we are Wal Mart Rutgers, trying to save 10 dollars.
Predictable response. @OP should ignore that post.
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Old guys like me think of Fry, the younger ones think Ferentz. Very few even think of Evi. There are rumors that when Evi quit coaching and became AD, he torpedoed the next few coaches to cement his own legacy. But rumors mean nothing. And Knight Shift, under both Fry and Ferentz, there has been tremendous consistency at coaches. Fry had one of the best staffs of all time. (In my opinion) He had Bill Snyder OC, Barry Alverez LB, Ferents OL, Stoops DB, Bileima DL Dan McCarney, Carl Jackson Bernie Wyatt and I can't remember who else. Coaching consistency helps.
@Wingman137 I'm in for the Iowa trip this year. Heading in on Thursday to take in some local Iowa sights. Field of Dreams is on the list. Any other recommendations? Places to eat? Drink? We're staying in Coralville
True Flood brought down the Program after steady success under Schiano.
Ash has brought it down further to a whole new level.
The Recruiting is not remotely close to being competitive with the mid-level B1G East Teams
We we're playing better at the end of the year. Not sure if that was just a reflection of the competition.
We are not in the same ballpark as the top 1/3, we are below the next 1/3 and middling in the last 1/3.
Maybe a trip to the cornfields will help us. We need a damned field of dreams. After 149 years we need to find a way out of this mess. I am getting old. I don't have another 149 in me.
Ummm.. in 2018 we were dead last in the B1G East in Recruiting.
In 2019 we were only slightly ahead of Maryland in Recruiting { and all their Coaching issues}
In 2020 so far we are dead last in the B1G East Recruiting.
Hardly say we are in the middle of the bottom 1/3. We are the bottom unfortunately.
Been trying to do that forever. It might help if IOWA would keep their meat hooks off of kids like Wadley.(nothing personal)
Coaching,IMO,is the MOST important factor. Great coaching brings in great talent .AND,over and over and over again.It is the bedrock of great FB programs.
From Coralville, you're just a few miles from the Ped Mall in Iowa City. Lots of bars, food, shops all kind of huddled together. Also the old Capital is there. They usually have outdoor concerts and such early in the season. There are lots of hiking trails close by, ect.. All depends on what your likes are.
When I said to keep your kids at home, I meant fom Penn State and Ohio State. I think Iowa should be exempt from that.
When I said to keep your kids at home, I meant fom Penn State and Ohio State. I think Iowa should be exempt from that.
The Ped Mall? Owned by Penn State alums, or is that where their fans stay when you guys plate PSU?
We were 1-11 with horrible losses to bad teams. The good news is that we have a Sr Captain OL (Jackson) and a very talented TE(Volotek) coming Bach which should help and shows how solid our foundation is...
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