Look. We beat a horrible ISU team with no returning starters (at home) by a field goal. An ISU team that just got beat 39 to 3 by Arizona yesterday. We beat a bad Michigan team that should have four losses with literally multiple extremely lucky tipped passes. A Michigan team that is staring a .500 season in the face. Ohio State was Ohio State. Washington is awful. And Minnesota yesterday was a below average football team that just got plastered by Purdue. This offense was always a house of cards with no quarterbacks. An elite defense, which we still have, doesn’t change that.
This Team Was Never that Good….
- Thread starter BringBackBradBanks
- Start date
The signs were there, we just chose to ignore them. The first warning signs were when we played Iowa State. They're a bad football team. The fact we didn't beat them soundly in a night Kinnick environment was all we needed to know. Michigan was mostly luck, and Washington is a dead team walking. Our luck ran out yesterday against an awful Minnesota team.
Sadly, this may be the first year in the NIL era where Iowa will truly feel the affects of not having a highly paid roster. The scariest part is that it could snowball from here.
Sadly, this may be the first year in the NIL era where Iowa will truly feel the affects of not having a highly paid roster. The scariest part is that it could snowball from here.
You hit the nail on the head. Really, not unlike any recent Iowa team...Great D, good to great ST, very below average offense. I guess that's what makes it more impressive that we win more than not with a bad offense. But yes, our teams as a whole are generally no better than just 'good' at best, b/c our O is so bad.
On both sides of the ball, we scheme a style that shortens games, which means every year 4-6 games decided by a score of less. How these games break tells whether overall we had a mediocre, good, or great year. Just a couple of plays decide how we view the season. Really, doesn't it feel like we are watching the same season, over and over and over again?
When you have this much inexperience the machine held together with rubber bands and glue is going to breakdown at some point. Much of this collapse was mental. They pooped their pants on the big stage. qb play and Lester’s play calling get much of the attention, rightfully so, but other than the defense, lots of blame to go around.
I think they come out fighting against Wisconsin, but that is going to be a tall task. Wisconsin defense is good. Our D can keep it a low scoring game but I’m not sure we can muster the points on offense.
I think they come out fighting against Wisconsin, but that is going to be a tall task. Wisconsin defense is good. Our D can keep it a low scoring game but I’m not sure we can muster the points on offense.
I guess it’s a little unfair to say we have no quarterbacks. I guess we aren’t sure about Sullivan and Bessinger but we certainly can’t have Heck or Hank starting next year. That experiment has been a failure, cemented by yesterday.
If playcalling dont change when run game sucks wont matter qb
I don't even think you need to look at our opponents, rather the product on the offensive side seems to be regressing to the BF level era. Mild improvement over Petras/Hill/Padillia at QB, but drops in the RB and TE rooms. I guess the WR corps is better, but there seems to be a huge drop off after RVZ and The Boogeyman. Also, we got spoiled with Coop and Wetjen returning punts - which a program like Iowa desperately needs to counterbalance not having 22 four and five star kids....
Strange how we don’t use the tight ends when they are stuffing the box and overplaying the run.I don't even think you need to look at our opponents, rather the product on the offensive side seems to be regressing to the BF level era. Mild improvement over Petras/Hill/Padillia at QB, but drops in the RB and TE rooms. I guess the WR corps is better, but there seems to be a huge drop off after RVZ and The Boogeyman. Also, we got spoiled with Coop and Wetjen returning punts - which a program like Iowa desperately needs to counterbalance not having 22 four and five star kids....
Hank/Heck might transfer to a Toledo or NIU type team. Tony Diaz is going to transfer to Notre Dame or Florida. That is the problem with Iowa football in a nutshell.
If Hank could have hit that TE down the middle near the end we may not be having this conversation.
Or maybe the PR doesn’t fumble the punt…again
With all the self-inflicted dick kicks yesterday .... Just not doing that and Iowa still wins. That's just insane and even more frustrating
OLine with two supposed NFL guys has been wildly overrated.
Maybe it's time to question Barnett again?
Maybe it's time to question Barnett again?
I predicted 7-5 before the season. That was assuming a 3-3 start, dropping all three of the Michigan-tOSU-Washington stretch. And I never thought the rest of the schedule would be a cakewalk.
So now, having gone 5-1 to start the season, I’ll adjust my prediction to 9-3. We will have at least one more clunker, but Iowa teams almost always get better as the season goes on, and I expect the same this year.
We simply have too many first-year starters to expect an elite team. The folks with loftier predictions were always setting themselves up for disappointment.
So now, having gone 5-1 to start the season, I’ll adjust my prediction to 9-3. We will have at least one more clunker, but Iowa teams almost always get better as the season goes on, and I expect the same this year.
We simply have too many first-year starters to expect an elite team. The folks with loftier predictions were always setting themselves up for disappointment.
Agreed with everything except the big stage part. Playing at 50k seat Huntington bank stadium isn't the big stage
With an average Big Ten quarterback, this team is really good.
In recent years I've held a positive attitude towards KF, especially given the dumpster fires going on with our border rivals, but with the the caveat that the BF debacle would a
always be a stain on his legacy.
F*** that! KF himself is the stain it seems. That feels harsh to say, but he just can't be bothered to put a competent QB and offense on the field. Just a borderline good QB would make a ton of difference. Maddening.
always be a stain on his legacy.
F*** that! KF himself is the stain it seems. That feels harsh to say, but he just can't be bothered to put a competent QB and offense on the field. Just a borderline good QB would make a ton of difference. Maddening.
I had referenced a 3-3 start in the previous paragraph, so I was keeping with the same 6-game reference point.
But you are right … 5-2 is correct up to the latest results.
We would except we might be 6-1. If we get a 2nd drive going in the 4th qtr after the hawks tied it up and score late to win it then we should ask why are we not passing the ball a lot more and running an occasional delay run like a draw or a screen to the running backs.
You were never that good.
This team has a 3-point loss on the road, against a rival, a rival that' has wins over Michigan, Penn State, and Washington this year, in a game where we played absolutely horrible.
And we have a loss against a #2 Ohio State at home.
We're 5-2 with a,chsnce to get back in the ranked column against a hot, #25 in AP, Wisconsin. And Big Noon is going to be in town.
Win, that, we're back in the #22 neighborhood.
Then we get another opportunity, on the road, @ #18 NW..... Win that, and we’re 19thish. Win both these games impressively, we're 16th or 17th.
If we were to lose a game and still have a chance at playoffs, @ Minnesota was the game to lose.
So settle down, get behind this team, get ready to win the next two games, and get back into the playoff bubble discussion.
Then get ready to lose @ home to Purdue and finally be put out of our misery.
This team has a 3-point loss on the road, against a rival, a rival that' has wins over Michigan, Penn State, and Washington this year, in a game where we played absolutely horrible.
And we have a loss against a #2 Ohio State at home.
We're 5-2 with a,chsnce to get back in the ranked column against a hot, #25 in AP, Wisconsin. And Big Noon is going to be in town.
Win, that, we're back in the #22 neighborhood.
Then we get another opportunity, on the road, @ #18 NW..... Win that, and we’re 19thish. Win both these games impressively, we're 16th or 17th.
If we were to lose a game and still have a chance at playoffs, @ Minnesota was the game to lose.
So settle down, get behind this team, get ready to win the next two games, and get back into the playoff bubble discussion.
Then get ready to lose @ home to Purdue and finally be put out of our misery.
Cignetti admitted they seriously considered pulling Hoover,their several million dollar man for a 7th yr backup in 2nd half.
I saw plenty of QBs yesterday that missed open receivers.
Mainly big ten guys, some sec guys also.
One can make a similar argument for almost any team at this point in the season. It's really easy to spin results in a way that makes any team with a single loss or more look bad.
I'm not sure how good this team is, but you could also talk about how we went on the road at Washington and blew them out; beat Michigan at the big house, something the defending national champs and top 10 Indiana barely just did themselves; and almost won a road rivalry game despite committing what is for us an extreme number of errors.
It may end up being that this team just isn't that good, and we drop another 2 or 3 games. But another possibility is that this team wins the next 5 games, including victories over ranked Wisconsin and Northwestern, and gets to 10-2.
We’ll see what happens.
I'm not sure how good this team is, but you could also talk about how we went on the road at Washington and blew them out; beat Michigan at the big house, something the defending national champs and top 10 Indiana barely just did themselves; and almost won a road rivalry game despite committing what is for us an extreme number of errors.
It may end up being that this team just isn't that good, and we drop another 2 or 3 games. But another possibility is that this team wins the next 5 games, including victories over ranked Wisconsin and Northwestern, and gets to 10-2.
We’ll see what happens.
Hoover hurt his throwing shoulder the week before against OSU and Cignetti said after yesterday's game that he was not 100%.
Excuse me? Indiana needed OT to beat Michigan after only scoring 6 points all game.
Funny, I don't recall hearing this sentiment from you a couple days ago
Stats are not dominance. In fact the only stat that matters is the score. That was not domination. It was an Iowa-like type of performance.
It was literally Iowa playing in the Big Ten title game against Michigan in 2023. Cignetti, like Harbaugh, knew how bad Michigan’s offense was and just knew they were going to win.
Or two motion penalties in the red zone or lining up offsides giving the Gophers another down. No excuse for these stupid mistakes.
LOL. Yeah, and in other news… it’s the Hawks. Same ****, different year.
Scrape by the four Big Ten West teams most years, pad the record with three wins against a cowardly nonconference schedule, and maybe steal a win or two against a decent Big Ten team having a down year. Then lose to every good team—and usually get blown out on the road against the really good ones.
Finish it off with a toilet bowl against a mediocre SEC team, win that once in a while, and call it a successful season.
Rinse and repeat.
I did say in the Spring that despite all the praise towards Barnett and suggestions that we should eat crow, that it only took 4 f***ing years for that award winning OL to finally get and look "competent".
Sure it helps that they were mostly healthy...........but as far as we know, so has this year's group.
So I'm sure if we give Barnett the benefit of the doubt, this OL should be good to go by 2029!!!
🫠The penalties by this OL aren't going away. It's been a constant every week now. That's not getting fixed this year.
Latest
-
01
Hawkeye Report Basketball
Iowa Women's Basketball Preseason Bracketology Projection
-
02
On3 Basketball
Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Where all 18 teams stand entering 2026-27 season
-
03
Hawkeye Report Football
Hawkeyes in the NFL: Week Seven Top Performers
-
04
Hawkeye Report Basketball
Tip Time Preview: Illinois Springfield at Iowa
-
05
Hawkeye Report Football
Tuesdays with Torbee