College football is dead

RagnarLothbrok

Heisman
Jun 11, 2025
6,490
17,011
113
And college basketball is hanging by a thread.

have to spend big money to win. ******* joke.
Serious question: What do you honestly believe has changed in terms of the product on the field? Do you think Ohio State having superior athletes to Iowa is something new? Lol.

In terms of the pecking order in college football, there is also nothing that has changed. The teams and programs most adversely affected by the NIL era are mid-major and FCS schools who get raided of their best players every year. Teams like Iowa have actually benefited some from NIL because they are now able to buy players in the offseason they would have otherwise not gotten.

Instead of crying about change, how about you accept the reality Iowa isn’t competitive against Ohio State this year because they still don’t have a good quarterback? As usual, this is KF’s biggest bugaboo going into a season. Darn near has been about every year. Quarterback is still the most important position in football. When you have a below average quarterback like Hank Brown, you are not going to compete against top 5 teams. It’s just not possible. And, yes, from what I have seen, Brown is currently Iowa’s best option at quarterback. He will win a lot of games this year for Iowa, but not against teams who are legitimately top 25, or top 5 in the case of Ohio State. I don’t know if Tim Lester convinced Kirk they were fine at quarterback heading into last year’s offseason or if Kirk convinced himself they were, but Iowa needed to bring in a quarterback out of the transfer portal if they had serious aspirations of being a playoff contender. They chose not to. If it was the money, okay. But they needed an upgrade at quarterback to jump to the next level. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Regardless, I told fans just like you three weeks ago to temper your enthusiasm and expectations. In fact, I am pretty sure you were one of the fans who ridiculed me for saying Iowa’s offense was not in a good place after struggling against a very mediocre Iowa State defense. And, as I said last week, Michigan is currently not a good football team and to take the last second win with a grain of salt (even though I agreed any win in the Big House is a big deal for Iowa). So, if guys like you want to talk sh*t to me when I tell you Iowa is not as good as you think they are, then don’t start threads crying about NIL when you get proven wrong. Iowa is a good football team and will likely win 9-10 games this year. But they are nowhere close to Ohio State’s level. Guess what? That has been true for decades upon decades.So quit crying about NIL.

Full stop. 🛑
 

BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
1,389
3,705
112
Serious question: What do you honestly believe has changed in terms of the product on the field? Do you think Ohio State having superior athletes to Iowa is something new? Lol.

In terms of the pecking order in college football, there is also nothing that has changed. The teams and programs most adversely affected by the NIL era are mid-major and FCS schools who get raided of their best players every year. Teams like Iowa have actually benefited some from NIL because they are now able to buy players in the offseason they would have otherwise not gotten.

Instead of crying about change, how about you accept the reality Iowa isn’t competitive against Ohio State this year because they still don’t have a good quarterback? As usual, this is KF’s biggest bugaboo going into a season. Darn near has been about every year. Quarterback is still the most important position in football. When you have a below average quarterback like Hank Brown, you are not going to compete against top 5 teams. It’s just not possible. And, yes, from what I have seen, Brown is currently Iowa’s best option at quarterback. He will win a lot of games this year for Iowa, but not against teams who are legitimately top 25, or top 5 in the case of Ohio State. I don’t know if Tim Lester convinced Kirk they were fine at quarterback heading into last year’s offseason or if Kirk convinced himself they were, but Iowa needed to bring in a quarterback out of the transfer portal if they had serious aspirations of being a playoff contender. They chose not to. If it was the money, okay. But they needed an upgrade at quarterback to jump to the next level. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Regardless, I told fans just like you three weeks ago to temper your enthusiasm and expectations. In fact, I am pretty sure you were one of the fans who ridiculed me for saying Iowa’s offense was not in a good place after struggling against a very mediocre Iowa State defense. And, as I said last week, Michigan is currently not a good football team and to take the last second win with a grain of salt (even though I agreed any win in the Big House is a big deal for Iowa). So, if guys like you want to talk sh*t to me when I tell you Iowa is not as good as you think they are, then don’t start threads crying about NIL when you get proven wrong. Iowa is a good football team and will likely win 9-10 games this year. But they are nowhere close to Ohio State’s level. Guess what? That has been true for decades upon decades.So quit crying about NIL.

Full stop. 🛑
No I don’t but this is going to get worse. It’s going to be hilarious when they let some G5 school into the playoffs get bent over in the first round. Iowa has always been behind schools like OSU but the chance of it ever being somewhat level is completely erased and will only get worse. They either need a salary cap in college football or just create a super league of Blue Bloods.
 
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BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
1,389
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Serious question: What do you honestly believe has changed in terms of the product on the field? Do you think Ohio State having superior athletes to Iowa is something new? Lol.

In terms of the pecking order in college football, there is also nothing that has changed. The teams and programs most adversely affected by the NIL era are mid-major and FCS schools who get raided of their best players every year. Teams like Iowa have actually benefited some from NIL because they are now able to buy players in the offseason they would have otherwise not gotten.

Instead of crying about change, how about you accept the reality Iowa isn’t competitive against Ohio State this year because they still don’t have a good quarterback? As usual, this is KF’s biggest bugaboo going into a season. Darn near has been about every year. Quarterback is still the most important position in football. When you have a below average quarterback like Hank Brown, you are not going to compete against top 5 teams. It’s just not possible. And, yes, from what I have seen, Brown is currently Iowa’s best option at quarterback. He will win a lot of games this year for Iowa, but not against teams who are legitimately top 25, or top 5 in the case of Ohio State. I don’t know if Tim Lester convinced Kirk they were fine at quarterback heading into last year’s offseason or if Kirk convinced himself they were, but Iowa needed to bring in a quarterback out of the transfer portal if they had serious aspirations of being a playoff contender. They chose not to. If it was the money, okay. But they needed an upgrade at quarterback to jump to the next level. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Regardless, I told fans just like you three weeks ago to temper your enthusiasm and expectations. In fact, I am pretty sure you were one of the fans who ridiculed me for saying Iowa’s offense was not in a good place after struggling against a very mediocre Iowa State defense. And, as I said last week, Michigan is currently not a good football team and to take the last second win with a grain of salt (even though I agreed any win in the Big House is a big deal for Iowa). So, if guys like you want to talk sh*t to me when I tell you Iowa is not as good as you think they are, then don’t start threads crying about NIL when you get proven wrong. Iowa is a good football team and will likely win 9-10 games this year. But they are nowhere close to Ohio State’s level. Guess what? That has been true for decades upon decades.So quit crying about NIL.

Full stop. 🛑
Also I said I would gladly comeback and admit I was wrong. Never had unrealistic expectations, but I wasn’t doomsday like some of you. It is what it is. Iowa is just a mid division one football program that can’t rely on hanging around anymore like they used too and it’ll be stuck there unless we spend megabucks like the other schools.
 
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BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
1,389
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A little over dramatic, this is pretty standard for college football. OSU has always outspent everyone else.

College athletics are mickey mouse, and always will be.
I don’t think it’s dramatic because we don’t even look like we belong on the same field and that wasn’t the case in the past. If you wanna be able to look like you belong in a playoff you have to look like you belong on the same field as them. We’re just above average Big Ten team from the eye test. Which I guess is fine.
 

RagnarLothbrok

Heisman
Jun 11, 2025
6,490
17,011
113
Also I said I would gladly comeback and admit I was wrong. Never had unrealistic expectations, but I wasn’t doomsday like some of you. It is what it is. Iowa is just a mid division one football program that can’t rely on hanging around anymore like they used too and it’ll be stuck there unless we spend megabucks like the other schools.
I wasn’t doomsday. I said I expected Iowa will likely have a good season and nothing today has changed my mind on that. But, yeah, I admit to pushing back a little at the narrative Iowa has a playoff team. Not without a quarterback.
 
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BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
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I wasn’t doomsday. I said I expected Iowa will likely have a good season and nothing today has changed my mind on that. But, yeah, I admit to pushing back a little at the narrative Iowa has a playoff team. Not without a quarterback.
All they had to do today was look like they belong and they didn’t.
 

RagnarLothbrok

Heisman
Jun 11, 2025
6,490
17,011
113
I don’t think it’s dramatic because we don’t even look like we belong on the same field and that wasn’t the case in your past. If you wanna be able to look like you belong in a playoff you have to look like you belong on the same field as them. We’re just above average Big Ten team from the eye test. Which I guess is fine.
There have been many years Iowa didn’t look like they belonged on the same field as Ohio State. In 2022, Ohio State won 54-10 and 2024 they won 35-7.

I think you are just emotional right now.
 

BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
1,389
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So people aren’t concerned with how awful Iowa has looked against p4 teams? Ho hum it’s OSU? Not overreacting, this team just looks mid against actual competition
 

RagnarLothbrok

Heisman
Jun 11, 2025
6,490
17,011
113
All they had to do today was look like they belong and they didn’t.
I know. And it’s pretty much what I anticipated happening.

Iowa is good, not great—something I have said since Iowa State (when I was accused of “overreacting” because I wasn’t buying the playoff hype train).
 
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AFM22

Heisman
Oct 31, 2022
22,112
42,821
113
So people aren’t concerned with how awful Iowa has looked against p4 teams? Ho hum it’s OSU? Not overreacting, this team just looks mid against actual competition
No because we played two blue bloods and a rival that is always a ****** game. Sound the alarm when we lose to Purdue like Illinois is right now.
 

QChawks

Heisman
Dec 17, 2022
12,152
25,398
113
Sad Happy Hour GIF
 

RagnarLothbrok

Heisman
Jun 11, 2025
6,490
17,011
113
So people aren’t concerned with how awful Iowa has looked against p4 teams? Ho hum it’s OSU? Not overreacting, this team just looks mid against actual competition
It’s a long season and Iowa has shown a lot of good things so far, here and there. The problem is (not trying to belabor the point) they don’t have a quarterback, and you can’t compete at a high level without one.

So, it depends what you mean by concerned. If I were banking on Iowa to be a playoff team, I would be very concerned not having a quarterback. Am I concerned they are going to suck against the rest of the teams on their schedule? Not really. Iowa will likely be 9-3 or 8–4 this year. It’s about as good as you can hope for with a below average quarterback.
 

hawkeyemark18

Senior
Aug 16, 2019
329
568
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Its more all the ads for me.
I love the sport and watch for entertainment and the increasing commercialization makes these games harder to watch for me. I did a double take when they talked about the band doing beer night downtown and Bud Lite flashed across the screen. Direct advertising during the broadcast I find disgusting as corporate culture plays an increasingly bigger role in college athletes.
 
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Hawk48

All-Conference
Jun 10, 2005
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It’s a long season and Iowa has shown a lot of good things so far, here and there. The problem is (not trying to belabor the point) they don’t have a quarterback, and you can’t compete at a high level without one.

So, it depends what you mean by concerned. If I were banking on Iowa to be a playoff team, I would be very concerned not having a quarterback. Am I concerned they are going to suck against the rest of the teams on their schedule? Not really. Iowa will likely be 9-3 or 8–4 this year. It’s about as good as you can hope for with a below average quarterback.
(not trying to belabor the point) they don’t have a quarterback, and you can’t compete at a high level without one
Ferentz has never thought that is a problem, just need a game manger
 

Burghawk87

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2023
902
1,603
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There have been many years Iowa didn’t look like they belonged on the same field as Ohio State. In 2022, Ohio State won 54-10 and 2024 they won 35-7.

I think you are just emotional right now.
Sh*t Iowa has looked like a Jr high team against Purdue more often than not lately. I do appreciate the sheer number of threads started by @BlIIlken2 after a loss though. Maybe sit the next few plays out.
 

BlIIlken2

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2021
1,389
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Nil hasn’t changed anything for Iowa. About same spot as they always were.

good. Not great.
Correct but it makes the ceiling way thicker to break through. We aren’t going to see the upsets of the last playing NIL Goliaths. Which changes a 9-3/10-2 Iowa type team to 7-5/8-4.
 

DuddyB

All-Conference
Jul 14, 2022
2,003
3,539
113
Wrong.

The run game has been betrayed.

Hasn't been given a chance
Moulton doesn’t have a run longer than 8 yards in 39 carries against a P4 team this year. I think we’ve gotten an athletic line but we don’t have maulers. And Moulton just doesn’t have enough wiggle or strength to make the first guy miss. I’m hopeful Phillips will get more run, but it won’t be until after we’ve lost another game or two.
 

eyesofhawk

All-Conference
Apr 17, 2011
3,492
3,366
113
Moulton doesn’t have a run longer than 8 yards in 39 carries against a P4 team this year. I think we’ve gotten an athletic line but we don’t have maulers. And Moulton just doesn’t have enough wiggle or strength to make the first guy miss. I’m hopeful Phillips will get more run, but it won’t be until after we’ve lost another game or two.
All sound like reasons to use the run more frequently.

And Phllips will play more and more, regardless of whatever it is you're talking about it taking losses
 
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The_Joker13_rivals

All-Conference
Oct 9, 2013
726
1,847
92
Indiana won a natty on 13.5 mil last year. Op, stfu and put down the booze. Fvcking crybaby bullshid. We lose 9/10 to Ohio st. They’re a fvcking blue blood. Get over it.
 
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