Nice recap of the season, I hate seeing Iowa lose in any game in the fashion of 15 points from being undefeated and in the CFP… I think next year is going to be a nice surprise for Hawkeye fans that’s been long overdue…
Short but sweet
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Nice recap of the season, I hate seeing Iowa lose in any game in the fashion of 15 points from being undefeated and in the CFP… I think next year is going to be a nice surprise for Hawkeye fans that’s been long overdue…
Division champions just 3 short seasons ago
And this year’s team would mop the floor with that team.
Love this year's team.
But I'd have no problem rolling the dice with 23's team. And in fact, probably prefer that team.
Regardless, '23 was a special team that has been criminally undervalued and devalued by fans
Sorry man. No way this year's team would lose to that Penn St 31 - 0.
And definitely not lose to Tennessee 35 zip in the bowl game
And definitely not lose to Tennessee 35 zip in the bowl game
You're a lucky man.. I'll probably never watch a single highlight from that season
Not sure why it would matter if either of the teams hypothetically would have lost those games by one point.
Unfortunate logic for measurement you've chosen.
Can't go there
That offense was sure "special". I'd agree with you there.
I dunno man we had Coop on returns and in the d backfield. Higgins and Jackson at LB. Joe Evans at DE. That D was better than the D this year
That team definitely had their strengths, and the overall D and punt returns were certainly two of them.
They just weren’t well-rounded enough to handle this year’s team.
The 23’ teams results against PSU, Michigan, and Tennessee are a very clear example of the bar that was eclipsed by this year’s team.
The O line this year was nasty. When healthy , rested and motivated, they could handle anybody.
I believe his point was that the 23’ team was uncompetitive against high competition.
This year’s team was competitive against anyone, including the champs.
Of course '25's team was more well-rounded.
The question is whether that's better than having a great D with elite special teams.
In the college game, especially in the big ten, I tend to think not
"The bar" is an entire season, rather than 3 games.
"The bar" is W's and championships, rather than being competitive in cherry picked games.
"The bar" is always and only a W. Losing by 30, and losing by 1, is the exact same thing.
In '23, Iowa's regular season success earned them the chance to play two top of the line teams in the post-season. They could have went 9-3, rather than 10-2, avoided having to play Michigan in the title game, beat a lesser team in a bowl, and finished 10-3, rather than 10-4.
That still would have bested the 9-4 in '25. But there's no way anyone on that '23 team would trade their 10-4, for that hypothetical 10-3. That's because there's no way they are trading out of the championship they earned. Best believe, being big ten west champs was damn special to that team. Any and all championships are special. Only those who've never won a championship would disagree.
Sure, the '25 team didn't have the opportunity to win a division title, as there are no longer divisions in the big ten. But the point is, '23's team played like champions. They just flat out made more winning plays.
You can't take that away from them. Just like you can't take away their division title. In these type of hypothetical arguments, I'd take my chances on the field, and in the arena of debate, with a champion
Really appreciate the great work the guys at Flight Crew do on these videos. This year's team was special. They were so close, leaving so many what ifs. What if Mark didn't get injured against Indiana? What if our long snapper didn't send it over the head of Dakin against Oregon? What if Wetjen's toe was an inch to his right against USC? What if we were able to bat down that deflected pass against Iowa State? It hurts because now, at the end of things, we know that this team had the stuff to make it farther. Still proud of what they accomplished and where they left the team for next season. Thanks to Mark and the Seniors!
I just can't imagine derailing this thread with masturbatory language to an irrelevant team from 2 years ago. No class. That's a year that I, and most fans, would prefer to forget anyway.
I just can't imagine derailing this thread with masturbatory language to an irrelevant team from 2 years ago. No class. That's a year that I, and most fans, would prefer to forget anyway.
That "elite defense" gave up 30 pts per game against the three teams they played that actually had a pulse. PSU had the ball 97 plays. This year's team was hands-down more enjoyable than the 23 unit. It was the first time in a long time I thought they had a chance of beating a good team. Unlike you, I don't sprout wood from beating SDSU 7-3 having gotten the 7 via two safeties and a FG.
Again, nothing against the '25 team.
But as you've alluded to yourself, this is where this discussion becomes a commentary on fans.
"What ifs" do not make special. You have to make the plays. '25's team simply didn't play well enough to win more than 9 games.
If the '23 team was irrelevant, '25 was more irrelevant. To want to forget a division winning 10-2 regular season team is disgusting. To celebrate the '25 team over the '23 team is completely disrespectful to '23 and to sports in general.
Pure stupid *** fan ********. Bad fans are bad for sports
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Read better.
If '25 was more enjoyable than '23, I feel sorry for you.
Fans continue to prove how unwarranted the toxicity in the community was, that they created in '22/'23.
Exactly what I predicted would happen, has happened. Iowa's offense would get better, Iowa wouldn't win as many games, and fan negativity would decrease.
Smh. Just awful.
Fans continue to prove that their entertainment needs come before everything else. They continue to prove that the toxicity came from their entertainment needs. Absolutely disgusting behavior from much of the fanbase in '22/'23.
The Iowa football program should have never been judged by whether or not they catered to the favorite color of fans. For one thing, not every fan has the same favorite color
Yup. That's exactly my point. Thank you
I’m beginning to think “the bar” is what your Mama used to beat you over the head growing up. And it shows.
Just how big of a difference do you think that 23’ team Defense had over this year’s team? Which was a Top Ten D btw.
Now compare the Offenses. Oh wait, there is no comparison between those Offenses.
You should lobby Ferentz to schedule HS teams for the non con schedule since it doesn't matter who they beat or how and every win is the same as any other. Hell, leave the B1G and play a schedule of Herbstreit's Friday night ESPN games. A win is a win, right?
Sorry, being competitive in losses in no way is more important than getting a W.
Sorry, but a loss is a loss, no matter the score.
Furthermore, fans don't even understand the entirety of what they're saying when they cite the "non-competitive" narrative.
It's the job of the staff to design a strategy to win, not to be competitive.
Before the '23 Michigan game, Dolph asked KF if, given the underdog situation, this would be a game to throw caution to the wind, and take more chances offensively. KF literally laughed at him.
You have to play with a strategic approach that gives you the best chance to win. KF explained to Dolph that Iowa needed to (in part) keep it a low scoring game, to have its best chance of winning.
Fans make a big deal out of the fact that Iowa didn't score in that game. But when a team is literally trying to keep the game low scoring, sometimes that will result in zero points, especially in situations where the team is out-maned.
It's not like Iowa wasn't trying to score. Obviously the staff felt that aiming for a low-scoring game would also produce iterations that resulted in wins.
Iowa could have tried to "run with" Michigan. They could have taken chances, disregarded field position, disregarded playing to their defense, and maybe hit a couple big plays and lose 37-20, rather than 26-0. Iowa may have even led for part of the "more open" type of game. Fans would have seen it as a "more competitive" loss. But in reality, that style of game would have given Iowa almost no chance of winning. Certainly less chance than a style of game that resulted in the 26-0 loss.
For much of the game, Iowa gave itself a chance to be in it with a bounce or two. It's definitely the most competitive 26-0 game I've ever seen. But you have to play about perfect and get a couple bounces to end up with a chance to finish on top. Iowa had a couple plays that turned out costly. An unexpected return given up on special teams and and unacceptable penalty on BF, were two of the plays that kept Iowa from playing well enough to win, and contributed to what ended up snowballing against Iowa, in a game where they got no bounces of the ball.
In the end, was Iowa "competitive" in the game? Most would say not. But I've never understood why fans have made a big deal over the particular score of a loss.
Is it really being more competitive to give yourself less chance of winning? No, it isn't. Just another of the many reasons the "non-competive" narrative has been way overstated and overplayed
I think the difference in the two defenses and two special teams units was night and day.
So, oh wait, that's what it comes down to, so not really any need to compare offenses
I don't think someone could've missed the point more than this psychopath. The 23 team is irrelevant because it has nothing to do with the topic at hand or the 25 team in general. He, unprompted, decided to bring up the 23 team instead of celebrate the 25 team. It goes to show how he has this religious obsession with that team, and it's downright creepy at this point. Couple that with his incessant rambling and, congrats, you have yourself another derailed thread just like he always intends with topics that he doesn't like.
What makes this team special aren't the what-ifs, but how they took care of business against the teams they were supposed to, usually in dominating fashion, and when it came to playing these national championship caliber teams, they were competitive to the very end. This is a breath of fresh air compared to what we've seen from the 21-23 seasons. No longer are we being embarrassed on a biblical scale. It's a huge step forward in the right direction, as I believe the team is trending upwards after how we finished this year.
I just can't imagine having such a big ego that one would derail a thread celebrating this year's team. So disrespectful to Kirk and the whole team.
What makes this team special aren't the what-ifs, but how they took care of business against the teams they were supposed to, usually in dominating fashion, and when it came to playing these national championship caliber teams, they were competitive to the very end. This is a breath of fresh air compared to what we've seen from the 21-23 seasons. No longer are we being embarrassed on a biblical scale. It's a huge step forward in the right direction, as I believe the team is trending upwards after how we finished this year.
I just can't imagine having such a big ego that one would derail a thread celebrating this year's team. So disrespectful to Kirk and the whole team.
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Not sure what you're taking contention with.
Do you not agree that a low-scoring game gave Iowa its best chance to beat Michigan? If not, that's to be taken up with KF.
Do you not agree that pretty much all fans would consider a 20-37 loss, in which Iowa Iowa had the lead, a more competive game than the 0-26 loss?
Taking both premises as a given, the logic is straightforward in showing what fans would consider to be a more competitive game, actually being a game with less chance of winning.
Given that, the logic is straightforward in showing one way which fans have overstated and overplayed the "non-competetive" narrative. I'm not sure what's to be taken contention with here
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The Hawks has a real chance to win every game this season. They had ZERO chance to beat Michigan, Tenney, or PSU in 23. It was men vs boys in those games. You truly are a warped individual.
Special teams:
Better Punter: 23’ Tory Taylor
Better Kicker: 25’ Drew Stevens (SR)
Better Long Snapper: 23’ Luke Elkin
Better Punt Returner: 25’ Kaden Wetjen
Better Kick Returner: 25’ Kaden Wetjen
Apparently you must think the 23’ coverage teams were an incredible amount better than 25’s?
2023 Scoring Defense 14.8 points/ game average
2025 Scoring Defense 15.6 points/ game average
That .8 points/game sure is a night and day difference.
Should we checkout the difference in Scoring Offense?
We're mixing two different conversations here.
But again, having more of a chance to win a few games shouldn't be celebrated or valued more than actually winning several games and a division trophy
Punter: Taylor of '23 one of the best all-time in college.
Kicker: Essentially the same both years=Stevens.
Kick returner: Essentially the same both years=Wetjen.
Punt returner: Wetjen is fantastic. But I honestly roll the dice with DeJean. Can't go wrong either way.
Coverage units: Both great. But no way I'm not rolling with a '23 unit that included DeJean. Absolute difference maker.
Clearly, Taylor made Iowa's '23 special teams a real difference maker in games
Yep,we got our *** kicked because of epically horrible offense. This team would have made a game of it.
I didn't enjoy watching the 23 team. That offense was torture to watch. I never wanted to rewatch any of those games. What they accomplished was remarkable with no offense. I would take the 25 team over 23 any time.
If you enjoyed watching that ****,good on you. Don't lecture us on what we enjoy watching because you evidently enjoy watching paint dry. Iowa was the laughing stock of college fb. No more.
Hawks were dominant vs the run in '23.
4.1 yards/play in '23 vs 4.7 in '25.
Iowa's D happened to make enough plays in '25 in the passing game to make up for a lot in the scoring column. But it was able to play much more from a position of control in '23.
The '25 team gave up 20+ five times, vs three times for the '23 team. The '23 team kept its opponents to 10 or less 5 times, vs 4 times in '25.
My eyes saw in '23, what was day-in, and day-out, a far more dominant unit