Can't put a finger on this team. first two games were historically bad offensively, defense kept us in the ISU game. Signs of offensive life the last two games, but D gets shredded against Rutgers. Does it all come together at some point?
So are we good now?
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Let’s chat again in 7 days
Hope So! I really thought Lester was too conservative against ISU but I really liked the variety of play calling vs Rutgers.
However, we are all so accustomed to defense being very stingy that I was surprised at how easily Rutgers moved the ball early. I think Phil will have to be more aggressive from the start against good offensive teams like Indiana. I'm also hoping that the db's learned a lot from this outing against a very good passing attack and will be better going forward. We'll learn a lot about this team in a week.
However, we are all so accustomed to defense being very stingy that I was surprised at how easily Rutgers moved the ball early. I think Phil will have to be more aggressive from the start against good offensive teams like Indiana. I'm also hoping that the db's learned a lot from this outing against a very good passing attack and will be better going forward. We'll learn a lot about this team in a week.
TBH, Iowa winning on Sat would be one of the more shocking moments of my Hawkeye fandom. I was envisioning a beat down even BEFORE the IL-IN game.
I posted weeks ago that I thought this game against IN would be a clear indicator that the competitive era under KF was over for good. Here’s his chance to prove me wrong….
I posted weeks ago that I thought this game against IN would be a clear indicator that the competitive era under KF was over for good. Here’s his chance to prove me wrong….
Rutgers is going to shred a lot of defenses this year, but they accomplished very little against the Iowa defense from the 2nd quarter on, scoring only 7 points after the 12 minute mark of the second quarter. To score that 7 points they hit contested catch after contested catch. This was the first time in 8 games that Rutgers was held under 30 points. I predicted a 28-24 win.
Indiana also has great receivers and an excellent QB which will also test the defense. They aren't putting up close to 60 like they did last night against Iowa's defense in Kinnick. They were on fire and pumped up in front of a raucous home crowd and a national TV audience. They are an excellent team without a doubt, but this environment will be much different. Kinnick will be rocking, and hopefully the offense is scoring points, because you know Indiana will be.
This game will be a harbinger of the things to come this year. I think it will be very competitive. We need MG to rise to the occasion. It's game 5 at home. No more excuses of a new system or rust. It's time to win a game they're not supposed to against what will be a ranked squad for the first time in what seems like forever.
We'll see what they do next week. Rutgers wasn't terrible, but they aren't great either.
I mean, they will naturally improve, but so will everyone else.
I agree this game is a big game for Iowa, for several reasons.
1. If they win, it increases their odds of going to a bowl and gives them confidence they can be competitive against top notch teams.
2. If they lose by a small margin and are competitive, it’s something they can build upon.
3. If they get blown out, and the offense is terrible and barely puts up 100 total yards of offense, it pretty much confirms what most Iowa fans have been thinking: the game has passed Kirk by.
I don’t see Iowa able to compete with all the athletes Indiana has on both sides of the ball. The only way Iowa can compete with this team is by being a scoring machine to keep up with them and that’s not Iowa’s MO. I see a 42-21 type ball game that’s not that close. Wish it was different but when you have Mark Cuban funding your NIL, that puts you over the top.
back 7 on defense worries me. I expect many remaining opponents will have as good a passing attack as Rutgers did
You’re as good as the Refs let you.
My g-d. Missed DPI calls on Iowa over the place, Iowa player jumping on the back of a player to block a FG , and OL holding with Refs turning a blind eye. Let’s how Iowa does with neutral Refs.
My g-d. Missed DPI calls on Iowa over the place, Iowa player jumping on the back of a player to block a FG , and OL holding with Refs turning a blind eye. Let’s how Iowa does with neutral Refs.
A few will. Off the top of my head Indiana, USC, Oregon, and maybe Nebraska have very good passing attacks. Iowa's going to have to score points of their own. That's a given.
The most important position in team sports is the QB. Gronowski still has some really bad head shaking moments, but his improvement from the Albany game where he looked like he'd never played the position to the Rutgers game is pretty remarkable. It's rare to see that kind of trajectory, but in this case he clearly wasn't close to being ready on day1. He's improved markedly with each outing so maybe there's more upside and the confidence he gained with those 2 4Q scoring drives in a hostile environment is going to help get him there.
Man, someone has gone full blown Iowa State.
Dude, you lost even though you tackled our receiver to the ground on the first play of the game and held our dline all game long. None of it was called, so go cry in your beer somewhere else.
yeah usually it evens out: bad calls on one side, bad calls on the other , unless we are playing florida in a bowl, or michigan
Great post. Rut needed one third conversion in the 4th and couldn’t get it. Rut played right into KF game plan. Refs did not help your cause. Two very even teams.
How about the Rutgers db tackling Iowa’s WR on the first drive? No call.
Have to say that the squawk Dback do get away with a lot of holding down the field, grabbing every play, now it could be a B10 thing, they did the same thing against ISU and got away with it, but that was also a B10 crew. You guys had them, if you improve your defense, you will be fine down the road, but right now, you will have other outscore everyone, otherwise you guys will struggle to win more than 3 games in the conference.
Yawn your takes are boring and old, dont you have a clown board to go visit or go rub some Arkansas st fans face in that great vitory
Maybe you should go over to the Rutgers or UMASS board, why are you talking about the Arkansas St. game for ISU, it was a win, worth the same as your win against UMASS or Albany. How was the ISU loss?
The most encouraging thing is that our offense has improved week to week. That isn't me acting as if we're the next great offense in football, but instead that our QB is becoming more confident and accurate with his throwing, our WRs are catching what they should be, and our play calling is taking advantage of what we are actually good at. If our offense continues to improve week to week, even if we lose this weekend, could lead to not only wins this season, but also a better offense leading into next year. I think Lester is in full control of the offense, but understands we don't have the athletes to play how he'd like to call the game. But the better we play, the better it bodes well for us in the future to get better players.
Our defense on the other hand buckled down the 2nd half. It was impressive, but at the same time, there is much concern to be had for the secondary. We only play better passing teams going forward; Indiana, Oregon, USC. Not to mention teams that aren't that good, but still love to pass like Michigan State and Little Debbie. If they don't improve and figure it out, it could be a very long season. As our offense isn't built to continuously bail us out.
To summarize, I'm not sure if we're good or not. I just know we have a lot of work to do.
Our defense on the other hand buckled down the 2nd half. It was impressive, but at the same time, there is much concern to be had for the secondary. We only play better passing teams going forward; Indiana, Oregon, USC. Not to mention teams that aren't that good, but still love to pass like Michigan State and Little Debbie. If they don't improve and figure it out, it could be a very long season. As our offense isn't built to continuously bail us out.
To summarize, I'm not sure if we're good or not. I just know we have a lot of work to do.
Never thought I live to see these words spoken….
Welcome to the portal era though!
Ok. Tell everyone you know nothing about football without telling everyone you know nothing about football.
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Lol, my conversations with iowa fans in person has lead me to believe they are fairly knowledgable and gracious, message board iowa fans are classless, ignorant dolts. Real talk.
Oh look. The ignorant trolls unite. Got a real Mensah convention going on over here tonight.
We are what we always are. Competitive. Offensively better, defensively a work in progress. We got our best RB back. Still missing # 1 TE and WR. Tough at home where we've only lost by double digits 3 times in 10 years or so. we always improve, won 21 of our last 24 November games, kicking Li'l Debbie's azz in the finale is always the cherry on top of November...
Coached football for many years at the high school level, but ya, never been around the sport at all. Nothing like a tv jockey commenting on things they have no clue about, but you still do.
Thank the B12 refs calling a phantom holding call when there wasn’t one and your dbacks are constantly grabbing and holding receivers every play. The face guarding not called by your dback in the corner of the endzone was a joke. B12 officials helped win the Ark State game. Don’t talk shiat on other teams when your own team is just as bad or worse.
LoL. Coached huh? What school? I don’t believe that bs.
Lol, I love it when HS football coaches chime in and educate the rest of the world on the game. Were you a head coach, coordinator, position coach?
