wow; the "experts" are really down on Iowa; Tom Dienhart

[wartknight]

That 2009 loss was, in large part, because of Stanzi's injury. And they were 3-3 after their first six games of 2008; they went 6-1 down the stretch, including absolute drubbings of Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Carolina, and a win over the #3 team in the country. I'd say they got better as the season wore on that year.

However, I don't buy the whole "always gets better as the year goes on" angle. Ferentz's GOOD teams always get better as the year goes on, but you could say that for just about any good team (that's part of why they're good in the first place).

I'm completely with you but the way people throw it around like it is just as certain as death at taxes. Because its happened a couple times, apparently its always that way.

 

[BigLame]

I'm predicting Iowa gets 3 wins.

Beings after last year, Kurt shored up recruiting by backing out of Florida entirely and focusing on states contiguous to Iowa (for you 'Eye fans, that means states that share a border with Iowa), next year Ferents will recruit players solely from Iowa.

What is funny is this is the exact opposite of what Urban Meyer is doing at Ohio State. He is being lauded for recruiting speed outside the normal Ohio State blueprint.

Which sounds better to you? And there is any wonder why Deinhart came to the conclusion he has after witnessing all of the Big 10 teams in person?

 

[Clark]

I'm predicting Iowa gets 3 wins.

Beings after last year, Kurt shored up recruiting by backing out of Florida entirely and focusing on states contiguous to Iowa (for you 'Eye fans, that means states that share a border with Iowa), next year Ferents will recruit players solely from Iowa.

What is funny is this is the exact opposite of what Urban Meyer is doing at Ohio State. He is being lauded for recruiting speed outside the normal Ohio State blueprint.

Which sounds better to you? And there is any wonder why Deinhart came to the conclusion he has after witnessing all of the Big 10 teams in person?

What the heck is this drivel?

Iowa has 3 recruits from texas, 2 from Jersey, 1 from DC, and 1 from OH which is over half the class.

 

[Daserop]

wait. just to put this in perspective. their best case scenario is 6 wins? what's our best case scenario? 6 wins?

if you ask the expert 3-4.

 

[Daserop]

If you want an expert, check out the Vegas line.

 

[erikbj]

The O-line will be good, provided they stay healthy (it's no coincidence the season went completely to **** after losing Scherff and Donnal). It won't be on the level of the 2002 or 2008 lines, which are easily the two best of Ferentz's tenure, but it will be a good line.

The rest of the offense is full of question marks, but there's reason for Iowa fans to be optimistic, based on what we've seen of the team so far. Damond Powell and Tevaun Smith might give the Hawks the kind of speed and playmaking ability on the outside that you have to have for Davis' offense to be successful. Both showed off some moves and speed in the open scrimmage the other night (Granted, it's a scrimmage, but Powell in particular is fast as ****; he also averaged 30 ypc in JUCO last year.). The running back stable looked like it would be solid coming into this season, but now LeShun Daniels is making some noise. Several tweets coming out of the scrimmage from media members (both local and BTN) comparing him to Shonn Greene; it's looking very likely that the coaches will try to get him on the field this fall.

Defensively, the linebackers are obviously the core, although they're not spectacular as a group (but Kirksey, IMO, is one of the most underrated defenders in the B1G). The corners should be pretty strong (coaches are pretty high on Lomax), although safety is an area of mild concern for me (Tanner Miller has to have the season of his life, and Lowdermilk is a huge unknown). The defensive line's success or failure rests squarely on the shoulders of Carl Davis, IMO. He's generated a TON of hype this offseason, both from inside and outside the program. If he's finally figured things out and becomes the force that he has all the talent to be, he could free things up for the rest of the unit, which will struggle mightily if Davis isn't commanding a lot of attention.

I've started feeling a lot more optimistic for this season over the last week or so, and feel like 6-7 wins is actually attainable. They might not do it, but I would have said they'd be lucky to get 4 wins back in March.

30 Yards Per Carry??? Not sure if you could do that on the Playstation on beginner level

 

[NATEizKING]

30 Yards Per Carry??? Not sure if you could do that on the Playstation on beginner level

Catch not carry.

 

[Omaha Cy]

I don't know if Iowa gets better as the season goes along, but more often than not they sure have been slow starters.

Their OOC resume from 2005 is littered with losses to non juggernaut programs(ASU, Arizona, Pitt) and near misses against teams they should crush (UNI, & Arkansas State immediately come to mind).

 

[tm3308]

Catch not carry.

This, which is still better than most video game numbers. For a small peek at him, he's #22 in this video from the scrimmage. He has a jet sweep, and a TD grab where he did most of the work. Calling it a legit touchdown would be very generous, as it looked like the defenders all laid up, but the moves and explosiveness out of those cuts were still pretty impressive.

Also, LeShun Daniels has a long carry or two in this video. Seems to have a really good burst for a kid his size.

[video=youtube;ceq2HLPfTsU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceq2HLPfTsU[/video]

 

[Tailg8er]

Regardless of being an Iowa fan, tm3308 is a great poster on here.

Completely agree.

It's nice seeing posts like his 1st one in this thread because it gives me things I can *try to* logically discuss with Iowa fans at tailgating & what not. Not that I really remember any of them returning the favor or even acknowledging the fact that ISU does indeed field D-1 athletes, too.

Then again, most (NOT all) I've encountered don't know more than who their QB, RB & maybe a receiver are anyway.

 

[CyCloned]

I guess if I was an Iowa fan and someone was scouting the conference team and reported that Iowa does not measure up, I would be very concerned. We as fans often see things in scrimmages or practices that are really impressive to us, that guys that really know football are not impressed by. For example a RB running wild in the spring game indicates that he is really good or the defense is really bad. I remember a guy named King Green that was at ISU and he looked great in the spring game. When the season started the defense was not very good and King was not even on the team...... I really looked for Iowa to show some improvement this year on offense and the defense to be about the same.

 

[jmb]

If Iola(w withheld) doesn't lin(no w's used) 9-10 games they have disappointed and Kurt should get another contract extension.

 

[cytown]

All things point to Iowa having a 4-6 win season. For that reason they will pry win 8. Seems that's when KF is worth some of his salary. Diff story when expectations are high.

 

[Jambalaya]

So I am have been thinking the hawks could be pretty decent this year; especially in October or November. But after listening to Tom Dienhart of the BTN on 1600am Cedar Rapids my outlook has gone negative for the Hawks. Tom went to every school and saw their practice; Iowa was the last team he went to. He went on the radio and said best case scenario 6 wins. Wow!

My closest most knowledgeable Hawk friends expect a 4 to 6-win season

 

[Omaha Cy]

All things point to Iowa having a 4-6 win season. For that reason they will pry win 8. Seems that's when KF is worth some of his salary. Diff story when expectations are high.

I think there are some misnomers that Iowa fans have bought into over the years and are now taken as facts, but I'm not sure those are correct.

The whole theory of Iowa out playing low expectations seems to only apply to about 2 seasons imo (04 and 08?). Pretty small sample size.
I recall Iowa was in transition in 04 but continued its good run. Obviously nobody expected much out of the 08 team, and rightfully so, until Stanzi took over for good. Outside of those years, I don't see all these seasons where KF/Iowa has a great year when the media says they will be 6-6 which Iowa fans seems to hang their hat on.

Iowa playing up to or down to their competition is another Iowa myth, when its clearly obvious that Ferentz coaches the same no matter if they are playing directional Tennessee or Ohio State. That same philosophy can keep strong and weak opponents in the game just the same.

And Ive already pointed out the slow starts by Iowa historically in a previous post.

 

[theantiAIRBHG]

lol at Hawk troll that can only try to deflect attention from what looks to be a subpar Iowa team by brining up ISU's tough schedule.

Do you have anything about Iowa to discuss?

Lol. You're doing it wrong.

 

[ISU_Alum_2000]

However, I don't buy the whole "always gets better as the year goes on" angle. Ferentz's GOOD teams always get better as the year goes on, but you could say that for just about any good team (that's part of why they're good in the first place).

Exactly. They don't "always" get better. Total myth.

Did they get better the year they lost to Western Michigan at home on Senior Day with a bowl bid on the line?

 

[AgCyclone]

I hope Iowa goes 0-12. :smile:

 

[CyFan61]

vs. Northern Illinois - L
vs. Missouri State - W
@ Iowa State - L
vs. Western Michigan - W
@ Minnesota - W/L
vs. Michigan State - L
@ Ohio State - L
vs. Northwestern - L
vs. Wisconsin - L
@ Purdue - W/L
vs. Michigan - L
@ Nebraska - L

I give them 1 out of 2 for the Minny/Purdue games, Hawks go 3-9.

I will say this - their schedule still is not murderer's row, but it has stiffened up some since the Cupcake Fest that they stumbled to a 4-8 finish with last year.

 

[CascadeClone]

I've said this before, but I think they will be better than last year, but probably not better in terms of W-L.

I think both lines and defense overall will be OK. Not great, but not bad. This will keep them in most games.

There are two wildcards. First wildcard is the QB. If he struggles and turns the ball over, they definitely aren't good enough to overcome that. Second wildcard is GDGD. Even if the QB is ok, if the GDGD offfense is truly as impotent as every Texan will tell you, they can't overcome that either.

So I think they could be decent, but the unknowns all seem to be downside to me.