Iowa Game

[hawkfan]

You can play that card, but if you think Iowa State's offensive line isn't going to improve, you're nuts. Even with injuries last season, Iowa State had a VERY solid offensive line. Iowa's defensive line is going to be great, don't get me wrong, but Iowa State has a very experienced offensive line which was solid last season already. I'm sure Herman would welcome Claiborn trying to speed rush around the outside of KO (who will also be playing on Sundays) so he can just go off tackle with A-Rob. Iowa State ran the ball at will on the same defensive line that Iowa had last season.

And to whoever above said you can't throw on Iowa's defensive backs: You can throw 5-7 yard passes all day on them and they aren't going to stop you. If you try and throw 15-20 yard passes, they're going to eat you alive. Their secondary didn't put up staggering numbers last year, you just have to be willing to take 5-7 yards per play instead of going after the deep ball all the time.

I didn't say ISU won't have a good OL, and I didn't say they won't improve. HOWEVER, I can say definitively that ISU DOES NOT have two first round draft picks on their OL....so containing Iowa's DL will most certainly be difficult. Also, your point about ISU's rushing success also could have been a product of Iowa's DL not having "gelled" yet. Also, I suspect that Norm didn't anticipate ISU would be that successful running the ball, so my guess is that he schemed to contain Arnaud and take away the pass...I suspect that will change next season now that ISU has fully proven they can run the ball effectively.

To your second point: again, I ask how accurate is Arnaud though? Can Arnaud adequately throw routes at 5-7 yards without throwing incompletions to kill the drive? I'm not sure he is the kind of QB that can do that.

 

[DJK15]

get me your opinions. i think we have a good chance at iowa this year.

their defense lost some guys. our O-Line should be in good form by then to take their D-Line out of the game. Our offense is clicking and its only April. They dont have much of a running game due to wegher being a sophomore who still needs more experience and hampton coming off that injury. i think our secondary is experienced and physical enough to take advantage of a seriously overrated Stanzi, who is VERY VERY mistake-prone.

As much as I'd love to tear this apart, I have a feeling this is a Hawk in Clones clothing. That, or someone has ODed on kool-aid.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

To echo CrossCyed, if we avoid giving the ball(game) away like last year, and force Iowa into some TO's, it will be a close one. AA will need to play much better than he has shown.

 

[chuckd4735]

get me your opinions. i think we have a good chance at iowa this year.

their defense lost some guys. our O-Line should be in good form by then to take their D-Line out of the game. Our offense is clicking and its only April. They dont have much of a running game due to wegher being a sophomore who still needs more experience and hampton coming off that injury. i think our secondary is experienced and physical enough to take advantage of a seriously overrated Stanzi, who is VERY VERY mistake-prone.

Are you talking about your EA Sports game or real life?

 

[Al_4_State]

As much as I'd love to tear this apart, I have a feeling this is a Hawk in Clones clothing. That, or someone has ODed on kool-aid.

I think it's that.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

To your second point: again, I ask how accurate is Arnaud though? Can Arnaud adequately throw routes at 5-7 yards without throwing incompletions to kill the drive?

That depends on the day. Against Iowa last year he looked terrible. Against Kansas he was killing them with passes on the money all game long. Arnaud was really hit and miss last season which can be looked at in 3 ways... he lacked receivers who could get open consistently, due to his learning another new system he didn't focus on mechanics as much as he will have going into this year, and finally.... maybe he just didn't have as strong of a grasp on the new offense as many were hoping that he would.

I think Arnaud will be more consistent this season throwing the football and there should be fewer of the peaks and valleys like he had last season.

 

[hawkeyescott]

Since Iowa got that new rule implemented 3 years ago, its hard for any team to beat them.


Apparently, you can't tackle Iowa football players around the ankles anymore---it messes up the monitoring devices that the players have...Burn!!!

So is ISU getting this new rule implemented next year in wrestling for Andrew Long?

Just remember: Those who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones.

 

[VeloClone]

So is ISU getting this new rule implemented next year in wrestling for Andrew Long?

Just remember: Those who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones.

Apparently McDonough doesn't need any rule changes to take care of Long.


Do you hear me, Andrew? Prove me wrong!

 

[cyhiphopp]

That depends on the day. Against Iowa last year he looked terrible. Against Kansas he was killing them with passes on the money all game long. Arnaud was really hit and miss last season which can be looked at in 3 ways... he lacked receivers who could get open consistently, due to his learning another new system he didn't focus on mechanics as much as he will have going into this year, and finally.... maybe he just didn't have as strong of a grasp on the new offense as many were hoping that he would.

I think Arnaud will be more consistent this season throwing the football and there should be fewer of the peaks and valleys like he had last season.

AA hurt his hand early in the Baylor game, right after KU and, once back on the field, took a while to get back in the groove. He was shaky in his first game back agains OSU and was good enough to win agains CU. He had a good day but came up just short agains MU. Except for two big mistakes against Minny, he was pretty solid in the bowl game.

I think AA has the ability to do anything required of him on the football field (and off). He just has to work on the consistency.

This year I think he has more tools around him. Guys that can take those 5 yard receptions and turn them into 10+. They tried to do that with Money last year, but the passing game was just not firing on all cylinders. Then they gambled deep and paid for it.

In year two of the system, I can see the offense being much more efficient and the precision passing game become much more developed against Iowa.

Of course, there is also a chance that the hostile atmosphere in IC will make the difference. We shall see. I will never put money on this rivalry. Anything can happen.

 

[CyCloned]

I don't like the Clones chances just because Iowa looks so tough on defense. That being said, the Hawks were in a lot of dog-fights with not very good teams last year. The key is to score points when you have a chance. Over the years ISU has found ways to not score. Iowa's defense is very good, but ISU has dropped a ton of passes and given away many chances to score. Yhe key to beating Iowa is not messing up with turnovers and making the most of the opportunities you get. It is also important to find a way to make the 3rd and 1s and 3rd and goals. Even when ISU beat Iowa under GC the Clones got stopped in the red zone every time. Norm schooled Herman last year. I bet Herman is going to but a little more effort into preping for the Hawks this year.

 

[everyyard]

get me your opinions. i think we have a good chance at iowa this year.

their defense lost some guys. our O-Line should be in good form by then to take their D-Line out of the game. Our offense is clicking and its only April. They dont have much of a running game due to wegher being a sophomore who still needs more experience and hampton coming off that injury. i think our secondary is experienced and physical enough to take advantage of a seriously overrated Stanzi, who is VERY VERY mistake-prone.

We need a small miracle...not as big of miracle as what happened in Lincoln, but a miracle none the less.

 

[dualthreat]

Hopefully no one is more jacked for the Iowa game than Austen Arnaud.

 

[Frak]

Pass me whatever you're smoking buddy. They're D-Line is probably going to be one of the best in the nation. If our O-line takes their D-line out of the game that would make our O-line the best in the country. I don't see that happening. They bring back a defense probably better than any we have seen in the past including last year. Our only chance is if they decide to start playing Stanziball.

They took them out of the game for the most part last year. ISU ran on them pretty good and AA wasn't exactly getting a lot of pressure. I'm not too worried about their DL, no matter how good it is supposed to be.

 

[IcSyU]

Hopefully no one is more jacked for the Iowa game than Austen Arnaud.

Hopefully Austen Arnaud isn't jacked at all. If he's jacked, we'll get smoked because he'll try to do too much.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

Like I have said in the past Klug is the weak link on this Dline, ISU will attack him. As good as Iowa's Dline is ISU's Oline is as good if not better man to man. Both QB's need to play well, I think both secondaries are really good so this will come down to the ground, lets see ARob or Hampton or Adam Robinson or Brandon Wegher? ARob and its not even close.

 

[Al_4_State]

Hopefully Austen Arnaud isn't jacked at all. If he's jacked, we'll get smoked because he'll try to do too much.

Definitely. He has to let the game come to him and not try and force things. Just take what they give you and be calm.

 

[mustangcy]

+1

Iowa doesn't struggle with the spread in general. If they did, explain to me why ISU hasn't scored a TD on Iowa since 2006?

Iowa struggles against QB's (regardless of the system) who understand what Iowa's defense is willing to give them. A couple of guys in recent years that I always hated playing were Curtis Painter at Purdue and Bacher from NW. Those two guys NEVER forced anything down field and just plain understood what Iowa was willing to give them. They threw underneath routes all games and hardly ever looked deep. This gave them an added bonus because it helped them sustain long drives that wore down Iowa's D.

The only way ISU will beat Iowa this year is if Paul Rhoads sits Arnaud down the week before the game and tells him NOT to throw ANY passes over 7-8 yards. If Arnaud is looking down field he is in trouble for 2 reasons:

1. Iowa's defense is built specifically to take away down field passes. If you throw the ball deep against Iowa, you are asking to get picked (as Arnaud found out last season).

2. I don't care how good you think your OL will be....this will be the best DL in the history of Iowa Hawkeye football. If Arnaud is looking down field he will be taking sacks, which equates to negative yards, which can become drive killers. Also, the pressure put on by the DL will more likely cause him to make more mistakes, so again, it is better to throw short passes that he has time to throw without feeling the heat.

Of course, the reason QB's like Bacher and Painter could pick Iowa apart was because they were exceptionally accurate QB's....Arnaud will really need to develop his accuracy for those short passes to be continually successful. Norm's D is based on the premise that we can give up some short passes because there simply aren't that many exceptionally accurate QB's in college football (or many like Bacher and Painter who can put the ball right where they want it to be 80% of the time).

This is a pretty solid post. That said, the media wasn't calling Iowa the "cardiac kids" for nothing. Iowa won several very close games last year. I'm not taking credit away from Iowa because they reached out and won those games fair and square. But I also think the expectations are a little overflatted because of the W's/L's from last season as well as a great showing in the bowl game. Could have very easily only won 7-8 games though and maybe people would be more tempered.

Not sure, time will tell. Iowa will be good and there's no doubt about that. I think ISU puts a scare into the Kinnick crowd (maybe around 14-10 Iowa at the half) but Iowa put's the boots down in the 4th and comes away about 31-13.

 

[Frak]

To echo CrossCyed, if we avoid giving the ball(game) away like last year, and force Iowa into some TO's, it will be a close one. AA will need to play much better than he has shown.

IMO he played pretty well last time in IC. He has that in him. Second year in the system should really help. Not to mention, Herman got schooled a little bit by Parker last year and I'm betting he isn't so stubborn this year. If they're going to give us ARob, we're going to take it all day.

 

[Al_4_State]

IMO he played pretty well last time in IC. He has that in him. Second year in the system should really help. Not to mention, Herman got schooled a little bit by Parker last year and I'm betting he isn't so stubborn this year. If they're going to give us ARob, we're going to take it all day.

Herman got severely schooled by Parker last year. He had about as bad of a day calling plays as Arnaud did throwing the football.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

IMO he played pretty well last time in IC. He has that in him. Second year in the system should really help. Not to mention, Herman got schooled a little bit by Parker last year and I'm betting he isn't so stubborn this year. If they're going to give us ARob, we're going to take it all day.

I hope you are right. Not the ideal game plan, but a performance similar to the NU game (and a healthy ARob) and the Iowa game would have been down to the wire. It is easy to forget that in the 2nd game of a new coaching staff it was up for grabs at the half. I expect the execution and game plan to be better in 2010.