Good lord, Iowa spanked us on Saturday. I'm tired of the if we did this or if we didn't do that...it doesn't matter. We played a terrible game, Iowa took advantage of our mistakes, and that's what good teams do.
Is Iowa a top 25 team? In my opinion no. They need a running game and they don't have one (a point that Matt's trying to make). I'm not into discounting the legitimacy of stats, but I think it was pretty obvious to anyone watching that game that Iowa struggled running the ball and lacked confidence running the ball. How many plays did it take them to even attempt a run? I'm sure they didn't run the ball once on their first possession. We all know how much emphasis Ferentz puts on scoring in the opening drive of a game, and that's why Iowa takes the ball 99% of the time to start the game. Not attempting a single run on your first possession, on the road, in a rivalry game...that told me all I needed to know about how confident the Iowa coaching staff was with the running game. Will Iowa get better at running the ball as the season goes on? I'm sure they will, but they will have to. Stanzi will not win games against good competition solely on his arm.
Is Iowa a top 25 team? In my opinion no. They need a running game and they don't have one (a point that Matt's trying to make). I'm not into discounting the legitimacy of stats, but I think it was pretty obvious to anyone watching that game that Iowa struggled running the ball and lacked confidence running the ball. How many plays did it take them to even attempt a run? I'm sure they didn't run the ball once on their first possession. We all know how much emphasis Ferentz puts on scoring in the opening drive of a game, and that's why Iowa takes the ball 99% of the time to start the game. Not attempting a single run on your first possession, on the road, in a rivalry game...that told me all I needed to know about how confident the Iowa coaching staff was with the running game. Will Iowa get better at running the ball as the season goes on? I'm sure they will, but they will have to. Stanzi will not win games against good competition solely on his arm.