My Thoughts on Iowa Vs. ISU & Prediction

[Falselife]

We've had better teams than what we are seeing this year and still have lost to the Hawkeyes. I would love to see the win, but the strides we would have to make in a short period of time are huge.

I see the game being low scoring, with our offense really struggling. Hope I'm wrong but my guess is Iowa 19, ISU 7.

 

[Ciclone]

You think ISU is in a better position then Iowa? Why, because Jantz started hitting a few receivers after running all over the field and throwing 3 picks? I think Iowa is in a better position with Vandenburg then ISU is with Jantz. I dont think that UNI is head and shoulders above TT. TT had 21 returning starters and they were an experienced team. They played Arkansas last year and were beating them after the 1st quarter. I dont think the Hawks are unstoppable and it really hurts them that Micall is out. He is a true freshman but he is physically ready to play and definately could have contributed this year.

Then Arkansas scored SIX straight touchdowns through the third.

 

[CTTB78]

We will surprise people in the Iowa game. If, and that is a big if, our offensive line can give us any type of run game, we can beat Iowa.

I like James White as our starter at RB, and hopefully Jantz does not have to throw to 'Money" so he can continue to drop balls.

ISU 20
Iowa 16

 

[ajk4st8]

Should be fairly decent game... I was close on my prediction of the UNI game going to OT.....

I will say Iowa 31- ISU 9

 

[cyhawkdmb]

You think ISU is in a better position then Iowa? Why, because Jantz started hitting a few receivers after running all over the field and throwing 3 picks? I think Iowa is in a better position with Vandenburg then ISU is with Jantz. I dont think that UNI is head and shoulders above TT. TT had 21 returning starters and they were an experienced team. They played Arkansas last year and were beating them after the 1st quarter. I dont think the Hawks are unstoppable and it really hurts them that Micall is out. He is a true freshman but he is physically ready to play and definately could have contributed this year.

I bet 3/4 of the hawk fan base didnt even know who Micall was before his first carry.... It def hurts because the coaching staff thought high of him... but i had hawk friends that after the bowl game last year were saying coker for heisman...are you fing kidding me...

 

[bosco]

Iowa will do what they always do and that is rely on their Lines. Since their OL is their strength they will have VB drop back and wait for the long drag routes to open up in the middle to soften the D for the running game. Once they start gouging with the running game they'll go play action. In the 4th quarter if they have a lead they'll grind it out on the ground.

On defense they'll apply pressure with the front four and keep the safeties over the top. This forces the Offense to drive and take what is given. Once they get near the end zone they'll stiffen because there is less field to cover. If you try to do too much you end up turning it over.

It isn't complicated what they do. They just execute it very well. Stop it if you can.

 

[istater7]

um keep in mind isu got beat on a 80 yard rb wheel route..........

jake knott vs running back..who are you going to take 1 on 1 on a pass?

 

[CTTB78]

but i had hawk friends that after the bowl game last year were saying coker for heisman...are you fing kidding me...[/QUOTE]


Not surprised to hear this at all. Iowa going to win the national championship (again) last year too.... and Brad Banks for the Heisman....

 

[laminak]

but i had hawk friends that after the bowl game last year were saying coker for heisman...are you fing kidding me...

Not surprised to hear this at all. Iowa going to win the national championship (again) last year too.... and Brad Banks for the Heisman....[/QUOTE]

The best was when Iowa fans were stating that Jess Settles would've been an NBA lottery pick...back when they cared about basketball before jumping off that bandwagon.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

I don't think either team's performance yesterday has anything to do with next week. We've seen both teams in the past have bad opening weeks only to look pretty solid in the rivalry game. And vice versa.

Should be a great game.

This. Completely agree.

On ISU's side, I'm holding out hope that all the suspensions/injuries(starting LT, RG, #2 WR, starting DT who is also our best Dlineman, backup DT, and then our starting nickelback getting ejected like an idiot) were a big reason we didn't play very well and that Jantz will be able to settle down like in the 4th and get rid of the jitters he seemed to have.

ISU actually played very well when UNI actually used a RB to run, but got absolutely torched when Rennie ran and especially when he scrambled. Luckily, that will not be a large element of Iowa's gameplan with Vandenberg at QB.


EDIT: Also, the biggest stat of the game that I don't think anyone is talking about is turnovers. We didn't force one turnover (minus last defensive play on hook and ladder) and we had 3 picks and a fumble, and at least two of those came in the red zone. If we do that against Iowa we will 100% lose the game. Our defense is predicated on allowing yards, but forcing turnovers and letting teams kick field goals instead of getting TDs. Look at the first half to see that it worked pretty well. In the 2nd, UNI got into the endzone and had that one insane drive where we couldn't stop them or get them to turn it over.

I expect Coker to have a better game next week against us and I expect to lose if our lines don't show a lot of improvement. That being said, I am hoping next week with a fuller stable (minus Maggit, which sucks) we will improve a lot.

I'm saying 40% chance we win, 60% chance Iowa wins, maybe a couple percentage points more in favor of Iowa.

 

[hippiehawk]

I don't actually think our OL looked good and the rushing statistics bear that out. Pass protection was good but not perfect -- I'm a little worried about the interior. I thought McDonough played well for you guys last night and it would obviously be a plus if ISU can win that matchup and get pressure on Vandenberg. Having Reumpolhamer in and ready to go would help as well, I'm sure.

As hawkfan mentioned, Coker played poorly -- he was a power back that wasn't getting any YAC yesterday. If he plays like that next week, we may not have no one else to go to that's of Big Ten-caliber with McCall out and could definitely have trouble running the ball. Coker's better than he showed but he could have confidence issues after fumbling twice and getting pulled.

Vandenberg was solid, I thought. There were three or four drops/slips that took some shine off of his completion percentage, but that was to be expected with the weather. He made good decisions but didn't really have to make any under duress. At WR, McNutt and Davis aren't burners, but they're big and routinely make the athletic grab. It looks like we're missing the sort of small, speedy receiver that can do damage in the slot. Expect TEs to be a pretty big threat in the passing game as always.

Our DL is passable but extremely thin. Most worrisome was that our 2nd team DL got worked on the final drive of the game where TTU scored. There were some yards to be had on the ground against the first-teamers too, but they weren't bad for the most part and they occasionally got pressure on the quarterback (though the TTU QB did a very good job of eluding that pressure and that could be something to watch for). I would expect ISU to run the ball on Iowa better than they did against UNI with Hicks back and that could open things up for the ISU offense.

LB's might be the fastest group we've had but are small and could struggle against a more physical team. Against TTU, they looked very good. Secondary was solid outside of a blown coverage.

f I had to make a prediction, I'd say Iowa in a close one.

 

[The_Architect]

One thing for Cyclones fan to bear in mind is that K.O. missed much of the game, but when he was in (most notably late), Iowa State drove the ball well.

KO did not play at the end of the game at all. He was not playing during the final drive.

 

[FootballinTexas]

Predictions are like ********, everybody has one and they are ******. People were predicting that we would dismantle UNI. Now, Iowa is going to dismantle us. Leave it alone. Do something important like packing the stadium next week and breaking the attendance record. I couldn't believe 4 of the top 5 attendance records for a Saturday game were against UNI.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

Predictions are like ********, everybody has one and they are ******. People were predicting that we would dismantle UNI. Now, Iowa is going to dismantle us. Leave it alone. Do something important like packing the stadium next week and breaking the attendance record. I couldn't believe 4 of the top 5 attendance records for a Saturday game were against UNI.

Iowa hillsides are triple the price of UNI tickets. That's why. We would be leaving money on the table if we didn't do that, but attendance goes down a bit.

 

[JUKEBOX]

My prediction: ISU gets smoked again. :sad:

 

[Cat4ISU]

I think a lot rests on Jantz's ability to stay composed and make smart decisions, which will be tough to do against Iowa's D, I'm just thankful its in Ames.

 

[atlantacyclone]

ISU had too many holes to really say how they will look if all the pieces are together. I don't know anything about Iowa except that their fans seem a bit full of themselves for not having any D1 athletic experience in almost every case. I feel better about Jantz now that I've seen the replay. Iowa might be as big, if not a bigger shock for him than UNI. His reaction will probably make the difference.

 

[tm3308]

I said a few weeks ago that I expect a more competitive game than the previous few years. Now it's completely dependent on injuries.

ISU didn't sound like they looked too good (I couldn't see the game, so I'm just going off of what I read here), but they were also missing their best to linemen and a few key pieces on defense. So you can't just look at the final score to make judgement.

I think if KO plays and is ready to go (Hicks was suspended, right?), then I'll say Iowa 24, ISU 14. If he doesn't, then Iowa 31, ISU 10.

 

[wsrgohawks]

I bet 3/4 of the hawk fan base didnt even know who Micall was before his first carry.... It def hurts because the coaching staff thought high of him... but i had hawk friends that after the bowl game last year were saying coker for heisman...are you fing kidding me...

Iowa State fans are unbelievable. If it's not ridiculing Iowa's fan base for thinking a national championship was possible last year (In retrospect, there are 9 players from last year's team that are now earning a paycheck in the NFL...with that kind of talent, why wouldn't you have high expectations?), it is ridiculing them for thinking Coker can be one of the top backs in the country. Hawk fans aren't the only ones; sports illustrated did pick Coker as the Big Ten Offensive MVP, and projected his stats at 1,600 rushing yards and 15 TD's. Coker tore up Ohio State and Missouri last year after missing the first half of the year to a broken collarbone. Again, why wouldn't we have high expectations for him?

 

[herky07]

I will take Iowa over ISU 28-14