The Takeaway, Iowa-Iowa State: Domination

My big takeaway is that Iowa seems to be doing better with the spread offense. There were a couple of times that Arnaud was able to take off when there was coverage downfield, but even with those we held State to under 100 yards total rushing. That gives me hope for Michigan and Northwestern, two teams that play the spread really well in the Big Ten.

It’s clear we can clean up on easier teams at home. I’m excited to see us on the road.

What I can’t understand is that I was seeing replays from every single game on Sportscenter but Iowa’s. I swear we are going to beat Ohio State and SC isn’t going to give us any replays and say "they are still pretenders".

What do we have to do to get coverage? Even the Always Broadcasting Crap announcers were impressed with our stadium, our crowd, our D-line, and our poise (dare I say swagga). When we do start to get covered like a top-ten team?

If Iowa’s ever in that position again with anything less than a 28-0 lead, Mssrs. Ferentz and O’Keefe: go for it.

I would like to have seen Meyer(sp?) come in for a long field goal attempt. He has the leg, why not give him a shot at accuracy? Plus he kicked it out the back of the endzone a few times!

this one is not. Sure, Arnaud is the Daryl Clark of the west. We’re in his head, not to mention his face and that has led to a timid QB. We will not be facing that kind of dude this Saturday. The kickoff coverage sucked and I think I know why…there are too many freshmen and redshirt freshmen on that coverage. I like the idea of going with your best tacklers. Lane discipline was a nightmare. And when you kickoff as often as we do, I don’t want to have happen what happened in that Ohio State game. Arizona’s kickoff return tandem can house it, one already has (last year). Get that shit in order.

I think fans need to prepare for much more offensive movement when we go to the desert. Last year we faced an Arnaud type QB. They tried to establish the run. Their plays took forever to develop. THis year they will be much more crisp. THey will also make at least a cosmetic attempt to stretch the field. I am happy we have developed some depth on the D-line and have some depth at LB. We will need it. It will be low 90s at kickoff and they will move that offense side to side with bubble screens in an effort to make our defense run. They know they cannot muscles us. They’re not stupid.

My one concern is our LB pass coverage. We have one area that I think has dropped off considerably. Our MLBs cannot cover very well. It is not a huge issue because we have solid safety play but that may be an area they try to attack.

Our special teams can p[rovide the knockout punch in this game We need to really be sharp there. No missed FGs. Punts downed inside the 20. Coverage sharp. Return game dangerous. If that phase is working then I have a hard time seeing Arizona staying inside of two scores throughout the second half. I also expect more trick plays. What EIU did was the tip of the iceberg. I fully expect Stoops to throw caution to the wind. He knows we are a monster and that his team will need some trickery and momentum changes…I even could see the old onsides’ kick to start the game or half.

 CRUSH ARIZONA

considering the competion of course… I think I counted 8 pancake blocks in the opening drive. That was impressive. James Ferentz had a monster day. Just outta curiosity, does anyone think that we’d have a better line if Bugala was still suiting up for us? I’m not so sure.

so far this year have been less catchable than last year, that is to say, they’ve been balls thrown high or low, ones that our guy had the best shot at, and the defender had very little shot at. Last year he was forcing the ball right in, so the defender could get it right in the numbers. That bodes well.

A little OT, in the Bears – Lions game yesterday, there were several passes (by each team) that were thrown high or off target. At least 2 were batted up (UP!) by the receiver. One the receiver tracked and caught, one was incomplete. But there was one where the receiver batted it down. That’s good defense. I hope guys are being taught that. Never bat it up and hope. Knock it down, make sure the opponent can’t get it. It we do that on Rick’s passes that are offline, I feel pretty good.

I had the displeasure of sitting next to a rabid, obnoxious, ignorant Cyclone fan. He screamed, yelled, and whistled constantly throughout the first half for the Cyclones. And got in arguments with everyone around him sans me, as I saw the craziness in his eyes and could only feel pity for his sad ass. By halftime he had his head down and tail between his legs. At the start of the halftime show, as the ISU band is taking the field, someone behind us made the comment "I hope your band doesn’t stink as much as your football team."; this set him off on mega tirade about "respect", i.e. "Show some respect for the band, man.". What!? Listen jerk wad, you just spent two quarters showing no respect for the people around you, the Hawkeyes, or yourself… and you want us to show respect to the Iowa State band?

Well, dissing the ISU band was more than he could take and he stormed away to the cheers and clapping of those that had to suffer through his presence. He’s just a sad, angry Cyclone fan that I suspect is suffering from a severe case of "little man" syndrome.

It should be noted that the ISU band "dominated" the halftime show with there rendition of some Beatles tunes. And angry Cyclone fan missed the show.

As we saw Saturday, we’re going to see plenty of both guys the rest of the season. This may be the closest we’ve seen to a true 50/50 split at RB in quite a while.

A-Rob continues to perform very, very well, but Jewel also looked good and should only look better as things settle down for him and he can hit holes at the right moment and at the right speed — he looked like he was pressing too hard at times Saturday. It seems a little weird to “dis” A-Rob’s speed after he busted off a pair of big runs like that on Saturday, but the fact that he got caught at the end of both runs is perhaps indicative that his top-end speed isn’t great. I don’t think Jewel would have been caught at the end of those runs.

But I don’t want to diminish A-Rob’s accomplishments — he did very well and should continue to be a very capable RB for us. I’m just glad to have two really good options back there right now.

can’t be stressed enough. Having two solid backs and a healthy o-line will force the hand of most teams to put more guys in the box, taking the pressure of stanzi, opening up play action, creating balance, etc, etc

the team seems really focused right now, so I’m feeling pretty good that we won’t see a let down in the next two weeks. but my monday optimism will surely lead to tuesday skepticism, then saturday alcoholism

my monday optimism will surely lead to tuesday skepticism, then saturday alcoholism

Well said.

How about our Punt/Kickoff coverage teams? They clearly need some work. We gave up a lot of yards there.

We didn’t look nearly as bad as OSU, but we also weren’t playing Miami.

But both of them are still impacting the game and being disruptive. My tailgate-impaired memory recalls 4 or 5 penalties against Clayborn so far this year. Chop blocking, holding, and tripping. Each time he forces a LT to break the rules, it just shows how much he’s in their heads.

It seems like he missed every block last year. I just remember seeing him whizz by LBs at a 100 mph only to run himself into the ground 5 yards deep into the secondary. I think he has his head up now and finding his blocks.

But an offensive line that was considered a problem before the season started, is looking to be REALLY good. And if Hawkeye tradition holds true they should only get better.

That is, I watched the first half. Nice to see Iowa closing the door so quickly. Also nice to see Karl Klug is still an animal.

My only quibble is this play. I know how we run to set it up, and I know we’ve busted some big plays on it, but it seems as though 40-50% of the time time a disaster or near disaster happens. I don’t like hanging Ricky out there for a free run. When it gets figured out he either 1) gets crushed 2) takes a huge sack or 3) throws an ill-advised ball. Thoughts?

of the trip six years ago that I’m sure the players are aware of it and KF will have somehow tweaked his preparation to better prepare for the trip. Right now, the forecast down here should be low 90s or even high 80s at kickoff, and with no DST here, the sun will have been down for nearly an hour. Also, looks like little or no humidity. Frankly, I think the weather angle is overrated.

ISU had some short completions which were simply dropped by the receivers or just overthrown. Arizona will go short, and with more success, because Foles is more accurate. Also, and this could backfire on them, if we start getting to the less-mobile Foles, we could see Scott in there. We could also see him in a Wildcat formation. I expect some wrinkes from Arizona because of their perceived speed advantage. They do have some speed players, but I don’t think an advantage exists there, either.

So long as we don’t give up any big plays, I don’t think Arizona can consistently move on our defense. and I think we win this by 10 or more. Certainly more challenging than the past two games, but I think we’re bigger, stronger, and if at all, not appreciably slower than Arizona. Our smaller-than-usual O-line might even be of benefit to us in this game. Finally, this may be the most balanced Iowa team I have ever seen.

“Your boys are looking pretty tough this year.” Later, another gym rat friend, Michigan State grad, said, “Iowa looks tough.” A girlfriend told me, “Brian (her husband USC grad/post grad) was carrying on all surprised about how truly good Iowa was on Saturday.”

Maybe the media ain’t getting it (so what?) but the rank and file seems to be picking up the Iowa vibe, even out here in Trojan-ville.

overall than he did in the 4th quarter last year. He is currently ranked #9 in the nation with a QB rating of 183.6. That is good enough for second in the Big Ten and 9 points ahead of #11 rated Nick Foles.

9 Ricky Stanzi, QB IOWA 41 29 70.7 433 10.6 66 3 0 3 183.6

11 Nick Foles, QB ARIZ 59 49 83.1 574 9.7 45 3 2 2 174.8

I will be the first to admit that I’m no offensive line/blocking expert and I’m usually far too drunk when watching games to notice much beyond where the ball is at…but I watched Allen Reisner miss two blocks horribly. There it is…we’re fucked.