BHGP ROUNDTABLE: Iowa Football 2008 (Part Two)

Here is the second and final part of this installment of BHGP Roundtable.  All four authors that contribute to BHGP were to answer 12 incredibly written questions... yada, yada, if you don't understand what's going on, refer to Part One.  Six questions then, six questions now.  Wow.  Fun.

LEGEND (for those of you scoring at home):

	Oops Pow Surprise
	Hawkeye State
	Jebus H Christ
	storminspank

EXPLANATION OF THE LEGEND:  Again, go back to Part One to get the lowdown.

 

The final six questions after the jump.

 

Alrighty then.  Here's Part Two.

 

Receiver With More Yards at the End of the Year -
Brodell, Stross, DJK, or Chaney

As much as I'd like it to be DJK (go ahead and have a seat, Vontae),

it's going to be Stross. Stross and JC came up through the Army AA game together, and when they're both healthy, they're a lethal combination. Look what happened when the line started giving Jake time against PSU, and look at who he threw to. Look at what Christensen and Stross did to the hapless NU secondary after halftime last year. It'll be more of that. Stross is big and athletic, and he's the type of zone stretcher that Iowa's desperately needed since Clinton Solomon (or past that, Mo Brown) graduated.

Stross. 

If he can stay healthy, he's the most sure-handed receiver of the bunch, and this is the year where I can see JC keying on someone he's confident in and getting him the ball repeatedly.  That man is Trey Stross.

DJK - He's most talented and I'm not convinced the other guys can stay healthy

(unless DJK's arrested and incarcerated between the time I write this and the time it's printed. If so, I pick Chaney because I heard he's black and the other 2 are white.).

While a couple of these receivers did their thing making future NFL DBs look silly (Brodell destroying Ross (:10 in); DJK schooling Ikegwuono(3:42 in)).  The guy with the complete game is Trey Stross. 

I realize the question was the WR having the most yards at the end of the year, and it very well could be Andy Brodell if Ken O’Keefe would open up the offense a bit, but we know that won’t happen.  Stross has the best all-around game of the WRs on the team, and he's going to be Iowa’s go-to-guy... a more athletic Ed Hinkel.

 

Worst Loss in 08 if it Happens - ISU or Minnesota

ISU's at home and early in the year, so if Iowa drops that, the season's done, finished, over. Right then and there. There's no coming back for a winning BXI campaign if the Clowns win. In that sense, ISU must necessarily be the "worst" loss in terms of the effect it'll have on the team. Meanwhile, Minnesota's a road game late in the year, when shitty teams either have given up and can't win at all, or are gutting their way through a resurgence and are awfully dangerous. Since Iowa won't be losing in the first scenario, the second is your most likely answer, and it can't be as damaging as losing to ISU, since there isn't much more of a season for it to affect. Nonetheless, Minny fucking sucks, and losing to them will signify something very wrong with the program too. But we'll have probably seen that already at that point in the season.

ISU.  It's at home.  It's the killer September loss that could end this thing before it begins.  Minnesota has some young talent at its disposal; Iowa State is using sorority girls on the defensive line.  As bad as either loss would be, ISU is far, far worse.

ISU - Losing at the Gophers would hurt, but losing to the Clones at home would be crushing. Not just because we're better than them, but because I hate them and another year of listening to their fans brag about a win would force me to leave the state for good.

Worse for me – Minnesota.  Worse for Iowa – ISU.   While Iowa has no reason losing to the Gophers up in Kinnick North, they REALLY have no business losing at home to a bunch of pansies from a community college in Ames.  [Insert comment from some ISU fan – "ISU has like a 25 game winning streak against Iowa.  Iowa sucks – getting beat by little brother.  HAHAHAH  LOLOL1!!!!1!   Suckeyes are going down.  ISU owns Iowa!!"]  Yep.  That’s what we’ll be hearing if the Hawks lose.  Let’s just not let that happen.  So if I have to pick between the worst team in the Big 12 or the worst team in the Big 10, I’ll take the out-of-conference team.

 

True Frosh to Make the Most Noise in 08

We don't know how loudly Casey roars, but this'll probably be one of either Brinson or Hampton, whoever comes out on top at tailback out of summer practice. Iowa needs all the help they can get there, whereas you can immediately point to a glut of experience at every other position. The only other candidate would be beastman Riley Reiff, who would be a fine 4th end behind Clayborn, Ballard, and Klug, but even then he has to beat out Anton Narinskiy to get on the 2-deep, and Brinmpton probably has an easier shot at that.

Honestly, with last year's dependence on freshmen (true or redshirt), I only see one true freshman avoiding a redshirt.  If he's able to pick up on blocking schemes, Jeff Brinson will almost certainly get his fair share of carries, especially in the second half of the season when he's had more time to learn the offense and the coaching staff realizes Guillory is incredibly small and Paki O'Meara is, well, Paki O'Meara.

Casey McMonster - I hear him take a shit, no, I mean, I can actually hear him when he shits and Iowa City is 100 miles away. He's not of this world. I'm afraid of his bowels.

I was going to say Reiff, but I couldn’t remember if he committed to Iowa… or Nebraska… or Iowa…  With all due respect to The McMillaniac, Trent Mossbrucker is the true frosh bringing the noise.  The Iowa staff used a schollie on a kicker; that speaks volumes.  To say Iowa’s kicking game last year was poor would be a huge understatement.  Signor and Murray split time.  Each of these guys had a FG blocked (which equals the number of kicks Nate Kaeding had blocked… during his entire 4 year career at Iowa), yet neither of them missed one PAT (oh no, actually, each of them both missed TWO PATS… we are talking a freakin’ PAT.  I CAN KICK A DAMN PAT.)  Iowa attempted 28 PATs, a sad fact in itself, and our kickers missed FOUR of them.  In contrast, Kaeding kicked 169 PATS at Iowa and missed THREE in his four seasons.  It’s hard to be Nate, but Schlicher played a damn good Nate cover tune.  Iowa’s successes a few years back were the direct result of excellent special teams play.  Iowa needs Mossbrucker to come in and snag the full-time kicking job and pull another Kaeding impression.  It won’t be easy, but he has the skills to compete.  And just in case he can’t grab the reigns of the kicker spot, he broke almost all his school’s passing records at QB… I’m just saying…

 

The Big Ten Football Standings on 12/15/08

[Programming note from OPS: I hate that you said football, because I was definitely going to put in women's basketball. I also hate that you got the date right so I couldn't cheat.]

Bowl, if any, Iowa Goes To This Year

There are no at-large BCS teams in the BXI this year, not after OSU gets smoked by USC (this is what USC does, people, they KILL their non-conference opponents) and nobody else on the Bucks' docket raises their SOS to championship level. Plus I think there's another faltering out there for OSU; they've been pretty fortunate with injuries over the last few years, so they're "due." Even if they run the table, though, they're still #4 or #5 and headed to the Rose Bowl. Hardly a shame, of course, but that means Cap One for PSU, Outback for Wisconsin (again), and the Alamo will jump to take Iowa again. Were this 2009, of course, that's the Champs Sports' pick, but Orlando is one giant hell made of asphalt, strip malls, tourist traps, old people, and humidity. Be happy with the Alamo.

Remember the Alamo.

Sears Tecumsah Snow Thrower Bowl, December 20th against Western Michigan.  Be there!

I don’t there is any other destination for Iowa other than the Alamo Bowl this year, which is fine.  Hawk fans will have a great time on the Riverwalk for yet another year.

 

Number of Cows/Pigs/Etc... It Takes to Feed Recruit Casey McMillan

In tonnes or number? We need to know how big the livestock is. Otherwise you're just giving him babies, which A) are all gristle, and B) totally cheating.  Also, are we talking per day, week, what?  I think the better question is: McMillan effect on corn prices if he gets a taste for Doritos. I'm thinking: disastrous inflation.

Four calling birds.  Three french hens.  Two turtle doves.  And a partridge in a pear tree.   And the pears in the pear tree.  And the pear tree.  And that's his pre-breakfast breakfast.

All of them.

Food prices continue to rise at an astronomical rate.  "It’s the price of oil!", the pundits say.  RUBBISH!  The graph below shows the true impact on food prices, specifically the price of beef. 

We will be lucky to order an 8 oz. rump roast at a restaurant by the end of the year for less than $50.