Northwestern

[Hawkeye]

well NIU should have been a win if you ask me, I agree with that one, MSU we just looked horrible and flat and really didn't play that game with any intensity or desire at all, but yeah, we should be 6-2 instead of 5-3...

Wisconsin, I almost see that game as playing ourselves, pretty much the same offense and same defense...yeah I know it is not really, but I think Rudock is better than Stave and seems like White and Gordon are better than Weisman and Bullock to me...Defenses are pretty similar with great LB play and such, they aren't really spread, more pro style like us...should be a good game

 

[john01992]

i know iowa fans dislike NW because they have been that one team that really gives you a headache year after year (for NW fans its osu) but heres why you shouldnt hate on NW

-they have the highest graduation rate in CFB

-in a 2011 SI report on how many college football players have criminal records. off all the teams studied NW was the only one that did not have a player with a criminal record

-they are the textbook definition of terrible
1) had just 1 bowl appearance from before 1995
2) had just 1 bowl win from before 2012
3) one of just 5 division 1 teams that have never had a cbb tourny bid

-fitz displays loyalty that is a dying trend in todays coaching world. he single handedly turned NW into a winning program and could get a job at any program right now but chooses to stay at what is most likely the least resourceful program among p5 schools

now i know 2010 might be especially painful for you guys, but i was at that game at ryan field and it was the best game that i ever saw and i have seen games at psu, osu, & michigan multiple times. if I ever saw a first hand account of a rudy-like hollywood moment it happened at that game in the way the team handled the dan persa injury

 

[iowajerms]

Anyone still want to argue about Iowa winning 8 games? Enter Hoops......

I will argue...

Iowa needs 3 wins with 5 games left (given they get 6 wins).

Obviously, Purdue is a game that should be a given and be 6 wins.

IMO, Wisconsin is the toughest remaining game. They are pretty balanced and have the best defense of remaining opponents. If Iowa plays like they did for most of the Ohio State game but finishes strong, they can win, but I'm not going to predict it unless some big news comes out.

Michigan and Nebraska are not what we thought they were a month ago. Iowa's defense is getting a lot better and they contain scrambling QBs pretty good. I don't see either of Michigan's and Nebraska's QBs near as good as Braxton Miller. I think Michigan has a weaker defense. Iowa is also good at stopping the run, unless offense is balanced. I think Iowa win at least one of those games, leaning more towards beating Michigan.

Then Iowa goes to a bowl game and they could possibly win that depending on who they face. I'm not as pessimistic about 8 wins in the season but I am if we're including post season.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Barnett single handedly turned Northwestern around, unless I've missed a rose bowl that Fitz has coached in, and Northwestern wasn't exactly a bottom feeder when Fitz took over..

 

[Clemenza]

Iowa could just as easily win all their remaining games as they could lose them all. We've seen that Iowa plays to the level of their opponents (other than W. Michigan). Barely beat a TERRIBLE ISU team and then turn around and play level football with OSU for 3 quarters. Yesterday confused me even more because I don't think NW is very good, yet Iowa let them hang around the entire game and did just enough to eek out a win.

My guess is 7 wins and that Iowa goes 2-2 their remaining 4 games. I see Purdue a win and I think Iowa wins one of MI/NE/WI. 8 wins would be a great surprise, I'm still not sold on Iowa's defense being able to contain any of those 3 offenses.

Love our offense right now, I can't believe I'm saying this but I wish we'd run the ball MORE not less. For half the game we were getting 6 yards per carry behind our O-line and controlling the ball and clock. When we seem to get in trouble is in that scramble mode, which is my one and only criticism of Rudock right now - he gets a little rattled in those hurry-up passing downs and has made some bad throws in bad situations. Otherwise, I give him an A+ thus far this year.

I wonder, though......do these other teams not study Iowa games at all? When it's 3rd and 1 it's a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT GUARANTEE that Rudock does a QB sneak straight ahead. If I'm the other team and it's 3rd and 1, I'm putting 3 LBs and my safety right over the center and guards.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Without Colter, I agree that Northwestern is a bad team, with Colter, not a bad team. I'm changing my prediction to 9 wins.

 

[wingsauce7]

I'm changing my prediction to 9 wins.

Nice Aaron!

 

[hoopsalot25]

I'm still being the grinch with this years' team for the following reasons:

1) The KF coaching staff. Everyone recognizes the good, the bad, and the ugly from this coaching staff.
2) NW averaged 4.3 yards per carry on 52 rushes. Remember, OSU averaged 5.35 yards per carry on 51 rushes. The last two weeks, Iowa's opponents gained many yards running straight ahead. Do you suppose Wisconsin sees this trend?
3) Iowa's offense has total balance if Iowa has a ratio of 3:1. Why does KF go away from the rushing attack? The opening drive was a thing of beauty and EASY!!! Weisman must not be healthy. Daniels looked good! Bullock looked powerful! Weisman ran over a number of guys! Smash mouth football from Iowa is fun to watch. One would think play action pass would be open all day as teams stack the box to stop Iowa's run game.
4) Iowa's lack of a vertical passing game is obvious. Iowa's WRs can't stretch the field to compliment the running game. Clearly, with the exception of Powell, Iowa's WRs are only possession WRs and possession routes are being called. Tevaun Smith was solid yesterday!
5) Iowa's defense can't get off the field enough. NW goes 8-14; OSU went 10-14
6) Iowa's defense is giving up yards: MSU - 412; OSU - 495; NW - 329 (not as significant as the two previous games!)
7) Wisconsin, @ Purdue, Michigan, and @ Nebraska. With the exception of Purdue, those are three strong teams. Each has very good talent and speed. Iowa has their hands full no doubt. I agree with Clem, Iowa could win all of those, but they could easily lose those games.

A win is a win is a win. I'd love to see Iowa back in a bowl game this year. The Purdue game is the trap game for Iowa. Lose that game, and Iowa probably ends up at 5-7 this year. Wisconsin might not pass the ball 15 times Saturday. And if that is the case, look out, because the rest of Iowa's opponents will run the ball a lot against Iowa.

I'd be happy with a 6-6 finish and a bowl game! Anything over 6 wins will be the icing on the cake this year!!!

 

[Hawkeye]

I hate NW cause they hate us, Fitz is on record for saying he despises Iowa so much, well screw him, I hate NW right back in all sports...dying trend whatever, it was a beautiful thing to see him so mad after the game, that guy is a giant turd.

Just cause you broke your leg in the Iowa game and didn't play in the Rose Bowl...whatever, life is too short to hold that grudge, but while he holds it, I will hold it, screw him and his graduation rate, that's not him doing it, it's the players who go to class and study and get tutored and helped and all that stuff athletes get that normal kids don't to help them through college. Fitz has nothing to do with the grad rate.

 

[wingsauce7]

I agree with pretty much everything hoops posted above. The last 2 games' opening drives were awesome with the way the Run game was going. when we have that going and mix in some good play action like in the first half of OSU, we look unstoppable on Offense.

D is another matter. I don't get why we grind our D-line to the bone. Every game they're exhausted mid way thru the 3rd. We have good linemen standing on the sideline. I don't get why we are substituting them in during the game.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

I don't agree, one obvious flaw in Hoops stats is that OSU and NW both had dual threat qb's. This creates running lanes due to the costant threat of getting gashed by the most athletic player on the field, which is the qb. Stave is about as athletic as JVB was, a more accurate comparison on Wisconsins offense would be Minnesota, our defense did pretty well in that game... Hoops, how many games did you predict Iowa to win? If I remember correctly it was 3-4 & Rudock wouldn't be a good qb's..

 

[hoopsalot25]

Aaron,

I predicted Iowa would win 4 games on the season. No doubt about that!!!

Stave is not an athletic QB like what Iowa faced with OSU and NW. No doubt about that. Stave did throw for 295 yards against OSU though. And most of those yards went to Abbrederis that game.

Can't compare Minnesota's power running game to that of Wisconsin's! Two totally different styles. Besides, of Minnesota's 19 rushing TDs...11 of those have come from their two QBs. Stave has one rushing TD out of Wisconsin's 24 total rushing TDs.

Iowa's defense will have to contend with Wisconsin's three-headed monster at RB Saturday. Don't forget that Wisconsin has the nations 3rd ranked rush defense and their pass defense is ranked 16th in the country. Overall, Wisconsin has the 6th best defense in the country.

Iowa's faces the following QBs the rest of the way:
Everyone realizes that Wisconsin runs a power rush attack and that Stave isn't the mobile QB that other programs have in the country.
Purdue doesn't have much on offense period. For the life of me, I can't figure out how MSU beats Purdue 14-0. MSU's defense scores a TD in the 2nd QTR. The MSU offense scores late in the 4th QTR. Wierd!!!
Michigan's Devin Gardner - duel threat - and productive
Nebraska's Martinez and Armstrong both duel threat players. Martinez has been dinged up this season, but Armstrong filled in nicely as his replacement.

Again, Aaron, I projected Iowa to win only four games this season. Obviously, Iowa is in position to win more than five games this year. However, I'm still waiting to hear from you on what KF does to prepare for mobile QBs running any formations from the shotgun/pistol positions.

I questioned how Rudock could come out of the state of Florida with only three stars after playing for a power house program. Of all of the college teams in the state of Florida...he comes to Iowa - amazing! Rudock has done a solid job of running the offense this year. Rudock would benefit from faster WRs, but what QB wouldn't!!! First year starter, posting solid numbers, manages the game well, and surely he will improve.

 

[Hawkeye]

I don't know why you two keep fighting, you aren't going to change each other's minds...to me, I want at least 2 more wins, I see us as able to beat Wisconsin and then just take it a game at a time and keep going. If Minny can beat Nebraska, that shows Iowa can beat anyone as well.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Just establishing credibility, that's all. Someone with your vast travels and high level coaching experience should not be shown up by Gengljer, Wingsauce, Aaronhawkeye, etc. I can no longer worship you oh great hoops..

 

[Hawkeye]

I know Aaron, but it's never going to change, Hoops does have some good points in his postings though, I still think Iowa wins 8 myself

 

[wingsauce7]

I predicted 8 or 9 wins this year (OSU, Mich and Neb) I didn't predict the NIU or MSU losses so it stands to reason that for me, my win total would drop to 6-7. Hopefully we can pick up 2 of the last 4..

 

[wingsauce7]

I also have to say that i pretty much agree with myself on everthing I've posted on this site.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

I know Aaron, but it's never going to change, Hoops does have some good points in his postings though, I still think Iowa wins 8 myself

They are vague, redundant, and could be used for just about any team in the country that is not undefeated... IMO.

 

[hoopsalot25]

Vague and redundant Aaron? Really!

Wisconsin has the 11th ranked offense and the 6th ranked defense in the country.

Purdue is bad: the 121st ranked offense and 67th ranked defense. Iowa should easily win this game!
Michigan has the 44th ranked offense and the 27th ranked defense.
Nebraska has the 53rd ranked offense and the 76th ranked defense.

I don't really see the redundancy and vagueness that you speak of here about Iowa's remaining schedule. The last time we played a stout defense both MSU and OSU shut Iowa down in the second half of games.

WR speed upgrades - well yes, every team in the country wants more speed on the field. But Iowa doesn't have very many players with that caliber of speed. Powell is the exception here. These points everyone agrees with. And centers on the ability to recruit into a program.

The 3-headed rushing attack that Wisconsin employs is putting up some strong averages:
- Gordon: 107 rushes for 1012 yards and 11 TDs --- average of 9.5 ypc and 144 ypg
- White: 107 rushes for 672 yards and 7 TDs --- average of 6.2 ypc and 96 ypg
- Clement: 55 rushes for 407 yards and 5 TDs --- average of 7.4 ypc and 58 ypg

That level of production is churning out almost 300 rushing yards per game and just under 5 TDs per game! Exactly what is vague and redundant about that style of rushing attack?

Wisconsin really should have beaten Arizona St...but ASU is 5-2 overall this season. Iowa should have beaten NIU...but NIU is 8-0 overall this season. I don't feel that Iowa should have lost to MSU, but they did!!! The OSU game, I can live with. Iowa gave a solid effort in the first half but tanked in the second half. The tanking part I don't accept from KF - but Iowa has done that a number of times this season!!!

I am fearful of Wisconsin hitting their average for rushing production - or getting more production than what their averages are! If that happens, this game will be an ugly outcome that would be similar to the MSU game this year.

We are all waiting for this team to play 4 quarters of strong football against their remaining schedule. If that happens, Iowa has a GREAT chance of winning out.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

You've made some decent points on this, but I was referring to your 10,000 previous posts and your demeanor in general.