The wheels have come off at Iowa. I was mad yesterday, almost like I was an Iowa fan. I have a contempt from tOSU, so I wanted you guys to manhandle them. What is up with offense?
We knew there might be some fall-off on the defense... at least early on. The offense has been a totally different kind of surprise... some thoughts: 1) Tate flourished last year when we left him in the shotgun and said "figure it out" (after our running backs got hurt). This year we are trying to re-establish the run so we have Tate under center... neither is working, our O-line is average by Big Ten standards and Tate, quite simply, is not comfortable under center. 2) Tate only threw deep patterns last year when he was forced out of the pocket and a receiver broke deep... his M.O. is short crossing patterns. This year teams are tightening up on the short patterns, daring us to throw long, which we have responded to poorly. 3) but, the biggest thing to me, is the attitude and fire that seems to be lacking. Greenway and Hodge are outstanding players, but they are not verbal. Roth and Babineau were very verbal... Roth was downright mean... we seem to lack that energy this year. We need someone to become a leader. It's always about chemistry, isn't it!!
Do you guys play Michigan and Wisconsin. As bad as it looked sometimes against tOSU, I think both these teams are very beatable. Good Luck on your season.
We always play Wisconsin and Minnesota, regardless of schedule rotation. This year we dropped Penn state and Michigan State and picked up Northwestern and Indiana... so a BIG break there. We also play Michigan @ home this year. We have won 18 straight at home... so hopefully we can turn this thing around and still get to a good bowl.
