You guys are having a good year :thumb: Tell us about the team. What does the road ahead look like? Whats the chance you guys leap frog USC at some point? You've been such a great poster here, I always pull for Iowa. ( But I want a rematch!!!!!!!!)
We're 7-0, 6th in the BCS... and all that jazz, but this may be the most overachieving team the Hawks have had in a long, long time. It's a young team with only 7 senior starters... and three of them see a lot of rotation, due to injuries, etc. There are only 10 rivals four star athletes on the team and only five of them start. Our only 5 star, senior Dan Doering, has seen minimal playing time since he got here. Four freshmen have started from time to time. Our two running backs are a redshirt freshman and a true freshman (replacing Jewel Hampton, knee surgery). We all thought next year would be the big year for this team, as we are much like LSU with favorable home schedules every other year. This year we have our road games @ Penn State, @ Wisconsin, @ Michigan State and @ Ohio State. Our offense might make yours look good. What works for us is we don't kill our own drives with penalties (4th fewest in the country). We have a very good punter and fg kicker. We rely on the D to get us the ball. We lead the nation with 15 picks and are 4th in T/O margin, despite our QB throwing 8 picks in five games, three for pick6's. We do the field position thing as well as anyone. Our Defense hasn't changed its look in years. Typical Norm Parker, we keep everything in front of us, seldom blitz, and show a two deep zone on most every play (We may not stay in, but we always show it). We force teams to try to put 12-14 plays together without screwing up. Most can't do it. The difference in this year's version is our back seven have speed, height, and can really hit. Both our corners and safety Tyler Sash will be playing on Sundays. I believe we're 5th nationally in pass efficiency D. To try to tie this in to LSU, comparing teams, etc.... the only team that comes to mind is Arizona. We beat them 27-17 (giving them an early pick6) and they lost a close shootout @ Washington, who you guys beat by 10 or so. Don't know if that means much. Our future.... well, it's ironic, if not prophetic, that the two road games left on our schedule are @ Michigan State and @ Ohio State... the only two Big Ten teams Ferentz has never beaten on the road in his ten years at Iowa. We fell behind 10-0 early in both our games @ PSU and @ Wisconsin, then shut them down the rest of the game. I doubt if we have enough offense to let Michigan State get up on us. This may be a tougher game for us than @ tOSU... as the nuts don't have an offense either. On jumping USC in the polls... well, I don't think they're gonna get by Oregon, may even lose to Zona... and after watching Florida play against the Vols, you guys, and Arkansas, my confidence grows that there may not be a truly "special" team out there this year.... at least like the Gators were last year. For us, we didn't come into this year with visions of greatness. We were just trying to get ranked!! But there is something quite special about this Hawkeye team... very disciplined, very well coached. If we keep on winning, someone else will self-destruct and doors will open. LSU knows better than anyone how that works.
Sounds like Iowa is definitely due a loss at some point. I wouldn't mind seeing you guys go undefeated and win it all if LSU were to lose a 2nd game.
We have the second longest win streak in the country (Florida is first)... so... yeah... streaks do end. However, I seriously doubt we'll have the conference refs helping us along.:dis: If we are to lose, some team's gonna have to play one hellava game. Hopefully, now with our two all-americans back... OT Bulaga and TE Moeaki, we can muster up some offense. Our season starts Saturday... our first game with all starters starting. It should be fun.
Thanks. I'll be pulling for the Hawkeyes the rest of the way unless we play ya'll (stranger things have happened).
Big hits today on the injury front.... Dace Richardson (first team mid-season all-american @ guard) broke a bone in his leg and "may" be back for our bowl game. Adam Robinson, leading rusher who replaced injured Jewel Hampton (out for season), is also out and may need surgery on his ankle. .... not the best of news.
That is some tough news man. I really wish I were able to have seen some of Iowa's games this year. I'm pretty pre-occupied on Saturdays tho. Form scores and highlights, Iowa's season is really reminding me of LSU's championship seasons. Lots of great place with a good mix of luck. A lot of heart stopping games.
