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I feel pretty good about Iowa! Obviously winning the rivalry game is always nice, and especially so this week with Tyler Sash passing. And while Iowa State is definitely not a very good team I think they're better than they were last year. They have some talent at receiver and the Juco infusion helped their line a bit (although some of that was Iowa have trouble counting up guys and figuring out who to block when ISU threw a non-traditional front at them). And really even though I was ready to throw up my hands and give up after Canzeri fumbled in the redzone Iowa beat them pretty soundly outside of one really bad quarter They completely shut ISU's offense down in the second half and found a little rhythm in their passing game that wasn't there before. Matt Vandenberg seems like he could be the new Inexplicably Great White Iowa Wide Receiver. We did have a couple possibly significant injuries, which sucks. LeShaun Daniels is probably the best offensive player on the team and he missed the whole second half with an ankle injury after a really good first half. Canzeri is a capable enough backup and I love him out of the backfield but we don't have anyone who can reliably pound it up the middle 2-4 yards in short yardage outside of Daniels so it'd be nice to have him back for just that. And more significantly Drew Ott also missed the second half and had his arm in sling for what looks like a potentially serious wrist injury. We didn't really need him today but he's out best pass rusher and defensive lineman and we're going to miss him a lot if he misses significant time. Hopefully he's okay. There were still some stupid things that made me upset. Running the clock down to one second and then running a fake field goal from like the 30 or whatever it was is completely baffling, and the return game still has a lot of kinks to work out (once again someone caught a kick that was clearly headed out of bounds leading to Iowa starting the ball at the loving 2), but overall I've been way less upset with the coaching and design of the offense this year than the last two. The "run game coordinator" bullshit seems like it actually may have helped, and I like that we're willing to mix in a lot of pulling and power/counter stuff to go along with the usual inside/outside zone. That combined with having real running backs instead of a fullback has really be a significant improvement. I still don't love the passing game but it works a lot better when it has a decent running game to play off of. It's still way to soon to say whether or not the team is any good, but I feel a shitload better than I did before the season started. Hopefully they can keep things rolling against Pitt.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:23
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Thoguh posted:Checking in with a raging hangover to say that football remains stupid and dumb. And I'm still not sure what ISU's offensive coaches did during halftime. I guess they had a pizza party instead of making adjustments or something. I think it was mostly Iowa playing a lot better, especially up front. I'm not really sure what else the coaches could have done (they should have gone for that 4th and short but that's the only galling thing I can think of off the top of my head). They've always had the right plan to attack Iowa's defense and get mismatches, but they're still at a talent disadvantage and sometimes one team's players just play better. Our Dline completely shut down the running game and started regularly getting to the QB in a way they couldn't early on, and the secondary and especially linebackers did a much better job on coverage. There's only so much coaches can do, at some point the players have to actually, ya know, make plays On another subject I am biased and dumb here probably but I think it'd be premature for Arkansas fans to just give up. I only watched bits and pieces of that game because it overlapped with El Assico but based on what I saw and the stat sheet it seems like they dominated it and just couldn't get the ball in the end zone for some reason. That's usually a fluke. And it's not like the SEC looks so dominant that they won't have a chance to win conference games. MourningView fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Sep 13, 2015 |
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Sep 13, 2015 15:23
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Thoguh posted:I don't think there was much of a talent difference, if you did a draft with players from both teams you'd end up with about half Iowa and half ISU as starters. And ISU was ahead going in to halftime and looked pretty decent, though not dominant. Then in the second half Iowa made adjustments on defense and ISU didn't on offense, resulting in 66 total yards in the entire second half. Our defense held pretty well despite giving up those big scrambles to Beatherd and being hung out to dry constantly by the offense. It was still tied with just a few minutes left. ISU's offense just totally died after halftime, we got outcoached. Loooool okay man. Okay. Iowa did not make adjustments. They did the same things they always do. They just did them better. People want to pretend there is some magic game planning thing that can happen at halftime that will fix everything but "halftime adjustments" are mostly a bullshit media creation. It usually comes down to how well the players actually play. MourningView fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Sep 13, 2015 |
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Sep 13, 2015 15:45
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Scrapez posted:Beathard missed some throws but he played extremely well under pressure. I'm impressed with that kid. I think he could be REALLY good by seasons end. He's probably the most talented guy we've had at the position since Tate. Very good arm and the mobility adds a nice demension to the offense. He goes through stretches where he's really inaccurate but some of that has been guys struggling to get open. Tevaun Smith has been disappointing this year so far, I thought he was in line for a 2011 McNutt breakout type season.
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Sep 13, 2015 15:51
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Thoguh posted:The pollsters still haven't gotten the memo, and just this week there were SEC coaches opining publicly about how the SEC is tougher than any other conference and just a total grind. But then you get #6 Auburn needing OT to finish off JSU and #18 Arkansas losing to Toledo. are you seriously going to spend an entire season whining about this again. it is week loving 2. it does not matter. this seems so exhausting to get worked up about literally every week and it is unbelievably uninteresting to read over and over again
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Sep 13, 2015 15:57
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Alaois posted:Isn't the playoff expanded to 8 teams this year instead of 4 anyway? No
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Sep 13, 2015 16:04
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vyst posted:. He's trying to build men first, football players second This is true of literally zero coaches ever and you are trying really hard to justify a hire you liked acting like an rear end in a top hat. This reads like a parody of one of those "by gawd in my day they didn't even give us water!" talk radio callers. MourningView fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Sep 13, 2015 |
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Sep 13, 2015 22:13
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vyst posted:You can believe your truth and I'll believe mine. Based on everything I've heard and read about Mac he's a character first coach. I'm sure there's no way to instill character without throwing a tantrum like a little child and embarrassing the kid in front of a television audience
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Sep 14, 2015 00:46
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vyst posted:Sorry that you're so used to "silence as discipline" that Ferentz uses at Iowa that you think that any elevated voice ruins a player's development process. He has thus far been a much more successful coach than "Mac"! But anyway my point was that there is no difference between this and was muschamp did, you just happen to still like one of those people
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Sep 14, 2015 01:13
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DJExile posted:National TV. Saturday night is going to have Stanford/USC and Bama/Ole Miss in primetime. There's basically no way FSU/BC was ever going to get top billing over those two. I assume that nation will actually be eagerly tuning into Big Ten Network to watch the shootout between Iowa and Pitt. MourningView fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Sep 14, 2015 |
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Sep 14, 2015 16:40
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Alaois posted:man, I almost, almost, feel bad for Pitt, losing both James Conner and Tyler Boyd right off the bat. Is Boyd out? That'd help; that dude killed us last year. E: He is not, you jerk For Iowa, sounds like Drew Ott and LeShaun Daniels will be out for that game, which really sucks since they're two of our 5 best players, probably. Ott dislocated his elbow when an ISU player fell on it, and Daniels did something to his ankle (again, he always has some foot or ankle issue  ). Canzeri is a solid backup at RB, but we don't really have another power back on the roster unless we want to go the Wesiman route and start playing Adam Cox at tailback in short yardage (which I support completely). I know Pitt has some issues on the offensive side too with their QBs and trying to replace Connor, but it'd have been really nice to have our running game at full strength.
MourningView fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Sep 14, 2015 |
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Sep 14, 2015 16:44
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Alaois posted:oh, I just checked and I guess Boyd was just out for the first game of the season. Still, no James Conner is huge for them. The dude they replaced him with was really good in their first game, which made me assume he was yet another in Pitt's inexplicable line of dominant tailbacks, but it looks like he came back to earth a bit against Akron.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:49
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Alaois posted:that'll happen when the first game is against Youngstown State I am currently riding high from beating Illinois State and Iowa State so I am not going to judge, okay?
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Sep 14, 2015 16:56
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espn should stop being biased both for and against the big ten it is very confusing
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Sep 14, 2015 18:20
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Iowa has poo poo itself against far worse teams; I take nothing for granted. When you have been blown out by a Directional Michigan every game is a cause for concern.
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Sep 14, 2015 18:27
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Thermos H Christ posted:Additional Views: If you don't pronounce his name like "BEAT HARD" you are lame We frequently have a backfield featuring both Beat Hard and Cox. I think he's going to be pretty good too though, although we have not exactly faced great defenses yet. His down field accuracy is still a little iffy for my liking but he's a big improvement over what we've had at the position since Stanzi's senior year, and his ceiling is a lot higher than that (particularly if the WRs can ever start getting separation consistently). If nothing else the QB change is definitely looking like the right move so far.
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Sep 14, 2015 19:48
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Scrapez posted:I think Iowa could be one of those middle of the pack teams in the Big Ten. I know they haven't played tough teams yet but their schedule sets them up pretty well for a decent record. I think they'll be a top 20-25 team throughout the year just like Northwestern and Wisconsin. haha dude they beat Iowa State and a I-AA team, chill out a bit
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Sep 14, 2015 19:52
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k3dj posted:unless they beat Wisconsin or northwestern they wont be ranked If the record is gaudy enough they probably will even if in reality it's mostly the product of having a one (or maybe two depending on whether or not you actually think Nortwestern is any good, but, like, dude) game schedule. But that is putting the cart in an entirely different state than the horse. Iowa is still a pretty flawed team that will most likely lose a few they shouldn't and probably win 7ish games again.
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Sep 14, 2015 19:58
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Spacebump posted:That's a better schedule so far than multiple teams currently in the top 25. Sure but it's two games into the season and in most of those cases there are other reasons to suspect those teams are good that do not exist for an Iowa team that won 7 uninspiring games last year and then lost all of their best players on both lines. The rankings this early are literally never based solely on what has happened so far over the course of the season.
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Sep 14, 2015 20:00
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Ohio State seems pretty good but how can you really tell if they don't test themselves against someone like Toledo.
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Sep 15, 2015 00:20
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Bring back Mack as AD
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Sep 15, 2015 15:04
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If by leave you mean "gets fired after going 2-10" I agree
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Sep 15, 2015 15:07
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pillsburysoldier posted:Hire Jon Gruden as AD. I've heard it's his dream job
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Sep 15, 2015 16:06
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Hopefully Macks first act as ad is to bring his good friend Greg Davis home
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Sep 15, 2015 16:09
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Scrapez posted:How can you be a "bad fit" at Texas? With all of that in-state talent I don't even see how it's possible not to succeed there but obviously it is more than possible. It seems to happen an awful lot whenever they do not have an exceptional future hall of fame head coach like Mack Brown.
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Sep 15, 2015 17:46
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Enraged by Iowa fans daring to express optimism, The Angry Iowa Running Back Hating God has quietly returned this week. Starter LeShaun Daniels is questionable with an ankle injury he suffered early against ISU. Supposedly they got good news on he and Ott yesterday, but Ferentz still called both injuries "significant" and Daniels has a long injury history so I'm not holding my breath. Now nominal third string back Derrick Mitchell has been suspended for some unknown code of conduct violation (which in the past has often been a prelude to the player transferring or getting chucked off the team but I have no idea how serious this one is). This leaves the Iowa's running back situation as less than ideal! 1. Jordan Canzeri- Tiny senior scatback who has been sporadically successful in a supporting role and had a great game against ISU last week. Not really suited for being an every down back because of his size but he's a solid player. I have zero issues with him playing but if he gets a lot of carries or has to pound the ball between the tackles he will 100% definitely break down. 2. Akrum Wadley- Undersized. Started one game last year against Northwestern and promptly had the best rushing day of any Iowa back all season. He's probably the most talented pure runner on the team, but unfortunately the coaches can't trust him because he has somehow fumbled the ball 4 times in fewer than 40 career carries. He got buried at the end of the last year despite looking strong when he hung onto the ball and he hasn't touched the ball this season after fumbling in week 1 mop up duty. 3. Marcel Joly- RS Freshman who has been playing running back from like 3 months after moving from CB this offseason. Undersized. 4. Eric Graham- True Freshman desperation offer after another commit bolted for Michigan. Complete nothing recruit, probably a redshirt. 5. Jonathan Parker ?- Listed as a WR right now but played RB sort of last year. By which I mean we would bring him in three times a game and then immediately hand the ball to him on a fly sweep every single time, because that was not obvious or predictable at all. Somehow this stopped working around week 4 or so, but we brought it back last week to a shocking failure. Responsible for the single dumbest kick return of all time in last year's Whatever The Gator Bowl Is Called. Also undersized with fumbling issues. 6. Adam Cox- WOOOO FULLBACK BITCH LET'S DO THE WEISMAN MourningView fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Sep 15, 2015 |
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Sep 15, 2015 18:12
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I really enjoy Cuttcliffe and Bill Snyder's ongoing contest to see who can be College Footballs Best Grandpa.
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Sep 15, 2015 18:52
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I feel moderately confident that they will not extend him until he's 80, but it's hard to ever be completely sure. They're probably going to fire the AD who gave him the last one at some point this season due to a number of discrimination lawsuits.
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Sep 15, 2015 18:57
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Dunno why Bob Bowlsby turned down the Texas AD job, you'd think he'd be all over the chance to move up the Big XII hierarchy.
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Sep 15, 2015 22:07
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Scrapez posted:Apparently, Mitchell is now reinstated? Very odd. Wonder what that was all about? Yeah he was reinstated like 10 minutes after I posted that. I think his suspension lasted all of maybe 48 hours, if that. It's hard to say whether or not they "need" him because he's never played a minute of running back in an actual game before (he was a WR until they let him play Melvin Gordon on the scout team and he impressed everyone), but more bodies definitely doesn't hurt. And amusingly he's like the second biggest actual running back on the team.
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Sep 16, 2015 16:09
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They're better than last year (Appleby is a pretty decent upgrade at QB, I think) but still pretty bad.
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Sep 16, 2015 16:30
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MindlessHavok posted:THE Ohio State Technical University. The THE is important. I want to hate that but I also 100% know that I would do it just to annoy other fans if I were an OSU fan.
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Sep 16, 2015 19:27
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It seems like it would be super fun to do in the most pretentious way possible, and wish I could get away with exclusively referring to Iowa as THE University of Iowa (or ideally it's old school name THE State University of Iowa, in contrast to the Iowa State Agricultural College and Model Farm)
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Sep 16, 2015 19:36
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MindlessHavok posted:I mean it's the same as Rocky Top right? Everyone else hates that song but UT fans love it and we play it as much as possible and part of that is because it annoys the poo poo out of everyone. That is a catchy song and I genuinely enjoy it. I went to a UT basketball game one time fully expecting to hate it by the end of the game, but I was still happily humming along every time.
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Sep 16, 2015 21:18
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Alaois posted:believe it or not, Rutgers has somehow gone bowling 4 straight years, last year they trounced UNC. Truly a game that emphasized the student in student athlete
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Sep 17, 2015 06:47
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Scarf posted:Communications isn't too bad if they plan on being a commentator at some point when their NFL career doesn't pan out. Them getting that job does not have a goddamn thing to do with their stupid communications degree. C2C - 2.0 posted:Mack is a million times more bearable on television; he's actually decent in the booth. I can't recall ever having watched a game with Holtz calling it, but when I imagine what it would be like, I make a really upset-looking face. Holtz and the rest of the old Final crew did the mid-week games for awhile. It was about as bad as you'd guess. But yeah Mack is pretty decent. I am really eager for Urbz to finally call it quits again, both so OSU might finally lose another game and because he made the best coach to booth transition I can ever recall. He was pretty much immediately the best guy in the business. The booth with he and Speilman was incredible. MourningView fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Sep 17, 2015 |
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Sep 17, 2015 16:14
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Jake Rudock was and presumably still is like Bio Chem major or some poo poo who claims he's going to medical school. Meanwhile true team player CJ Beathard is a recreation studies major. I'm not saying a QB needs to be stupid, but I know only one of these people lost to Iowa State as a starter.
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Sep 17, 2015 16:38
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I don't even know how you study recreation but I hope it means that you like go fishing all day or something
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Sep 17, 2015 16:50
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Scarf posted:Party Right Through May. Sounds like good prep for law school then.
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Sep 17, 2015 17:02
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The Twinkie Czar posted:Jake McQuaide graduated from OSU in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He's the Rams long snapper, so just another failed rocket scientist. maybe it is his extensive knowledge of launch trajectories that has made him a successful long snapper?
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Sep 17, 2015 17:21
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