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Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa is coming off a magical season where they started 12-0, came within seconds of winning the Big Ten and making the playoff, and went to the Rose Bowl (where I'm sure they did fine; I was drunk). It made no sense at the time and still makes no sense in hindsight. This year they return the bulk of that team, but obviously a perfect regular season is...unlikely. In fact, there's a very good chance that they're actually a better team this year, but take a step back in the win column as their luck regresses in close games (see also the 2005 and especially 2010 seasons). That's football. Depth Chart Offense QB One of the biggest reason to feel optimistic about this season is that Iowa brings back CJ Beathard, who was one of the best QBs in the conference despite playing pretty much the entire season with what was probably a fairly serious sports hernia and hip injury. At the start of the season Beathard was a mobile QB who could get out on the edge and made teams pay with his feet as much as with his arm (shown off most notably in the Iowa State game). But he was badly hobbled in conference play and became mostly a pocket passer. He'll probably have worse turnover luck this year, but he still has a great arm that can fit passes into impossible windows, and if he's healthy he could add 400-500 yards on the ground. On the whole I think he gets a littttle overrated because of the record last year and because people were desperate to move on from the incredibly boring Rudock era, but he's still arguably the most talented QB Iowa has had during the Ferentz era. RB One of our deepest positions even after losing Canzeri. LeShaun Daniels is probably the starter. He's constantly hurt and I think the staff overvalues him a bit (they're still in love with the idea of a big power back because of Shonn Greene), but he still had his moments when the was healthy, especially against Minnesota. In my opinion the real potential star is Akrum Wadley. He had two games last year where he got a starters workload. In the first he absolutely destroyed a very good Northwestern defense for over 200 yards and 4 TDs, and in the second he went over 100 against Indiana. He's small but he has great balance, vision, and quickness, and seems to have solved the fumbling problem that plagued him as a freshman and got him glued to the bench early last year. He seems like he's doing a good job adding weight and earning more trust from the coaching staff too. Hopefully he gets more consistent touches this year, and I'd love to see him more involved in the passing game. The third back is Derrick Mitchell, who looked great as a third down back in his first year playing the position. He looked good when we actually gave him the ball last year, so I'd love to see a bigger role this season. WR Ugh. Tevaun Smith wasn't a superstar, but he was a guy with the ability to make a big play and we're really missing that with the current group as it stands right now. Matt Vandeberg is solid in the "scrappy white possession receiver" role but after that it's ugly. Jermaine Smith had one big game against Illinois last year as a true freshman but otherwise didn't do anything, and beyond that it's a lot of question marks. Adrian Falconer cracked the depth chart as a true frosh, which is impressive, but had all of one catch. Jay Scheel was a big time recruit but has struggled to stay healthy and hasn't played. Ryan Boyle showed flashes in spring, but he's making the transition from QB. Jonathan Parker is fast but was a running back until last year. I have no idea what will happen here. TE Henry Kreiger Coble is a big loss but I think we'll be okay here. George Kittle was really good last year with 300 yards and 6 TDs as the second TE. He's a great athlete and has turned himself into a good blocker. I expect him to be a safety blanked for Beathard and challege for All Big Ten. Beyond that it's a big question mark, but I think we'll figure something out. We usually have solid TE play, and there's some talent there. Jon Wisnieski was a 4* recruit, Peter Pekar was a walkon but has gotten series camp buzz the last two years, and incoming Freshman Noah Fant is super talented if a little raw. OL I think it's getting overhyped in the media. It's not one of the best lines in the country, but it should be solid again. Blythe and Walsh are big losses on the inside, but Iowa returns a ton of guys with starting experience (partially because the line was really banged up last year). Sean Welsh played mostly guard last year and moves over the center where he'll be the rock of the OL. He was very good last year (even playing tackle against Northwestern and dominating) and should be one of the best interior linemen in the conference this season. LT Cole Croston and LG Boone Meyers are both former walkons, but they're both good athletes who have had 4-5 years in the Iowa program to develop, and both saw time as starters last year (Meyers was the starting LT to open the season before getting hurt, losing his job to Croston, and moving inside). Ike Botteger is huge and held his own as a sophomore in his first year as a starter last year. And James Daniels, if he gets healthy, is one of the most talented players on the team. He was a big time recruit with offers from everywhere and forced his way into the rotation last year as a true freshman. All five guys saw significant time on a team that went 12-2, and offensive line in the one position where I trust the coaches to develop whoever they throw in there. Defense DT Jaleel Johnson is a star. He finally got significant playing time after biding his time behind Carl Davis for three years and was all Big Ten. He should be a relatively high draft pick next year. Next to him, Nathan Bazata was okay but nothing special last year, but he was in his first year getting any playing time and was only a sophomore. I expect he'll improve. I also expect Faith Ekakitie to get significant playing time. He was a big time recruit who hasn't been able to find a consistent role, but he finally showed flashes last year. He could be in for a breakout season as a senior. DE Nate Meir graduated and Drew Ott got really hosed over by the NCAA and sadly did not get a 6th year, so this is an area of concern going into the season. Parker Hesse fought last year but he was so tiny for the position at 215 pounds or so. He was only a sophomore so hopefully he's added some weight. Matt Nelson probably gets the other starter spot and he's a guy I've always been really intrigued by. He looks more like a basketball player at 6'8" or so, but by all accounts he's the best pass rusher on the team and did okay last year when he got playing time. If he's managed to add some bulk to go with his height he could be a breakout guy for the team. I don't expect us to have much of a pass rush this year again, but hopefully these guys at least hold their own. LB Should be one of the better units in the Big Ten. Josey Jewell has a strong cases as the best linebacker in the conference and he was only a sophomore in his first year as a starter last year. He does a little bit over everything. He's a tackling machine, a surprisingly effective blitzer, hits like a truck, holds his own in coverage, and is just generally always in the right place. Next to him we return Ben Neimann, who was really solid last year as (yet another) first year starting sophomore. He's really good in coverage and plays the AJ Edds role of linebacker who is asked to constantly cover WRs and still holds his own. The third starter is still up in the air, but will probably be RS Soph Aaron Mends. He's absolute freak athlete who has put up crazy weightroom numbers and had a lot of buzz last year. He played a litttle bit (mostly as a pass rusher on third downs to take advantage of his speed) and looked really promising. He reminds me a lot of Anthony Hitchens. If he doesn't play it'll probably be Bo Bower, who isn't anything special but does have quite a bit of experience, having started for pretty much the entire 2014 season. CB The starters are arguably the best in the country. Desmond King is a fourth year starter who has been great from the moment he got to campus, and won the Thorpe award last year while tying the school record (amazingly still held by Nile Kinnick) for INTs in a season. The INTs will go down, which will inevitably make people view him as a disappointment, but he's still an elite college cover corner and the best tackler I've ever seen at CB. Next to him Greg Mabin is a third year starter who has been overshadowed by King his whole career but is a really solid coverage guy in his own right. I could see him getting some pretty good INT numbers with teams trying to pick on him a lot. After those two there...isn't much. Maurice Flemming was the nickle last year but he transferred looking for a chance to start. Josh Jackson looked pretty good for a freshman last year and gets raves from the coaches (he had pretty much already passed Flemming for the third CB spot) so hopefully he'll slide into the nickle role and continue to develop. Beyond that I don't know. Hopefully King and Mabin stay healthy. S Miles Taylor played pretty well last year in his first as a starter. He had some hiccups in coverage, but he was really good in run support and hits hard. He's still young so he has a lot of room to improve. We'll be breaking in a new starter at FS with Jordan Lomax graduating, and it'll probably be Brandon Snyder, who is the next in a proud Iowa tradition of white walk-ons who become starting safeties. He's been getting a lot of buzz behind the scenes the last couple years so hopefully that works out. Those guys somehow usually do. ST Des King is a great return guy. Beyond that I have no idea. We're going to have a brand new kicker and punter. I'm very scared. Schedule Miami (OH)- Chuck Martin is a good coach but they've been pretty awful lately, should be our easiest W Iowa State- Ugh, gently caress this series. Should be a win, but that's always the case. I'll say W because Iowa State's roster is still pretty depleted and it's at home but I don't feel great about it. Matt Campbell is good. North Dakota State- Probably a W but why the gently caress would you ever schedule this team? So dumb. At least Wentz is gone. Rutgers- Significantly less scary that North Dakota State W Northwestern- They should have a good defense again and they can't possibly be as bad on offense as they were last year. They'll be out for revenge after getting embarrassed last year too. I'll say W because we're at home, but it's probably a toss up. Minnesota- Games at Minnesota have been a horror show recently and they've done really well against us ever since hiring Kill. Toss up but I think this is the first L. Hope I'm wrong. I hate losing the Pig Game. Purdue- Purdue football is so sad W Wisconsin- Should be a close game again, and we get them at home which is cool, but I'll still say L Their defense won't be as good but their offense should be better. They probably should have beaten us last year. Penn State- On paper a good game but I feel weirdly good about this one. They lost quite a bit defensively and their offense doesn't really scare me at all aside from Barkley. Even though I think they made a good coordinator hire. Wouldn't be a shocking loss by any means but I still say W Michigan- I would love to beat Harbaugh, but nah. That defense is gonna be terrifying L Illinois- They gave us a good game last year but that was with CJ at one of his lowest points health wise. Lovie was a good hire but it'll take him a couple years. W Nebraska- They lost a ton of talent up front on both sides, which was probably their biggest strength last year. The bowl performance worries me a little bit because they seemed to finally figure out how to use Armstrong, but it was also counter to what Riley tends to like to do, so we'll see if he sticks with it. Close game but I'll say W if only so I don't have us going 0-fer in our Big Ten trophy games. So that'd put us at 9-3, which would make a lot of people mad but seems about right. They bring a ton back but last year was magic and something you can't recreate. Somewhere between 8-10 wins feels like the most likely result, but I wouldn't be shocked with 7 or 11 either. Iowa football under Ferentz is always just a few plays here and there from either a special season or a middling bowl. MourningView fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Jul 25, 2016 |
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Jul 24, 2016 20:27
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Kim Jong Il posted:our home field edge. pfffftttthahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha
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Aug 23, 2016 03:09
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in theory it would be really embarrassing if we lost that game after I've spent like four years straight making GBS threads on rutgers but I have been hardened by years of losing to iowa state and northwestern so gently caress it
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Aug 23, 2016 03:14
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The last Iowa game is saw at Kinnick was 2012 against Nebraska. No snow but there was a below zero windchill, which I think is the coldest game I've been to. It also ended like 13-7, so all in all a very good way to assure me that moving to California was a good call.'
MourningView fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Aug 23, 2016 |
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Aug 23, 2016 05:44
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MourningView posted:Iowa Hawkeyes Mostly did okay with this I guess? I was only a win off overall but had the losses wrong. I thought we'd lose to Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and was only right about Wisconsin. I hated the NDSU game but figured we'd win and had NW as a toss up. Way off on Penn State, I didn't think they were going to be very good at all. In terms of players, Beathard had a terrible season but it wasn't totally his fault. He had genuine pocket presence issues but there's a stark difference between his numbers before and after he lost VandeBerg. Without him we had probably the worst WRs of any power 5 team. Kittle was hobbled a lot too. We also were missing our two best olinemen for an early chunk of the year and it never really got fully healthy. I was right about the oline being overrated and WR being the biggest trouble spot. Nailed it on Wadley being a star although that wasn't hard to see. Didn't see safety being the disaster it was. MourningView fucked around with this message at 07:23 on Dec 2, 2016 |
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Dec 1, 2016 17:20
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