Prove to me why Iowa wins 6+ games this year...

[HawkeyesRuleURFace]

My friends always make fun of me because I'm always amped up about football season but im just not feeling it this year...I don't see us winning more than 4 games...last year I even thought we'd win 9 and I honestly think we will be worse than last year. Tell me I'm a fucking idiot and prove to me why

 

[Hawkeye]

well you are not an idiot, but I am super hopeful that we are better...while the QB will not be experienced, we have Scherff back and Donnal will be better and so will Van Sloten on the OL...then we have to hope the DL is better as well, plus I think our LB's will be good. Meyer shoud be able to be a good kicker and the WR while also young seem to be a bit better from what I hear.

RB's (praying that no jinx comes of this) with Weisman and then switch up to Bullock or Hill should be good and hopefully Law can control the DB's...it could be 2, 4, 6, 8 or even maybe 9 wins just as easy as it could be the same in losses, but you just gotta get amped up as you say and hope for the best

 

[Clemenza]

We lopped off several underachieving players from last year's squad, namely our starting QB in JVB and one the worst WR we've ever had at Iowa (Davis). Greg Davis has openly said he's trying to spread out the offense a bit more so we should at the very minimum be more entertaining to watch.

I'm cautiously hopeful for a bowl bid this year. Anything below that I would be disappointed with, anything above 6 wins this year I think is a bonus. I've learned not to get too crazy with the Hawks but the years we've been picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten we've always seemed to have big years.

Are we under 30 days yet to our first game??

 

[huskers1217]

Honestly, 5-7. 4-0 start then win 1 conf game..maybe purdue

 

[gengljer]

I'll tell you why Iowa will be 6+ wins. I'm going with 8 regular, and 9 after our bowl win and here is why.

One of the better OL's in the Big 10, if not top 3. One of the better LB corps in the Big 10 if not the best. A bevy of healthy RB's which will see some positive gains behind that OL. Having an unproven QB doesn't have any bearing on this at all. We had a very experienced QB last year and that didn't affect the play calling at all, a star will be born at the position. Ferentz will not juggle QB's like he did when Stanzi/Christiansen rotated. I do expect him to allow Davis a little more free reign this year, now that it's in the 2nd year of comfortability with it. The other thing is, Iowa will not lose to ISU this year, putting them at 4 and 0 going into conference and if you think we won't win a conference game, good luck on that. As this team grows this year, and I really believe the Defense will gel quicker than the offense, Iowa will be in more games and I like our chances if it's up to Meyers to win a 12 to 9 defensive battle. I think 6 can be guaranteed, 8 when we steal a few games with great defensive efforts. Face it, Ferentz can't live with another 4 and 8 season and if you think he is going to accept another one, then you probably believe Sandusky was innocent.

 

[rmilia1]

You guys that are saying 4-0 OOC are SUPER optimistic, While 4-0 is certainly possible so is 1-3. We were very fortunate to beat Northern Illinois last year and Im not taking them for granted, ISU wont be as good as last few years but this game is in Ames where we almost never perform well under Ferentz and Western Michigan should be a win but we are 0-2 against them so Ill mark that as a maybe. Ill cautiously go 3-1 OOC. Once conference season starts our schedule is BRUTAL compared to the alst few years and even the games we should be able to compete in most of them are on the road. I picked Iowa 4-8 preseason but I could MAYBE see 6 wins but thats best case scenario IMO. For those of you picking 8 wins you will need to tell me the 8 teams on our schedule we are going to beat because I cant see anymore than 6 or 7 and thats if we dont lose ANY coin flip games.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

We will win at least 8 games and here's why:

1. You win football games in the trenches- Iowa will have one of the best offensive lines in the B1G
2. Iowa will have a great running game with Mark Heisman, Bullock and Canzeri in the backfield.
3. Iowa will have a young inexperienced quarterback, with that being said:
- Jake R played for the #1 high school football team in the country and broke nearly every record while playing there. He didn't play against slow fat white kids from small town Iowa, he played against Dallas Star, Byrnes South Carolina, Hoover Alabama etc. The speed of the game, playing in a big setting, the speed of the players, etc. won't be a big deal to him. This will make a huge difference in how he performs on the field.
- Sokol is a great athlete that can be a dual threat and if/when things break down, he can beat you with his legs.
-CJ Beathard played where football is football and was/is a stud. He has a cannon for an arm and is fast, sort of a mix between Jake and Sokol.
4. There is no better friend to a young qb than having a stud te, great offensive line and great running game check, check and check.
5. Wide receivers could be a little shakey, but very competitant. Life is a lot easier for a WR if you are in single coverage all game long because safeties have to cheat up to stop the running game and shade the TE.
6. The defensive line is going to be the most improved group on the team, games are won in the trenches. Iowa will be deep on the dline this season with the younger/more talented players getting a ton of reps.
7. Linebackers are very solid and will be able to do their jobs with the dline not allowing linemen to get to them on a consistant basis and with the dline putting pressure on qbs.
8. Dbacks may be as athletic as they have been at Iowa in years. Lowery, Lomax, Fleming, Draper, Miller, Rucker.
9. Special Teams should be strong with a great kicker and punter who has a huge leg.

Hope this helps

 

[hoopsalot25]

Aaron,

You made a number of good points. However, the lines written about Rudock is where I get skeptical. Rudock only generates 3-stars coming out of the #1 high school program in the country that year? I really want to see Rudock perform before changing my opinion on this. Something just seems off here: How does the QB from the #1 high school team in the country that year leave the state of Florida and the power conferences in the South - specifically the ACC and SEC.

I think Rudock starts - baring an injury - and I can't wait to see his skill sets at the position.

 

[OregonDucks]

if you finish season under .500 does Ferentz keep his job?

 

[OregonDucks]

let me see how I do guessing your schedule.

vs Northern Illinois - Win

vs Missouri State - Win

@ Iowa State - Loss

vs Western Michigan - Win

@ Minnesota - Win

vs Michigan State - Loss

@ ohio State - Loss

vs Northwestern - Loss

vs Wisconsin - Win

@ Purdue - Win

vs Michigan - Loss

@ Nebraska - Loss

(6-6) then you win your bowl game 7-6.

 

[rmilia1]

let me see how I do guessing your schedule.

vs Northern Illinois - Win

vs Missouri State - Win

@ Iowa State - Loss

vs Western Michigan - Win

@ Minnesota - Win

vs Michigan State - Loss

@ ohio State - Loss

vs Northwestern - Loss

vs Wisconsin - Win

@ Purdue - Win

vs Michigan - Loss

@ Nebraska - Loss

(6-6) then you win your bowl game 7-6.

I could see us beating Minnesota OR Purdue on the road ( probably not both), I think we'll beat Sparty at home but not Wisconsin. To me the season comes down to the OOC ( at least where a bowl bid pertains). Im thinking we need to be 4-0 in all honesty in order to make a bowl. I have no faith that we will win a conference road game because we have been putrid on the road the last 3 years.

 

[OregonDucks]

you don't think you can beat Minnesota? What has Minnesota done lately to prove they are anything?

 

[rmilia1]

you don't think you can beat Minnesota? What has Minnesota done lately to prove they are anything?

Beat us 2 of the last 3 and the last 2 in Minnesota??? LOL

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Nothing, they are horrible. Iowa fans in general are very cautious about getting excited or talking their teams up.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Hoops, star ratings are a crap shoot. He was heavily recruited by the U and Florida and Florida State both had the position filled early in the process. We'll soon find out, people who win, usually continue to do so. It becomes a personality and they accept nothing less. The guy started and put up big numbers as a soph in hs, he can't be bad.

 

[OregonDucks]

Beat us 2 of the last 3 and the last 2 in Minnesota??? LOL

oh lol

 

[gengljer]

North Illini - win - heisman hopeful or not, it's the first game and this is the tone setter for the season.
Missou St. - win - cupcake, Ferentz will treat this as a spring game and get some reps for everyone
Iowa St. - win - this game means everything to both teams, Iowa defense wins this one
West. Mich - win - time to cancel them off of the schedule
Minn - win - probably our closest game of the year, but after 4 and 0 start, Iowa is gellin' like a felon
Mich st - win - we own them, enough said.
Ohio St. - loss - no shame in losing to a potential national contender...they better not overlook us.
NW - win - by now they will have some injuries that will give us the edge albeit a close one
Wisky - coin flip - new coach, and face it, we want that Heartland Trophy back
Purdue - win - bottom feeder of the Big 10 with Illinois
Mich - loss - too much talent, but will be closer game than last year.
Neb - coin flip - Nebraska has had more talent the last 2 meetings and no different this year, but it could mean something in the WEST division.

I'm giving us 8 wins and 4 losses(coin flip losses)...The team this year will probably lose one we should have won(Wisky) and won one we probably shouldn't(NW)...but even at 7 and 5 I'd be happy going 8 and 5 after our bowl win.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Iowa is 9-3 over the last 12 yrs vs Minnesota, hardly a scary team... The three loses were with 2 bad teams and one team that had given up on the season after under performing with NFL talent all over the field. Losing to Minnesota is the exception, not the rule.

 

[gengljer]

Hoops, I could care less about the rating system. Ferentz's loyalty is and I've said it 100 times, his worst trait. He stuck with a senior in Vandenberg through thick and thin. Any other coach would have at least given Rudock 50 to 100 game snaps in the games that were lost causes. Or, used a substitution as a motivational factor for Vandenberg.

Walkon, 2 star, 5 star...kids will either perform or not. We could bring in a 3 star QB in McNutt and turn him into an all Big 10 WR, or bring in a 5 star LB Kyle Williams and not see him pan out.

I has had more success with players ranked 3 star or lower than 4 stars are better. Rankings mean squat.

 

[rmilia1]

I see alot of you guys seem to be giving Iowa wins in games that will probably be close/toss up type games. I like the optimism but the reality is that the last 3 years Iowa has been horrible in close game ( 5-12 the last 3 years in games decided by a TD or less). The 2 big keys to this season IMO are 1) The Northern Illinois game. All this excitement of a new season is great BUT we need to remember this team is on a 6 game losing streak and most of the guys on the team probably have pretty fragile psyches right now. A loss in the opener and stuff could get ugly quick. 2) As I mentioned before Iowa needs to win close games. We play a TON of them so if we are only going to win 30% of them then we are going to be in trouble. A 2-4 record in close games this year means another 4-8 season. Period. `