2 Weeks Before Game Day: Iowa Analaysis From An Iowa Fan
- Thread starter rucker4
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Iowa is NOT a pass rush threat so if Kinnard were to give up a sack against Iowa that would be the headliner of the entire game. Hell Iowa never even provided much of a rush against Kent State and Colorado State this year.
Linderbaum has faced guys much bigger than him all season. Not one has been able to outplay him-- not sure there's anyone who has his entire career. There's a reason the guy is pegged by CBS Mock Draft to be the 5th pick overall in the draft. So I doubt any part of the UK game plan is to be able to outplay Iowa right up the heart when Iowa is on offense with Linderbaum.
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This is a message board last time I checked-- don't fans talk back and forth about teams and players and coaches? There's been amazing respect the past week or two between fans of both teams here. C'mon dude-- see it for what it is.
Some fans come here and talk smack but most don't. You seem to talk smack. That's OK. You have fans who think UK can beat any team in America on any given day and Iowa has fans like @cidsports who talk the same way-- most knowledgeable fans just set those fanatics aside.
Finally, Linderbaum is projected in a couple mock drafts going as high as #5 in the entire draft and has never once been outplayed in a game (he's absolutely Iowa's best player, period) so honestly how he does against UKs guy is the least of my concerns as an Iowa fan. I worry about UK in many other areas vs. Iowa rather than any concern for the Linderbaum matchup.
Not trying to be a smart ass, but your point is? And for the record, not that it matters, but Clifford gets hurt on a series PSU gets a FG to go up 17-3. Iowa then gets the ball back on next series,, scores TD to make it 17-10. That was the score then when PSU got the ball back again-- now with their backup QB. And one other thing not mentioned: Clifford threw 2 interceptions in the first 18 minutes of the game before he got hurt-- so he wasn't Superman as many believe he was.
Injuries are part of football. You've had tough injuries this year, so has Iowa, and Penn State did in the Iowa game. The key for every team is have capable back-ups to go in and perform-- PSU didn't have that at QB and Iowa made life miserable for their backup.
And seems as if many assume Iowa makes zero adjustments to PSU's offense the last 42 minutes of the game (the point where Clifford went out). Phil Parker has built a career on being considered one of college football's top Defensive Coordinators so I'm quite confident to say Penn State's offense does not continue to just march up and down the field against Iowa. And as noted before, Clifford threw 2 interceptions in the first 18 minutes of the game before he got hurt. Understand, going into the PSU game, Iowa's defense had gone 27 straight games with allowing 24 or less points in a game to an opponent-- unheard of.
Bottom line, knowledgeable fans show no shame in Iowa climbing back against Penn State (like #2 or #3 in AMerica when we played them) after being 14 points down to them to come back and beat them. That was a hard battled game where PSU suffered injuries and so did Iowa as we lost the B1G top DB in Riley Moss to injury for the game only 5 minutes after Clifford went out.
Funny how many fans focus just on injuries during the game and how that might impact a team. The reality is every team has injuries issues or players missing in every game that's played going in. Winners and losers in football understand injuries and that all factors into a game. The best football teams typically have the best depth.
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My point with the score was simply the score. Luckily for you your db went out against a backup who was putrid and incapable of taking advantage of it at all. You're too knowledgeable to give so little deference to Clifford going out. Penn St was terrible without him and, yes, I knew about his 2 picks.
All I'm saying we have no idea how the game would have turned out had Clifford not been hurt. You seem to want to imply no way Iowa wins. That's the difference in what we're saying and you're too knowledgeable with football I thought to take such a leap.
There were still 42 (2 3/4 quarters) minutes to play in the football game after Clifford was hurt and it was only a 7-point PSU lead when they got the ball back the first time after Clifford went out. Silly notion the game easily would have gone PSUs way without the injury.
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I wasn't making that leap. I'm saying your comeback would have been less likely. Clifford was moving the ball and scoring. A single td would have won it for Penn St. Who knows what would have happened but I think its safe to say the odds would have been in their favor.
And Iowa, even Kentucky, have won MANY football games through the years where they were the underdog and odds not in their favor of winning.
As mentioned before, Iowa has a great DC in Phil Parker and I highly doubt he doesn't make adjustments that have an impact-- he has 20+ years of doing this at Iowa as their DC.
@BrewHawk @rucker4 @cidsports I think his name is Merriweather. Another great kid on your team. That smile is infectious.
He was more of a basketball player early in life. Added football late in high school and has been a joy to watch develop as a Hawkeye.
Another player who I watched in his early collegiate career is now a Wildcat.
I actually had a dream about the game last night (it's honestly not weighing on my mind that much), but we were up 15-7 in the fourth and had to punt it away to you guys. As Iowa can do with their bend-not-break defense, they allowed the Cats to drive the length of the field down to the 15 yard line before jumping an out route for a pick six to put the game away.
Not to dredge up bad memories for the Iowa fans posting here, but this is an example of Iowa waiting for their opponent to beat themselves, but this opponent didn't.
Bonus points for anyone who can spot the uncalled penalty on the last play (not that I'm bitter about it).
Not to dredge up bad memories for the Iowa fans posting here, but this is an example of Iowa waiting for their opponent to beat themselves, but this opponent didn't.
Bonus points for anyone who can spot the uncalled penalty on the last play (not that I'm bitter about it).
I don't know, we just know what makes our team so effective. And one thing that Stoops and sometimes other coaches we play points out is the play of Bully. He always gets push up front and most of the time even being double teamed. Not trying to tout how good he is, just one of the things that makes our D-line so effective when he is able to play.
Just knowing our team like I do, and studying your team, the bottom line will probably be our size and physicality versus your quickness and coaching. The teams that gave us the most trouble was teams with very accurate QB's and when two of our starting DL was out. Sounds like you just need to run the ball behind your center most of the time and stop our running game and you will be fine. Anxious to see if you can stop us running. That seems to happen about 1 out of every 10 games every year so you do that your D is up there with GA.
Hahaha, I don't think I've ever heard an opposing fan refer to Iowa as "quick". As for our coaching, that credit most goes to our DC Phil Parker and Specialty Teams Coordinator Lavar Woods. Brian Ferentz and the offense is horrible.
Remember: 1) Spencer Petras, on a good day, is a good game manager at QB. He's not going to be a guy who beats you as his best asset is he does not turn the ball over 2) Iowa running the ball as you noted-- We will not have our top RB for the past 3 years in Tyler Goodson as he's opted out of the game so our running game likely won't be a strength for us.
Iowa's best chance to win this game is for the defense to have another fantastic game by holding UK to 21 points or less and create 3 turnovers. Iowa's offense simply won't be a threat to score many points.
Iowa never has had big hole pluggers on defense, just not the way they operate. Typically try to occupy the OL, get proper fits and let the LBs make the tackles. When our DL has been really good we do see some solo playmaking by them, but not typically the case.
DE VanValkenburg is the best of the unit and will have a shot in the NFL. Otherwise, we go with an eight man rotation.
IMO Coach Ferentz has been one of the better NY week coaches in the country. He hasn't been perfect in big bowl games, but he has been pretty darn good. His teams have generally played lot better after three weeks of bowl camp than they have played in November. I know I respect him, and it is clear that Coach Stoops respects him a lot.
But Stoops' team has improved a lot since September. Will Levis looks comfortable in our offense now. Several of our younger players have been playing really well lately. Losing a couple of defensive starters to injuries hurt us bad in October, but most of those players are back now. This is the quickest UK team I can remember, and one of the deepest at most positions. Unless we fail to take care of the football, I have to like our chances going into kickoff. But IA has the talent to give us a great game and maybe beat us if we get sloppy.
Yep, I'd agree. We are kind of funny with our turnovers though. For the season we average roughly 3 points for the opponent per turnover. The one bad game with the turnovers costing us a lot of points was Mississippi St. We tend to give up field goals. You have a great kicker but even if we give you 6-9 points off turnovers, I don't think that would kill us. What I'm most curious about is if you can stop our running game including Levis. I know you played him last year but he's a different animal now. I don't think you've played anyone like him certainly not with an OL like ours. If you can contain our running game you have a great shot to beat us.
Who finds it odd that Iowa is ranked 15, Kentucky is ranked 25ish and yet we are favored by Vegas.
Iowa fans usually don’t mind that the Hawks are betting underdogs in a big game, cause they will typically play better with a chip on their shoulder. The Hawkeyes offense better take advantage of their opportunities with touchdowns, because you’re right, field goals won’t do it against UK. So most of us will have an expectation of playing way higher than our 120th ranking, or whatever that is. Goodson not playing does hurt, but IKM and Gavin Williams have had plenty of reps, along with fullback Pottebaum. And we do have playmakers at receiver, though most are relatively young. Aside from getting steamrolled by the best B10 team this year, the defense and special teams has basically kept us in every game - our offense couldn’t keep up in our two regular season losses. At the beginning of the year, Vegas had our Over/Under Regular Season Wins at 8 games, so this team did over achieve, despite not being full of seniors. This game feels like a close one to me, with Kirk trusting his defense to make UK travel 70, 80, or 90 yards of sustainable drives to make UK really earn your scores.
I still am leery of counting too much on two true freshmen WRs-- knowing Johnson had some real issues later in the year with holding onto the ball.
You're right, our offense and special teams need to be what keeps us in the game. We need a minimum of 3 turnovers in this game it feels to me- and then capitalize on them.
Aside from those true freshmen receivers already mentioned, Ragaini, Jones, and TE LaPorta can also catch the ball and all have experience. Drops have been a problem at times, which is why Tracy is in the portal now, along with another receiver who never saw the field (can’t remember his name off hand)….
Clearly, Iowa is an underdog on Saturday in the Citrus Bowl.
The Hawkeyes need to benefit from Kentucky turnovers, they rank #128 in turnover margin. A fumble(s), a 13th or even 14th INT thrown by QB Will Levis?
Levis didn't throw any INTs against Iowa in the Hawkeyes 41-21 win in Happy Valley. Sean Clifford was the INT machine, with what, 4 in the last couple games vs. Iowa.
Iowa does have a senior WR Charlie Jones @rucker4 who has provided some good moments with either QB Iowa may use..
The Hawkeyes have a win the last time they faced an SEC opponent in Flordia. It is certainly a tall order for the Hawks.
Mississippi State had talent. Kentucky is likely a more disciplined version in the 2022 Citrus Bowl.
My main focus is generally on the lines so talking about your linemen possibly being quicker than ours because they are smaller. Quickness can overcome size at times so that concerns me some because we rarely play against teams with linemen in the 290's. So if they are as good as advertised on both sides that is what could effect us the most IMO. Our size and strength is always there and they are coached at a high level.
Turnovers could kill us. CR and JA has fumbled several times and WL has thrown several picks. So it is very possible that could happen and that could beat us. If we don't turn the ball over any I feel pretty good about it. And a team well coached is always a threat if the breaks go their way.
Anybody see Iowa's recruiting class this year? A whole lot of them are Iowa kids. Do they always sign a lot of kids from Iowa? Looks like they had a great OL class.
This year seemed like there was a lot of Iowa kids. I think Covid effected that. There are usually a good amount of Illinois/Chicagoland kids. Iowa City is an easy 200 mile freeway drive from downtown Chicago. In fact about 20-25% of Univ of Iowa students are from Illinois with a huge percentage of those from Chicagoland. The remainder of the rosters are usually rounded out with some WI, MN, OH and MI mixed in there. We need more KY kids apparently.
Iowa athletes make up the most on the team. Iowa obviously has players from many states.
As I mentioned I would, here I am after the game respectfully giving congratulations to the UK Football team, and understanding now a little more than before about why so many UK football fans have the optimism and confidence in this very solid team! Your QB, RB, and #1 WR particularly impressive today. Iowa gave it their best shot, but couldn’t overcome their mistakes, largely caused by a very worthy and legit Top 20 UK opponent today. I have to admit, I thought we had you toward the end when you had to start from around your own 10 yard line needing to drive 90 yards with no timeouts left to score TD before time expired. Usually we feel relatively safe with those situations this past year, but you made the necessary big plays, then thwarting us in our last attempt to tie the game, by intercepting, which was what we were #1 in the country recognized for doing. Your team impressed me so much that I will be looking for Vegas next year to place your O/U regular season wins at 9, and even then I may still take the Over! Thanks for letting me contribute a little to this message board for the past few weeks, and much hope for continued UK football success in 2022!
It was a competitive game. UK on Iowa’s final drive had great timing to bring the corner blitz.
Mark Stoops and Kentucky are trending in the right direction.
Iowa is a young team.
Both teams exceeded expectations, though I did have Iowa 10-2 and they did go 10-2 on the regular season.
However, the offensive woes are well documented.
What will 2022 bring?
It is hard to know, until the rosters get finalized.
How does that stud recruit, in UK's case, step up at OT?
Iowa will lose two offensive linemen. @rucker4 and I will have to agree to disagree on Iowa’s injuries, and the impact they had on the 2021 season.
Due to those injuries, I would say Iowa over achieved in 2021.
Kentucky needs to finalize their roster for 2022, but Mark Stoops has them trending well.
Congratulations to UK on their 4th straight bowl win and 16th straight win over non conference opponents.
Mark Stoops and Kentucky are trending in the right direction.
Iowa is a young team.
Both teams exceeded expectations, though I did have Iowa 10-2 and they did go 10-2 on the regular season.
However, the offensive woes are well documented.
What will 2022 bring?
It is hard to know, until the rosters get finalized.
How does that stud recruit, in UK's case, step up at OT?
Iowa will lose two offensive linemen. @rucker4 and I will have to agree to disagree on Iowa’s injuries, and the impact they had on the 2021 season.
Due to those injuries, I would say Iowa over achieved in 2021.
Kentucky needs to finalize their roster for 2022, but Mark Stoops has them trending well.
Congratulations to UK on their 4th straight bowl win and 16th straight win over non conference opponents.
Our Cats beat a very good, solid and well coached football team. I was at the game and had friendly discussion with Iowa fans and I must say of all our football bowl opponents they showed the most class and sportsmanship of any I have met at our bowl games.
I am pulling for Iowa to win the Big Ten next year because of a new found respect for your program and some of my in-laws nasty Ohio State fandom. Please knock them off of their high horse. Have a safe and prosperous 2022
Iowa plays at Ohio State next year (2022). First game, since Urban Meyer's team lost 55-24 at Iowa in 2017.
Great start for Iowa in that one. Yesterday, Kentucky had a great first drive. Analytics wise, that was huge.
Though, Mark Stoops didn't place as much on it. He said so much ahead of game. He suggested it would be a 60 minute game. UK played it to the script.
Great start for Iowa in that one. Yesterday, Kentucky had a great first drive. Analytics wise, that was huge.
Though, Mark Stoops didn't place as much on it. He said so much ahead of game. He suggested it would be a 60 minute game. UK played it to the script.
Nice Call!!LOL at Hawkeye fans arguing with each other on the UK board....
Just my $0.02..... If UK holds the TO margin >0, UK wins. All in all, I see this as a close game either way - kinda has a 20-17 feel to it...
