They look better than in recent years. I watched their Iowa State game and they look more like the teams they had 5-10 years ago when they were tough, I could see Iowa in the west conference hunt. Pitt has a challenge.
better Iowa team this year
- Thread starter BoldSpartacus
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Never understood the bashing of Kirk Ferentz. They've been a decent to good program for years now.
I think the Big Ten has been getting weaker but only because the bottom half is just so terrible. I'd actually be more surprised if they're not in the west conference hunt. I really think this should be a good non-conference clash. I think the game will be close but a Pitt win would be a big one for the team.
Even a mediocre Iowa team is always tough to play at Kinnick. They've been mediocre or even bad (by their standards) lately but tend to surprise people every few years. They were last good from 2008-2010. Before that, 2002-2004 (when they stunned Saban's LSU in the bowl game).
Narduzzi's had some memorable battles with Iowa. MSU has been 4-3 against them with four of the games being within a touchdown. He's going to want to win this one badly.
I haven't had a chance to see Pitt this year so I don't know how much of his defense is ready to his standards. This should be a good game.
Narduzzi's had some memorable battles with Iowa. MSU has been 4-3 against them with four of the games being within a touchdown. He's going to want to win this one badly.
I haven't had a chance to see Pitt this year so I don't know how much of his defense is ready to his standards. This should be a good game.
Iowa is a tough program for a coach to win at, more so now than ever. They have no recruiting base at all, and the Texas kids that Iowa used to rely heavily on are finding their way to the Baylors, TCUs, TTs, and around the country. The top of the B10 is getting stronger than it has been in years and Iowa realistically is nowhere near challenging for a B10 title. Ferentz hasn't done the greatest job, but he;s doing about as well as his predecessor did, and Hayden is an icon in corn country.
I saw a team that looked like it could be decent, but much like Pitt, was getting in its own way too much against ISU. They pulled it together so good for them, but Iowa has some issues. That said, so does Pitt. Iowa under the lights at home probably not good for Pitt, unless Duzz is the real deal.
I agree but Iowa hurting at rb also.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...-sophomore-rb-derrick-mitchell-131047258.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...-sophomore-rb-derrick-mitchell-131047258.html
I believe we cant judge Iowa's first two games, as Iowa being better, based on the level of first two opponent's. I believe Iowa State is down this year...How good is Iowa's run defense really?
But, we can say the same about our Pitt Panthers. Based on first two opponents, we are not sure how good Pitt really is...We do know that Akron's run defense is pretty good, they showed that against a very good Oklahoma team....
I believe this will be a very evenly matched game that could go either way.. and could come down to Turnovers/Field position.. whoever wins that will win the game.
H2P..
But, we can say the same about our Pitt Panthers. Based on first two opponents, we are not sure how good Pitt really is...We do know that Akron's run defense is pretty good, they showed that against a very good Oklahoma team....
I believe this will be a very evenly matched game that could go either way.. and could come down to Turnovers/Field position.. whoever wins that will win the game.
H2P..
The glaring difference in Iowa this year is under center.
Beathard made at least four plays that Jake Rudock could never make against Iowa State, and Rudock is a very solid, average Power 5 level QB:
- A 44 yard scramble off a broken play backed up in his own endzone on third down, which Iowa ultimately capped off with a 93 yard TD drive.
- A 55 yard planned QB draw where he looked like the second coming of Brad Banks.
- A 40-plus yard pass pay down the seam on 3rd and 21 from his own 6 yard line put on a rope. The coaches wouldn't have even called that play with Rudock, as he just doesn't have that arm strength.
- The rollout touchdown on a playaction pass where he ran about 15 yards to the left and dropped a 30 yard dime into a space the size of a breadbox at the back of the endzone for the go-ahead score.
Really looking forward to seeing Pitt again, and love having a legit big time team on our non-con schedule. If any of you are coming to Iowa City, have a great time, and feel free to ask me any questions about things to do/see/eat, etc.
P.S. I actually think Iowa State is improved this year. They have two legit big time wideouts and added some JUCO allstars on their defenese, making it at least somewhat functional (last year it was a tire fire of terribleness)
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1) You're right that neither fan base really knows what their team has because of the early opponents, especially Pitt with a whole new staff, 1 sloppy game in a downpour, and lots of rotating positions.
1b) Although we're not really sure how good either team is, there are a few things that could happen that would likely be the tipping point for a Pitt victory: a) our D gives up no long, bad positioning TD's, b) we keep Beathard from breaking any long runs (he will be pressured and will be running), c) Peterman finds the TE's and secondary targets, which either keeps the chains moving or forces Iowa to pull attention away from Boyd or our running game, both of which will be very bad for them.
2) Akron's run defense gave up 33 yards on 11 carries to the Oklahoma starting back who holds the NCAA record of 427 yards in a game, and 15 of those were on 1 carry. His backup ran for 27 yards on 5 carries. All of that was in Oklahoma on a clear day while the QB was absolutely going off.
It should be a close, tough hard fought game a very interesting match-up with the winner probably creeping into the top 25.
I don't think the winner creeps into the Top 25. Maybe the Top 30-35. I believe Pitt would have to beat both VT and Virginia to creep in. And, Iowa likely have to get to 5-0 as well, beating North Texas and then Wisconsin. Neither squad's getting much respect at the moment. Lots of wait and see going on with the Coaches and AP.
If Pitt beats Iowa and VT I could see them sneaking in at 23-25. Definitely think they'd have to be somewhere in 26-30 at least. If they beat Iowa and VT.
Iowa is notorious for starting the season slowly. Usually we get them around game 4 or 5, this time it is week 3 so maybe we are still in that early period and they will have a clunker of a game.
I don't have any clue what to expect from this game. Our D was horrible (especially in the 2nd half) vs YSU (who then turned around and struggled with Robert Morris). Last week they played great but how much did that have to do with Akron having a pitiful O? I just don't know if we have the players on D that are capable of containing a dual threat QB that has looked as good as Beathard and this kid has the potential to light us up if we let him get into a rhythm.
Well Iowa flipped the field on us last year when Beathard came into the game. He puts a lot more pressure on a D than Rudock did. We need to go after him hard and try to force some mistakes. That's Narduzzis forte so it will be interesting to see how we do against a power 5 O line. Turnovers and special teams could have a lot to do with who wins.
We're going to have a long day's night on both sides of the ball in this one. The defense was always going to be dubious (and the continued absence of Mitchell will particularly hurt in this one). And with the QB and TB and both OT now in total flux and still no credible second WR, our offense is likely to be a basket case in this game, particularly facing loud crowd noise for the first time. I am not proclaiming Iowa to be Ohio State or anything, but after playing two really bad teams (and struggling), I think the upgrade in talent (not to mention the frenzied atmosphere we'll face) will be a shock to the system. Not anticipating great things. Hope I'm wrong.
We definitely aren't certain about who we are yet, but I can clarify a couple things in your post.
Iowa State is much better this year than last year, both on offense and on defense.
Not sure what that says about our defense, or how good our run defense is, but just looking at the technique being shown on the field, and the fundamentals being executed (shedding blocks, setting the edge, pursuit to the ball and gang tackling, tackling overall), regardless of opponent, we are MUCH better against the run than last year. DL is playing better than last year and LB play is night and day. We potentially lose Ott for Saturday, and his backup is much smaller, so we will see if he can hold up at the point of attack. There's no way your coaches don't try to run at him.
Daniels is actually our guy. Canzeri is the backup/third down back. Daniels hurt his ankle in the ISU game.
Like all the good comments about Iowa. Yes, this is a night game, the first one in Kinnick since 2012. Not sure how big the Iowa crowd will be, but hoping they will be vocal. The point spread is Iowa -4 (last time I looked), so that basically means Iowa by 1 (with 3 points given to the home team). I will be on the road early Sunday (very early), so I will not see the second half of the game. Will have to find out once I get on the road.
Add to the night, former free safety Brett Greenwood will be the honorary captain. This will be very emotional. Brett played along Tyler Sash. Sash died last week unexpectedly. Widely believed to be a suicide.
Brett is a sad story as well. He was a free agent with an NFL team and was working out in the off season alone. He had some heart issue and collapsed, unfortunately no one found him right away and he was deprived of o2 for too long and ended up with some brain damage. (Hope I told that story right.)
He has worked really hard and is now able to walk a bit but has a long road ahead of him. There is a very emotional video out there of him struggling to walk with his former teammate and friend pat angerer.
If you get a chance check out his story. Very sad. Needless to say, this will be quite a scene Saturday.
https://brettgreenwoodfoundation.com/
Brett is a sad story as well. He was a free agent with an NFL team and was working out in the off season alone. He had some heart issue and collapsed, unfortunately no one found him right away and he was deprived of o2 for too long and ended up with some brain damage. (Hope I told that story right.)
He has worked really hard and is now able to walk a bit but has a long road ahead of him. There is a very emotional video out there of him struggling to walk with his former teammate and friend pat angerer.
If you get a chance check out his story. Very sad. Needless to say, this will be quite a scene Saturday.
https://brettgreenwoodfoundation.com/
Lol No clue what you are talking about, Daniels is actually the starter and "our guy". Canzeri is the back-up.
Win or lose this Iowa fan has had a great time reading your boards this week. Last week we had to put up with a 50 page thread on the Cyclone board which consisted of their fans posting **** Iowa.
Wouldn't mind playing you guys every year. Here's to an injury free game.
I'd personally welcome the Iowa fans over here any time.
