Our defense did play well. I won’t completely blame Mark Gronowski for it because I think he is currently the next sacrificial lamb in line that is the Iowa QB, but he didn’t play pretty well.
He threw for 83 yards, at 54% with an INT. Lol
Cyhawk postgame thread
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He threw for 83 yards, at 54% with an INT. Lol
I'm happy with how ST went, if only because Iowa didn't have their usual godlike punter starting us at the 2 yard line every drive.
We dont even need to speculate.....SDSU played Albany in 2023 playoffs. Gronowski threw for 265 and 3 scores.
Gronowski destroys the Big 10 record for fewest passing yards in first 2 games and he gets a D+. Generous grader.
Recruiter: "Come to Iowa kid, and I promise you will do less with more."
Gronowski: "Uhhh... what did you say?"
Recruiter: "Forget I said it. Here you go"
H
Food for thought from out east:
Monday Musings: Three Points Short
Your best source for quality Iowa Hawkeyes news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective.www.blackheartgoldpants.com
I see 16-21 against FBS teams with a winning record since 2020, but they're also 7-14 against ranked teams. The breakdown would be:
ISU:
7-14 vs. top-25 teams
9-7 vs. unranked teams over .500
22-5 vs. teams that finished under .500 (or FCS)
IOWA:
0-12 vs. top-25 teams
15-3 vs. unranked teams over .500
28-6 vs. teams that finished under .500 (or FCS)
This stands out: Iowa played 9 fewer ranked games and 7 more sub-.500 teams than ISU. I agree that everyone's records will always be propped up by wins against bad teams, but Iowa is uniquely fortunate to not only avoid quality teams (less than 1 in every 5 games), but essentially replace those quality games with bad quality teams — not even mid-tier. You can roll your eyes, but over a 13ish game season, getting 53% of your games against sub-.500 opponents (vs. 42% for ISU) and facing a ranked-quality opponent 1 in every 5 games (vs. 1 in 3 for ISU) can be the difference between 7 wins and 9 wins.
Where Fererntz makes his money is in that "unranked teams over .500" range. No one is better at winning coin-flip or less-than-a-touchdown-favorite games than Kirk, and being 15-3 against teams that go anywhere from 7-6 to 9-4 (and right outside the top-25) is thoroughly impressive.
But at the end of the day, ISU is striking a good balance — winning 1/3rd of their ranked games, over 50% of their mid-tier games, and 80%+ of the ones they should. Iowa is not — none of the ranked games, 83% of mid-tier games, and 83% of the ones they should. As Iowa's schedule gets tougher (and that is their reality), that "balance" is not going to serve them well.
Also, I’m not singling you out here (it’s broader than just this comment), but I wish we’d talk about the qualityof losses instead of the blanket "losses to G5 schools and a bunch of sub-.500 teams" when the reality is, ISU is almost identically successful against sub-.500 teams as Iowa, and those "G5 losses" were to Louisiana (10-1, #15 in the final poll), at Ohio (10-3), and at Memphis (10-3). Those are certainly nothing to be proud of (all either the worst or 2nd worst loss of each season), but pointing to those like some kind of scarlet letter while Iowa loses to a dreadful 5-7 Michigan State (#90 SP+ last year) or a 4-8 Nebraska in 2022 has always bugged me.
And it actually reinforces the larger point — Iowa has had a "worse" loss than ISU (using SP+ rankings) in 3 of the last 5 seasons, but Iowa fans (and Kirk, here) hang their hat on "look at our record" and Big Ten West titles. That "advantage" is not going to hold up with tougher competition. Look at ISU's 2023 season — they played 6 teams that finished ranked and just 5 games against sub-.500 teams and finished 7-6. And ISU was clowned for it! But how does a current Iowa team finish with that kind of schedule? They can't beat a ranked team... can they go 7-6? 6-7? That's the question we'll probably find an answer to this season.
Nice post!
That was a long a detailed explanation of exactly how Iowa has come to be known throughout the nation as the 'Fake ID of College Football'.
Every position? It’s a lot closer to ISU being better at every position. I mean, I don’t think they can even argue QB, TE, LB, K, P. I’d say ISU has the edge at DB and WR. DL is probably a push. They probably have an edge at OL, but it’s not very big.
That Gookin poster really lays it out perfectly. I am stunned by his fair analysis, the dude clearly smart anddid his homework and paints balanced picture. Going to need to save that for future use.Food for thought from out east:
Monday Musings: Three Points Short
Your best source for quality Iowa Hawkeyes news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective.
I see 16-21 against FBS teams with a winning record since 2020, but they're also 7-14 against ranked teams. The breakdown would be:
ISU:
7-14 vs. top-25 teams
9-7 vs. unranked teams over .500
22-5 vs. teams that finished under .500 (or FCS)
IOWA:
0-12 vs. top-25 teams
15-3 vs. unranked teams over .500
28-6 vs. teams that finished under .500 (or FCS)
This stands out: Iowa played 9 fewer ranked games and 7 more sub-.500 teams than ISU. I agree that everyone's records will always be propped up by wins against bad teams, but Iowa is uniquely fortunate to not only avoid quality teams (less than 1 in every 5 games), but essentially replace those quality games with bad quality teams — not even mid-tier. You can roll your eyes, but over a 13ish game season, getting 53% of your games against sub-.500 opponents (vs. 42% for ISU) and facing a ranked-quality opponent 1 in every 5 games (vs. 1 in 3 for ISU) can be the difference between 7 wins and 9 wins.
Where Fererntz makes his money is in that "unranked teams over .500" range. No one is better at winning coin-flip or less-than-a-touchdown-favorite games than Kirk, and being 15-3 against teams that go anywhere from 7-6 to 9-4 (and right outside the top-25) is thoroughly impressive.
But at the end of the day, ISU is striking a good balance — winning 1/3rd of their ranked games, over 50% of their mid-tier games, and 80%+ of the ones they should. Iowa is not — none of the ranked games, 83% of mid-tier games, and 83% of the ones they should. As Iowa's schedule gets tougher (and that is their reality), that "balance" is not going to serve them well.
Also, I’m not singling you out here (it’s broader than just this comment), but I wish we’d talk about the qualityof losses instead of the blanket "losses to G5 schools and a bunch of sub-.500 teams" when the reality is, ISU is almost identically successful against sub-.500 teams as Iowa, and those "G5 losses" were to Louisiana (10-1, #15 in the final poll), at Ohio (10-3), and at Memphis (10-3). Those are certainly nothing to be proud of (all either the worst or 2nd worst loss of each season), but pointing to those like some kind of scarlet letter while Iowa loses to a dreadful 5-7 Michigan State (#90 SP+ last year) or a 4-8 Nebraska in 2022 has always bugged me.
And it actually reinforces the larger point — Iowa has had a "worse" loss than ISU (using SP+ rankings) in 3 of the last 5 seasons, but Iowa fans (and Kirk, here) hang their hat on "look at our record" and Big Ten West titles. That "advantage" is not going to hold up with tougher competition. Look at ISU's 2023 season — they played 6 teams that finished ranked and just 5 games against sub-.500 teams and finished 7-6. And ISU was clowned for it! But how does a current Iowa team finish with that kind of schedule? They can't beat a ranked team... can they go 7-6? 6-7? That's the question we'll probably find an answer to this season.
Yes, for this particular caller it was 'every position.' Miller specifically countered him with LB & Orange.
Our linebackers are still the weak spot on our D. I would flip DB and LB in your listings.
From what I saw I thought Iowa's LBs still flowed to the ball well and their DBs didn't get much space against what I think is a raw but talented ISU WR corps.
No shame as imo those positions for Iowa are usually very solid.
I still think DL is the weak spot, but it’s debatable. LB needs Willich back. I think he’s our 2nd best after Bacon.
Goodwin has been flat out bad, he’s given up more big plays/penalties than all the other LB’s combined.
Also thought it was interesting seeing Rylan Barnes out there against Iowa, I’m not sure I had seen him play this year outside of garbage time.
To me its interesting... I think our scheme lends it to look weak, as without a Will McDonald type its not ever going to generate much pass rush in base form. But even with that in mind, I do think it is vulnerable due to lack of depth.
Ill cut Goodwin a little slack, as this is only his second year playing non 8 man football, but yes hes been really bad
He hasn’t. I think the coaches were throwing bodies out there at that point due to the amount of minutes our D was on the field second half. Barnes only played 2 snaps. They were trying to rest players a few plays.
Iowa State has more than an edge at WR. We’re better at every position than them outside OL.
Blum said it best on the podcast: Iowa football is stale. No way would I trade for anyone on that team.
It may still take another 2-3 games but I do think there's some good raw ability there with the WRs that could be a big problem when teams adjust to the TEs.
