Hawkeye Football

Okay first the unpleasantness that is the Hawkeye football team.  I’m not in the “we need to fire Ferentz” camp because I know it isn’t realistic but I am squarely and whole-heartedly in the “bench James Vandenberg” camp.  Seven games is plenty of time to come to the realization that Vandenberg isn’t going to turn it around and lead this team to victory.  The four wins have come in spite of Vandenberg and not a single one of them has been because of him.  The Hawks beat Michigan St. because their QB sucked worse than ours and that is our only good win on the year.  The only argument against the QB change is the coaches see the players in practice and they know who gives the Hawks the best chance to win.  Really, I’m supposed to believe that the coaches that only found Mark Weisman after two in-game injuries and an illness left them no other choice but to play him can make the correct decision on the QB.  The same coaches that only put Jordan Cotton in on kick-off return after Greg Garmon’s injury when clearly Keenan Davis was not suited for the role (Cotton has two returns for touchdowns and yes I know one was called back but he didn’t need the block in the back to score). You want me to trust the coaches that thought Don Shumpert was the third best WR on the team early in the year.  Ever heard the phrase you can’t see the forest through the trees, I have to assume it is something like that happening here.  The coaches are too close to it and their loyalty to Vandenberg is mystifying.  I don’t know why Vandenberg is so unbelievably inaccurate but his pass that was picked off by Mauti was the last straw for me.  How do you not see the best defender on Penn St’s team and then throw a pass that even if Mauti hadn’t been there stood no chance of reaching the intended receiver.  I don’t know if Jake Rudock is ready to step in or if he’ll be any better but how could he be any worse?  He certainly isn’t likely to complete less than half his throws, which is where Vandenberg is headed.  Maybe Rudock isn’t the answer but I know for a fact that Vandenberg isn’t.

Last minute edit here: On Tuesday at his press conference Kirk Ferentz was asked many questions about the QB situation and basically said he was sticking with Vandenberg.  When asked point blank “Is Jake Rudock ready to play?” Ferentz’s response was “We won’t know until he starts playing.”  NO KIDDING, why the hell didn’t he play in the blowout loss to Penn St then Coach.  Ferentz’s just basically admitted that practice isn’t enough to know how someone will play in a game, well we know how Vandenberg plays in games give Rudock a chance.

The Good News…….Iowa Hawkeye Basketball season is just around the corner. 

Since it is obvious that the Football team is a lost cause (as long as Vandenberg is starting) let’s take a look at the sleeper team in Big Ten basketball…the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Coach Fran McCaffery has his most talented and deepest team yet and probably the best Hawkeye team since the days of Horner, Brunner and Haluska (hopefully with a better NCAA tournament outcome).  McCaffery has said he plans to start two freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors so apparently the starting line-up isn’t going to be a secret but who gets what minutes will be the really interesting part.

The Starting Five

PG:  Mike Gesell Fr.

Gesell is the slightly less heralded freshman behind new center Adam Woodbury but he was a four-star recruit and he may make a bigger impact than Woodbury.  This kid brings shooting, athleticism and floor leadership that this team needs.  His biggest contribution is that he allows Devyn Marble to move to a more natural position, which leads me to…

SG: Devyn Marble Jr.

This is Marble’s team without question; the Hawkeyes go as far as Marble takes them.  He stepped up last year and played out of position at point guard because the team needed him to and Matt Gatens was the starting shooting guard.  This year Marble moves off the ball where his scoring ability can be better utilized.  It won’t be his job to get everyone involved in the offense it will be his job to be the offense.  While he isn’t a great shooter (although he was pretty good last year in the NIT) and he isn’t overly athletic he just has an ability to score, let’s just say it’s in the genes.

C: Adam Woodbury Fr.

The big man we beat out Roy Williams for (I’ve never said that about Iowa basketball) was a top 25 recruit and a legit 7 footer.  He’s got good size and good athleticism and he can keep up with this team’s preferred pace.  He’s bigger than Eric Hansen and more fleet-of-foot than Jared Reiner and he gives Iowa a presence in the middle.

SF: Aaron White So.

Last season’s most pleasant surprise isn’t going to be able to sneak up on anyone this year but that shouldn’t be a problem given his basketball IQ.  Playing small forward will be a slight change since White saw most of his time last year at power forward but he could be a match-up nightmare for smaller SF’s.  He and Marble combine to give the Hawkeyes one of the more talented duos in the Big Ten.

PF: Melsahn Basabe Jr.

Technically since McCaffery didn’t actually name the official starting five he just gave their classes Zach McCabe could be the starter since he is also a junior power forward but Basabe is the guy McCaffery wants to be the starter.  Basabe is lighter this year like he was during his freshman season and that is music to my ears.  Basabe brings athleticism to the front court and he’ll be more of a shot-blocking presence than Woodbury is at center.  If the Basabe from his freshman year shows up it will be a sight to see.

The Bench

Zach McCabe PF Jr.

McCabe is the jack-of-all trades and master of none.  He will see time at SF, PF and probably C which means he will likely be the first man off the bench.  He brings toughness and versatility to this team and that’s what makes him more valuable off the bench than he would be as a starter.

Eric May SF Sr.

May is the lone scholarship senior on the team and if his back is healthy he can find a role on this team.  The best thing about this team is that they don’t need to rely on May to be a major contributor.  He can bring athleticism and leadership and if he can make himself into a tough on-the-ball defender he could be a very valuable reserve.

Anthony Clemmons PG Fr.

Clemmons is the other freshman PG that will also allow Marble to not have to play out of position.  McCaffery has said some nice things about Clemmons and fully expects to use Clemmons with Gesell in the back court.  Clemmons gives us depth we haven’t had a point guard in a long time.

Josh Oglesby SG So.

The designated shooter.  He’s more than that but hopefully on this team he gets to fill that role and anything else he does is just icing on the cake.

Gabe Olaseni C So.

Gabe is the athletic jumping jack back-up center.  Shot-blocking and rebounding need to be his main focuses.

Patrick Ingram SG Fr.

Ingram will need to carve out a place for himself as a defensive specialist if he wants to earn minutes.

Kyle Meyer PF Fr.

The most likely player to redshirt this season simply because he may not be needed.  He’s talented but he may have to wait his turn.

Looking to the future. 

The greatest news about this team is that there is one scholarship senior meaning the Hawks have a couple of years with this group to make some noise.  Also, transfer Jarrod Uthoff from Wisconsin will be sitting out this season but will be practicing with the team and will make practices that much more competitive.  To say that I am excited for this Hawkeye basketball season would be a huge understatement.  A good, deep, talented team led by a very impressive coach, been too long since I could say that about Hawkeye Basketball.

The Hawkeyes

As I usually do I am starting off with the Hawkeye football team.  I skipped last week because I couldn’t write about the ridiculously bad performance of the Hawkeyes against Central Michigan.  I also couldn’t stand the idiocy of the Hawkeye fan base after such a bad loss.  Yep, let’s fire Kirk Ferentz, buy out his contract for $20 million dollars and then see what kind of coach we can afford to replace him.  I’m not a Ferentz apologist, I think he needs to take a long hard look at what changes he needs to make to keep up with today’s game, but I also see that he has made some changes and those changes need time to take effect.  I follow Hawkeye recruiting closely so I know that this team’s struggles are a direct result of the bad recruiting and retention of the 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes.  The reason Iowa has no real pass rush to speak of is because of a failure to recruit DE prospects that are true pass rushers.  We have taken many of the guys we have recruited over the past 4 years as DE and turned them into DT and we haven’t found many guys to turn into DE from other positions like we have in the past.  Go back to the days of Aaron Kampman or Matt Roth, both LB’s initially, Christian Ballard and Adrian Clayborn were TE prospects and even our best interior pass rushers like Mitch King and Karl Klug were beefed up from other positions.  The attrition at D-line is appalling over the last several years and as many people know it was largely due to our former defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski.  His personality wasn’t a great fit with the players or the coaching staff which is why he is Nebraska’s D-line coach now.  Kirk Ferentz would never throw a guy under a bus or try to hurt a guy’s career which is why you would never hear it from him but it isn’t a coincidence that Nebraska now has defensive linemen quitting their football team.  Reese Morgan’s move to the defensive line coach position is a breath of fresh air and should pay dividends for years to come.  I’m not absolving Ferentz of the blame for any of this as a matter of fact it falls squarely on him.  The level of recruiting (especially the low level of 2008 and 2009) is on him and the problems created by his choice of position coach (Kaczenski) are also on him.  It wasn’t just the choice of Kaczenski it was the fact that he was replacing a beloved position coach Ron Aiken with a guy that had a completely different personality.  I don’t want to make this out to be entirely the defensive line’s fault because they haven’t played terribly I use them only as an example.  If you look at the 2008 recruiting class 12 out the 25 signees either never made it to Iowa or transferred out and there are 4 more that have made little to no on-the-field contribution to the team.  The 2009 class is only slightly better having 7 guys either not make it to school, transfer out or simply quit football altogether, this is not a good way to build a team.  The good news is that Iowa is having better luck recruiting over the past several years and more help is on the way next year, the bad news is we aren’t Alabama and we can’t just plug in another 4 or 5 star recruit when one guy doesn’t work out.  Ferentz’s teams have always been about development and Iowa struggles when that development doesn’t pan out and it takes time to make up for the misses.  I believe Ferentz can turn it around because I’ve seen him do it before (I went to college here during Fry’s last season and Ferentz’s first 4), Fry left the cupboard far more bare than it is right now for Ferentz and his new staff members like Brian Ferentz, Levar Woods and Greg Davis are forcing Kirk to look at things differently.  And on the defensive side of things it brings me great joy when Phil Parker actually puts in a nickel defense when teams go to multiple WR sets and it will give me even greater joy next year when he can’t use Greg Castillo anymore as our nickel back.

More Hawkeye Notes

-Weisman for Heisman!  Way to go Mark Weisman, from back-up FB to star RB in about 6 weeks time, that is impressive.  Weisman’s running style is a great fit for our blocking scheme and his attitude is infectious.  Offensive linemen love blocking for a guy that will just run over the next line of defenders.

-I want to see us use Damon Bullock as a weapon when he returns from his concussion whether it is as a RB or a slot receiver Bullock can give this offense a playmaker.  Let’s not forget that before Bullock got knocked out of the UNI game he was playing pretty well.  I’m not saying he takes the starting job back, as a matter of fact he shouldn’t, but the kid is a playmaker and we sorely need those.

-Also let’s not overlook the contribution of Brad Rogers, here’s a kid that got sick a couple of years ago (heart issue) comes back last year and when he took over at FB our running game got a lot better, then this year he loses his starting job to Weisman at FB and now when Weisman gets his chance at RB Rogers steps back in at FB and picks up right where he left off.  Rogers is a team player for sure.

-I re-watched the Minnesota game and it’s a good thing Mark Weisman played so well in the first half because after watching it again I saw how poorly Vandenberg played.  He was off all through the first half, throwing high missing short or throwing behind receivers, his inaccuracy was obvious.

Major League Baseball notes

-This is for my friend Bill who I know reads this blog, I had a 5000 word post written about the White Sox that was all ready to go and then they choked and missed the playoffs so I had to scrap it, maybe next year Bill.

-For my friend Pete, I’m glad Fantasy baseball is over and you are now barred from talking about it until pitchers and catchers report and since you are going to win your league you owe me because I told you to pick up Mike Trout, and by the way Miguel Cabrera wins the Triple Crown so he gets the MVP not Trout.

-Congrats Miguel Cabrera!  First winner of the Triple Crown since 1967.

-Bobby Valentine is going to be fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox after one season (a conclusion that is only shocking to the idiot owners that hired him instead of the guy their GM wanted).  To all franchise owners out there this is why you let your GM hire who he wants not the big name you want.

-The Twins were abysmal; the Astros were 11 games back of abysmal.  Former Iowa Hawkeye Bo Porter was named the new manager of the Astros I’m not sure who he pissed off but apparently he is being punished for something.

NFL notes

-The Arizona Cardinal are 4-0 with Kevin Kolb at QB, between this and the Iowa Hawkeyes running a flea flicker last week I’m starting to think the Mayans may be right.

-The Jets are a mess and as a Patriots fan I couldn’t be happier.

-I was sure I was going to win my Fantasy match-up this week I was going up against a team with Chris Johnson and Michael Turner at RB, I try to keep this blog clean so I won’t say what I want to say about those two this week just know it rhymes with buck you.

Fall TV

-Fringe was as good as I thought it would be.

-Revolution looks promising.

-The Mob Doctor is on Fox not The CW like I said in my preview although it’s a moot point because I doubt it will be on Fox much longer, it sucks.

Hawkeye Football

Thank you Hawkeyes for beating UNI on Saturday it is way too early to start talking college basketball.  I will say it is harder to write about the Hawks when they play well (apparently I’m better at criticism than praise).  A couple of things; first Mark Weisman the unknown fullback turned tailback by necessity did a great job stepping in for the injured and sick squadron of running backs the Hawkeyes have.  Damon Bullock took a shot to the head and I’m fairly certain he had no idea where he was for a while, Greg Garmon got 3 whole carries before the Angry Iowa Running Back Hating God (AIRBHG) caused a dislocated elbow, an injury that I assure you looked way worse than it actually was (because there is no way it could be as bad as it looked…yuck).  Walk-on freshman RB Michael Malloy didn’t even suit up for the game due to an illness so the Hawks called on the walk-on transfer fullback and he delivered big.  Second, great job catching the ball Hawkeye receivers I only really recall Garmon’s drop down the sideline  (it helps if Vandenberg doesn’t throw it to Shumpert…I promise that’s my last dig at Shumpert…unless he actually plays next week then he’ll drops more passes and all bets are off).  Finally, the defense is doing a great job of making half-time adjustments now if they can just come out better to start the game they will be fantastic.

Something tells me Bullock is not likely to play this week against Central Michigan, Garmon may play if his elbow feels alright and they can find the right brace for him.  Malloy should be back and Ferentz says he’ll play this weekend.  Jordan Canzeri is supposedly close to ready coming off his ACL tear in the spring and now we have Weisman.  I’m afraid if they list Weisman at RB then AIRBHG will take him out and hopefully Canzeri coming back so fast doesn’t anger AIRBHG because that might cause Garmon’s arm to actually fall off instead of just looking like it did.  I’m not sure Weisman can look as good as he did against UNI playing against Big Ten competition but at the very least we found a short yardage back.  No more running Damon Bullock into a nine man front on first and goal from the 2.  Although with the way the Big Ten looks at the moment maybe Weisman will look like a Heisman Trophy candidate against them.

The Big Ten

The good news is that if the Hawkeyes can get their offense going they can compete in the Big Ten this year, the bad news is that this is because the Big Ten sucks.  There are only 3 undefeated teams left in the Big Ten after week 3, Ohio St is one, and can you guess the other two?  I didn’t.  Let me save you some time, Minnesota and Northwestern, trust me it ain’t staying that way very long.  Michigan St. has a great defense but their offense is downright offensive, sound familiar.  Michigan looked great…against UMass…but they struggled with Air Force and got trounced by Alabama.  Wisconsin almost lost to UNI and Utah St. and they did lose to Oregon St.  I don’t think Montee Ball is making it back to the Heisman Award show, who knew the immediate transfer QB thing wouldn’t work out again.  Nebraska…well…they’re still coached by Bo Pelini…say hello to 8-4 for forever.  Penn St. has 2 loses already…you’re not convincing me Purdue is winning anything…Minnesota and Northwestern yeah right…Illinois and Indiana um no.  So that leaves Iowa and Ohio St. let’s just say I’m not counting on the Big Ten getting two teams into the BCS this year…thank god for the Big Ten’s automatic qualifying status ( and that’s the only time I will ever thank god for anything related to the BCS.)  Saying this is a down year for the Big Ten is an insult to down years.  Go Hawks.

NFL Quick Hits

-The Cardinals beat the Patriots on Sunday with Kevin Kolb at QB.  The Cardinals are 2-0 and the Patriots are 1-1.  Clearly I’m working too much overtime and my mind is playing tricks on me.

-The replacement refs suck, of course they do if they were good they would be the regular refs.  This stalemate isn’t going away you know why?  NFL refs aren’t full-time they have other jobs.  They aren’t missing paychecks they are missing extra money it isn’t like when players are locked out and can’t support their lifestyles (or their child support payments) these guys work regular jobs.  They won’t budge, the league won’t budge and nothing is going to change until something goes seriously wrong.  I’m talking a brawl gets out of hand and someone gets hurt kind of wrong.

-My fantasy team is struggling but it’s early and my Doggs will pull it together.

Fall Television Season

Okay so this has been a sports blog until now but I’m a television fan and I thought I’d throw out some things and see who likes what I like.

I’m looking forward to:

Fringe: If you haven’t seen the first 3 seasons don’t bother watching this year but if you like sci-fi you should check out the first 3 seasons and then catch up.  It’s going to be awesome.

Revenge: Total guilty pleasure, I shouldn’t even admit I like this show but it’s really good and I love Emily Van Camp.

The Voice: Adam Levine is the best celebrity judge on any talent show ever and his bromance with Blake Shelton is awesome (I like Blake too even though I couldn’t name a single song of his).

NCIS: Los Angeles:  Daniela Ruah is back on my DVR next week, hell yeah!

Nikita: Maggie Q is kick ass, the show ended last season on a game changer.

Blue Bloods:  Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg what more could you ask for.

Hawaii Five-O: Who doesn’t love Dano?

I’m not looking forward to but I’m going to watch anyway:

Grey’s Anatomy: It’s like that girlfriend you’ve been with way longer than you should have been but you just keep going back, no matter how many times you say you’re done you just can’t help yourself.

Criminal Minds:  I’m going to miss Emily Prentiss and I can only hope the change goes as well as it went when Paget Brewster joined the show but I’m not optimistic.

NCIS: I like this show but I don’t know why.

New Shows I want to like:

Revolution: It better be more like Lost and less like Heroes, unless it’s like the first season of Heroes then we’re good.

Mob Doctor: I know it’s on the CW but I love Jordana Spiro I just don’t know if she can pull off being a doctor, she was an excellent sportswriter on My Boys…maybe that’s why I love her.

Hawkeye Football

I really don’t want to talk about it but I guess I will.  In what has to be the worst display of offensive football I’ve ever subjected myself to watching the Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Iowa St. in a game that will set back the game of football 50 years.  Go ahead and celebrate Cyclone fans but neither team deserved to win that game your team just happened to have more points when the game ended, you shouldn’t have, but you did so enjoy it.  The Iowa offense is putrid and no it isn’t the new coordinator or the new scheme.  I counted 10 drops by Iowa players on offense and that is being nice.  Keenan Davis, Kevonte Martin-Manley, Don Shumpert, Mark Weisman and CJ Fiedorowicz all dropped easily catchable balls from James Vandenberg some of them dropped more than one.  Vandenberg was inaccurate many times during the first game against NIU but for the most part he was right on the money against ISU.  The Hawkeye fan base is losing its collective minds over another loss to ISU (Ferentz is 6-8 lifetime against the Clones) and trust me no one hates losing to ISU more than I do but I try to look at the games objectively after I have watched them as a fan and I can say this; Ferentz’s concerns about the WR group during spring practice were well founded.  As both a fan and an objective observer my take of the receivers on this team is this…they suck.  Keenan Davis drops more routine passes than any starting WR I can remember and apparently Kevonte Martin-Manley has decided that that is the trait of Davis’s he most wants to emulate, bad choice.  The scouting report on Don Shumpert coming into the season was that he is fast but has trouble catching the ball…talk about hitting the nail on the head.  My report about Mark Weisman from the open practice talked about how he looked good except trying to catch the ball deep down the sideline and I said as long as throwing deep to our fullback wasn’t a major part of the offense we were okay but apparently short quick throws at the goal line are not his strong suit either.  Weisman looked like a grizzly bear swatting at a fly trying to catch that pass.  Even Fiedorowicz dropped a pass late that would have picked up a first down on a 2^nd and long, luckily for him Shumpert dropped an equally easy pass on the resulting 3^rd and long that made everyone forget the pass he dropped.  The good news is that the receivers did a better job of getting open in this game than they did against NIU the bad news is being open doesn’t do you any good if you can’t catch.  I’m not as worried about Fiedorowicz and Weisman as I am about the WR group as a whole, Fiedorowicz and Weisman can positively affect the game in other ways but the principle job of the WR is to catch the damn ball.  I don’t know what Davis’s problem is but this problem began before this season, it is a problem he has had as long as he’s been here.  I follow Iowa Hawkeye football recruiting very closely and I can tell you that Don Shumpert was originally recruited to be a safety and you don’t have to be an expert to see why.  There is an old saying among football scouts; defensive backs are just wide receivers that can’t catch…Mr. Shumpert you missed your calling. The late John McKay, a coaching legend who once coached the terrible expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers was once asked after his team’s less than impressive performance what he thought of his team’s “execution” he said he was “all for it.”  That is exactly how I feel about the Hawkeyes WR corps after the first two weeks of the season.  Kirk Ferentz held his weekly press conference on Tuesday and a reporter apologized for asking him if the receivers that are playing are better than the freshmen receivers that haven’t seen the field.  Ferentz said obviously that’s the case but that leads me to wonder something else…how bad are our freshmen receivers?  I understand that it seems preposterous to ask a coach if he is playing the best players but after witnessing the past two games I am questioning our WR recruiting if this really is the case.  Catching a football is like any other skill, you can get better with repetition, but some of it is just natural instinct and we have a few guys that lack that natural ability…cough …Shumpert … cough, cough… Davis.  How much worse could the young guys be?  How about some accountability for the guys playing?  If you can’t perform the most basic part of your position what good are you to the team?  I’ve seen people blaming the new offensive scheme and I’ve heard people using the new offense as an excuse for why we are struggling but the truth is there is nothing wrong with the new offense and the guys have been practicing it long enough to make it work it’s our fundamentals that are lacking.  There is talent on the offensive line but we aren’t blocking well enough, our quarterback is experienced and talented but he can’t seem to put it all together and all our receivers pass the eyeball test just as long as you look away when they try to catch.  Kirk Ferentz has one more game this week against UNI to get this figured out or he’s going to lose the fan base but it’s not the fan base he needs to worry about losing.  UNI gave Wisconsin all it could handle in week 1 (that looks like less of an accomplishment after Wisconsin lost to Oregon St. in week 2) and if the Panthers can put up 17 points against the Hawkeyes this weekend I’m not sure this Hawkeye offense can outdo that.  Lost in all of this was a fantastic game by the Hawkeye defense and if Ferentz can’t get the offense straightened out he may have to worry about losing his defense.  Going against the same QB that shredded them last year in Ames the Hawkeyes turned in an impressive defensive game.  Despite not generating much of a pass rush the first two weeks of the season the Hawkeye defense has been stingy and they forced 4 turnovers by the Cyclones.  Any defense that forces 4 turnovers and holds its opponent to 9 points expects to win and if the offense doesn’t start putting points on the board Ferentz may have to worry about his team being divided, one side doing their job while the other side doesn’t.  There were other issues during the game and one that I have pointed out numerous times in this blog came up again.  After Keenan Davis actually made a play and got us down to the 3 yard line it was first and goal and we ran out 195 pound tailback into the middle of the line of scrimmage twice and that led to the aforementioned Weisman bobble on third and goal.  I’ve said it many times Damon Bullock is not an inside runner.  If you are going to use Bullock in a tight formation close to the goal line why not fake the inside handoff to the fullback and then toss it to Bullock wide I bet he can beat everyone to the pylon.  If you are dead set on getting the tough yards inside than use an inside runner, I don’t think Brad Rogers was busy and I’ve seen him carry the ball before.  My other suggestion this close to the goal line involves a certain 6’7 TE who unlike our WR actually knows how to use his body to shield the defender.  Both Ferentz and Greg Davis have referred to Fiedorowicz as a weapon but they don’t seem to know when to use that weapon.  This is definitely nitpicking as one bad offensive play calling series wasn’t the problem but in a close game where your defense is playing great and your offense isn’t one series can change the outcome of the game, literally.  The Hawkeyes can put minds at ease if the offense comes out blazing against UNI this weekend but if they don’t I’m going to start asking the same question every other Hawkeye fan will be asking…When does basketball season start?

 

NFL Quick Hits

-I’m a Patriots fan and even though I didn’t get to watch their game this last weekend it was obviously a very business-like win over the Titans.  I always believe the Patriots will be in the Super Bowl and I probably always will as long as Belichick and Brady are there but after the first week the best teams in each conference are the Ravens and the 49ers.  Two unbelievable defenses with vastly improved offenses.

-6 QB’s threw 3 picks or more.  Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matthew Stafford, Andrew Luck and Ryan Tannehill each had 3 while Michael Vick and Brandon Weeden both threw 4.  Tough opening week for three rookie QB’s and Vick and Weeden played each other, I think they were having a contest to see who could complete more passes to the other team.

-That clicking noise you hear is all those experts out there that picked Philadelphia to make the Super Bowl hitting their delete button.

-The Bears looked good but they were playing the Colts.

-Atlanta and Kansas City played a great game for the first half then KC fell apart.  The Falcons are tough and Matt Ryan looks like a different player.

-Peyton Manning is back and the Broncos no-huddle offense is scary.  They had the ball for a total of about 36 seconds in the entire 2^nd quarter and they went 80 yards and scored a TD.

Hawkeye Football

The Hawkeyes must have thought the red in red-zone meant stop because they struggled all day with moving the ball inside the 20 yard line.  They breached the zone multiple times but their one TD came on a Damon Bullock run from the 23 yard line.  That was the offense’s biggest problem of the day but hardly it’s only one, the defense struggled with the most fundamental aspect of playing D, tackling.  Bad positioning, bad form and bad angles were unfortunately the norm for the afternoon.  I re-watched the game the other night even though I was sure I would come away even more upset then the first time I watched it live but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Let’s break it down.

Offense:

The Good: This is a short list so I’ll get it out of the way.

-Damon Bullock- We seemed to have found a legit RB as Bullock carried the ball 30 times for a 5 yard average.  His 23 yard TD run late in the 4^th quarter was the highlight in an underwhelming offensive performance for the Hawks.  Like I mentioned in a previous post our RB’s are better running to the outside than on the inside and I think this game was a clear example.

-Going for it- The Hawkeyes got the ball with about 1:15 left on the clock in the first half and they actually tried to do something with it instead of kneeling down.  It didn’t go as planned as James Vandenberg ended up intentionally grounding a ball causing a 10 second run-off and then got sacked as he dropped back for a hail-mary pass attempt.  The execution was lacking but at least they went for it.

The Bad: This list could get long.

-Red-zone Offense- I already mentioned this but it needs repeating because it was atrocious.  Last year the Hawkeyes scored touchdowns on 63% of their possessions in the red-zone and so far through one game they are at 0%, that’s not good.

-The passing game (this is actually 3 things that I made into one item on the list) – It wasn’t the play calling it was the execution.  Unfortunately it wasn’t just one part of the passing game.  Three of the things that have to work for the passing game to be effective didn’t for the Hawkeyes; the offensive line has to block, the wide receivers have to get open and the quarterback has to be accurate.  It seemed like the Hawkeyes could never get all 3 of these things working at the same time.  When Vandenberg had time his receivers weren’t open, when they were open he was running for his life and getting sacked and when he had time and the receivers got open he couldn’t seem to put the ball where it needed to be.  Our offense seems to include a lot of screens passes; screen passes to the WR, screen passes to the TE and screen passes to the RB.  Unfortunately the blocking on screen passes was horrible.  I’m not sure if the offense was tipping off the defense that the screens were coming or what but NIU seemed to always be able to get someone through the blockers and stop the play.  I like the idea of throwing screen passes to Kevonte Martin-Manley, Don Shumpert, Damon Bullock and even CJ Fiedorowicz but the execution is key and the Hawks have to work that out.

-The Blocking- I’ve already mentioned it in reference to the passing game and specifically the screen game but it gets its own spot on the list.  Giving up 6 sacks and many more QB pressures to a MAC team doesn’t bode well for the conference season. NIU has some good defenders on the d-line but it isn’t going to get easier from here.

-The inside running game-  Damon Bullock played great but he is most effective running to the edge.  The Hawks aren’t used to having a RB that has the speed to get to the edge and beat people but Bullock has it and they need to take advantage.  Running up the middle is nice and all but when your backs aren’t as effective that way use the run to the outside to spread the defense out a little and it makes the inside run a little easier.  I’m not suggesting the Hawks run a toss-sweep every time but running off-tackle is a better place for Bullock (and Garmon) than running right up the back of the guard.

Defense:

The Good: The defense was pretty good for the most part.  I was impressed with the d-line overall and that was my main concern going into the game.  They didn’t get a lot of sacks but they put enough pressure on the QB, Joe Gaglione caused a fumble on a strip sack and they rotated guys in.  They didn’t run out of gas at the end of the game and actually probably got stronger as the game went on.

The Bad: The tackling left a lot to be desired.  NIU seemed to always break the first tackle and pick up extra yards.  The big play for NIU was Jordan Lynch’s 73 yard TD run which was the result of LB James Morris playing too close to the line of scrimmage and getting caught up in a block and FS Tanner Miller taking a ridiculously bad angle and letting Lynch run right by him.

The good news is that the problems seem to be correctable.  The bad news is that after a month of camp the Hawks have this many problems to solve before Saturday’s game against Iowa St.  The biggest concern is the passing game, or lack thereof, given the Hawks have a senior QB coming off a pretty good year.  Getting all of the issues worked out in a week is a tall order and now the element of surprise that was Damon Bullock last week is gone.  They always say the biggest leap for a team is between week 1 and week 2 of the season and Hawkeye fans better hope this team has a Carl Lewis long jump in them this week.

College Football Weekend: The Hawkeyes weren’t the only team I watched this weekend.

-Alabama destroyed Michigan.  Not many teams could lose a RB like Trent Richardson and actually improve their running game.  Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon are the Tide’s version of thunder and lightning and they are scary good.  Alabama’s offensive line is remarkable and the defense is as good as always.  The Tide jumped USC to take the top spot in the polls this week (apparently demolishing Hawaii just wasn’t that impressive to the voters).  Michigan may have come in slightly overrated at #8 but they aren’t far out of the top 10 teams in the country and Alabama dismantled them.  The Crimson Tide are that good.

-Matt Barkley kicked off his Heisman campaign with 372 yards and 4 TD’s passing.  I didn’t see the game just the highlights but I’m guessing Barkley, with help from his WR’s Robert Woods and Marquise Lee, is just getting started.

-Michigan St. pulled out a win over Boise St. in a game they tried very hard to lose.  Le’Veon Bell carried the Spartans on his back and the Michigan St. defense was as stingy as advertised.  Bell had 44 carries for 210 yards and 2 TD’s and Boise St. was held to 13 points.  Defense and a running game are apparently how the Spartans plan to win this year as Andrew Maxwell got off to a tough start throwing 3 picks in his first start.

-Wisconsin got a scare from Northern Iowa, I usually cheer on Big Ten teams in the non-conference but I was pulling for the Panthers and they gave Wisconsin all they could handle.

-Oklahoma St. beat Savannah St. 84-0 and the Cowboys starters didn’t even finish the second quarter.  I only mention this game to say…who the hell scheduled this?  You might as well take on the flag football champion of your Rec League.

-Notre Dame beat Navy 50-10 in Dublin, Ireland.  Notre Dame is not that good Navy is just that bad.  Manti Teo, the star LB for the Irish, is that good though.

Some quick NFL fantasy football notes.

-My not really a sleeper sleeper.  Brandon Lloyd WR Patriots.  The cat is out of the bag on this one, he could have a very big year.

-My real sleeper pick.  Eric Decker WR Broncos.  He had 44 catches for 612 yards and 8 TD’s last year with Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow throwing to him. Now he has Peyton Manning.  It’s like he traded in his Ford Focus for a Ferrari, he goes for at least 90 catches for 1100 yards and 12 TD’s this year and I can’t believe I’m saying this about a former Minnesota Golden Gopher; I may break out in hives.

-My deep sleeper pick.  Donald Brown RB Colts.  No more Peyton Manning offense in Indy which means Brown may actually be used like a real RB and he may actually get more than 10 carries in a game.  I’m still a little worried about Indy’s o-line but their offense can’t be anywhere near as bad as it was last year.

-I got both Brandon Lloyd and Eric Decker on my fantasy team this year so I’m pretty happy with my team.  I’ve got 4 QB’s which seems like a lot but we start 2 so it’s not that strange.  Here’s my team; QB- Tom Brady, Matt Schaub, Carson Palmer and Sam Bradford.  RB- Matt Forte, Fred Jackson, Doug Martin, Beanie Wells and Michael Bush. WR- Andre Johnson, Brandon Lloyd, Eric Decker, Mike Williams and Danny Amendola. TE- Jacob Tamme and Jason Witten.  I will try to get to a more detailed fantasy football breakdown later.

The NFL season is about to kick off and that makes me very happy.

Go Hawks, Beat State.

Nate