CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Temp430 on August 29, 2023, 12:02:55 PM
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Kickoff is at Noon on FS1. Is Iowa's new QB Cade McNamara healthy? And more importantly, is Iowa's OL any good? If not, well, they have a good punter and a great defense.
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I am thinking the O-Line is improved from the limited video I observed. That said, it couldn't have gotten worse so Line 1 is rather logical.
Judging from the Cade McNamara interview video clip appearing on the Des Moines Register/Iowa City Press Citizen website www.HawkCentral today, Cade was cagey about whether he would or would not play. Sounds like he is available, especially in an emergency. I am guessing Cade McNamara does not appear. Iowa should defeat Utah State without Cade. When one has a muscle injury, from personal experience, and from viewing disabled lists in MLB, if he doesn't give it at least 3-weeks rest it will nag him the rest of the year. He is definitely the guy most likely to lead the Hawkeyes to greatness, but he needs to rest the injured leg to be great.
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Watching the Utah St game on TV, the TV commentator Mark Helfrich made some interesting comments. I believe Helfrich used to be the OC and head coach for Oregon and the OC for the NFL Bears, so he seems to have a quick eye for figuring out schemes and patterns.
He commented that whenever Iowa ran a play from under center it was almost always a run.
He noticed before a play in the 2nd half that the entire Utah St defense was yelling screen and sure enough Iowa ran a screen.
You know I am not smart enough to figure it out myself, but there may be something about Iowa's formations that gives away what play Iowa is going to run.
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I was on the golf course and did not watch the game
checking the box score it seems to be the same Brian Ferentz offense and yes his formations give away plays
trying to average 25+ points per game, starting with 24 vs Utah St., maybe Brian will find a new gig next season
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Iowa's passing game actually looked somewhat decent. Cade McNamara threw 2 quick TD passes. One to transfer WR Seth Anderson and one transfer TE Eric All.
The OL looked good in pass protection, giving Cade time to throw, but Cade is an obvious upgrade from Spencer Petras, Cade actually can put some touch on his passes. Cade also had passes that could have been picked. In the end Iowa reverted to throwing to TE's a lot which works for Iowa when the WR can't get open.
The running game however, was just terrible. Really no long runs the whole day. Iowa tried a couple of jet sweeps, which worked the first time then never again. Running game needs a lot work to get better.
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LP, you have a positive, uplifting report. The O-Line's pass blocking is improved. Pass blocking must have been the only thing the O-Line worked on the past 3-weeks because QB McNamara has a lame leg, and the o-line needs to protect it above all else.
Kaleb Brown, the highly praised tOSU transfer, caught "0" passes.
QB McNamara, and his lame leg, had all it could handle sometime in the 2nd qtr. In the 3rd qtr. it appeared he strained the quadriceps muscle, again.
Iowa State looms, and backup QB Deacon Hill, does not loom very high, whereas at Iowa, usually the backup QB is the best QB, over the past decade. (Smile).
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I thought Iowa should have sat QB McNamara this game.
Last year Iowa scored 7 points against their opening opponent, SDSU, and 0 touchdowns in a 7-3 win. Perhaps the coaching staff knew Utah State would pose a challenge equal to or greater than 2022 FCS champion SDSU, and decided they could not afford to take a chance on backup QB Deacon Hill. I think they should have taken the chance. Hereafter, Iowa cannot run an option play, not only because it is no longer in the playbook, but because McNamara can't run. Opposing defenses can just tee-off on him on passing plays, and they know where to find him in the backfield.
It is going to be a long disappointing season, knowing the talent level is there, but cannot play to its potential.
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Iowa defense may have gave up only 14 points but it has own set of issues to work on. Starters DL Noah Shannon and CB J. Harris sat out the Utah St game due to the gambling investigation. Shannon we know is out for the season. But It's a mystery how long Harris is out. Nwapanka got an interception but also left early due to cramps.
The secondary is lacking it's usual depth. Backup CB's Lee and Hall showed lack of experience but at least Lee seems to have some potential once he gets up to speed. Hall I am not so sure about.
Speaking of lack of depth at CB, I hear that former Iowa CB Terry Robert's has disappeared from Mich St's roster after first transferring to Miami, then transferring to MSU. . I hope he doesn't have any serious issues going on. I don't think it would be too late if he wanted re-enroll at Iowa for his 6th season if he wanted. But seriously I hope he is OK.
Finally LB Jay Higgins was all over the place with 16 tackles but everybody thought transfer LB Nick Jackson was going to be the superstar at LB this year. But it's still early.
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how is this possible lol?
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1698006956865122560?s=20
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how is this possible lol?
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1698006956865122560?s=20
This is a little surprising especially when you consider Iowa had a great offense in 2002 when QB Brad Banks finished 2nd in the Heisman. I seem to recall Iowa seemed to score on the opening drive almost every game. Is it possible all those scores were just FGs and running TDs?
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https://youtu.be/HsZLkuJsOyc?si=r0gOY28TlgUuFzgE
What a difference. Just look at the Iowa offense in 2002 game Utah St at Iowa., compared to 2023.
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how is this possible lol?
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1698006956865122560?s=20
Oh wait, I see why I was confused. That was for only the opening drive OF THE SEASON. Iowa had not thrown a TD pass on the opening drive OF THE SEASON since 1991. That makes more sense to me. Still a bad stat, but understandable, at least.
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it's an obscure stat
means nothing