Post Game Thread: Hawkeyes Humiliate Gophers

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I think most of us thought this year could be challenging with an almost completely new offense plus down 4-5 NFL caliber defensive starters. Beat MSU and the team is still 3-1 post OSU loss
 

The team has looked uninspired and uninterested on the road this year, inexcusably so.

Embarrassing and needs to be corrected, pronto, wins on the road are nice, but EFFORT is a must. They don’t look like the same team on at home v. road, starkly absent of something on the road.
Frustrating.
 


Freshman QB threw 3 picks. Not worried about it. He was going to have a game like this. Makes sense that it was against Iowa.
 




Got to remember to bring the oars if Row the Boat is your motto.

To I-O-W-A's credit they had zero offense for several seasons and yet still managed to play gutsy, hard-nosed football week after week. It is part of their culture.

Back to fundamentals I guess for us in the run up to Sparty. Another big game.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
I think most of us thought this year could be challenging with an almost completely new offense plus down 4-5 NFL caliber defensive starters. Beat MSU and the team is still 3-1 post OSU loss
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It was going to be a transition year for sure, but it seems like a year when the foundation seems to be teetering. I posted earlier that there just shouldn't be a season when there is this much turnover on the O-line and expect to succeed on a consistent basis.
 



50PoundHead said:
It was going to be a transition year for sure, but it seems like a year when the foundation seems to be teetering. I posted earlier that there just shouldn't be a season when there is this much turnover on the O-line and expect to succeed on a consistent basis.
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Recruiting has been below par for sure.
How do you end up in a situation where these two transfer portal stiffs are the best you have for guards??
 

MZBKA1 said:
Ask yourself: If you were a highly-touted football prospect, would YOU want to play for a coach who is 1-7 against one of his team's biggest rivals? Would YOU want to play for coach who can't get his team ready to play trophy games? Would YOU want to play for a coach who loses to Bowling Green?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you're just fooling yourself.
If you answered NO to these questions and still think Fleck should be coaching here, I envy your ability to be satisfied with mediocrity.
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Last game you posted was after Cal...interesting.
 

BilldGopher said:
Got to remember to bring the oars if Row the Boat is your motto.

To I-O-W-A's credit they had zero offense for several seasons and yet still managed to play gutsy, hard-nosed football week after week. It is part of their culture.

Back to fundamentals I guess for us in the run up to Sparty. Another big game.
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But will Sparty let our game slip through their fingers like they did Michigan? I don't see them doing that two weeks in a row. I also don't trust that we will be prepared for that game.
 

Gopherchase said:
I don’t think Kirk hates PJ. I think he’s amused by his nonsense and how easy it’s been to beat him.
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Nah. He hates him. Remember when Iowa was up 35-0 a few years ago and PJ was playing starters and calling timeouts with less than a minute to go trying to avoid getting shutout? Ferentz called 3 spite timeouts. You don't do that to someone you like.
 



Breakin' The Plane said:
Nah. He hates him. Remember when Iowa was up 35-0 a few years ago and PJ was playing starters and calling timeouts with less than a minute to go trying to avoid getting shutout? Ferentz called 3 spite timeouts. You don't do that to someone you like.
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That was petty on both sides
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
If this is true, Kirk is a wanker. Fleck is positive, not a d1ck, and has always been complimentary towards Kirk.
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I don't think Ferentz hates him. They're just really different personalities. Look no further than how their teams enter the field. Ferentz steps aside and lets his team out front. Fleck runs out in front of the Gophers.
 

Ewert86PC said:
But will Sparty let our game slip through their fingers like they did Michigan? I don't see them doing that two weeks in a row.
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It may be difficult to trust the Gophers now but I don't think that last night's game was simply one that Michigan State let "slip through their fingers." The game against Michigan was one of their two best conference efforts this season but they managed to score a touchdown with 7 seconds left to cut Michigan's lead to 11.

MSU has been remarkably consistent on defense: in their five conference games, they've given up 45 to USC, 38 to Nebraska, 38 to UCLA, 38 to Indiana, and 31 to Michigan (Michigan's highest total in a conference game this season). Their average game score for five Big Ten games is 20.8 to 38.

Obviously, Michigan State is not a good defensive team. Minnesota has been destroyed in both of their conference losses but those losses were to great defensive teams (OSU: #1 and Iowa: #6 nationally in scoring defense). Great defensive teams are our Achilles' heal: when our offense can't do anything our defense ends up playing too many minutes and folding eventually. It's not like MSU is a particularly good offensive team either.

We've played two bad defensive conference teams previously this season (Rutgers and Purdue) and won both of those at home (albeit not by much).
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't know if they quit, but they were physically dominated on both lines and that is going to have to change if the program is going to be in the upper tier of the conference consistently. I don't mind losing a close or even moderately close game to anyone, but it's no fun to watch your team get manhandled and pushed around. Iowa may not have the most physically gifted skilled players, but they always push, hit, and keep hitting.
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I don't think Iowa is necessarily more physically dominant than Minnesota. Faster, yes--but not more physically dominant. Game conditions matter. Iowa came out supremely confident, knowing they were going to beat the tar out of their little brother. The Gophers came out feeling like the little brother, feeling the weight of the Ferentz/Fleck history and perhaps knowing that their O game plan would do little to stress or confuse the Iowa D.

When a Gopher team--with its lack of explosive play capability, or even mndset--is down 17-0 two minutes into the second quarter, and it is clear that your simplistic O prep and plans are hopelessly transparent and anticipated at every step by a focused, disciplined Iowa defense, and you know that your afterthought STs are operating at a huge deficit to Iowa's ST commandos, you know the game is both lost and hopelessly out of hand. You should play you hearts out nonetheless, but you know the cause is hopeless and your generals have failed to prepare you adequately for the battle. You lose heart. Call it quitting if you want. I would call it battle shock. You could see it the players body posture and eyes.

I think the Gophers will regroup and win a few more games--games in which PJ doesn't fear the opposing coach, and the opposing coach and players can't feed off that fear. Maybe fear is the wrong word; the issue is more nuanced. But Ferentz has a profound psychological advantage over PJ, and both teams feel it ... more and more each year. It feeds Iowa's strength and saps the Gopher's.

On to the MSU game!
 

Gophergrandpa said:
I don't think Iowa is necessarily more physically dominant than Minnesota. Faster, yes--but not more physically dominant. Game conditions matter. Iowa came out supremely confident, knowing they were going to beat the tar out of their little brother. The Gophers came out feeling like the little brother, feeling the weight of the Ferentz/Fleck history and perhaps knowing that their O game plan would do little to stress or confuse the Iowa D.

When a Gopher team--with its lack of explosive play capability, or even mndset--is down 17-0 two minutes into the second quarter, and it is clear that your simplistic O prep and plans are hopelessly transparent and anticipated at every step by a focused, disciplined Iowa defense, and you know that your afterthought STs are operating at a huge deficit to Iowa's ST commandos, you know the game is both lost and hopelessly out of hand. You should play you hearts out nonetheless, but you know the cause is hopeless and your generals have failed to prepare you adequately for the battle. You lose heart. Call it quitting if you want. I would call it battle shock. You could see it the players body posture and eyes.

I think the Gophers will regroup and win a few more games--games in which PJ doesn't fear the opposing coach, and the opposing coach and players can't feed off that fear. Maybe fear is the wrong word; the issue is more nuanced. But Ferentz has a profound psychological advantage over PJ, and both teams feel it ... more and more each year. It feeds Iowa's strength and saps the Gopher's.

On to the MSU game!
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Good post! I think the team will be favored in two remaining games (the two at home). At this point, I would take Northwestern over us on the road.
 

USAF said:
Recruiting has been below par for sure.
How do you end up in a situation where these two transfer portal stiffs are the best you have for guards??
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Iowa's recruiting ratings have been about the same as Gophers.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Gopher rushing totals: 35 against Rutgers, 68 against Ohio State, 30 against Purdue (Purdue!), 24 (one yard per carry) against Iowa. So why not use the corrupt system now in place and go buy a couple of 5* running backs from other teams? The new transfer rule is perfect for such corruption.
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Any idea how much a 5* RB costs? And how few of them there are? And how many teams in the corrupt system can outbid the Gophers for this precious commodity? This is like telling a couple who work as civil servants and live in a modestly-priced home (in which they have great pride) that they could have much more square footage and opulence and a beautiful lake view if they would just go out and buy a mansion on Lake Minnetonka. I mean, what is stopping them from taking this obvious next step, right?
 


Had to update this from an earlier post to reflect the before and after nature of the no-contest from yesterday...

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Sad but true. My last salt in this wound. On to healing and beat Sparty.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Iowa's recruiting ratings have been about the same as Gophers.
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Since 2021. Iowa has 22 recruits rated at 90 or higher by 247, including two 98s and 2 96s.
MN has 16 9s, or above, with only 2 over 93 and one at 96. 7 of these 16 came in 2021, and only one of the 7 is still on the roster.

In any case, the point was, our Offensive line is bad, and that's WITH two transfer starting guards. How'd we get to a point where there's such a dearth of talent on the line?
 

USAF said:
Since 2021. Iowa has 22 recruits rated at 90 or higher by 247, including two 98s and 2 96s.
MN has 16 9s, or above, with only 2 over 93 and one at 96. 7 of these 16 came in 2021, and only one of the 7 is still on the roster.

In any case, the point was, our Offensive line is bad, and that's WITH two transfer starting guards. How'd we get to a point where there's such a dearth of talent on the line?
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Are we sure it is a dearth of talent or failure to develop?
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Good post! I think the team will be favored in two remaining games (the two at home). At this point, I would take Northwestern over us on the road.
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Road games have been very, very tough for the Gophers this year. And the ritual humiliation the Gophers suffered at Iowa make the trend look worse. We will lose to Oregon (no hope, given our transparent, predictable offense and tough but slow-footed defense) unless some weather event (a monsoon) hobbles Oregon's output. But I hope we put up as good a fight as Wisconsin just did against Oregon, or the team's spirit might get broken, Three ritual humiliations in one seasons can be tough on players. They are just young men, barely past teen years.

NW has a good defense ... and good defenses play havoc with the Gophers predictable, easy to key on and diagnose offensive schemes. On offense, it seems as though the Gophers appear to want to overpower defenses (which we can't do against most B1G teams); we refuse to outthink and/or confuse them. So, we will probably have trouble scoring more than 21 at Wrigley. But the NW offense is really shaky. Makes lots of mistakes. If NW obliges the Gophs in this way, and the Gophs can capitalize on some turnovers, I think a victory over NW is possible regardless of point spread.
 






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