Iowa vs. MN. How do you think the teams stack up?

[upnorthkid]

Personally I see it about like this.

Offense:

I'd grade the QB's as a push, give MN the edge in RBs, Iowa the WR's and the O lines a push (maybe slight to Iowa).

Overall offense: push

Defense:

DL to MN (Hageman's presence and emergence of Cockran gives us the edge), LB's to Iowa (definitely their strength), and the DBs to MN.

Overall Defense: MN

ST

Kickers- Hawthorne has been shaky at times kicking, Meyer has seemed solid over his career; edge Iowa
Punters/punt team- Gophers punting scares me, but I'm unsure about Iowa punting (someone can fill me in), but i'll go edge iowa
KO team- gophers have been rock solid on KO coverage so far, edge to MN

Overall ST- Iowa

Overall:

I'd give Iowa the edge on offense very very slightly and on ST by a more considerable margin. MN the edge on D. Key to the game will be which team can get the ground game going. Whoever does that first wins this game imo

 

[Nate]

You forgot Maxx. Ginger power = Gopher advantage

 

[upnorthkid]

You forgot Maxx. Ginger power = Gopher advantage

if only we still had shortell. the ginger effort would be overwhelming lol

 

[MinneStoa]

if only we still had shortell. the ginger effort would be overwhelming lol

Just wait until Connor Mayes comes up next year. Team of ginger destiny.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

The Gophers are a towering mountain of awesome comprised of attractive naked ladies, Pantera albums, honey roasted cashews and bottles of smooth bourbon whisky.

Iowa's a steaming pool of diarrhea left by a sickly cat that couldn't quite make it to the litter box.

 

[bemidjigopher]

no mention of Jones on special teams?

 

[bemidjigopher]

I would also say we have a better coach

 

[HawkeyeFan#1]

I would also say we have a better coach

Maybe. How many Top 10 rankings and BCS bowl games has he had? How about total bowl games and bowl victories? Plus our coach is guaranteed to be on the sidelines at the conclusion of the game, while yours isn't. That's not meant to be a cheapshot, it's just a fact.

Iowa clearly has the superior RB (#6 rusher in the country versus a hobbled Kirkwood). I see that your leading rusher has about 330 yards while ours has gone for 465. We also go 4 deep at the position. Iowa has the best OL in the Big Ten outside of Madison, so we get the edge there. We also have to get QB as we have a guy with 4 full games of experience versus your guy of 1.5. With Nelson that might be a closer gap, but I still like our guy as Nelson still has yet to prove himself as a competent passer at this level. Both teams are very weak at WR but we are loaded at TE.

Defense could be a problem for Iowa. Our secondary is pretty weak overall but we do have some big time playmakers in the back 7. Defensive line isn't great but is much better than it has been the last 2 seasons. I will call the defenses overall a push with a solid advantage for the Gophers in the secondary.

Our kicker is a stud and punter is average at best.

These teams are pretty evenly matched but I think Iowa is a little better; Minnesota does have homefield advantage, though. Should be an interesting game.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Thanks for the report HawkeyeFan#1.

I think Iowa has the overall edge but TCF is not Kinnick North.

It may come down to which team wants it the most.

Bring your raingear!

 

[salaunese]

That was kind of a cheap shot..no matter how you put it.

I think Iowa is a bit stronger depth wise on the lines but its a crap shoot really.

 

[upnorthkid]

Maybe. How many Top 10 rankings and BCS bowl games has he had? How about total bowl games and bowl victories? Plus our coach is guaranteed to be on the sidelines at the conclusion of the game, while yours isn't. That's not meant to be a cheapshot, it's just a fact.

Iowa clearly has the superior RB (#6 rusher in the country versus a hobbled Kirkwood). I see that your leading rusher has about 330 yards while ours has gone for 465. We also go 4 deep at the position. Iowa has the best OL in the Big Ten outside of Madison, so we get the edge there. We also have to get QB as we have a guy with 4 full games of experience versus your guy of 1.5. With Nelson that might be a closer gap, but I still like our guy as Nelson still has yet to prove himself as a competent passer at this level. Both teams are very weak at WR but we are loaded at TE.

Defense could be a problem for Iowa. Our secondary is pretty weak overall but we do have some big time playmakers in the back 7. Defensive line isn't great but is much better than it has been the last 2 seasons. I will call the defenses overall a push with a solid advantage for the Gophers in the secondary.

Our kicker is a stud and punter is average at best.

These teams are pretty evenly matched but I think Iowa is a little better; Minnesota does have homefield advantage, though. Should be an interesting game.

ok let me clear up some points for you here. you may (and that's a big MAY) have the best rusher, singular, but our stable of backs is definitely better. our RB's and QB's all average over 5.5 yds a carry where your single highest comes in at 4.9. total yards is the most BS pile of crap way to try say who the BEST rb is or O line for that matter. What matters is the number of yards you generate per play and the holes you provide. Then you try throw out that you go "deep" at the position. yet again if you look at the numbers, our RB's average more yards per carry and after your top 2, your guys have a combined 45 carries. so don't try spout about your depth at the position and that you're so superior.

OL, I won't touch as I haven't studied your guys in depth but I'm going to guess you haven't done the same for ours.

WR i'll give you the edge for having Martin Manley

TE we have great depth at, but in terms of experience I'll give you the edge.

QB your QB can throw better, but our QBs are more mobile and rush for yardage (take away Rudock's one long run and he's averaging under 3 YPC). its different styles. and given we have the homefield advantage, your QBs 4 full games means squat. its still his first real raucous crowd against a team that didn't lose to northern iowa (sorry ISU, but that's rough).

Defense I'll give you that analysis. agree with it mostly.

ST i'll agree as well.

Sorry for the rant, but the numbers and "analysis" you threw out for offense were more than a little biased

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

I'd give Iowa the edge overall, but it's Homecoming and may be played in rain - so who knows?

 

[salaunese]

Kevonte Martin Manley had ONE catch last week. He's more of a possession/slot WR type of guy.

Not sure why you're rating him so high. He had great blocking last week.

Powell is our game-breaker.

 

[salaunese]

Weisman averaged 5.1 yards a carry last season. He started 4 games at TB last season after starting out as the starter at FB. He missed the 2nd half of the season w/the exception of the Nebraska game due to an injury. He may have been the only RB to rush for over 100 vs MSU last season. Might say more about our OL than Weisman.

His stats for 2012:
159 carries for 837 yards 5.1 ypc in 4 starts.

Best game was 27 carries for 217 yards vs Central Michigan

He also ran 21 times for 171 yards vs MN last year at 8.4 ypc

Damon Bullock played 6 games after being injured much of the year. He was the starter until being injured and having Weisman step in in game #3..He returned late in the season and played sparingly after that.

He had 135 carries for 540 yards 3.8 ypc

His best game in 2012 was 30 carries for 151 yards vs Northern Illinois

He also ran 22 times for 108 yards 4.9ypc vs Northwestern in 2012 after Weisman was injured

He had 13 carries for 77 yards 5.9ypc against UNI before being injured early in the 3rd quarter.

 

[HawkeyeFan#1]

That was kind of a cheap shot..no matter how you put it.

If the guy is going to claim to have a better coach (extremely dubious claim, but debatable) then let's discuss all aspects of it, otherwise it's fairly stupid to even bring it up.

 

[HawkeyeFan#1]

Powell is our game-breaker.

A game-breaker that, you know, seldom plays during the actual games.

 

[HawkeyeFan#1]

ok let me clear up some points for you here. you may (and that's a big MAY) have the best rusher, singular, but our stable of backs is definitely better. our RB's and QB's all average over 5.5 yds a carry where your single highest comes in at 4.9. total yards is the most BS pile of crap way to try say who the BEST rb is or O line for that matter. What matters is the number of yards you generate per play and the holes you provide. Then you try throw out that you go "deep" at the position. yet again if you look at the numbers, our RB's average more yards per carry and after your top 2, your guys have a combined 45 carries. so don't try spout about your depth at the position and that you're so superior.

This is an extremely debatable point as Iowa is Top 5 in the nation in number of offensive snaps per game. If we're going to run that volume of plays then our average gain per play will be lower (mathematical certainty) but more importantly it is just as effective in a football sense. Total yardage is by far the best measure of any offense.

QB your QB can throw better, but our QBs are more mobile and rush for yardage (take away Rudock's one long run and he's averaging under 3 YPC). its different styles. and given we have the homefield advantage, your QBs 4 full games means squat. its still his first real raucous crowd against a team that didn't lose to northern iowa (sorry ISU, but that's rough).

Rudock is actually just as mobile as either Nelson or Leidner, it's just that Iowa's offense is not designed to exploit that fact. He would actually be the perfect guy to run your system, and I felt exactly the same thing in the opposite sense as I saw Shortell struggle to run your offense in Iowa City last yeaer. He would have been perfect for what we like to do.

And having attended Iowa games in both Ames and TCF Bank, it's a no-brainer which environment is more hostile, and it ain't your place. Sorry to deflate your ego on that one, but it's not even close. This will be the 2nd least intimidating road game that Iowa plays all year, behind only Purdue.

 

[salaunese]

A game-breaker that, you know, seldom plays during the actual games.

You have no idea what you're talking about once again. Just because the ball isn't thrown to him doesn't mean he's "seldom" in the game. He got probably 15 plays at least during the ISU game..A few more last week vs WMU

He's still learning the offense. Didn't you catch the ISU game? KMM was instructing him from the sidelines and yelling at him for lining up on the wrong side of the LOS.

 

[upnorthkid]

This is an extremely debatable point as Iowa is Top 5 in the nation in number of offensive snaps per game. If we're going to run that volume of plays then our average gain per play will be lower (mathematical certainty) but more importantly it is just as effective in a football sense. Total yardage is by far the best measure of any offense.



Rudock is actually just as mobile as either Nelson or Leidner, it's just that Iowa's offense is not designed to exploit that fact. He would actually be the perfect guy to run your system, and I felt exactly the same thing in the opposite sense as I saw Shortell struggle to run your offense in Iowa City last yeaer. He would have been perfect for what we like to do.

And having attended Iowa games in both Ames and TCF Bank, it's a no-brainer which environment is more hostile, and it ain't your place. Sorry to deflate your ego on that one, but it's not even close. This will be the 2nd least intimidating road game that Iowa plays all year, behind only Purdue.

tell oregon that running a lot of plays= lower yards per play. offensive snaps have no bearing on how many yards per play you gain.

I'd disagree based on the limited things I've seen of Rudock. If he's more mobile than he has appeared then I am more prone to reconsider. and i will agree completely about shortell, hence why he left.

In regards to TCF vs Ames THIS SEASON (you know the only one that counts again) you played an ISU team coming off a loss to FCS Northern Iowa. I'm sure the student section was really jazzed to go watch that game and cheer on their world beater of a squad. The gophs this year are expecting one of their largest student crowds ever (who i will anticipate due to homecoming and the 230 start time) that will most likely be quite drunk and loud. People are actually excited in that we just blew out a supposed to be pretty good SJSU team. The stadium averages over the years might favor Ames, but this year, I'm gonna go with it will be louder at TCF. Just due to the situation. I have no false ideas that we are a louder stadium, but for this game, it will be loud. Rudock's 4 games are not going to make some world beater when it comes to crowd noise. That is all i'm trying to say. Just due to the cloud of circumstance around our program, people (and especially students) seem to be getting more firmly behind this team and it should pay some dividends on Sat.

 

[EG#9]

Iowa has the advantage on the Oline for sure. They have gotten a decent push in the run game against Northern Illinois and Iowa State while the Gophers OL has struggled at times against lesser competition (though ISU looks HORRIBLE, they might not be much better than UNLV). The other clear advantage for Iowa is at the LB spot where they have a couple of proven producers who are stronger at the point of attack than the Gophers group. Obviously, the Iowa passing game has shown more than Minnesota has. Minnesota has the edge on the DL from a pass rushing stand point, but Iowa might have the edge when it comes to run D given the size of the Gophers DE's.

The two teams are fairly evenly matched and I think the biggest question is whether or not the Gophers can run on the Hawkeyes. Saturday is when we start to find out whether the Gophers are improved or not. An improved Gopher team should win a competitive ball game at home against this Iowa team. I'd feel a lot better about the Gophers chances if I knew they could throw the ball competently enough to keep Iowa from keying the run all day. It goes without saying that neither team can afford to get down 10+ points, so a slow start is not recommended.

 

[Seany]

The Gophers are a towering mountain of awesome comprised of attractive naked ladies, Pantera albums, honey roasted cashews and bottles of smooth bourbon whisky.

Iowa's a steaming pool of diarrhea left by a sickly cat that couldn't quite make it to the litter box.

Hahaha. Bueno, mi amigo. Muy bien.

 

[Seany]

And to answer the original post, I truly have no idea how we stack up against them. I mean really, who knows? Both teams have had their ups and downs during the non-conference portion of the schedule, but it's difficult if not impossible to get an accurate measure based upon such disparate results against inferior competition, and so the only way to decide such question is to play it out head to head on the field, so thank God for Saturday, and there result will play, and we'll have answers to at least part this question, and how given the stakes of this game, this might be somewhat a tell on the Jerry Kill regime altogether, as if in year three we cannot manage to beat a somewhat dodgy Iowa team in TCF, well, then the floor will be open for questions, and you'd best believe the dogs the media will be howling and sniffing for blood.

It's such a tired cliche, but I absolutely do believe this to be a 'statement' game, as in, we just simply have to win it.

Please, and I am freaking praying to God, please, please, please, blow these sh*t-birds off the field this Saturday, or at least, just kindly, please beat them.

Please Gophers, as the clock is ticking on all of us.

It is both humbling and sobering to realize that there has been an entire generation paased, in which our far too brief moments in the Glen Mason era, they were the highlights such as those were, but how ultimately, there have been people born, grown up and died since we last had national relevance, a generation gone, starved, dying, and hungry.

As such, it's time, and simply has to be, so please again, just throw us a bone, and win, and win, and win.

 

[ncgo4]

I agree with the multiple posters who evaluate the teams as pretty evenly matched. I think there are two keys, one of them intangible. First, the Gopher's passing game. We MUST get our TEs involved immediately on short routes to keep the Iowa backers out of the box.

Secondly, the intangible. Thus is the game where Kill & Co get to prove for the very first time, that their abilities in the minor leagues can transfer to the B1G. Kill's teams never, and I mean NEVER, beginning with his third season in a new location, lost a conference game rated a toss up or in which they were favored. We are now in his third year and this is, no doubt a test of both him and his system!

I have no doubt that this game will usher in a new Gopher era. Not that they will win the B1G this year, but they will position themselves for the move up.

 

[jaymil]

You have no idea what you're talking about once again. Just because the ball isn't thrown to him doesn't mean he's "seldom" in the game. He got probably 15 plays at least during the ISU game..A few more last week vs WMU

He's still learning the offense. Didn't you catch the ISU game? KMM was instructing him from the sidelines and yelling at him for lining up on the wrong side of the LOS.

I find it quite hilarious we have Hawkeye fans arguing with each other on a Gopher message board.

On offense, I give the edge to Minnesota in the run game but Iowa in the pass game.

Defensively, Iowa is probably better against the run but Minnesota's secondary is better.

I don't know much about Iowa's special teams. Minnesota is great in some areas (kick coverage, return) but I definitely don't trust Hawthorne (kicker) with the game on the line.

This game will come down to who makes the most mistakes. Turnover differential will be huge and if either team scores on defense or special teams that team will have a great chance at winning. I see two pretty even teams on both sides of the ball. Should be a close one.

 

[salaunese]

Doubt we will see it, but would be interesting to see hageman matched up against Scherff, Iowa's LT

There's a possibility of him going pro after this season

 

[GopherVictory]

I find it quite hilarious we have Hawkeye fans arguing with each other on a Gopher message board.

I agree!
But I would like to take a moment to thank our Hawkeye fan visitors for engaging with us in a nice and civilized manner and giving us a few insights into some aspects of their team we may not be completely familiar with.

 

[upnorthkid]

Doubt we will see it, but would be interesting to see hageman matched up against Scherff, Iowa's LT

There's a possibility of him going pro after this season

you might be surprised. hageman has played some pass rush DE, but most likely they'd try keep him away from Scherff. we shall see

 

[fryguy22]

Total yardage is by far the best measure of any offense.

*Looks at scoreboard*
*Doesn't see Total yardage as the one factor determining who wins and loses a game*

 

[Stan The Caddy]

if only we still had shortell. the ginger effort would be overwhelming lol

Thankfully we do not still have Shortell. He was horrible in the loss at Iowa City last year. Missed a handful of throws early that had the potential to change the momentum, if not the game. Max was the starting QB for two of the worst losses we have seen the past two seasons. At Michigan and at Iowa.

 

[Section2]

I learned in this thread that iowas Oline is better than Ohio states, and that jake rudock is a proven passer.