Sid Hartman: Iowa’s easier schedule

[cjbfbp]

That said, I'm worried about Saturday's game. Minnesota is a solid and dangerous team. They have the motivation. The atmosphere will be electric. These are the types of games you dream of as a fan.

I hope the game is as good as you anticipate.

As an Iowa alum who has watched the Gophers much more than the Hawks for the past three seasons, I would say that the Gophs have more issues with their current team for sure. It will take a really good performance by the Gophers or a real letdown by the Hawks (which I don't expect) for Minnesota to win. If the Gophs deliver the kind of offensive performance they had against Michigan coupled with the kind of defensive performance they had for most of the Ohio State game, they have a solid chance but they haven't put together that kind of complete performance against a higher quality competitor so far this year. They've also dealt with more serious injury problems than normal. Despite those injuries, the team seems to be playing better since Kill stepped down. Their passing game clearly is better than their running game right now and the current head coach seems more willing to go with that strength than the former one.

 

[hawkeyemcnutt]

Ummm has Sid been paying attention to Iowa at all this year? They are the #2 rushing offense in the Big Ten and have been doing it the past three weeks without Canzeri (who apparently might be ready to play tomorrow if needed). Iowa's running game and our injuries along the DL are not a good combo heading into this one. Hopefully the backups can step in and have a huge game because no doubt Iowa is going to try and pound it on us if they can.

Canzeri is in and will play.

 

[hawkeyemcnutt]

Teams in major conferences get favorable schedules all the time. Iowas schedule has certainly been no meat grinder but I wouldn't say it's been much easier then Wisconsin in several of the last year's, but many others.

Iowa's 9-0 record has way, way more to do with how unbelievably and miraculously healthy they have stayed throughout the year. It's been nothing short of amazing and when you get that kind of luck, you had better take advantage of it and to their credit, Iowa is doing just that.

Northwestern did the same thing just a few years back. One of the top 3-4 teams in the nation in fewest games lost to injury and they rode it to a 10-win season. Followed it up with a pair of 5-7 campaigns, I believe.

Iowa went to Northwestern and won 40-10 without their starting RB, both starting Offensive Tackles, their top wideout, a banged up CJ Beathard, and not to mention the Hawkeyes had lost Drew Ott, their best defensive player, to a torn ACL the week before that game. Lucky with injuries?

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Missing the most interesting part of Sid's column:

"After that decisive Gophers victory and a 7-6 record last season, many Hawkeyes fans and boosters wanted to get rid of longtime coach Kirk Ferentz. To buy out Ferentz, however, it would have cost the Iowa athletic department $13 million on a contract that has five years to go at $3.5 million per season.

Well, it is a different story this season. Everybody in Iowa loves Ferentz, a great guy, because the Hawkeyes are undefeated."

Sid got it a little wrong. Many Iowa fans were calling for Kirk's head in 2011, 2012 and 2014. Even a few in 2013.

We've been told how it was only a "small minority" of Iowa fans that wanted Kirk gone. Reading football boards in those years, and this past Summer, there were plenty of voices who wanted him out.

Idiots..

I hope Ferentz finally leaves for the NFL after this season, just to troll all of the Iowa fans who wanted him out.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Iowa went to Northwestern and won 40-10 without their starting RB, both starting Offensive Tackles, their top wideout, a banged up CJ Beathard, and not to mention the Hawkeyes had lost Drew Ott, their best defensive player, to a torn ACL the week before that game. Lucky with injuries?

That is pretty lucky when you compare it to the amount of injuries we've had this year. We just went to Ohio St. without three starting offensive lineman, a starting TE, #3 WR, both starting DT, and starting safety. During the game our top two RBs went out and our #3 CB (who pretty much is a starter because we play so much nickel) was lost for the rest of the season.

 

[StPaulHawkeye]

Iowa got the scheduling benefit of drawing Maryland and Indiana (combined 0-10 in conference) as crossover games, that's for certain.
But I don't think that it's a soft schedule; it's easier than it could have been.
Sure, Iowa's last three games are against the bottom of the West division and have a combined 4 league wins. That's where Herbstreit gets his "embarrassingly easy" comment.

Last year's game was embarrassingly easy for Minnesota, the last game at Metrodome was embarrassingly easy for Iowa, but that's rarely what happens in this series.

(In addition, I think I did a bang up job of teeing up an "embarrassing/easy/Metrodome/bathroom" joke for someone to take advantage of.)

 

[Iceland12]

Iowa got the scheduling benefit of drawing Maryland and Indiana (combined 0-10 in conference) as crossover games, that's for certain.
But I don't think that it's a soft schedule; it's easier than it could have been.
Sure, Iowa's last three games are against the bottom of the West division and have a combined 4 league wins. That's where Herbstreit gets his "embarrassingly easy" comment.

Last year's game was embarrassingly easy for Minnesota, the last game at Metrodome was embarrassingly easy for Iowa, but that's rarely what happens in this series.

(In addition, I think I did a bang up job of teeing up an "embarrassing/easy/Metrodome/bathroom" joke for someone to take advantage of.)

Forgot my favorite "embarrassingly easy" game. When Iowa got-up to say goodbye to their greatest Coach in modern history, Hayden Fry. Final score Minnesota 49 Iowa 7.

 

[StPaulHawkeye]

Forgot my favorite "embarrassingly easy" game. When Iowa got-up to say goodbye to their greatest Coach in modern history, Hayden Fry. Final score Minnesota 49 Iowa 7.

Right. I must have blocked that one out. I was there for that game. Some of it anyway. Kieran's had a strange appeal to me at halftime.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Iowa went to Northwestern and won 40-10 without their starting RB, both starting Offensive Tackles, their top wideout, a banged up CJ Beathard, and not to mention the Hawkeyes had lost Drew Ott, their best defensive player, to a torn ACL the week before that game. Lucky with injuries?

Hook.

Line.

Sinker.