Question on EIU
- Thread starter clonefan1
- Start date
Trust me. There is nothing wrong with Bryan Bulaga. If he was seriously injured, you would see a meltdown of epic proportions on every Hawkeye board. It would only be rivaled by Stanzi going down for the season.
I nearly peed when I read that....you're right, epic.:biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:
Dumb question, but is the UNI v. Iowa game on TV? I wouldn't mind watching that.
Every Iowa football game since 2000 has been on TV, this one will be as well. More than likely on the Big Ten Network.
DJK -
You're slippin' a little bit! :smile:
Anyhow, Vandervelde was a 2nd year starter in 2008. Also, Bulaga certainly had a lot to prove in '08, especially considering that it was his first season at OT ... however, even at the same point last year, Bulaga was viewed as our best guy on the OL. Yes, Bulaga is THAT elite of a talent! However, because of that, you're very correct in your other post ... there would definitely be a melt-down of epic proportions if Bulaga really was seriously hurt.
The '08 OL was really experienced and pretty much the only questions were about Bruggs and whether Vandervelde would have a SO slump. Also, the word from camp was that Calloway was no longer retreating to his shell ... so it seemed pretty obvious to me that he had "turned the corner." As it turned out, the OL turned out to be pretty darn solid. BTW ... do you remember how negative Iowa fans and the media were about Iowa's OL after spring camp? That's what injuries will do for ya ... folks didn't know what to expect ... but the coaches and players did!
A good thing about the situation going into '09 is that it sounds like Eubanks won't have issues with regard to line calls ... and that was a knock on him a few years ago. Furthermore, it sounds like Koeppel is rather solid in that regard. In fact, arguably the biggest knock on Iowa's C spot in '09 is that neither guy seems to come across quite aggressive/mean enough ... and that both guys are a bit undersized. I think that's a big reason why so many folks initially thought that Ferentz or Vandervelde would have had a chance to take over the C spot ... both guys are bigger and tougher.
As for the rest of Iowa's OL ... when the unit is together and healthy it will be very good. After it has gelled, it will be dominating.
I used to be concerned about the C spot ... now I think that Iowa will AT LEAST get a workmanlike performance from Eubanks/Koeppel that will end up being akin to Rothwell's performance in '03.
Man, I forgot about the Big Ten Network.....
luckily Mediacom raised my rates to include that bastard.
EVERY Iowa game since 2000 has been televised? That's impressive.
According to the game notes from the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, the last Iowa game to not be televised was the Nov. 17, 2001 game against Minnesota.
That's cool if you want to think that. Gotta make yourself feel better somehow. The fact of the matter is, Stanzi has actually gotten bigger and stronger since last year. That obviously helps if he was able to maintain his mobility. The one thing that will be an even bigger factor than his size and strength is that he's practically moved into the film room, and has spent massive amounts of time analyzing game tapes. I read a story quoting DJK as saying that Stanzi's work ethic has been phenomenal and contageous, and the receivers are wanting to work just as hard as he has.
As far as this goes...I know 90% of your posts would be sub-par on a 5th grade discussion board, but you have to know better than to mock Iowa for dodging Ohio State. ISU has no room, at all, to mock anyone for missing the best team(s) in the conference. Think of it this way. In a given 10 year period, ISU will play Oklahoma and Texas either 4 or 6 times out of 10. So that would mean in a giving decade, you play the 'big two' 40% or 60% at best. That's just an ignorant attempt at trying to throw **** at the wall and hoping it sticks.
I agree, if Stanzi goes down, the neckbeard will prove to be a servicable backup.
Solid line, should be pretty tough in the defensive front 7, a big ten that outside of Ohio State is pretty wide open and a really favorable schedule have me thinking the Hawks win 9 games.
Yeah, if you think the meltdown on this board from ISU fans every time Iowa has some success is pathetic, just wait until we win 10 games this year. There will be at least 20 times the amount of "Kirk Ferentz is the worst person in the history of the world and why are we the ONLY ones that think that?" and "Big-10 sucks, we'd win 8,000 straight games in that conference" threads.
Oh, this is going to be a fun season! They've got only a few more weeks to run their mouths and then it will be all over and our team will do the real talking and they'll be walking away with their heads between their legs. Can't wait.........few more weeks my fellow Hawkeye fans and this garbage is all over!
It could be worse...the road schedule could hardly be considered murderers row, and there isn't any reason to think Iowa shouldn't at go 7-0 or 6-1 at home.
Oh no doubt it could be worse (maybe not "murderer's row," but definitely very tough); it just seemed a rather broad generalization to make and sorta' smacked of the typical "messageboard poster who hasn't done his homework" type thing. Probably just the standard "B10 sucks, ergo Iowa's schedule is cupcakey" meme.
I would say it's the toughest road schedule I've seen Iowa play in awhile. When playing at Camp Randall/Jack Trice are the easiest road games, that is saying something.
I think the road schedule is being overplayed. Wisconsin has never been a tough place to play for us and I don't think Wisconsin is any good. I would honestly be surprised if this was even a game.
Penn State is overrated. They lost A LOT. If not for Darryl Clark being back, they'd be a 6 win team- at best. Iowa is 6-1 in the last 7 vs Penn State and I believe 2007 is the last time we lost in Happy Valley since 1994. So the difficulty of this game is not as high as some think.
Michigan State is another overrated team. They have no experience at QB or RB at all. Teams without returning starters in the Big-10 outside of Ohio State don't typically fare well. Iowa in 2004 was an abberation. I think Iowa will be improved and MSU will take a small step back. We lost early in conference play basically by 1 yard.
Ohio State is a loss. Forget it. I give Iowa 2% chance of winning this game. Hawks haven't won there since 1991 and that's not about to change. Look for 4-5 turnovers from Iowa in this one.
Iowa State is Iowa State in a rebuilding year. I know, I know.......same thing in 2007. No it's not. This isn't 2007 Iowa. This IS 2007 Iowa State. Clones needed a fluke play and 5 of 6 FG's from the worst kicker in the history of kickers to beat us on a last second FG in that game. The odds of something like that happening twice in a row? 0 in 0. Do I think Iowa is going to absolutely destroy ISU? No, not at all. I don't expect our best offensive performance in this game and expect it to be more like 2005 when ISU just absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage, except this time the other way around. Plain and simple.......the Iowa-ISU game has been won or lost up front almost every year. 2003 Iowa killed ISU up front, 2005 ISU killed Iowa up front, 2007 same thing, etc.....
I am not a Big-10 basher like everyone on here, but I do not think the conference is that great. I think Iowa and Ohio State are BY FAR the 2 best teams. After that it's a crapshoot. Now Illinois........they could win this league. Of course, they could go 2-6 in the conference too. Zook is so bad of a coach, but man- that's a talented ballclub. With just an average coach, they would win this league EASILY. But Zook will most likely find a way to be mediocre. MSU and Penn State are decent. Michigan will be improved but still not that good. Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern will all suck. Minnesota has the one coach that might be worse than Zook in Tim Brewster so they'll lose quite a few games they shouldn't. Wisconsin will be relatively mediocre.
We're not talking about a great league here folks, as much as I hate to say it. Quite frankly, it's basically a larger Big-12 North.
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