TE recruiting was atrocious and then there was attrition. REcruiting under Rhoads was atrocious.
OK - who wins the game on Sept. 9th ?
- Thread starter Yellow Snow
- Start date
Iowa only had 5 players catch more balls or had more yards than Fant last year with 9 catches and 70 yards. Seriously.
Phil Parker said it is the best dline that he has had since he has been DC. It was in the register a couple days ago.
LMAFAO...any fan that uses practice pictures as indication of how good someone is is an idiot. I'll say that about both fanbases. Practice pictures are marketing tools used to get fans excited.
Fant might be the second coming of Dallas Clark but dear lord...practice pictures...LMFAO!!!
They will be solid on the interior. Not the biggest on the interior like they had been in years past with J Johnson and Carl Davis but ends should be good.
Most of the numbers are due to pace of play. Conferences that play at a faster pace score more points. Conferences that play at a slower pace score fewer points. Slower pace=fewer plays run= fewer possessions=fewer points.
- Take a look at a great defensive team like Alabama when they get against a team that pushes tempo. All of a sudden it is a higher scoring game. Look at them vs Clemson, Ole Miss. etc. Just watched the replay of the Nat Championship game last night and the announcers were talking pace. Clemson scored 21 points in the 4th quarter. Wore Alabama down. Look at how Indiana is able to push pace against teams like Penn St and iowa and get higher scoring games than what those teams normally play.
- KSU is usually one of the better defensive teams in the Big 12...Crazy enough...they play at a big tin pace. Same with Texas.
- The PAC 12 and the Big 12 run more plays than all the other conferences. Surprisingly...they are higher scoring. The ACC is third in plays ran...third in scoring. Crazy.
The bolded is flawed reasoning.
Who did he beat out to be back up?
Wisnieski, Pekar and Kittle were the only ones with experience.
Kittle was the obvious starter
Wisnieski got hurt
Pekar has 1 catch for 5 yards in 15 games
Wieting- was a RSFR walk on
Vevjoda- RSFR who was a 3 star with no other P5 offers
So it isn't like he beat out a bunch of studs. he beat out Pekar who was a SO and had played in one game. Throw in iowa uses two TEs...
He wasn't redshirted because they had no depth
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Well then it must be true.
Or maybe he is seeing htem go against an OL that is pathetic at pass pro
Not a ton of trouble replacing Johnson. Will he be misssed? yeah he will but they have Lattimore and Bazata along with the Nelsons that will be in the middle. Nelsons, Hesse and Epenesa will be on he outside. DL will be a huge strength for Iowa this year. I think they will be better as they have 3 year starting LBS behind them and athletic young secondary players.
The Iowa defense is going to be very good this year. They lost 1 starter and gained a 4* recruit to take his place in Lattimore and now have a 5* DE in Epenesa to rotate guys along the line more.
I realize ISU got better, I was mocking Clone fans who say Iowa doesn't get better during the year just because they lose A Bowl game a month after the regular season.
Well put. Iowa front 7 is going to be really good. I don't know if they will be all the way there vs ISU though as AJ is gonna still be young and I don't think the staff will have him in for more than 30 snaps a game early. By the halfway point I think AJ will be starting.
Zeb would be able to be serviceable, not as good, but a workable backup. He has a year of bench and learning time in Campbell's system already; his only major problem is the the reinjury risk.
To be honest, I'd say that if Park goes down long-term, Lanning comes back over full-time.
I would guess the starters for the first snap against Wyoming will be either Matt Nelson or Parker Hesse at one end, Anthony Nelson at the other end, Nathan Bazata and one DT and Cedric Lattimore at the other. The two Nelsons and Hesse split the defensive end reps 3 ways last year, all played 300+ snaps. Bazata will be a 3-year starter at DT. Lattimore played about 90 snaps last year as a true freshmen. Beyond those 5 guys, A.J. Epenesa will definitely play. Epenesa is the 5-star son of former Hawkeye player. He is the type of physical specimen as a freshmen that Iowa and Iowa State just don't usually get. How good will he be in Game 2 of the season? No idea.
So Iowa has 3 starters back and question mark in replacing Jaleel Johnson. In the Kids' Day practice, both Matt Nelson and Hesse were taking snaps at DT, especially in passing situations. The overall feeling in Hawkeye fandom is some worry about the DT spot, but most teams would like to be in the position of having 3 of 4 d-line starters back and all 3 linebackers returning.
Bigger question marks for Iowa are secondary and the passing game (just my opinion of course).
