I really didn't want to create another thread to talk about the state of IUFB post Iowa, but I just keep seeing these crazy overreactions to the Iowa game, I felt I had to. You can agree or disagree with my thoughts, but I think some of the more experienced Hoosier FB fans are ready to write off IU because of the not so stellar history of this program, that's understandable, but not rational.
The Wildcards of the game: This category is all of the crazy events that led to the end result of the game, which are really skewing most people's opinions of how the game went. The first and most obvious wildcard were the two Pick Sixes thrown by Penix, I will stand by saying that first pick six was just a gift from god to Iowa, our DJ Matthews slips and Penix doesn't notice so he whips to Matthews, who tips it up, and into the waiting arms of a Hawkeye DB. This was the least of what impressed me about Iowa's defensive performance, but it obviously had a huge impact on the game. Frankly it wasn't even an impressive play by Iowa, the defender did not make a good read, there was not an excessive amount of pressure on Penix, a JV DB at your local High School could've made that play, yet it resulted in 7 points for Iowa.
The second one was an already jittery Penix, assuming Camron Buckley would run the correct route and throwing without really looking. I will give some credit to Riley Moss, I think a lot of corners would not have been aware enough to Pick that off, but either way Buckley runs the correct route and that's not an interception, and it's certainly not another 7 points for Iowa. Defensive Touchdowns are not something that even good defensive teams can count on and they make a huge difference when they occur. For frame of reference, IU's defense had a B1G leading 17 INT's and had 0 defensive touchdowns last year.
The Hawkeyes were also gifted 7 points after the refs decided not to review that 4th and 2, he was short of the line to gain enough said. So Iowa was gifted 21 points on a silver platter, they weren't really earned. After the second Pick 6, the game was never the same. Iowa stopped trying to score and just focused on running the clock out because of how big the lead was, so I don't want to go as far as to say Iowa only scores 13 points had those 3 plays gone our way, because Iowa's offense clearly let up, but I will say I think our offense would have put up more of a fight without those 3 plays.
Another wild circumstance is the fact that we didn't have crowds last year, so neither team has been in front of a crowd in two years. The crowd always has an impact, but there's no doubt they had more of an impact on this game than they do normally. Final wildcard, the fact that this was our QB's first game back from a major injury, Penix was clearly not as comfortable as he would've been if he had ended last year healthy, I was always nervous that we opened the year on the road against a ranked team given how IU ended last year, and it clearly didn't work in our favor. If we had flipped the dates for Idaho and Iowa, I think this offense puts up a much better fight, it would've eased them into their playbook and allowed Penix to get comfortable again.
The Wildcards of the game: This category is all of the crazy events that led to the end result of the game, which are really skewing most people's opinions of how the game went. The first and most obvious wildcard were the two Pick Sixes thrown by Penix, I will stand by saying that first pick six was just a gift from god to Iowa, our DJ Matthews slips and Penix doesn't notice so he whips to Matthews, who tips it up, and into the waiting arms of a Hawkeye DB. This was the least of what impressed me about Iowa's defensive performance, but it obviously had a huge impact on the game. Frankly it wasn't even an impressive play by Iowa, the defender did not make a good read, there was not an excessive amount of pressure on Penix, a JV DB at your local High School could've made that play, yet it resulted in 7 points for Iowa.
The second one was an already jittery Penix, assuming Camron Buckley would run the correct route and throwing without really looking. I will give some credit to Riley Moss, I think a lot of corners would not have been aware enough to Pick that off, but either way Buckley runs the correct route and that's not an interception, and it's certainly not another 7 points for Iowa. Defensive Touchdowns are not something that even good defensive teams can count on and they make a huge difference when they occur. For frame of reference, IU's defense had a B1G leading 17 INT's and had 0 defensive touchdowns last year.
The Hawkeyes were also gifted 7 points after the refs decided not to review that 4th and 2, he was short of the line to gain enough said. So Iowa was gifted 21 points on a silver platter, they weren't really earned. After the second Pick 6, the game was never the same. Iowa stopped trying to score and just focused on running the clock out because of how big the lead was, so I don't want to go as far as to say Iowa only scores 13 points had those 3 plays gone our way, because Iowa's offense clearly let up, but I will say I think our offense would have put up more of a fight without those 3 plays.
Another wild circumstance is the fact that we didn't have crowds last year, so neither team has been in front of a crowd in two years. The crowd always has an impact, but there's no doubt they had more of an impact on this game than they do normally. Final wildcard, the fact that this was our QB's first game back from a major injury, Penix was clearly not as comfortable as he would've been if he had ended last year healthy, I was always nervous that we opened the year on the road against a ranked team given how IU ended last year, and it clearly didn't work in our favor. If we had flipped the dates for Idaho and Iowa, I think this offense puts up a much better fight, it would've eased them into their playbook and allowed Penix to get comfortable again.
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