re: Iowa vs LSU breakdown

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Our coach can beat anyone, or come close, with this much time to prepare.

C'mon man. You are on a board that criticizes every move a coach makes. 'Kirk Ferentz is an idiot.' For X million dollars that 'we' pay him, he is horrible. That's the rant way.

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I think he is worth what we pay him, mostly because I'm not sure who we would get to come to Iowa for only $3.7MM. Our only advantage is that we can recruit the line and te's from here. Skill players are an issue for us. Also, if you look at our results historically, what he has done since he's been here is pretty good. T10, and one kinda, sorta NC run.

Nebraska has the same problem. Maybe worse. Their population is actually smaller than Iowa's. They've had to recruit nationally for a long, long time. The issue is now everyone is doing this. TV exposure, population, 85 scholarships.

We are now recruiting slightly differently. More speed on defense. More blitzing defenders. We are trying to step up with wide receivers.

We are a ways away. Two new coordinators last year. A lot of hold over from the past era, which was even more conservative. FWIW, I am a believer that defense and rushing win games, and win championships.

You beat us if you torch our secondary with your two WR's. You beat us if you keep our D on the field. We have a good D. They are under appreciated nationally. There is a significant % of our D that will be in the NFL. None of this matters if LSU game plans our weak spots, and they are on the field all game long. Our offense will struggle to keep up and put up points.

At Iowa it has always been our defense. In many ways, when we have a ball control offense, our offense is just an extension of our defense.

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Appreciate 8645's thoughts. Hope he doesn't mind if I add my two cents because I don't exactly agree with everything (my thoughts in bold).

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Thnx for your breakdown... this is a worthy thread.

I will not be nearly as detailed but I will still try to add something to the thread.

First, LSU has faced many LBs of Iowa's caliber. Most of the time, they did decently but definately had problems at times.

I still consider our two FBs to be the best in the nation even though JC Copeand has been missing some blocks and hurting the team on ocasion like fumbling the sure TD from the 2 yd line to go up 6 on Bama on our first drive. JC will get his head on straight and Iowa will learn what kinds of hell they will have to face when JC builds up a full head of steam. The guy has broken so many of his facemasks that he has to wear a special one that stands out... you can't miss it. LBs have feared him on more than one occasion but as I've said before he has been under performing so we will see how your LBs do against him and his counterpart.

Overall, our offense is what is the most exciting about our team this year and even though our starter is out, our true freshman secured the back up position from upperclassmen after a month or so of spring practices and hasn't looked back. Tiger fans feel awesome about his future and even if he has a slow start, LSU's offense is built to force the run on even the best rushing defenses until he finds his rythm.

LAU fans truly believe that we have the best group of RBs in the nation and yo can look up their stats for yourself to compare. We are all pretty used to being able to enjoy watching fresh legged top tier talent carrying the ball all through the game. this is one of the reasons why Coach Miles used to say things like "Imposing our will on our opponent' since they used to beat up on teams til they just gave up late in games. For the record, I doubt that Iowa will give anything up to my Tigers in any Qtr.

After losing more NFL players than Iowa has fielded in many years on defense alone, the Tigers were forced to move guys aroound and even start two true freshmen at CB In fact, our best CB only showed up on campus one week before the first game due to qualification issues. Behind them, we have the same two guys who started for us at CB last year so depth isn't really an issue in the secondary.

Our front seven, though, has been slow to mature. I am happy to announce that they have been getting better penetration now that the Chief has been sending more pressure and allowing his young CBs to hold their own on their islands. LSU's defenses have been constructed to be able to handle multiple receiver sets so that is a non issue to us even though our young defense is still having consistency issues.

Our DC loves his speed so when you lok at this eyar's LBs, you can see how both of the OLBs could play safety for many teams. I guess that is part of why you hear about SEC speed and all. He has always taken safeties and beefed them up. This LB group is considered weak by our standards though but don't let them fool you, when the Chief allows the front seven to pin their ears back, they are very impressive.

On defense, I see the bottom line as your receivers will have to be able to stretch the field on our secondary. If our CBs can handle your receivers without help, then you will not have nearly as much success on the ground as you will need to win.

I suspect that our offense will not miss a beat against your respectable defense. Nothing against your guys but it's just that they've played the best and they know what they will need to do. The QB who you will face looks to be more capable in more ways than our regular starter but lacks the vital experience. You should get a couple of gifts wrapped up in the form of interceptions but you will have to catch them against our WRs who will fight you for every damn ball in the air with hands of velcro.

If LSU doesn't get rid of their foolish offensive penalties, then you have a good chance of making this one a great game and winning it but you will definitely need those turnovers. Otherwise you could lose by three TDs.

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After losing more NFL players than Iowa has fielded in many years on defense alone, the Tigers were forced to move guys aroound and even start two true freshmen at CB In fact, our best CB only showed up on campus one week before the first game due to qualification issues. Behind them, we have the same two guys who started for us at CB last year so depth isn't really an issue in the secondary.

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I'm guessing you'll be surprised to learn that 10 of our 11 starters on the 2009 Iowa defense made NFL camps, with seven of them still on active rosters.

There's a reason GT was held to nine first downs, 155 yards of total offense and had 1/5 of their entire season's punts in that one game.

Good stuff in here.

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LSU fans dont seem too impressed with their DL. Interesting..

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We've had monster D-Linemen.

Michael Brockers
Glenn Dorsey
Levar Edwards
Ricky Jean Francois
Tyson Jackson
Bennie Logan
Drake Nevis
Kyle Williams
Al Woods

all play in the NFL.

Here is what I posted the other day in another thread. Much of it is the same as already posted here but there are a few subtle differences of opinion etc.

I think some Iowa fans, either out of simply trying to be overly nice or out of just not knowing any better, sell Iowa short in some areas (as well as sell LSU long). On the other hand, we have our share of crazies that only look at things through black and gold colored glasses. We all have them. Anywho, here is my other post:

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Most Iowa fans had no idea what to expect from this group before the season after coming off a tough year in 2012

Most people forget that despite our struggles in 2012, we had 5 losses by a total of 15 points, so even with all the issues of injuries and BAD QB play, they still weren't that far off.

Much of this was due to our HORRIBLE QB play last year and a young and struggling DL. Not to mention a new OC that seemed to struggle to get his system implemented and Phil Parker's first year as the DC. Iowa also had a decimated OL in 2012 losing our best 2 linemen for the year. So it was not an easy time.

That QB finally graduated and there was a shakeup with a number of the assistant coaches for the first time in the Ferentz era. This was a great thing as these new assts have breathed much needed youth, knowledge and life into the program. We are already seeing this on the recruiting trail and you can just tell that there is a change to the teams formerly stale approach.


Iowa has vastly improved from the beginning of the season and particularly the 2nd half of the season in 2013 we saw great strides. Offensive consistency has been the real issue. IMO, this is mostly due to a lack of play makers at the WR position. They have improved and we've seen flashes from Tevaun Smith and Damond Powell but the group as a whole have dropped too many balls for my liking and aside from these 2(at times) haven't shown the ability to make people miss in the open field.

Part of the inconsistency could also be that we started Jake Rudock, a true soph at QB who had ZERO career snaps before the season started. There was a lot of 2nd guessing from the fan base behind not giving Rudock a single snap last year even with our QB having one of the worst seasons of any QB in the country (I believe the only BCS school to have 1 QB take every single snap) So there was a ton of mystery coming into the season at such a crucial position but there was a lot of buzz that Rudock would be just fine. He has done as good of a job as you could ask for under the circumstances. He has played very well on the road which says a lot.

Our strengths are our LB's our TE's and the OL which is now at full strength. Our DL was very shaky last year and was a big reason for our struggles. The DL has played very well this year and IMO is underrated a bit. This D is on track with most of the solid D's that the Hawks have had over the years.

Many believe our 3 SR LB's are possibly the best LB group in the country. I feel confident at least 2 of the 3 will be solid NFL players but wouldn't be surprised if all 3 make it. They will be really missed next year but we do have some capable younger guys. Down the stretch they played as well as any LB group I've seen come through Iowa and we've had some good ones. It was fun to watch them react to plays without hesitation this year and just blow up plays. I'm sure our DL play had a lot to do with this but they are solid.

Overall we've had pretty solid CB play with the exception of a few breakdowns, particularly Desmond King, a true freshman has played well. He has been a pleasant surprise. I believe the other CB, BJ Lowery, might be leading the country in deflections. (at least near the top). They're not elite type guys but they are in the mold of typical Hawkeye CB's and we have several that are in the NFL.

Our weakness on might be the safety position. I think Miller and Lowdermilk have done a great job against the run but tends to let receivers get behind them on occasion and has led to some breakdowns. Against LSU's talented receivers, that scares me a lot.

One thing that has been a constant at Iowa is that Ferentz has them ready to play in bowl games. I am hoping for a good game down to the wire.

LSU may be capable of getting away from Iowa on the scoreboard if their young QB can make them pay with his feet which opens things up. Iowa has traditionally struggled more with a mobile QB.

I certainly think Iowa could pound away physically on LSU and control the game from that standpoint. I don't think Iowa would blow out LSU unless they get demoralized from the ground and pound and take risks that cost them big plays and then Iowa were to control the clock.

I believe it will be a combination of Iowa grinding down LSU for scores and LSU making a few big plays. It should be exciting.

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Powell is faster than most SEC wide receivers, but small,

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We have small burners as well. They can really be hell to keep track of. We once had a guy named Trindon who was so darned fast and small that opponents usually never saw jhi, until he was running around the outside or in the open field. The only problem with him was that he was only ever put on the field to get the ball since his blocking was nearly non existent. Thus, he was always keyed on and ended up just returning kicks for us.

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I'm not sure Scherff hasn't been consistent. He's been double teamed most of the year, and I'd expect LSU does the same. He's coming back his senior year. If he went NFL, he would have been a late 1st round, or early 2nd round pick.

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You really need to understand that the SEC has undergone a transformation this year. We are very QB heavy and our offenses are top notch nationally. Honestly, I would put our offenses against any other conferences offenses this year from top to bottom.

This will not be a fluke at LSU but don't let that get you thinking that we don't have a defense any more. I know that we've been in some shootouts but our defense was using two TF and one of them was not allowed to show up onto campus until a week before the first game was played. Once he was on the right page, he was our #1 CB. The two CBs who lost their jobs were True Sophomores (what else can u do when all of your players are getting highly drafted after three years?) This means that the Tigers are once again stacked at CB but they are going through their growing pains. All but one of our safeties are also dealing with their own growing pains coupled with our cb's issues that make their jobs more difficult.

The biggest reason why we lost in a shootout to Geo by 3 pts was because our Soph DBs got schooled by Geo's senior QB due to the fact that they were playing zone 4 out of 5 times because our DC had no faith in their coverage abilities. This is no longer the case with our TF locking down guys just as impressive as your top wide out. Of coarse, since he is a little on the new side, we see him manning up more than not which is what we LSU fans are used to with Patrick Peterson, the Honey Badger and Mo Claiborne. Instead of those head scratching problems that we were seeing in the Georgia game early in the year, we are seeing lock downs like in the A+M game later in the year.

Now that our CBs are manning up better, our front seven can be themselves much more like they are used to doing. Our DC has been able to bring heat and not worry about our opponent's top two receivers for a long time now and as time passes, we are seeing this again. One of the major keys to our game will be if your receivers can handle our talented freshmen CBs. Don't think for one moment that they will have an easy time of it but they could really throw our game plan for a loop with the right play calling and then it's anyone's show!

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I would expect LSU to pick apart our safeties. The corners get a lot of heat, but most corners do. Our safeties have improved, but they bite on run a lot. As in a lot.

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You can expect to see your safeties biting on the run all game brother. Les loves my favorite formation... the I-Form. Since we have two top wide outs and a couple of the best FBs in the nation, this is a staple of LSU's offense as it has been since Miles showed up here. Our two WRs will catch a bunch of balls but 3 or 4 of LSU's RB are going to gain over 50 yards a piece as well to make things very difficult for Iowa's safeties to say the least.

Here's some more food for your safties thought... LSU will start their back-up QB for the first time in his True Freshman career. Now don't get too confident util you watch the end of LSU's game against Arky. After you watch this kid lead two scoring drives, you will definately get a warm fuzzy about betting this game with your local bookie.

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As everywhere, either the LB's make the DL look good, or the other way around. We are solid in both areas, but have really, really good LB's. All 3 will sniff the NFL next year.

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Keep telling yourself that brother but just don't put your money on it in the second half. If LSU (and some other SEC teams) are consistent about anything it's punching their opponent in the mouth every single play until they lose their will to win in the second half. It takes a truly tough and determined bunch of warriors to beat an LSU team from any year. Maybe your guys can do it and maybe they can't... I don't know them very well so good luck with that.

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The TE's have developed in to good blockers, and we likely scheme around this. There is opportunity against LSU here. We scouted tOSU, and used this to our advantage until their overall athletic ability beat us. Even then, there was a circus play from their QB, or RB, I can't recall which, that made highlight films everywhere, and it was actually that we lost back shoulder contain. We were still in the game at that point. I called MSU beating tOSU, and MSU is the B1G's best team.

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I have to respect your opinion on that point. I won't mention any specific players but we Tiger fans feel confident that Les has some true freshmen who could be playing better than one or two of the guys that have been starting. Of coarse, we all have to defer to the coaches but we are simply used to seeing our LBs play much better than they have been. I have heard rumors of a freshmen taking over the weakest LB spot and it\f he plays up to his recruiting ranking, he should be able to wreak havoc and shut down anything thrown at him including TEs. But again, that will be a tall order and I won't be one bit surprised if Iowa kills us in the air with their TEs.

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If I were LSU's football coach. I would watch the Iowa -v- MSU game film a lot.

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Thnx for the advice... I will try to catch a replay of that one. I am not sure if I can point out any one game to watch in order to see LSU's weaknesses. Geo killed our zone with one of the best QBs in the nation. Bama killed us after we shot ourselves in the foot repeatedly. Ole Miss beat us when we were too busy acting like stupid fcks.

I hope that helps a little


Peace out

Question for the LSU fans, I have read a lot about this final drive against Arkansas. Im sure most Iowa fans have not seen this or any films on LSU. Is there a link to watch the end of this game? Just curious thanks..

Brew, I agree. I think our WR will struggle this game but our TE should be a focal point of our offense. CJF is a mismatch in any game. If their DL isnt ready we will be grinding all game with an occasional long ball thrown in. Pretty much typical Iowa under Ferentz..