While many of us were watching Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M pull of an exciting comeback against Duke in the Chik-Fil-a Bowl, news broke that Bill O'Brien would be leaving Penn St to take the head coaching job of the Houston Texans. Of course, this will bring out all of the Twitter tough guys to talk trash about O'Brien. We will also probably see several Penn St reporters talking about how he lied to the kids and how much he just hurt the program. The truth is every Penn St fan should be thanking Bill O'Brien for the time he spent there.
When Penn St set out to to replace Joe Paterno, they didn't have many good options. They couldn't risk hiring anyone with a negative track record because of the negative attention already on the program. There also wasn't a long list of big name candidates jumping to take the job. No one wanted to be associated with the mess that was Penn St and the uncertain penalties that were going to be coming from the NCAA. Current players and recruits were expected to jump ship. A 20 scholarship per year penalty and a 4 year bowl ban was enough to send Penn St into a period of awful football for some time.
In stepped Bill O'Brien. He calmed the storm by convincing most of the players to stay at Penn St, and set the team up for the future by convincing top recruits to come to Penn St even though they wouldn't be able to play in a post season game until they were upperclassmen. Filling the cupboards with as much talent as he could find was a huge benefit to the program. Pulling off an 8-4 record in his first season was just icing on the cake.
This year was a relatively quiet year for Penn St, which I think is a good thing. After being everywhere in the news last year for negative stories, or stories related to negative events, the coverage of PSU this year was based on football. I don't expect Penn St. fans to be excited about 7-5 seasons, but they were moving in the right direction. Hackenberg got a lot of experience, the program was able to get their scholarship limitations reduced, and O'Brien was working on another great recruiting class.
How many of the recruits will stay? I expect chances are most of them will. They will probably lose a few, depending on who the new coach is, but it will still end up being a really good recruiting class. More importantly, I think the two seasons Bill O'Brien coached at PSU opens the job up to a much better class of coaches. The next coach isn't following a legend (Joe Paterno). The next coach isn't following a nightmare situation. The next coach isn't dealing with tremendous uncertainty of sanctions. O'Brien took all of that, and leaves Penn State's football program in a much better place than when he started. For that, Penn St fans owe Bill O'Brien a tremendous thank you.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Outback Bowl: Hawkeyes vs LSU 1/1/14
Happy New Year! Who isn't pumped to see if Iowa can start off the new year right? Iowa is 3-1 against SEC teams in Bowl games under Kirk Ferentz (4-1 if you count Missouri). Is it an issue of SEC teams looking past Iowa or Iowa being underrated? Probably both, but I'm expecting another good game today.
On offense, I don't think any one RB is going to get 15 carries. Instead, we are going to see a heavy Weisman, Bullock, Canzeri rotation for most of the game and it's going to be very effective. Iowa is going to take a lead early in this game and try and run the ball for 3 quarters, amassing almost 200 yards rushing. The surprise of the game though is going to be the emergence of Damond Powell. With the weeks of practice leading up to the bowl, coaches are going to be very comfortable with Damond's offensive awareness. I see him getting 3 or 4 receptions and over 100 yards receiving, a feat only accomplished once this year (Jake Duzey vs Ohio St). Jake Rudock is going to have a safe game, completing 75% of his passes and avoiding any turnovers.
On defense, we are going to see just how good the this Iowa team is. The front seven is going to shut down Jeremy Hill. LSU will be held under 100 yards rushing. Anthony Hitchens will be everywhere and will be a surprise pick for MVP of the game. LSU will get put up some passing yards as they try desperately to catch up, but it won't be enough.
Final score: Iowa 31, LSU 17.
On offense, I don't think any one RB is going to get 15 carries. Instead, we are going to see a heavy Weisman, Bullock, Canzeri rotation for most of the game and it's going to be very effective. Iowa is going to take a lead early in this game and try and run the ball for 3 quarters, amassing almost 200 yards rushing. The surprise of the game though is going to be the emergence of Damond Powell. With the weeks of practice leading up to the bowl, coaches are going to be very comfortable with Damond's offensive awareness. I see him getting 3 or 4 receptions and over 100 yards receiving, a feat only accomplished once this year (Jake Duzey vs Ohio St). Jake Rudock is going to have a safe game, completing 75% of his passes and avoiding any turnovers.
On defense, we are going to see just how good the this Iowa team is. The front seven is going to shut down Jeremy Hill. LSU will be held under 100 yards rushing. Anthony Hitchens will be everywhere and will be a surprise pick for MVP of the game. LSU will get put up some passing yards as they try desperately to catch up, but it won't be enough.
Final score: Iowa 31, LSU 17.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Hawkeyes vs Purdue 11/9/13
Recap: The defense came to play and did a solid job of shutting down Wisconsin's run game for 3 quarters. They were just on the field too long and Wisconsin scored a couple late. The downfall for Iowa was the offensive game plan. Running the big back to the outside against a faster defense was not very effective. We also didn't see enough of the Tight Ends in the passing game, especially with multiple TE sets. It appeared that this was clearly a week that Greg Davis was out coached.
On to Purdue. This one is big. Not just because some idiot from Purdue was insulting to Nile Kinnick and the military on a day Purdue plans to celebrate veterans, but because this game would clinch bowl eligibility. After only winning 4 games last year, I believe that a 6 win Hawkeye team clinches a bowl game. That extra 3 weeks of practice will be huge going into next season. Oh, and this is the protected "rivalry" game for the Hawkeyes.
On offense, I we will see a return to a heavy running game in the 1st half. Iowa will jump out to a solid lead in the first half, up 21-6. Then in the second half, the unfortunate trend of the season will continue. One team will make adjustments and the other team will not. Purdue will score a couple of times late, but it won't be enough for them to catch up. Iowa will hold on to win 27-20.
It won't be pretty, but in the end the Hawkeyes will be bowl eligible.
On to Purdue. This one is big. Not just because some idiot from Purdue was insulting to Nile Kinnick and the military on a day Purdue plans to celebrate veterans, but because this game would clinch bowl eligibility. After only winning 4 games last year, I believe that a 6 win Hawkeye team clinches a bowl game. That extra 3 weeks of practice will be huge going into next season. Oh, and this is the protected "rivalry" game for the Hawkeyes.
On offense, I we will see a return to a heavy running game in the 1st half. Iowa will jump out to a solid lead in the first half, up 21-6. Then in the second half, the unfortunate trend of the season will continue. One team will make adjustments and the other team will not. Purdue will score a couple of times late, but it won't be enough for them to catch up. Iowa will hold on to win 27-20.
It won't be pretty, but in the end the Hawkeyes will be bowl eligible.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Hawkeyes vs Wisconsin 11/2/13
Last week's recap: It was a high anxiety game as the Hawkeyes continued their trend of leading at half and then trying to lose the game. In the end, the held on for the win and the cover (for those who care about those type of things). They have surpassed last year's win total and are one game from bowl eligible.
This week they face a tough Badger team. Obviously the Badgers have a run heavy offense. For most of the season, that has been the strength of the Hawkeyes defense. Strength against strength and I think the Hawkeyes from seven is up to the challenge. I don't think they will completely shut down the run game, but they will stay solid near the goal line. They will allow Gordon into the endzone once, but that will be all for TD's allowed.
Can the Hawkeyes move the ball offensively? Wisconsin has been tough against the run this season, but not exceptional against the pass. I think a return to the Ohio St offense could be in order. They will struggle against the run, but will have just enough to keep the defense honest for the Tight Ends to get over the top. The Hawkeyes will get 120 rushing yards for the game. Not bad, but not enough to dominate. This game will be dominated by the TEs. They will get the ball moved solidly between the group of them for 180 yards receiving. The receivers will add in another 120 has Rudock throws for 300 yards today.
The Hawkeyes will get a lead early and go into half time up 10-3. The second half will be low scoring as well, but the Hawkeyes hold on for a 16-13 victory.
Go Hawks and see you at Kinnick!
Friday, October 25, 2013
Hawkeyes vs Northwestern 10/26/13
Last weeks recap: It looked possible for 3 quarters. Hoping one of these days they play a full game.
The Hawkeyes are coming back home for a very important run. They are going to need to pull off a couple of big games to reach the 8 win mark. The first one comes today. We all know that Northwestern has been a pain in the butt the last few years. It's not going to happen this year. Iowa comes in to this game as a 4 point favorite and they are going to cover that.
The run game and 3 TE offense returns to Iowa City. Weisman will run for 125 yards. The other RB's, lead by Bullock and LeShun Daniels, will add over 100 of their own to get Iowa over the 250 yards rushing mark. They will control the clock in a solid fashion.
The 3 TE set is going to make a somewhat significant appearance as well. Rudock will have completions to 4 different TE's and 10 receptions overall. Rudock will have a steady amount of passing throughout the game and will accumulate over 200 yards passing and a couple TD's.
The defense will have a solid effort, limiting the effectiveness of Kain Colter. It will seem like a return to the bend but don't break defense of years passed. Iowa will force NW into a couple of mistakes that help keep the momentum going Iowa's direction.
On a day that will turn out a little warmer than predicted, Iowa will pull out the win 27-16.
Don't forget to stop by the ANF booth. I'm bringing my son tomorrow and he's excited to try and get some autographs.
The Hawkeyes are coming back home for a very important run. They are going to need to pull off a couple of big games to reach the 8 win mark. The first one comes today. We all know that Northwestern has been a pain in the butt the last few years. It's not going to happen this year. Iowa comes in to this game as a 4 point favorite and they are going to cover that.
The run game and 3 TE offense returns to Iowa City. Weisman will run for 125 yards. The other RB's, lead by Bullock and LeShun Daniels, will add over 100 of their own to get Iowa over the 250 yards rushing mark. They will control the clock in a solid fashion.
The 3 TE set is going to make a somewhat significant appearance as well. Rudock will have completions to 4 different TE's and 10 receptions overall. Rudock will have a steady amount of passing throughout the game and will accumulate over 200 yards passing and a couple TD's.
The defense will have a solid effort, limiting the effectiveness of Kain Colter. It will seem like a return to the bend but don't break defense of years passed. Iowa will force NW into a couple of mistakes that help keep the momentum going Iowa's direction.
On a day that will turn out a little warmer than predicted, Iowa will pull out the win 27-16.
Don't forget to stop by the ANF booth. I'm bringing my son tomorrow and he's excited to try and get some autographs.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Hawkeyes @ Ohio St 10/19/13
Well my year to date is sitting at 4-2 for my Hawkeye predictions (I missed posting the Western Michigan game). Amazingly enough this mirrors the Hawkeye schedule. Yes I'm a homer and that is going to show even more today with my prediction against Ohio St. The Buckeyes have won 18 in a row and I think this is the game they over look the Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes are going to come out in the first half doing what they do, pound the ball. Weisman is going to have 15 carries in the first half for 80 yards and a TD. This will also result in Iowa having the ball longer than normal. Jake Rudock will add a TD to Hamilton in the first half.
For the defense, they have been talked about this week as the only team that hasn't allowed a rushing TD. It sounded like the Buckeyes were taking that as a personal challenge. I think it's going to work in reverse for this game though. The Hawkeyes are going to take the Buckeyes challenge as a their own challenge and hold them out of the endzone rushing. The Buckeyes will get a passing TD and a field goal in the first half and the Hawkeyes will take a 14-10 lead into halftime.
The second half we will all be surprised when the Hawkeyes make better adjustments than the Buckeyes do. They will start with more focus on the running game, which will set up a nice play action TD to Damond Powell. Then on the next drive for the Hawkeyes they are going to get another long play action pass to Tevaun Smith. Weisman will finish up that drive as the Hawkeyes take a commanding 28-13 lead. The fourth quarter will make us all nervous again as they go a little to soft on the prevent, but the Hawkeyes hold on for a 28-20 victory.
Jake Rudock ends up with 205 yards passing and 2 TD's. Mark Weisman finishes up with 25 rushes for 130 yards and 2 TD's. The defense still holds the rushing game out of the endzone and the Hawkeye state celebrates like we are Rose Bowl bound all week.
The Hawkeyes are going to come out in the first half doing what they do, pound the ball. Weisman is going to have 15 carries in the first half for 80 yards and a TD. This will also result in Iowa having the ball longer than normal. Jake Rudock will add a TD to Hamilton in the first half.
For the defense, they have been talked about this week as the only team that hasn't allowed a rushing TD. It sounded like the Buckeyes were taking that as a personal challenge. I think it's going to work in reverse for this game though. The Hawkeyes are going to take the Buckeyes challenge as a their own challenge and hold them out of the endzone rushing. The Buckeyes will get a passing TD and a field goal in the first half and the Hawkeyes will take a 14-10 lead into halftime.
The second half we will all be surprised when the Hawkeyes make better adjustments than the Buckeyes do. They will start with more focus on the running game, which will set up a nice play action TD to Damond Powell. Then on the next drive for the Hawkeyes they are going to get another long play action pass to Tevaun Smith. Weisman will finish up that drive as the Hawkeyes take a commanding 28-13 lead. The fourth quarter will make us all nervous again as they go a little to soft on the prevent, but the Hawkeyes hold on for a 28-20 victory.
Jake Rudock ends up with 205 yards passing and 2 TD's. Mark Weisman finishes up with 25 rushes for 130 yards and 2 TD's. The defense still holds the rushing game out of the endzone and the Hawkeye state celebrates like we are Rose Bowl bound all week.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Hawkeyes vs Michigan St 10/5
After missing the last two home games due to flag football requirements I'm very excited to make my return to Kinnick Stadium today. Still not sure what the weather is going to provide but hopefully we stay dry, even if it stays cool. I have no problem with a high in the 60's. The fans will pack it in regardless of the weather because this game could really determine what type of season we are looking at. Even though Michigan St appears to be down this year, win this game and Iowa is still a good possibility for the 8 wins I predicted. Lose this game, and it will be tough to get bowl eligible.
The determining factor in whether Iowa wins or loses this game is Iowa's offense. We know both teams have strong defenses. Which teams defense is stronger is the wrong question though. Iowa's D will limit Michigan St. all day and hold Sparty to 13 points. MSU doesn't appear to have that bell cow back that will try and wear down Iowa this year and their QB play has been less than exceptional. I think Iowa will hold them to less than 250 yards of total offense. We will be hearing a lot of 3rd down bells today.
When Iowa has the ball is a little more uncertain to me. This should be by far the toughest defense to date. How will the Iowa line do against a stronger D? I expect pretty good still. Although we probably won't get the 250 yards rushing and 450 yards of total O that we've been enjoying lately, the Iowa offense will clearly win this battle. We will see about 25 - 30 carries for Weisman today and he will end up with 125 yards and a TD. The other RB's will pile on another 70 as we see a little of Daniels again this week with Bullock.
The passing game is going to be a little up and down I think but at the end of the day it will look acceptable as Rudock will compile just over 200 yards and a couple of TD's. One of those TD's will be another long TD pass to Damond Powell. DP won't have a lot of receptions, but when he gets it he makes it count. One of the tight ends will get the other reception. I'm guessing CJF, but you never know which ones will be in there near the goaline.
In addition to the three touchdowns, Michael Meyer will boot in a couple of field goals for Iowa to take a 27-13 win. After that, prepare for everyone's unrealistic and over the top expectations as Iowa heads into their bye week. Now get up and get ready to tailgate!
The determining factor in whether Iowa wins or loses this game is Iowa's offense. We know both teams have strong defenses. Which teams defense is stronger is the wrong question though. Iowa's D will limit Michigan St. all day and hold Sparty to 13 points. MSU doesn't appear to have that bell cow back that will try and wear down Iowa this year and their QB play has been less than exceptional. I think Iowa will hold them to less than 250 yards of total offense. We will be hearing a lot of 3rd down bells today.
When Iowa has the ball is a little more uncertain to me. This should be by far the toughest defense to date. How will the Iowa line do against a stronger D? I expect pretty good still. Although we probably won't get the 250 yards rushing and 450 yards of total O that we've been enjoying lately, the Iowa offense will clearly win this battle. We will see about 25 - 30 carries for Weisman today and he will end up with 125 yards and a TD. The other RB's will pile on another 70 as we see a little of Daniels again this week with Bullock.
The passing game is going to be a little up and down I think but at the end of the day it will look acceptable as Rudock will compile just over 200 yards and a couple of TD's. One of those TD's will be another long TD pass to Damond Powell. DP won't have a lot of receptions, but when he gets it he makes it count. One of the tight ends will get the other reception. I'm guessing CJF, but you never know which ones will be in there near the goaline.
In addition to the three touchdowns, Michael Meyer will boot in a couple of field goals for Iowa to take a 27-13 win. After that, prepare for everyone's unrealistic and over the top expectations as Iowa heads into their bye week. Now get up and get ready to tailgate!
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