SB Nation User Blog: StoopsMyAss

Terrell Pryor my ass!

StoopsMyAss — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:34:35 -0000

Color me not impressed. Great athlete? Sure. Great QB? Not even close. Serviceable QB? Maybe, with a lot of work.

I can't wait to play them next year. He is so freaking vulnerable. Just stay in your rushing lanes, keep your hands up (he plays like a 5' 10" QB!) and wait for the sloppy passes.

Boeckman should have gotten way more snaps last night. And if he would have, The Ohio State walks away with the win. Pryor is nothing more than a change of pace, Wildcat type QB -- at best. He has a better future as a wide out in my opinion.

Very unimpressed. Those receivers were wasted on Pryor.

So the Big 10 embarassment is complete. Thanks Ohio State for showing how to squander good talent. Thanks Minnesota for throwing in the towel. Thanks jNorthwestern for finding a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Thanks Michigan State for blowing into a million pieces everytime you even thought a touchdown was in sight. Thanks Wisconsin for being the most overrated team in years.

Kirk, if you are reading, this is your lucky year my friend. This conference is in disarray and I don't see anybody that overly concerns me for 2009. We'll have our hands full with Penn St. but they can be had, and everyone else is there for the taking. Particularly OSU.

The Long Goodbye?

StoopsMyAss — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:28:35 -0000

[Muy bumpido! I don't know Spanish.--OPS]

Will we ever see Anthony Tucker play for the Hawks again? I am conflicted on Lick's approach here--assuming I even understand it.

Clearly, coaches are going to do what they need to do to get their players, indeed their team, to mind their Ps & Qs (yes, and the J&B--Truman Capote's drink of choice by the way); but, am I alone here? I don't understand playing Tucker signifcant minutes at Drake, then DNP-coaches decision, then one minute of court time at Ohio State, and now the end of the bench.

Is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning? If he doesn't see the court soon I think he is out of here. I just don't know if it will be his choice or Lick's.

By the way, how many games did Dan Bohall go into purgatory with Lick after his binger last year? Is that the standard?

I don't want to resurrect the whole issue. I just don't get the methodology of the punishment here, unless it isn't punishment anymore.

What's to fear?

StoopsMyAss — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:38:18 -0000

Hawkeye fan here.

So I am looking over your team's stats and win/loss record and who you have played and how you played them. I am looking at your personnel and ...well, I am trying to figure out what Iowa fans should be concerned about?

You have not beaten a ranked team all year (yes, you beat Ole Miss but they were unranked when you beat them), and you are limping to the finish line (the ned of the season is when true champions play their best--yet, you have lost your last two). Your barely bowl eligible.

What should we be concerned with?

We have a Heisman candidate, are the only team between Penn State and them playing for a National Championship. We are on a roll having won 5 of last 6. We are mostly sophomores and freshmen, the youngest team in the Big 10, and are now matured and playing with reckless abandon. Our bowl record against SEC teams is 3-2 with a very controversial last minute loss in 2005 to Florida (after demolishing them two years earlier), yet we were underdogs in all those games. The vaunted SEC speed was overwhelmed by Big 10 power and toughness in the victories (actually, only Southern Cal has ever had better athletes than us in a bowl game).

What should we be worried about? You are 0-2 all-time versus the Big 10. You finshed the previous year 0-5 down the stretch, why is this team different? I am an worrier and need something to worry about. For some reason, at this point, I am not worried. Give me something to worry about!

Big 10 in crisis?

StoopsMyAss — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:51:53 -0000

I was looking closely at all the teams in bottom part of the Top 25 and noticed a surprising similarity between Iowa and Mississippi (#22 AP, #24 Harris, #25 USA Today). In looking this over it is hard not to accept that the Big 10 has seen a measurable drop in class with voters (and computers!). In almost any previous year one could argue that it would be Iowa ranked in the Top 25 and Mississippi (Mississippi!!) who would be on the outside looking in.

I think this is a serious issue for the conference. Consider the evidence:

Mississippi

- Signature win: Florida on the road (at the time ranked #4)

- Other ranked team win: LSU on the road (ranked #18 at the time but since has dropped significantly in value as a win)

- 5-2 home record; 3-2 road record

- 4 wins against teams with winning records (2 of which were 7-5)

- 4 loses by a total of 19 points (Of teams lost to, only Alabama still ranked of the four)

- 5-0 down the stretch

Iowa

- Signature win: Penn State at home (at time ranked #3)

- Other ranked team win: none

- 6-1 home record; 2-3 road record

- 4 wins against teams with winning records (2 of which were 7-5)

- 4 loses by a total of 12 points

- Of teams lost to, only Illinois NOT ranked

- 5-1 down the stretch

Computer rankings currently have these two teams as follows:

Sagrin: Miss 23; Iowa 24

A&H: Miss 29; Iowa 31

RB: Miss 22; Iowa 31

Colley: Miss 30; Iowa 31

Massey: Miss 32; Iowa 43

Wolfe: Miss 30; Iowa 36

Clearly Mississippi is getting more value from its conference wins than is Iowa. After this weekend I expect that Florida will only boost the Ole Miss ratings in the computers.

I can only hope that we get a good SEC team in a bowl game and begin to put this all to rest. South Caroline would not qualify as a good team by the way. That would be disastrous in fact. We get no value out of beating them and take a huge hit in losing to them.

NB: Ferentz need to schedule a bit tougher non-conference schedule. I am stunned by the 2009 schedule that has us playing UNI, ISU, Arizona, and Arkansas State. I love the Arizona game but UNI...there is no value in playing UNI at this stage. There is an opening in the 2010 schedule and two on the 2011 schedule and we need to play teams from BCS conferences. I would love to play some teams where we tend to recruit outside of the midwest...say, Rutgers, a Florida team (like South Florida), a Texas team (any of those Dallas or Houston schools).

***UPDATE***

It looks like we are going to be stuck with South Carolina. It also looks like the Big 10 will be underdogs in six of the seven bowl games they play. Iowa will likely be the only favorite.

Top 10 reasons why Shonn will stay:

StoopsMyAss — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:01:19 -0000

[Bumped. Also, LOL.--OPS]

10. KOK brings the best out of him.

9. Can't imagine living more than one city away from Coralville. Ever again.

8. After all the trouble he went through just to get into college? Please.

7. Promised Ferentz he would not leave until he rushed for 100 yards or more in 14 consecutive games.

6. Not what Jesus would do (although it is what Alford would do).

5. And miss that Arkansas State game?

4. No "green" section at home games in the NFL, unless Jets draft him.

3. Jets unlikely to draft him.

2. A college degree will help you get a better job!

1. Doering.

Train is leaving the station...

StoopsMyAss — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:02:40 -0000

Anyone who dares leave the Hawks now, does so at their own peril. We have four senior starters (2 on Offense and 2 on Defense) and on the two deep last week there were 7 seniors out of 48 possible spots. This team is built for the long haul. If by some miracle Shonn Greene stays for another year we will be No. 2 in the Big 10 preseason polls--although our schedule next year will be much tougher with Ohio State, Wisky, and Penn State on the road and only one tough opponent (Michigan) at home--assuming Arizona will be good at best.

So, where do we go from here? We need to close this season strong...real strong, to make a statement to ourselves, the Big Ten (although not to the bowl reps since if we win out it is pretty straight forward). The lack of a bowl game last year will make the fan base a bit hungrier so I expect a lot of travelers. We have the Alamo Bowl in our sights barring an upset. Beating Penn State means no Big 10 team in the BCS NC game. That puts them in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State in the Capital One, Mich St in the Outback and us in San Antonio. My bet is we play Oklahoma State, or possibly Missouri or even Oklahoma. In any event, we MUST win that bowl game to really convert the masses.

The recruiting just got a bit easier yesterday. People can complain all they want about the lack of creativity on offense, or even defense, but Ohio State at home v. Penn State was less capable than we were yesterday. That is a testament to something positive on the coaching side. My bet is we begin to see Stanzi open up a bit, some razzle dazzle is in offing.

Hop on the train, there is plenty of room. Ferentz is rebuilding (part 2) and it could be real fun. Teaching this team how to close was one of those final missing ingredient.

Come to Jesus

StoopsMyAss — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:01:49 -0000

Kirk Ferentz appears to have finally come to the all-too-real conclusion that his Iowa career is at a dreadful crossroad. He wasn't convinced before the Pitt game but he is now. This explains why Stanzi is the starter next week. Northwestern has become the pebble in the hand for Ferentz. It didn’t start this way though…Ferentz began the season coaching as though it were his son’s little league baseball team, and he had volunteered to help the youngsters. "We’ll just hide the clumsy kid in right field,” he thought. But this is not that world. Naked and undisguised is the college quarterback. Thus he is, and must be, an extension if not the pure embodiment of his coach, his system, and his psyche, indeed his football worldview. The college quarterback and head coach need each other to survive. And they must become one for the team to move forward. That Ricky Stanzi was the man for this job from the outset was too plain to see; so obvious was that fact it was undetectable to Ferentz. Marshall Mcluhan once said we don't know who discovered water, but we know it wasn't the fish. But, lift that fish out of water and suddenly…well, you know the cliché. But it is apt.

So the divorce is final now. The family can begin the healing process by beating the living snot out of NU. And Iowa has its savior now because Ferentz finally found his inner Hayden Fry. Fry understood the stakes, always. He knew when to hold them, when to fold them and when to walk away from the guy who couldn’t lead his team down the field against inferior competition. By doing so, Ferentz might have just staved off a cruel ending for this team and even his career at Iowa by going with Stanzi. Iowa will likely win 8 or maybe even 9 games now but not due to any Stanzi brillance, merely because of his ability to get the job done. But Stanzi is a diamond in the rough and he will improve markedly next year when Iowa might even challenge for the conference. JC will move on after this season to have better days. And Ferentz, meanwhile, has reawakened to that which was always there: Stanzi, the Manzi.

The world according to StoopsMyAss It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. And,...

StoopsMyAss — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:46:57 -0000

The world according to StoopsMyAss

It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. And, it's a long way to respect after you have been a .500 team for, say, three long years. The Hawks just might not realize what they are capable. Rock Stardom, maybe not. But they could certainly be headlining this conference with better coaching. Ferentz isn't helping them develop much of an attitude. His gut--which is damn flat for a man his age--let him down on Saturday. Well, let's be honest. We learned that Kirk is not gutsy. He went. as usual, with the safe choice and got a missed field goal, a couple of plays that didn't go our way and presto!: a Loss. He is going to have to come to Jesus on Jake and make the gutsy move and put his career on Stanzi. IF he doesn't we are looking at Steve Alford the sequel.