GO HAWKS!

The big news is that Iowa once again is in its proper spot as the #1 wrestling team. The win at Ames over the previous #1 without our best wrestler (Mark Perry was out for 1 meet due to a NCAA suspension) was huge.

As for the basketball team, no surprise - they are struggling – the cupboard was almost bare. The good news is that we have 3 solid freshmen – PG Jeff Peterson, wing Jake Kelly and PF Jarryd Cole. Next year’s recruiting class is fairly good. I like Lickliter (aka Lick) and think he will do a good job at Iowa, but it may take a couple years to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Football recruiting is in full swing. The Hawks are getting some commitments, but only time will tell how they pan out.

Saw Michael’s game Friday. He was very good – played the whole game at PG, was the team’s best defender, had lots of assist and some spectacular drives to the basket. And he played with a lot of energy and emotion.

Merry Christmas and All the Best in 2008!

Jerry

A loss last Sunday against a losing MAC team in Iowa City is hard to fathom. A win and the Hawks sort of salvage a disappointing year and (very probably) play in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Az. It was the last game for the Seniors and would have given the Hawks a boost to rebounding next year, but as most often been the case this year, the Hawk offense came out UNready to play.

I hear there is a small chance that we will still be invited to go somewhere since we did have 6 wins and are bowl eligible, but in my opinion – no way do we deserve a bowl game.

So what went wrong for the Hawks this year? Of course, that is not a single reason, but this is my very thumbnail conclusions. Add your own thoughts.

The defense was mostly good (discounting the last game), sometimes very good and basically propped up the team.

Special teams had some ups and downs, but I think they were on balance better than last year. Red shirt Freshman Ryan Donahue emerged as a pretty good punter and the kick and punt coverage was generally fine. Unfortunately, the kickoff coverage team didn’t see the field all that often.

Then there is the offense – lots of problems – an inexperienced OLine has improved and could be really good next year, but did have some problems. There were injuries, but other teams experience that as well. So here is what I consider the biggest problem – the QB. It’s not all on Jake, but the QB is not just another position – it’s the most important position. He had some throws dropped sure, but he was also well off the mark many times and listening to my Hawkeye radio, he has trouble finding the secondary receivers when the primary is covered. Somewhere between Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Kenny O’Keefe, Jake, Wide Receivers Coach Lester Erb and the young wide receivers there is a communication problem. I think the young wide receivers have good potential and with a better QB, we could have a pretty good passing game.

So to me, the number one key to next year is easily improved QB play whether it’s Jake or one of true freshmen and resdshirt freshman on the team.

I’ll remain optimistic for the team next year, but I won’t be predicting 9 – 3.

Moving on, Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Wrestling have all begun well, albeit without tough competition yet. It will get tougher. Some brief notes – 1)Hawkeye wrestling will get back to it’s natural place at the top of the NCAA. Not this year, but we’ll see it within 4 years. 2)The men’s team is 4 – 0 against weak competition, but we can say this – they are playing good D and seem to be working together and Coach Lickliter has made a very good impression, both as far as handling the team and being a down to earth good guy. And here is something else I dig – he shops at the downtown CoOp. and 3)This is a big year for the Women’s team – they have a lot of experience, good players and have a chance(expectation) to make some noise in the Big10.

GO HAWKS.

More later.

JBA I

After a miserable first half, the Hawks put on a rally. Even though the stats say MSU won, the score says otherwise - a huge win for the Hawks. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

On the other hand, we can say that the Hawks kept their heads in the game – caught some breaks and puled out the win. MSU is a good team with more talent.

Next up is at Northwestern. We do not have a good experience against the Wildcats lately.

I’m predicting a UI win.

Best game for the Hawks for a long time. For a low scoring game, there was a lot of action. Illinois (was #18) is an option offense with a really good running QB, an excellent RB and a first rate WR (only a true freshman) – probably the only option team we will play this year.

To use an over used expression – it was huge for the Iowa FB team. It was just one game, but a good omen for down the line.

Sadly, I admit to being one of many who wondered if this team could turn it around.

Next up is at Purdue which will be tough.
Iowa is using a lot of true freshmen and other young players – especially on the OLine.

Sorry to say there is nothing good to say about the game today. Something is amiss. The Hawks are going to have to play much better to beat PSU, MSU, Purdue (nice win over ND today) and maybe the improved Ill.

Jake had a poor game. Eddie was really ripping him for his fundamentals. Is this a matter of coaching by Kenny O’Keefe or is Jake just too wound up. The Indiana QB had a very good day. It’s a team game, but QB is not just another position.

Northern Iowa won today and they are probably the best team in the state.

Some good Hawkeye news – the women’s volleyball and soccer teams won this weekend – a good step for 2 downtrodden teams. OK, that doesn’t cancel the football loss, but grab the positive.

Finally – GO CUBS!

OK, we didn’t win the game, but the Hawks played miles better than last week against a very good opponent on the road. It was a step. If you watched the game you know it was a hard fought hard hitting (what Eddy Podolak calls a sloberknocker) defensive battle, especially in the first half. There were no scores until well into the second quarter. Iowa has an excellent defensive team. The offense is behind, but learning and improving. I recommend looking at the IC Press Citizen reports and commentary. If the Hawks don’t have a let down from this effort they will comfortably handle Indiana next week.

I had the TV on mute to see replays of big plays and listed to Dolph and Eddy on the radio. I prefer that.

Some young players becoming major factors:
>true sophomore LB AJ Edds had a fantastic game and was the deserved Player of the Game. DT Mitch King also played a great game.
>RS Freshman WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (DJK) also was outstanding. What a catch for the TD! Other young freshmen WRs are playing roles – RSs James Cleveland and Paul Cheney and true freshman Colin Sandeman. All have much potential. Cheney was a national high school top 5 sprinter.

Hawks were hard hit with injuries (all in the first quarter), some of them significant.
>K Signor pulled a muscle before the game. RS F Daniel Murray from IC Regina took over and did a good job
>WR Paul Stross is still out for another game or two.
>OG Vandervelde was hurt and will be out for a short time. Dace Richardson is back and apparently ready to move back into the lineup.
>Our most experienced WR by far, Andy Brodell, pulled a hamstring and is out for some time. This hurts. Along with the less serious injury to Stross, this means for now, all of Iowa’s WRs are freshmen.
>Hurting the most is the arm/wrist injury to TE Moleki. He will be out for awhile – maybe the rest of the season. Iowa uses a lot of 2 TE sets and this makes that harder. Moleki was up for the Mackey award and is probably Iowa’s best offensive player.

Notes:
>As I said, the Hawks did themselves proud.
>other than the game injuries, the only real downside was the punting (and there was a lot of punting) where we have been inconsistent all year.

Aldemans Mark, Michael and David are playing well for Mid-Prarie.

On a non sports note – I’m watching the new Ken Burns documentary, “The War”, about WWII. It’s a 7 part series on PBS. I recommend it.

A sad outcome for the Hawks in Ames – a very bad upset – 15 - 13

Some observations:
>the Hawks came out flat and got completely outplayed in the first half and were probably lucky to be down only 12 points
>Iowa came back and played better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough
>I hate to say this, but the school from Ames deserved the victory
>He didn’t throw any interceptions, but Jake got outplayed by Brett Meyer. Jake will be a good QB, but this was his first experience in a hostile environment and he is gaining experience
>we lost on a last second (literally) field goal

Positive notes:
>Iowa still hasn’t allowed a touchdown
>I don’t think there were any significant injuries coming out of the game

On to Wisconsin – this will be a very tough game to win and will take a huge improvement to even make it close.

GO HAWKS!