Evaluating where Iowa is

[knapplc]

Oh, that famous Sean Eichorst line. The Ginger Assassin's quote will live in infamy as long as Nebraska toils here in the land of the mediocre.

But a recent couple of tweets by Sam McKewon shows a decent barometer of where Iowa has been. And it's been pretty good.

So how does Nebraska measure up?

Talent-wise, not so well.


And the results - five straight losses and six out of our last seven - also not so good.

But Sam's second tweet gives a little better context. In the black-and-white world many of the most vocal HuskerBoard posters live in, when we lose, that's the whole thing - no barometer of how close the margin of loss was.

For others, there may be some glimmers of hope. Like Sam said - those were talented Iowa teams, especially the last two years. Iowa went 10-3 in 2019 and 9-4 in 2018, finishing ranked both times.  And we lost to them by a field goal, twice.

So a couple of hips and a hooray, right? Progress?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I've always found Iowa to be bordered by the Mississippi River on one side, and the Missouri River on the other. 

 

[knapplc]

I've always found Iowa to be bordered by the Mississippi River on one side, and the Missouri River on the other. 

That only tells half the story.

 

[swmohusker]

That is bc they do such a good job of developing guys.  The guys on our roster have never had that chance.  Either do to losing Position coaches every other year, changing schemes, or turnover of roster due to staff change. That trend should be starting to change as Frost's first couple classes start to grow up.    

Iowa has had some talent.  You can almost make the argument that they underachieve for the talent they have on the roster.  

 

[RedSavage]

That is bc they do such a good job of developing guys.  The guys on our roster have never had that chance.  Either do to losing Position coaches every other year, changing schemes, or turnover of roster due to staff change. That trend should be starting to change as Frost's first couple classes start to grow up.    

Iowa has had some talent.  You can almost make the argument that they underachieve for the talent they have on the roster.  

Was just going to post this.  The games against us should not have even been close IMO.

 

[Undone]

According to the recruiting site rankings, I'm pretty sure we've "out-recruited" Iowa in terms of average class rank the last five seasons. So why have they produced more NFL talent than we have? I'd say there are three possible explanations, all of which could be true to some degree:

1. The recruiting site rankings aren't exactly what we think they are.

2. Iowa is better at developing talent.

3. Iowa is better at identifying talent in high school film, regardless of where that player ranks on the recruiting rankings sites.

I think it's a combination of #2 and #3. But probably mainly #2.

 

[BIG ERN]

According to the recruiting site rankings, I'm pretty sure we've "out-recruited" Iowa in terms of average class rank the last five seasons. So why have they produced more NFL talent than we have? I'd say there are three possible explanations, all of which could be true to some degree:

1. The recruiting site rankings aren't exactly what we think they are.

2. Iowa is better at developing talent.

3. Iowa is better at identifying talent in high school film, regardless of where that player ranks on the recruiting rankings sites.

I think it's a combination of #2 and #3. But probably mainly #2.

Ferentz is the best in the business at developing offensive lineman. Parker (their DC) is also criminally underrated. I would also throw in the they are a pro style team which translates more to the NFL. 

 

[Undone]

Ferentz is the best in the business at developing offensive lineman. Parker (their DC) is also criminally underrated. I would also throw in the they are a pro style team which translates more to the NFL. 

Yep.

This could be a stretch, but I kind of have to think that Frost examined where his staff's coaching abilities were at about halfway through 2019 and it hit him that some of his guys weren't really on par with the better staffs in the conference.

Hence the two departures we've seen.

 

[TGHusker]

That only tells half the story.

Missouri on the south and Minn on the North and MY South Dakota to the very NW.

 

[FrankWheeler]

Missouri on the south and Minn on the North and MY South Dakota to the very NW.

 

[TGHusker]

Yep.

This could be a stretch, but I kind of have to think that Frost examined where his staff's coaching abilities were at about halfway through 2019 and it hit him that some of his guys weren't really on par with the better staffs in the conference.

Hence the two departures we've seen.

I agree.   It was becoming apparent that Frost was no longer in the minor leagues and he had to do something to improve the coaching and in turn the on field performance.   Iowa has also had longevity at HC - something we've been lacking for some time.  While Bo was here for a lengthy period, he was no recruiting specialist.   Having a long term contract as Frost does, will bode will for us in the future recruiting wars.  I'm not sure how many more years Ferentz will be at Iowa before he decides to move on or retire, but Frost is seen as the new up and comer.  I think that will help us wt some of those recruiting wars - esp if he has a successful 2020 season. 

I hope we are at the 'end of our humbling' experience.  We came into the Big 10 from the Big 12 thinking we were going to show the Big 10 how to play football. It hasn't worked out so well. It also shows that the Big 12 isn't up to par outside of OU.  In the same way we all remember what Frost said when he became coach - "The Big 10 will have to adapt to Nebraska instead of him having to adapt to the Big 10" (my paraphrase).  While confidence is to be expected and is a good character trait,  over confidence bordering on arrogance isn't.  Frost has had to eat some humble pie and learn and be schooled even by Iowa and a few schools we never expected to be schooled by.

I hope the additions to the coaching staff will help Frost to bring the team up to the next level - where perhaps the Big 10 will have to do some adaption when playing us.

 

[BigPeterJ]

Iowa has been decent for a long time now and sometimes very good.  And its very hard to beat them in a rivalry game, in Iowa City.  That was one hell of a win by Bo.  I dont even think Eichorst believed what he was saying.  They do have much better talent than their recruiting rankings.  They are getting some skill guys too. That freshman RB they got already looks very good.  

 

[Toe]

1. The recruiting site rankings aren't exactly what we think they are.

2. Iowa is better at developing talent.

3. Iowa is better at identifying talent in high school film, regardless of where that player ranks on the recruiting rankings sites.

4. For various reasons, we've jettisoned a whole lot of talent, including almost all of the 4* guys recruited by Riley.

5. Our recruiting has been uneven, leaving us fairly well-stocked at certain positions and barren at others (LB).

 

[Undone]

5. Our recruiting has been uneven, leaving us reasonably well-stocked at certain positions and barren at others (LB).

#5 is a good one. Played out really bad for us with offensive linemen during Riley's years also.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Nebraska has many of the same obstacles faced by Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah, Boise State, Virginia Tech, and other schools that have built winning programs recently. Other teams that have all the advantages we want, including UCLA, Texas, and Florida State have strung together some pretty crappy seasons across multiple coaches. We have to be a little more clever, but it's not like there's no way back for teams not in Ohio or Alabama.

I actually think the recent development of downtown Lincoln helps our case with recruits, coaching staffs and their wives. Gotta stop thinking small and humble.