Positives from the Game

Submitted by MGrether on

Yes, the lost sucks. We beat ourselves, and Iowa did what they needed to do to make sure it stayed as an L in our column. This post is NOT meant to take the pain or suckage that comes with losing.

However, there were some positives to build on:

- Stephen Hopkins. This boy needs to be our starting RB. Speed + power. He is the type of Big Ten back we need to have.

- Rocko Khoury. Last year, Molk goes down and everything imploded. This year, Molk goes down, we hiccup and recover to go for another 300+ yards. That is thanks to our Coaches for building depth for the first time in AGES at linemen.

- Demens. Not perfect, but attacked instead of sitting back. It was  nice change of pace.

- Stonum. He started to become a "give me the damn ball, I am carrying this team on my sholders" type of WR we had hoped him to be. Secondary to that was Hemmingway. These are the types of guys we need to have around to win.

- Forcier. Yes, he had two picks where Iowa had amazing zone coverage PLUS pressure with only rushing four. However, he came in and picked Iowa apart, and needs to start seeing more PT. Not saying he needs to be the ONLY one to get snaps, however he is a far better passer then Denard and we will need that again before the year is over, especially if we get a consistent run game going with Hopkins.

- Lewan. Yes, his stupidity cost us drives. However, he neutralized one of the best DEs in the country all day long... who then turned around and terrorized Huyge. If he gets himself under control, he is Jake Long reincarnate, with some talent along the rest of the line.

strafe

October 16th, 2010 at 8:39 PM ^

Yeah, with half the student section gone, those were probably the most exciting/intense ~20-30 minutes I've had int he big house.

Crowd was so positive and energetic, need to carry that into the next home game.

God this team is so young and fun and likable and emotional.

BlueTimesTwo

October 16th, 2010 at 9:24 PM ^

We played like crap and we still were within one possession of the #15 team in the 4th quarter.  Our offense put up about twice the normal yardage and nearly three times as many points as Iowa usually allows.  This was without our starting QB and our most consistent O-lineman for a significant chunk of the game.

We still have a good shot at 8 wins for this season, and we should be pretty dangerous next season.  Nobody expected us to contend for the Big Ten this year, even before the injuries started to pile up.  The team is making progress.  I see that as a positive, even though the losses are painful.

AAB

October 16th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^

Our O torched one of the best Ds in the country and has yet to be stopped by anything but its own miscues.

Our D forced 5 punts. 

We outgained them by 140 yards.

If we catch one of the Rick Sixes or recover Smith's fumble or if they drop one of our picks, there's a decent chance we win. 

jmblue

October 16th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^

I get that you're in angry torch-and-pitchfork mode, but don't try to turn that into a negative. Iowa came into this game giving up an average of 242 yards and 10 points per game.  We more than doubled both of those.  That's a good thing. 

Mercury Hayes

October 16th, 2010 at 7:59 PM ^

When he's on he's on and throws one hell of an accurate ball, but the turnovers are killing.

I'm still glad to see the kid get another chance and play alright. Great leadership on the sidelines pumping the team up. He's growing up, that reflects well on Coach Rod.

AAB

October 16th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^

Coming into this game, Iowa was giving up 242 yards per game. We had 522.

Coming into this game Iowa was giving up 10.2 points per game. We had 4 turnovers and put up 28 points.

We had 187 yards rushing on 4.5 per carry.

We averaged 7.4 per pass.

Pea-Tear Gryphon

October 16th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

Enough with the walk-on crap already. The kid's earned his free ride, let's please stop harping on the "walk-on" meme already.

He is a great tackler and good near the line of scrimmage. I don't like him in space covering moving objects, but that's just me. Kovacs is the least of our worries on that side of the ball though.

QuarterbackU

October 16th, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^

I'm sorry...did he or did he not make the team on a campus tryout?  I believe he did, and by calling him a "walk-on sophomore" I'm not criticizing him by any means, I'm actually trying to point out the impressiveness of what he's done on the field.  He earned his scholarship by his hard work...

Dreisbach1817

October 16th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^

I honestly don't understand what this means. Does it mean we made mistakes? Ok. But Iowa beat us. They were the better team and their discipline was the key to the game.
<br>Don't get me wrong. I'm not a downer on this team. But let's not just chalk this up to "beating ourselves.". We were not the better team. Look at stats all you want. A good team doesn't make these mistakes in the big game.

AAB

October 16th, 2010 at 8:13 PM ^

comment mostly applies to the personal foul penalties.

As for the turnovers, As I've been saying in other threads tonight, I think turnover margin is simply a function of luck and we've been on a 2 game downswing.

Dreisbach1817

October 16th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^

So you're saying it's just a coincidence that our turnover margins plummeted when we started playing legit Big 10 defenses.
<br>Good teams force/create turnovers or play a physical style that makes them more likely. Chalking this up to bad luck seems incorrect.

AAB

October 16th, 2010 at 8:23 PM ^

is a skill.  I think it's like "clutch hitting" in baseball.  The natural human desire to attribute ability to a helmet that happens to land on a football in a running back's arm because the idea that much of what goes on is just luck and randomness scares the crap out of us.

AAB

October 16th, 2010 at 8:34 PM ^

for dramatic effect.  But yes, my view is that that is far more the case than anyone wants to admit.

Today is a perfect example actually.  Our QBs made about 4 ill advised throws.  Three of them were picked off.  And we had a RB cough up a ball on a play where the defender wasn't even going for a strip.  It's not crazy to think that on average at least one more of those ill advised throws won't end up in the arms of an Iowa defender.  It's also not crazy to think that Vincent Smith usually doesn't fumble in that spot.

By contrast, Stanzi threw a clear pick 6 in the first quarter that was dropped.  And his 3rd down throw on the last drive was a pass that he was incredibly lucky not to have picked off. 

On average, I think we come out of that game with a turnover margin of -1 or -2 rather than -4.  That we didn't is bad luck, and it may have been the difference in the game.

Pea-Tear Gryphon

October 16th, 2010 at 8:39 PM ^

I say you make your own luck. Sorry to jump into your conversation with Dreisbach, but I can't sit back and just say, "Oh well, just bad luck I guess". Sometimes you make your own luck. Iowa did, we didn't. That's about all you can say. Hopefully we make more plays on defense and value the football on offense moving forward.

Or you can just keep hoping we get better luck...

M-Wolverine

October 16th, 2010 at 9:38 PM ^

Like it's fate that causes one to throw into coverage, or you can't learn to protect the football and tuck it away.
<br>
<br>But this is supposed to be a positive thread, so I don't want to rag on it here. But I think this place has perpetuated this a lot.

maizenbluenc

October 16th, 2010 at 8:49 PM ^

Iowa was a good team, but their defense wasn't as good as people made it out to be. Like the the previews said, if we played perfect we could win it - we didn't and we lost.

There were plenty of Michigan penalties, and turnovers. Examples: Taylor Lewan got a 15 yard penalty when we were driving. Tate's first interception should have been a pass thrown out of bounds for example. That was not skill on Iowa's part, that was Tate trying to force soemthing when he shouldn't have been.

I thought our defense actually played better than I expected.

We beat ourselves.

DeutschBlue

October 16th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^

How were we awful today?  Our offense played okay versus a pretty damn good defense and we lost because of some miscues versus a good Iowa team.  I don't feel so bad.  I've read some of your past posts, so I won't be too much of a dick, but still, I don't feel too bad.  i know that others have given me heck for that, but I feel good. 5-2, with our 2 losses being to top 15 teams.

I feel okay.