5 Takeaways from the Iowa / Penn State Game

Oh, man, I haven't yelled at my TV like that in a long time. Did I yell too much or not enough? Either way, my behavior is unlikely to change, although my wife did bring up a good point that maybe I should watch intense games inside instead of outside as my yelling may have been enough to get the cops called (although this would be a very fitting Florida Man arrest story). Alas, the Hawkeyes fell 30-24 in a total rollercoaster of a game.

Let's Talk About Dominique Dafney
He blocked a punt and tried out for the wrestling team with a double leg takedown on kickoff coverage. The West Des Moines product is not a guy that is going to have many opportunities to get love, so let's love on Dominique Dafney. Great game, DD.

LeVar Woods Does What He Wants
LeVar Woods clearly has full control of what happens on fourth downs. First, he runs a play where they may have been looking to pull off a fake when Recinos ran out wide, but they didn't, so that one gets to stay in the holster. Last, he ran a fake punt where Iowa had two quarterbacks and Peyton Mansell was the QB who got the ball. They never really showed any route running or coverage, so I have no idea what the plan is, but I really would have liked for Mansell to throw the ball up and hope for the best.

But then there was that play in the middle. They didn't try to take Penn State by surprise. They just straight up lined up the punter in shotgun, and from ten yards out, everyone knew it was going to be a pass. Colton Rastetter did a slight role to his right, then threw back towards his left and threw a perfect pass to Sam Brincks who managed to haul it in while being hit. There is absolutely no way that Ihmir Smith-Marsette makes that catch, but Sam Brincks did. I don't know why that is a play. That is not a good play at all, but then again, maybe it is? It worked, and it will likely never have to work again. God bless LeVar Woods for spending all of his free time researching trick plays, because I'm pretty sure we have a bigger playbook for our special teams than we do for our offense.

Nate Stanley's Three Step Drop
A three step drop is a great way to get the ball out quick and easily let your quarterback throw it in rhythm. Iowa has really tried to incorporate this with Nate Stanley, but the problem is that Stanley's first option never seems to be open, and then he just kind of waits there while only being about two yards behind his offensive linemen. Then it gets so cramped that he has limited vision and space which is not a great recipe for success. I'm guessing the issue is that Stanley is not able to identify the defenses as well as he needs to in order to make these type of plays work as most times, he should know presnap where that ball is going. If Iowa wants to go with a three step drop, maybe try it from shotgun to give everybody a little bit more space.

TJ Hockenson's Two Chances
TJ Hockenson had what may have been the two biggest "What if" plays in this game. The first was so painful as Iowa both called and executed a beautiful play on third and one. Nate Stanley executed a beautiful fake, and Penn State came crashing in to stop the run while Hockenson snuck behind the defense and was the most wide open any player can possibly be without evacuating the stadium. The only thing that was not executed was Stanley's throw as he horrifically overthrew him and cost Iowa an easy touchdown. That would have put Iowa up 21-7 and would have changed the complexion of the rest of the game.

Then on Iowa's final drive, Hockenson made an incredible catch while diving out of bounds. On review, it was borderline. Whatever happened to indisputable evidence? With my black and gold colored glasses, I saw it as a catch but can understand that it was close. Still, I have a hard time with that catch being overturned. TJ Hockenson did everything he could to execute on these two plays; it just wasn't meant to be.

Somehow, Iowa Still (basically) Controls Its Own Destiny
With Northwestern beating Wisconsin, it actually sets up pretty damn well for the Hawkeyes. If Iowa wins out, and Northwestern only loses to Iowa in conference play, even if Wisconsin wins out, it will leave three teams at 7-2 in the conference. With everyone going 1-1 in head-to-head matchups, Iowa should get the tiebreaker with the best overall record. So Big Ten Championship, here we come, somehow.

But yeah, that loss hurt.

5 Takeaways from the Iowa/Iowa State Game

Iowa is now 2-0 and has vanquished their first rival of the year with a 13-3 victory over Iowa State. I love my Iowa Hawkeyes, but let's be honest: This game sucked. I only yelled at my television three times, which is a record low for a game against the Cyclones. I know a lot of Iowa fans like to discount the meaning of this rivalry, but as somebody from the state, I know so many people that are fans of both schools that this game is important, so getting a win, no matter how ugly, still feels pretty damn good. Here are the five takeaways from the win.

AJ Epenesa Is A Stud
AJ Epenesa is fulfilling all Hawkeye fans greatest fantasies. This guy is an elite talent at the college level, and if he keeps progressing like this, he's going to be an elite NFL talent. Although we probably shouldn't expect him to average two sacks per game, he is going to consistently be in opposing backfields causing havoc. Late in the fourth quarter, he basically decided that he was going to end the game, and then he went out there and did it by drawing a holding call, batting down a pass, and then coming up with a strip sack that Iowa recovered. If somebody did that during a game, he might be named the player of the game, this man did it in a matter of minutes. He's very good, and if teams don't give their left tackle help on him, he's going to continue to wreak havoc.

Dijmon Colbert Might Be One Too
Did anyone else fall in love during yesterday's game? Because I sure did, and Colbert is the target of my affection. I don't know how to pronounce his first name, but I am all in on him at linebacker. Going into the game, I thought David Montgomery might be the best player in the game, but due to Colbert being all over the field making tackles, I'm not even sure if Montgomery was the best #32 in the game. Colbert not only made a huge stop at the goal line early in the game, but he was consistently reading and reacting like a senior when he has barely played linebacker in his life. How he looked in his first start would have been impressive for somebody with any level of experience, but considering how little experience he has, the sky is the limit. It will be interesting to see what happens when Kristian Welch comes back, but I saw enough from Colbert to make a pretty strong argument that he keeps the job.

Nate Stanley Is...Fine
It was another uninspired performance from Nate Stanley, and I can't say it is all that surprising. This was what Stanley did last year as sometimes he looked great, and other times, it all came crashing down. I don't think he's been bad, but he has continued to struggle with his pocket presence as the slightest bit of pressure gets him to bail. It's also a question of how good he can be if receivers aren't getting separation. I felt like the offensive play calling was a little too conservative, as I would have really liked to see Iowa use their tight ends to attack the Cyclones safeties. The Hawkeyes are going to need more from him to beat the Badgers in two weeks. To end on a positive, he threw two beautiful deep balls in this game, which is something he may not have done twice all of last season.

Colton Rastetter Might Be Good
The discrepancies between the two punters in this game was pretty incredible. Rastetter has really shined this year as he is consistently getting big yards out of his punts and has shown the versatility to do both rugby and traditional punting. Iowa is always going to be in close games, so having a reliable punter may seem like a small thing in the SEC. But in the B1G, punting is winning, and Iowa is looking like a real contender with Rastetter.

Offensive Line Still Gelling
Overall, I thought the offensive line played pretty well. Things still seem to be shaking out at guard, but it was definitely helpful to have the two tackles back in there. I know the running stats were pretty poor, but Iowa State was selling out for the run and Iowa did not make them pay with the passing game. I think it will be good for everyone to play Northern Iowa next week to (hopefully) help build their cohesion and confidence.

Again, it wasn't pretty, but a win is a win, and I will always take a win against the Cyclones.