Keepin' Up With The Haydens

Will the Cats make it 2 in a row at Kinnick?

It is no secret I have a soft spot for the Iowa Hawkeye blog, Black Heart Gold Pants (BHGP). They are a team you never want to get on the wrong side of, yet today, the Cats and LTP find ourselves in that exact scenario. Northwestern opens Big Ten play on September 27 in the pink lockerrooms of Kinnick Stadium, one of the historically houses of horror for us. The inexplicable fourth quarter meltdown against Iowa last season may have been the most painful Big Ten loss of the year, and if the Cats want to meet expectations this year, the Iowa game is circled in red as a "must win". And don't get me started about the fact it is Herky's Homecoming - in SEPTEMBER. Without further ado...

LTP:The Cats 27-16 collapse against what may have been the most disgusting offensive half I've ever witnessed of Iowa football last year has Wildcat fans eyeing your Homecoming game for a payback game. Other than optimism over Maine in the opener, what has Hawkeye fans excited about 2008?

BHGP: Um, a quarterback controversy? A cakewalk schedule? Basketball season?Iowa fans haven't been this uneasy about a football season since 1998. Last year's team was extremely young (31 true freshmen saw playing time, and 28 were on the spring two-deep), and last year's offense was historic in its ineptitude. Fortunately, there is nobody on the schedule (no offense, LTP) (ed: offense taken!). We open with Maine (FCS) and Florida International (should be FCS), we have Iowa State at home, and we travel to the Wannstache. Ohio State and Michigan aren't on the schedule, and Penn State and Wisconsin come to Kinnick.

If there is some kind of development - especially on the offensive line and behind center - things could be pretty good.That being said, we still have Jake Christensen at quarterback (at least for the moment). The only returning running back with any experience spent his last year at a junior college and hasn't run the ball in nearly two years. The offensive line sucked last year in a way we haven't seen since 2000. If there isn't some sort of improvement, we might spend a lot of time punting. It would be too bad, because the defense has the potential to be great.

LTP: It appears Mitch King and Matt Kroul are the heart (and gold pants) and soul of your "D" this year, which would appear to be the strength of your team. What is giving fans hope for increased productivity on the other side of the ball?

BHGP: "The Iowa defense 'appears' to be the strength of the team" is the greatest understatement since "C.J. Bacher is occasionally reckless when throwing the ball, especially when behind and under pressure." We don't blitz on defense; before the 2006 Alamo Bowl, Texas' offensive coordinator told ESPN he hadn't seen a team blitz less than Iowa. The pass rush is predicated on the defensive line. Problem was, we spent the last two years with two defensive ends who - in all fairness - perpetually underachieved. They're replaced with Christian Ballard and Adrian Clayborn, a couple of sophomores who Mr. Bacher knows all too well. There shouldn't be a decline on the line or at linebacker. With a couple of competent corners, the defense might be the best in the conference. Twenty points a game might be enough if the dominoes fall the right way.Too bad this offense still sucks.

Jake Christensen, who was widely (and perhaps unfairly) derided last year as a bust, opened the spring game with an interception and has two more years to go. Plus, there are obvious issues on the offensive line and at running back. So why should Iowa fans be optimistic? 2004. Ken O'Keefe is stubbornly dedicated to the idea of offensive balance only until it is impossible to maintain. In 2004, we literally ran out of running backs and had to ditch any semblance of a running game. That year, Iowa scored the most points in the Big Ten by chucking the ball all over the field. This year, we have no running backs and a bevy (yes, a bevy) of wideouts with experience and speed. In other words, circumstances might force the offense to be productive. Throw in another year of development on the offensive line, and the off-chance that last year's ineptitude would force Ferentz to get more involved in that development, and we might get the requisite 20 points per game.

LTP: Speaking of Ferentz, how is his status among Hawkeye fans?

BHGP: Um, can you spell "tongue-biting criticism" without "Ferentz"? Ryan Ferguson from OrangeandBlueHue.com said it best in his conversation with OPS:"So 9 wins, Hawkeye nation celebrates. 8 wins, it breathes a sigh of relief. 7 wins, they nervously accept their fate and bide their time 'til '09. 6 wins and it's out with the pitchforks, astride one of which must ride Ferentz's salt-and-pepper head."The time has come for improvement. Ferentz may have created a monster with his three consecutive 10-win seasons. I don't think anyone honestly believes Iowa should win ten games and finish in the top 10 every year, but he almost has to win eight or nine every other year to keep the natives happy. As you know, that hasn't come close to happening in the last three seasons.

I mentioned it before, but the offensive line play is particularly disheartening. Ferentz was the guy who turned Jonathan Ogden into the best tackle in the NFL and molded Robert Gallery from a tight end into the best tackle in college football. Last year's line couldn't block my grandmother. Nobody wants to say it, because the "In Kirk We Trust" t-shirts are still around, but one more .500 season and he will have a raging inferno under his chair.

LTP: What should Cats fans be looking for in your non-conference games as milestones for improvement from your Hawkeyes?

BHGP: There's not much to take from the first three games. All three are at home, all three are against cupcakes (we'll discuss the Iowa State conundrum in a second), and all three should be won by 30. The game Northwestern fans should watch is Pittsburgh. First, Wannstedt has a glorious 'stache, and it should be honored. Second, Iowa could beat nobody Nobody NOBODY on the road last year...right up until we came to Evanston. If Iowa goes to Pittsburgh - where we can't possibly expect a Ryan Field-esque pseudo-home field advantage (ed note: bonus points for this phrase..the dagger hurts, but is true) - and wins, this isn't the same team. And then you should fear them.

LTP: When will you ever beat Iowa State in consecutive years (totally irrelevant, but it amazes me how often you seem to lose this game despite almost always being better, but we know the drill as we've lost a gimme in nearly every season since we've been relevant (1995))?

BHGP: It's simply not going to happen. We beat Iowa State at home (at least since 2002) and lose at Jack Trice (at least since 2003). You might not believe it, but Iowa State has the Iowa game in bigger, redder letters than even your Wildcats. For years, Iowa State would get through the Iowa game - and, occasionally, a couple of games in the conference season but NEVER beyond Nebraska - and fold like a gas station burrito. Hayden Fry used to feed off that and motivate with that. Ferentz doesn't do anything of the sort. He looks to Big Ten championships and building toward the finish and holding his secrets close to his chest. And where that is generally enough to win at home, it turns this team into a deer in headlights on the road. So, to answer your question, I have no idea when we might win in Ames, but until then we won't win consecutive games.

LTP: What match-ups against our no-huddle spread do you like from a defensive standpoint? What element of our offense has you anxious in anticipation of Homecoming? What is going to happen on September 27?

BHGP: As stated earlier, our defensive line owned your boys last year. And they're back. And they're better. And that makes me happy. Our corners might need some work, but there isn't the same lack of athleticism we usually have in the defensive secondary. And that motherfuc*ing inside draw that has killed us for years doesn't worry me with the defensive tackles and linebackers we have at our disposal. For one of the great pessimists of our time, I'm strangely confident.

That being said, I wake up in a cold sweat after nightmares of never-ending strings of curl-flat routes from your receivers, run at defensive backs giving 12-yard cushions. I tear my hair out over that damn zone draw. You see, I love the spread (more the Oregon/now-Michigan/Cincinnati spread, but yours as well). I hate your offense because I love it so. I think we can sufficiently contain your offense; we did it on the road last year, and there hasn't been any great, earth-shattering evolution in the Northwestern spread in the past decade. But if you guys spend your summer teaching your defensive line to shed a block and your secondary to stop biting on that curl-and-go pattern, you might have a fighting chance. Otherwise, you'll once again be seeing the back of Trey Stross' jersey over and over again. Good luck, LTP. Hope we don't hurt your boys too bad.

LTP: Now THERE is the BHGP wit I love. Thanks to scheduling us for Homecoming in September, you KNOW Fitz is going to have our "boys" fired up for this one. A Cats win at your Homecoming and Hayden Fry will be having a fit somewhere stewing about how he STILL lost back-to-back games (95 & 96) to Northwestern. NORTHWESTERN! Thanks for the motivation!

Tomorrow, LTP welcomes Enlightened Spartan to the party to breakdown the Michigan State-Northwestern October 11 clash in Evanston.