Report card: Iowa vs. Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Another tough loss for Iowa. That’s four by a combined 12 points now this season. Same mistakes that have plagued the Hawkeyes in the previous three losses reared up again Saturday at Illinois. Turnovers (Iowa had three), lack of production in the red zone (only one touchdown in five trips) and poor performance on third down (3-for-14). It was the same old story.
Here’s how I graded the performance:
Offense (D)
The Hawkeyes’ inability to turn red-zone trips into touchdowns is really, really starting to cost them.
Saturday, it was 1-for-5. On the season, it’s now 20-for-40.
In the words of Dana Carvey doing President George H.W. Bush on “Saturday Night Live,” that’s “not gonna do it.”
Iowa had several chances to take control of the game in the first half and failed.
“We’ve got to be there for the defense,” quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. “They’re in there fighting their butts off, but we get close and don’t get in the end zone. That hurts the defense, because they’re doing such a good job keeping points off the board. We’ve got to help them out.”
That starts with not turning the ball over, which Stanzi did three times, and it certainly would help to improve on the 3-for-14 performance on third downs, another continuation of a season-long trend. That’s 4-for-24 the past two games.
Ugh.
Defense (B)
Iowa held the Big Ten’s most prolific offense to 332 yards — 130 below its season average.
That’s getting the job done.
Bettendorf’s Pat Angerer had nine tackles, keeping pace with Illinois linebacker Brit Miller, the Big Ten’s leading tackler, and the Hawkeyes came up with two interceptions. That’s 16 for the season, which ranks second in the country.
Mitch King was a monster up front, finishing with nine stops, two behind the line of scrimmage.
There was a breakdown between cornerback Amari Spievey and safety Tyler Sash on Illinois’ long touchdown pass in the third quarter, but that was the only really big play that was given up.
Special teams (C)
Daniel Murray’s kickoff out of bounds in the third quarter really hurt. It gave Illinois a short field, and the Illini capitalized with a touchdown.
Trent Mossbrucker missed a 30-yard field goal, which, in hindsight, cost Iowa the game.
Ryan Donahue punted well, and the kick- and punt-coverage units kept Arrelious Benn in check.
Coaching (B)
Can’t really complain about the coaching staff.
Really.
Fans will criticize the play calling in the red zone and blame offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe, but the players have to execute. The plays were there to be made, and they didn’t make them.
That’s why Iowa lost another close game. That’s nine in a row by three points or fewer dating back to 2005.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Where was the defensive during the last 3minutes of the game?
Stanzi is better than Jake but that’s not saying much.
I think its time for a new coaching staff at Iowa. The players
continue to make the same mistakes over & over. Its been 3years
now and its really getting old.
Why is it so difficult to teach Stanzi to throw the little flare
pass to Green? This play was open all day long! The announcers
on TV kept talking about it all day long. I just think after what
appears now to be another disappointing 6-6 season its really time
for a new coaching staff for Iowa footbball.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I’m not sure how the coaches grade out to a B. The defense did well most of the day (excepting the TD pass breakdown), but the bend but don’t break aspect doesn’t play well when even a bend will result in a game winning FG.
Offensively, there were miscues by the players, but in general, the Illini dared us to pass and we didn’t take the dare. When the line is being stacked against the run, doesn’t it make sense to attempt more screen and play action passes? It’s their job to put us into a position to win, and I didn’t see that in the first half.