Changed expectations?

[bdtay71]

I think this team will improve each week but it won't show up on our record. 7-5 maybe 8-4 is what I expect this year.

 

[biggunsbob]

Iowa is not that good... They just lost to freaking Iowa State.. I was not sure why everyone was so high on them.. they did lose some really decent players... My guess is we fall between 7-9 wins depending on the breaks. Breaks meaning like going 80 yards in 23 seconds and 2 plays....LOL

 

[bdtay71]

biggunsbob[/color]]Iowa is not that good... They just lost to freaking Iowa State.. I was not sure why everyone was so high on them.. they did lose some really decent players... My guess is we fall between 7-9 wins depending on the breaks. Breaks meaning like going 80 yards in 23 seconds and 2 plays....LOL

So the year we lost to App. State was everyone in the Big Ten counting us as an automatic win? I like the optimism but let's be realistic, in both of our wins there was a good stretch of the game where we all felt the game was in doubt.

 

[biggunsbob]

biggunsbob[/color]]Iowa is not that good... They just lost to freaking Iowa State.. I was not sure why everyone was so high on them.. they did lose some really decent players... My guess is we fall between 7-9 wins depending on the breaks. Breaks meaning like going 80 yards in 23 seconds and 2 plays....LOL

So the year we lost to App. State was everyone in the Big Ten counting us as an automatic win? I like the optimism but let's be realistic, in both of our wins there was a good stretch of the game where we all felt the game was in doubt.

Yes i know you are right but I stand by Iowa not being very good... They have lost more key guys then people think.

 

[hungry]

right, I guess worse case would be go 4-0 noncon, then only beat Turdue and Shittesota.

It's possible sure, but do you honestly think we won't win one or two games against:

Northwestern
MSU
Iowa
Illinois
Nebraska
Ohio

Did you miss where I said that I predicted 8 wins?

I was just saying that 6-6 is possible, but I think its unlikely.

 

[Michchamp]

while I was expecting 8-4 with the ND game being one we would probably lose, winning it didn't make me more confident, since I don't think we're going to be able to do what we did against better defenses. three of Denard's four TD passes would've been picks against ohio or iowa. we struggled to move the ball between the 20's, but had a pretty easy time by comparison in the red zone.

I don't really know what to think now. This team might just be so crazy with the I-sets, the spread formations, and Denard's scrambling ability that they are impossible to game plan for, and keep winning crazy wide-open contests like this.

I don't think for a second that we're going to be able to this consistently, but fortunately, our coaches know that too. I think our offensive struggles early were the result of trying to accommodate that, then realizing too late we just needed to let Denard play.

 

[jever4321]

It does appear that the opposing team's game plan for stopping Denard isn't that far from stopping a power running game. Load the box and stop the run. In a perfect maze and blue world, the offensive line could protect well and Denard could carve up defenses with his arm early, and watch the running game open up. unfortunately Denard had only a couple of completions in the first half against ND. That doesn't bode well for the B1G schedule if they can't produce better results than that.

As I was watching that game I had a familiar feeling come over me. For the past 3 seasons it seems like we needed a degree of luck to score points. There were many fortunate things that happens Saturday night.

 

[zyxt9]

As these coaches actually work on correcting errors and are able to make in-game adjustments, I can actually see the team continually improving and going undefeated!!!

Okay, still high after the last win. Reality check does make me believe they will actually be competitive in B10 play, but likely still lose to MSU, Nebraska, and OSU (will suck to finish the season vs those teams this year). With Iowa showing vulnerabiility though, they might win the rest. Give / take unexpected loss / win, I'm going with 9 wins this year.