The Blue Board

Michigan played it's worst game defensively for the most post. The d-line played it's worst game arguably this season. If they make as little impact against NU as they did against MSU we have no shot. But I have faith they will bring it. Also Hawthorne is being replaced by True Freshman Desmond Morgan who played well on Saturday looks like an upgrade. And Jake Ryan is improving every week.

The big difference between MSU's and Nebraska's offenses is that MSU has a very good passing game. Cousins has not played as well as expected this year, but he is a 10x better passer than Martinez and you have three very good WRs. We couldn't stack the box against you the way we can against Nebraska. And, FWIW, I didn't stay we would totally stop Nebraska. I think it will be a close game. I just don't think you played very well against them. I mean, really, three points? You lost because of poor play by your offense not because of your defense. I think our offense, playing at home, will be much more effective against Nebraska than yours. We have played very well at home this year and it's also not a letdown game for us. You made Nebraska's defense look much better than it is.

Agree. He's a freshman and he overplays everything. He's a weak link. But, he is getting better with each game (he played very well against Purdue this weekend and they also run a lot on the edge). Also, as I said above, we do not have to worry about Nebraska's passing game as much as we had to worry about yours. We can commit more to stopping the run against Nebraska.

I have seen some of it (I DVRd it and need to watch the second half). No question, you guys played your worst game of the season. Even Wyoming put up 14 points on them and that was before they lost Crick. It's hard to win four very tough games in a row, especially after the emotional high of beating your big rival (us) and then Wisky (#6 in the country). I wish you had played like that when you played us. But that cuts in our favor when we play Nebraska. They are good, but not nearly as good as you made them look. OSU moved the ball all over them for three quarters in Lincoln and OSU hasn't exactly been an offensive juggernaut. Wisky made them look like an FCS team. Hell, Minny put up 14 points on them (and we beat Minny 58-0). Again, I am not saying we will win easily, but I am much more worried about OSU. They are getting better each week and will have Posey back by then. The OSU team we have to play is a very different one than you played. I'm not complaining, but it's just a fact. That game will be a much harder game for us to win than the Nebraska game.

Well, and not to whine and complain, but that is sort of how we feel about our game against you. The offensive game plan sucked. They kept taking Denard out and putting Gardner in. And that fourth and six inches call was idiotic. Instead of just getting the first down, Borges tried to outsmart you guys and go for the TD. Denard is virtually impossible to stop for short yardage, because the defense has to stay in their lanes or risk losing containment. If we get that first down, we probably end up tying the game with a TD (we are deadly in the red zone this year). At worst, we pull within four points with a FG. But, you know, that shit happens. You have a couple bad games every year and it's very hard to beat a good team when you have a bad game. You had your bad game against Nebraska. And that is the thing that worries me most about Iowa and Illinois. If we play well, we should win both of those games relatively easily. But, if we play poorly, we could lose. Both games are on the road. We are not good enough on defense (yet) to play poorly against good teams and win.

Sheesh.

Make up your mind already.

Mom making you PBJ for lunch today?

I thought a loss was very likely, I didn't have my hopes up that high. Playing on the road is difficult. We've always struggled at Kinnick, Camp Randal and Happy Valley. When Nebraska joined the B1G right away I felt like that stadium would also be another tough place for us to play at.

Did losing suck? Yes, but it's not the end of the world. At the start of the season I could see a range of 8-4 to 10-2 for the regular scheduled season. Right now I'm feeling 10-2 to 9-3 is very possible. Iowa is going to be a super hard place to win at and that will be the difference.

Winning on the road on the B1G this year has been very tough for all teams. I expect that to continue.

There's some places we do alright at, but the ones I listed above have been BRUTAL for us. I think we play at Camp Randal next year and I'm pretty much chalking that one up as a loss right now. That's a tough place to play at.

Reading the past few pages...mriderblue is pretty mad

4 in a row stings huh

IMO, Iowa is at a major crossroads. Not just the season, but I think Ferentz's coaching tenure. With all the off-field crap that has occurred, the suspensions, the Rhabdomyolysis, and losing to one of the worst B1G teams in recent history, I think this team is walking a razor thin line.

They could come out swinging in hopes of redeeming their season, and possibly saving their coach's job. Or they could fold their tents and come mail it in.

Tough to tell on the fact that we really don't know how Maxwell is going to be. His ceiling is higher than Cousins, but that's all potential at this point. But only senior on the defense and if I had to guess Jerel is leaving but returning 9 of 11 on one of the best defenses in the nation will make up for some issues on offense, as it has had to this year.