**2026 Iowa Football Season Thread**

[KitKatApples]

Must be a small apartment

 

[cloudhawk]

I’m not saying he’s the next greenway I just mean hoping the senior is replaced by a better underclassman

Wait- so were not changing words, thoughts, discussion to fit a narrative...

 

[6deuce]

Wait- so were not changing words, thoughts, discussion to fit a narrative...

6deuce=suck my cock, Cloud!!!

 

[Gushawk]

Kirk usually makes the move a week or two too late. Before the Washington game.

I agree. Gonna take him being exposed badly in coverage, and OSU is the first team that will do that in a major way

 

[KitKatApples]

I hope he wins the Heisman

 

[ChipHilton]

I lean Brownie based on these two bits. Heck seems to identify those 10 yarders pretty quickly, but he threw some scary "pick me" balls. Brown's near misses looked better and safer to me. The TD to 81 probably wasn't one, but the PI on 2 was gonna be. The throw to Jackson Naeve may have been the best throw of the day. The longer one to KJ Parker was underthrown, but was a safe underthrow. Just missed on the consecutive end zone fades.

 

[KitKatApples]

I think Hecklinski’s athleticism will be more valuable during live games

 

[cloudhawk]

I was in Historic Kinnick Stadium for a Hecklinski TD and watched Hank shit his pants during an upset bid vs Indiana...

I'm a Hecklinski lean at this point

 

[Lee Beevers]

I expect to be able to run the ball with some strong success. Need to be able to take advantage of that success and throw the ball down the field. Hank is the guy.

 

[champion_thedrinker]

I expect to be able to run the ball with some strong success. Need to be able to take advantage of that success and throw the ball down the field. Hank is the guy.

Nope, hecklinski is the wild card who will scamper for a few extra first downs that will seal the fate of the opposition.

 

[YugoslavianMountainHound]

 

[CurdMan]

I was excited about Hecklinski until I saw him throw the football. For being a “gun slinger” his arm is very uninspiring. I don’t really understand the higher ceiling thing with Hecklinski. Brown may end up sucking, but he’s got considerably more arm talent and it isn’t like Hecklinski is a significantly better runner. I think we’ve been burned by years of offensive incompetence and have given up on pro style QBs. If Lester picks Brown, I’m guessing he’ll be able to scheme to his talents.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Don’t forget, our offense is so complicated that we can’t possibly consider playing the highly recruited freshman or redshirt freshman.

 

[Pinehawk]

I have no idea which QB is better. So, I’m just going to wait and see.

 

[Shawneemicks]

It’s going to be brown. To start at least.

 

[KitKatApples]

There was a lot of this strong arm talk with Petras too. Then we watched Brown with a Petrasesque pants shitting against Indiana

 

[Monster]

Don’t forget, our offense is so complicated that we can’t possibly consider playing the highly recruited freshman or redshirt freshman.

You should listen to Tim Lester speak. Or anyone else who is familiar with the Green Bay version of the West Coast Offense. Everyone is different and time can vary, but for some freshman it's like AP Calc. For most quarterbacks coming out of hs these days just learning how to take a snap under center isn't easy. Lester talked about Bessinger's struggles with that. I know it's fashionable for people to minimize the complexity of football, but some schemes truly are so complex that a freshman would be hardpressed to step right in and play.

 

[Hawk&Balls]

I am dumb and don't know shit about anything. If other teams can run seemingly less complex offense and score more points, why run a more complex offense and score fewer points?

 

[Monster]

I am dumb and don't know shit about anything. If other teams can run seemingly less complex offense and score more points, why run a more complex offense and score fewer points?

Maybe because they have better athletes?

 

[Monster]

Iowa averaged just short of 30 last year. That's a lot of points considering the overall pace philosophy of the team, the defense, and the number of possessions per game. So the more complex offense is working, and is getting better. Lester has talked about the benefits of having quarterbacks with nearly 2 years in the system, and how challenging it was for Gronowski in the beginning of the season.

 

[Lil Scamp]

I am dumb and don't know shit about anything. If other teams can run seemingly less complex offense and score more points, why run a more complex offense and score fewer points?

Time of possession and opponent field position would probably be the answer

 

[Fair and Balanced]

Maybe because they have better athletes?

If we are going to target unathletic guys you’d think they wouldn’t also be stupid.

 

[Monster]

If we are going to target unathletic guys you’d think they wouldn’t also be stupid.

Are you talking about Halo?

 

[Monster]

There was a lot of this strong arm talk with Petras too. Then we watched Brown with a Petrasesque pants shitting against Indiana

I'm really trying to withhold my judgment of Brown based on part of one quarter of play against the eventual national champion. He might turn out to be dogshit. But that's a very difficult situation to get your first real shot.

 

[Shawneemicks]

I never cross my arms until the end of the 1st quarter of the opener. I’m very patient like that

 

[Monster]

 

[KitKatApples]

 

[Kerky]

I'm really trying to withhold my judgment of Brown based on part of one quarter of play against the eventual national champion. He might turn out to be dogshit. But that's a very difficult situation to get your first real shot.

Any other team's fans would be able to brush that off and not give it a second thought, but we were abused for so long with pant shitting play, it is only an instinctual reaction at this point.

 

[Monster]

Any other team's fans would be able to brush that off and not give it a second thought, but we were abused for so long with pant shitting play, it is only an instinctual reaction at this point.

I think I see your overall point here, but every fanbase wants to believe they are different and what they experience is unique.

 

[The Dad]

I never cross my arms until the end of the 1st quarter of the opener. I’m very patient like that

What if we win the toss, take the ball, then have an embarrassing three and out against an Inferior opponent where it looks like we’ve never played football before?

 

[Shawneemicks]

What if we win the toss, take the ball, then have an embarrassing three and out against an Inferior opponent where it looks like we’ve never played football before?

That’s football

 

[Debit One]

I know it's fashionable for people to minimize the complexity of football, but some schemes truly are so complex that a freshman would be hardpressed to step right in and play.

It's not only schemes.

Let's forget route adjustments and recognizing the defensive scheme. Let's forget about the pressure of the pass rush.

Imagine a known play with four receivers running routes against man to man coverage.

The QB has to a) know those four routes, b) know his progression through those four routes, c) mentally process the progression and determine the highest priority open receiver, and d) physically adjust to what they are seeing and mentally processing in order to throw the ball to the chosen receiver.

I pretty shittily played QB in high school. The pass rush didn't bother me. a) and b) weren't an issue. I knew what I was supposed to do. c) and d) are where I really struggled. It took me too long to mentally process whether or not a certain receiver was open, and to physically adjust (turn my body, etc) if I was going to throw to anyone other than the #1 receiver in the progression.

Now add routes that adjust based upon coverage to that mix.

It's really hard.

 

[Hawk&Balls]

Any other team's fans would be able to brush that off and not give it a second thought, but we were abused for so long with pant shitting play, it is only an instinctual reaction at this point.

I just want our offense to be normal. Why can't we be normal like everyone else.

 

[Monster]

I just want our offense to be normal. Why can't we be normal like everyone else.

What's normal look like?

 

[L. Wade Childress]

You should listen to Tim Lester speak. Or anyone else who is familiar with the Green Bay version of the West Coast Offense. Everyone is different and time can vary, but for some freshman it's like AP Calc. For most quarterbacks coming out of hs these days just learning how to take a snap under center isn't easy. Lester talked about Bessinger's struggles with that. I know it's fashionable for people to minimize the complexity of football, but some schemes truly are so complex that a freshman would be hardpressed to step right in and play.

I wasn’t specifically talking about the Lester offense. I’m just talking Kirk’s approach in general over decades worth of data points. We have repeatedly heard him talk about how players can’t pick up the system quickly. So the general halo consensus is “so why don’t we make the offense less complicated, especially since there’s no data that suggests being complicated is helping us score points?”

 

[Hawk&Balls]

I don't want to do this for the 74th time

 

[Monster]

I wasn’t specifically talking about the Lester offense. I’m just talking Kirk’s approach in general over decades worth of data points. We have repeatedly heard him talk about how players can’t pick up the system quickly. So the general halo consensus is “so why don’t we make the offense less complicated, especially since there’s no data that suggests being complicated is helping us score points?”

Oh. So are you dismissing the past two years of data, then? Looks like you are.

 

[Hawk&Balls]

God damn it I'm on lwades side

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Oh. So are you dismissing the past two years of data, then? Looks like you are.

our offense has been BETTER. it hasn’t been good.

and none of it matters until we see the qb play.

 

[Hawk&Balls]

All I want are quarterbacks that look like they've thrown a forward pass before.

 

[Monster]

I don't want to do this for the 74th time

We don't want you to do it either.

 

[Kamala]

our offense has been BETTER. it hasn’t been good.

and none of it matters until we see the qb play.

Yep, this is correct. Last year we were way better than we were used to. But we still finished 54th in scoring and 118th in total yards per game.

We have a ways to go until we can say Tim Lester is coaching an offense that is good. Any regression from those numbers this year and you could probably say the offense is bad. So let’s hope last year‘s numbers are the beginning of a trend upward

 

[L. Wade Childress]

It’s also easy to say that other schools have better athletes, but you also have to remember that part of the reason other schools have better athletes because our offense has been systemically retarded for a long time and that affects recruiting.

 

[Monster]

It’s also easy to say that other schools have better athletes, but you also have to remember that part of the reason other schools have better athletes because our offenses has been systemically retarded for a long time and that affects recruiting.

Now talk about the defense. How many five-star athletes has Iowa gotten on defense? And they've been good for 20 years. Your logic is illogical.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Now talk about the defense. How many five-star athletes has Iowa gotten on defense? And they've been good for 20 years. Your logic is illogical.

lol ok

 

[Kamala]

Now talk about the defense. How many five-star athletes has Iowa gotten on defense? And they've been good for 20 years. Your logic is illogical.

Kirk has hired and retained excellent defensive coordinators. They have been elite at scheming, adjusting, and player development.

His offensive choices have mostly been embarrassingly bad. Kirk doesn’t know how to put together a good offense in today’s college football. Hopefully Tim Lester is the answer, this year will go a long way in finding out.

 

[Monster]

Kirk has hired and retained excellent defensive coordinators. They have been elite at scheming, adjusting, and player development.

His offensive choices have mostly been embarrassingly bad. Kirk doesn’t know how to put together a good offense in today’s college football. Hopefully Tim Lester is the answer, this year will go a long way in finding out.

That wasn't my point. L Wade Dipshit above tried to say that the reason Iowa doesn't get elite athletes is because the offense has historically been bad. Then I pointed out that our defense historically has been great and we don't get five star athletes there. Then he realizes he made a stupid point and bailed.

 

[Hawk&Balls]

The offense does have very good to elite athletes. They're just often not skill positions.

 

[Shawneemicks]

Admitting being wrong takes a degree of intelligence that eludes LWade
I know, I know it’s very surprising

 

[KitKatApples]

All I want are quarterbacks that look like they've thrown a forward pass before.