It has nothing to do with UNI fueled hatred, or performance of the QB. You're Wal Mart shirt, Busch Light and Hawkeye Vodka power raging hard on for Iowa is clouding your ability to see the point I was making.Originally Posted by Yote 53
Look at what I said and look if I actually referenced it to on-field performance. Hint, it doesn't. It has to do with how the staff recruits and handles the QB position at Iowa.
This season is the just the second time since Stanzi where there wasn't a QB controversy coming out of spring and going into fall with 7 QBs on roster and Kirk playing the competition card every year, no matter who is returning. This is why you are seeing the transfers out
2017: QB position battle open. On August 25th Kirk said in an interview he was in no hurry to make a decision. It was a 4 person battle with Stanley, Wiegers, Boyle and Mansell.
2016: The 2016 season had Bethard starting but his favor was wearing thin by the end of the season with the fans as he completed 55% of his passes, didn't seem to understand when to run, when to slide when to throw it away and missed a bunch of reads. Iowa fans hated Rudock because all he did was check down, yet CJ's numbers are Jake's numbers. The whole preseason - and even in season because of the way Beathard played - was marred with this ongoing inability/unwillingness of Kirk to committ to Drew Cook, Stanley or Wiegers as the back up. He went from 62% to 56% completion, lost over 900 yards in passing, threw the same number of TDs and doubled his INTs from 2015
2013-2015: In 2015 Bethard was the guy because he threatened to transfer if Kirk didn't chase Jake Rudock out of town. Kirk did and CJ took over. Meanwhile Jake went on to have one of the single greatest seasons in Michigan QB history. Rudock had started 25 of 26 games during his JR and SR season in Iowa City. Completed over 60% of his passes, threw for 5,000 yards, had 34 TD passes to 18 Int (and as a senior had 16-5) had a rating of over 130 for his career in Iowa City. He was benched at half time of the bowl game for CJ because there was weeks - actually the entire season had talks of CJ threatening to transfer if he didn't get to play. So much so that during bowl prep he was rumored to have had contact with other schools and his father made some very serious, and specific, comments as to where CJ would land. Jake was benched at halftime of the 2014 bowl game and the game was handed to CJ and Kirk promised him after the game he would be the starter the next season, even though Jake had another year left. Jake transfered to Michigan and set the single game record for touchdown passes with 6, became the first QB in school history to pass for 250 yards in three straight games, first to throw for 250 yards in 5 straight games, was just the second QB in school history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season (3,017 behind only John Navarre), set the single season completion percentage at over 64%, and was named the MVP of the Citrus bowl. He had more yards, a better completion percent, a better passer rating and more TDs than CJ did that same year. 2014 was one of Kirks famous open battles with the position open to CJ and Jake. Jake won it. For the next two seasons Kirk would play mind games with Jake and pulling him out of the game for a few series at a time, or a quarter, or a few plays, and never really committed to keeping him as the QB.
2012 he committed 100% behind Vandenburg who was mostly a disaster and should have found a better solution. However, he didn't have a choice because in 2011 he ran this open thing like he did with Jake and CJ and then again last season. 2011 He went with junior JVB over freshman Jake Rudock and another junior in John Wienke. Wienke was told to go with Iowa by former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr as he would have been an ideal follow up to Ricky Stanzi. Ferentz turned him into a punter. Following the 2012 season - with Rudock already having spent multiple years on campus he brought Beathard in via transfer with the promise that he'd become the starting QB - which led to his ultimate unhappiness when wasn't and his direct quotes to the media about how he was going to transfer.
Again, my comment wasn't based on on field performance. It has to do with how Ferentz handles his QB recruiting and refusing to play the best one and instead the most oldest one.
You forget, I've lived in Iowa my entire life. I'm surrounded by nothing but Hawkeye fans. I don't like Iowa but I know quite a bit about them. All local sports talk shows are Hawkeye heavy. If I want to be able to carry a conversation with my neighbors, co-workers, anyone in the area I need to have a functional understanding of Hawkeye sports.
Hell, let's keep playing this out for a year or two. Stanely has 2 years left, due to transfers out Iowa is down to 3 scholarship QBs this year. JR Nate Stanley, RSFr Mansell and true freshman Spencer Petras. There is a 4th but he is a walk on junior. Let's go 2 years down the road when Stanley is gone. This same pattern plays out again. Kirk will feel compelled to play Mansell - who will be a RS Jr - or Petras who will be a RS So (assuming he doesn't get tired of Iowa weather and not playing after coming in from California). Who starts? What does Iowa do? IIRC they had offers out to 4 QBs right now. They will try to sign 2 a year, is my guess, for the next two years, which will lead to a 7-8 month battle, Kirk unsure of who to pick so he will pick the oldest QB and it will lead to transfers and position changes again. That's the cycle in Iowa City.
It's almost like I know what happens down there beyond "UNI fueled hatred"
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