Go Mailbag Awesome: October 14

By RossWB on October 14, 2021 at 3:23 pm @rosswb
go future hawks go
© Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Welcome to Go Mailbag Awesome, where we answer your questions about Iowa sports. Technically these are tweets, not letters or emails or other mail-related items, but "tweetbag" is an unpleasant word. Just say it out loud... gross. So we're going with mailbag instead. We'll try to do this on a weekly basis. And if the bird app frightens or disturbs you, you can always email questions to ross-at-goiowaawesome-dot-com. 

And away we go... 

What happens in the the back woods of North Liberty stays in the back woods of North Liberty. We respect Phil Parker's dastardly black magick in this house. 

-500 on an arrest for assault and battery if David Bell has 200 yards receiving. 

He's done it pretty much every season that Iowa and Purdue have played, so I think we know what's coming. Hell, the backup corner is probably going to be a starter out this week, with Terry Roberts likely to fill in for Riley Moss on Saturday. Scary Terry has been an unsung MVP for his efforts on special teams all season long, but he's going to have to prove his coverage chops on Saturday. And if we have to dip farther than Roberts, well, then we start getting to cornerbacks who have barely played at all in college, which is definitely some SPOOKY SZN shit. 

Why wait? We don't need to see more than 40% of something to know who the winner will be. 

Obligatory: caring is creepy. 

But, yeah, it was a big big BIG recruiting weekend for Iowa. You can see a bit more about who was there here and here. There's insight into how their visits went here and here. Short answer: they loved it. Incredible atmosphere, great environment, loudest game they'd ever been to, etc. The game aspect of the visit could not have gone any better for Iowa. (That's not to say that the other parts of their visits didn't also go very well, but those parts of the visit aren't as visible as the game itself.)

It looks like Iowa's biggest gains in terms of recruiting after this weekend may come in the 2023 and even 2024 recruiting classes. One, a lot of the top 2022 prospects have already made commitment decisions. Two, Iowa's going to be taking a smaller class in 2022 because they also have a much smaller senior class this year. Iowa had some very big targets from the '23 and '24 classes at this game (like 5* OL Kadyn Proctor, 4* OL Cayden Green, 4* DL George Mickens, 4* Kyler Kasper and more) and this game certainly left a very favorable impression on them. Getting commitments from a few of those guys would be huge for the future. 

But there could still be a big gain for the 2022 class as a result of this game, too. Iowa's in the final three for 5* safety Xavier Nwankpa (along with Ohio State and Notre Dame) and he reportedly loved his official visit last weekend. He's set to announce his commitment on December 8, so there's still a while to go before his decision is clear, but Iowa's apparently a legitimate contender to get him and that has a lot to do with his visit and, really, this entire season. 

Probably because you're scarred by what Jeff Brohm and Purdue have done to Iowa over the last four seasons, which is understandable. Iowa has the same record (3-1) against both Purdue and Wisconsin over that time span, but the Purdue losses have been... more frustrating? Maybe? There's also a little bit of letdown factor at play for the Purdue game, given that it's a week after the big Penn State clash. I think Iowa also knows how to beat Wisconsin they just struggle to do so because Wisconsin is often better than Iowa is at the things they want to do well (running the ball, avoiding turnovers, being stingy on defense, etc.). Iowa's still trying to figure out how to beat Purdue to a certain extent. 

I don't know, but that is one absolutely awesome weekend you got to experience. Being at that Iowa game and seeing Drive-By Truckers live a night later is hell of a good reason to sacrifice your hearing for a bit. 

If they beat #2 Michigan on Friday (2 PM CT, BTN), yes. They've dispatched all other challengers, but that 1v2 game with Michigan will be a big one. The Wolverines are also undefeated on the season and they're near the top of the Big Ten in most goals scored and fewest goals allowed. But Iowa is the best in both categories and they're at home. I think they get it done on Friday and finish out the regular season as the undefeated top-ranked team in the country.  

To call in plays? That's about the only thing Deuce is going to be doing this year, unless disaster strikes. He's still got a promising future at Iowa, but we're probably going to have to wait until 2022 or 2023 to get any extended glimpse of what we can do on the field. 

Yes, but Purdue should be more concerned about holding on to such an obvious coaching superstar. What's that? 

listens to earpiece 

Brohm is just 19-26 at Purdue against non-Iowa teams? Well, that doesn't really make me feel any better. Sigh. Damn him and his Kirk Ferentz voodoo doll.  

That Meyer/Saban record is absolutely delightful, though. In case you're wondering: 

Nick Saban: 1-3 vs Iowa (1-2 at Michigan State, 0-1 at LSU)
Urban Meyer: 2-1 vs Iowa (1-0 at Florida, 1-1 at Ohio State)

Tory Taylor has been our ride-or-die Heisman guy for two years now, so we're pretty loathe to give that up. But it's also a lot of fun to see Tyler Linderbaum getting some love for his extraordinary play at the fulcrum of Iowa's offensive line. It would be absolutely surreal (and wonderful) to see an offensive lineman in the Top 10 for the Heisman vote. 

Dude is an absolute beast, though. 

No idea, but I like where your head's at. If the defense continues to force turnovers at a furious rate, a multi-score victory is definitely a possibility. If the turnover margin is closer to zero, though, this game is much more likely be to a tight slog. 

butts

Finally, the brilliance stands revealed. We take back every criticism we ever had of you, Spencer. 

That seems like the perfect note to end on, too -- go Hawks, Go Iowa Awesome, and see you next week. 

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Iowa 106, Longwood 73: Strokin' It

go hawks go

The Hybrid: Sparty Off

MS-Who?
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