Go Mailbag Awesome: October 29

By RossWB on October 29, 2021 at 11:03 am @rosswb
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© 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. 

The mailbag took a bye week break last week, but we're back at it this week... 

Would we like a new offensive coordinator? Yes. Emphatically yes. Are we going to get one? Almost certainly no. SMU has a hell of an offense, so Riley would definitely be an exciting hire in this hypothetical scenario. But barring a significant off-field scandal, it's hard to see a scenario where the remainder of the KF Era at Iowa doesn't also feature Brian Ferentz as the offensive coordinator, for good or ill. 

Absolutely not. Candy corn is gross and terrible. Thank God we only have to deal with it for a few weeks out of the year. 

Best pro other than Linderbaum? That's a fun question. It would be fun if it was Tyler Goodson, both because he's a good dude and a lot of fun to watch and also because Iowa hasn't had a non-tight end skill player enjoy success in the NFL in, uh, quite a while. But the most realistic answer is likely someone on the defensive side of the ball. Iowa's defensive backs seem a bit scheme-dependent, but in the right set-up, I think Dane Belton or Matt Hankins could be solid contributors for an NFL defense. Although let's not overlook PUNTGOD Tory Taylor, either -- if he continues to improve he should be Iowa's first punter to play in the NFL since Ryan Donahue and I think he has a good shot to carve out a solid career at that level. Praise be to PUNTGOD. 

As for the best blitzer... hmm. I think Belton, Jack Campbell, and Seth Benson have all been effective as blitzers over the last two seasons. I think Campbell's combination of quickness and hitting power might make him the best option overall, but he's so important to Iowa's coverage and defensive organization that he ends up blitzing somewhat sparingly. Iowa's front four is probably going to have their hands full with the beefy Big Ten West offensive lines they're going to see over the next five games, so we may need to see a bit more blitzing from Phil Parker's defense than normal in order to generate pressure.

This is a tough question. I think you usually want something short and punchy -- Bart Starr is a good one on that front. One syllable in each name, always sounds crisp coming out of your mouth, very direct. A guy named "Bart Starr" pretty much has to be a football player or a fighter pilot, right? From an Iowa standpoint, it's hard to beat Pat Angerer, especially since he played MLB and made a living out of hitting people. Pat? You wouldn't like him when he's Angerer. 

But all-time it's pretty hard to beat Bronko Nagurski. It's neither short nor punchy, but it does scream "football." His first name is BRONKO, for God's sake. 90% of the reason Nagurski is an all-time legend with awards and trophies named after him is because he was an exceptional football player. But the other 10% is because he also had an exceptional name. 

And the best football name currently in the game is Rocky Lombardi, formerly the QB at Michigan State and now at Northern Illinois. He loses a few points for being a QB -- a name like Rocky Lombardi demands to be a LB or DE, honestly -- but combining the name of the greatest fictional boxer of all-time with the most iconic football coach of all-time? That's a winning combination. 

If you really want to play into the stereotype, it would have to be something like Mortimer Wintersbottom IV, right? 

Does it bother them? Sure. Does it force them to get creative to figure out ways to beat them? Thus far the answer has generally been "no." We've seen Iowa use more creative gameplans (rarely, but it happens!) in games like Ohio State in 2017 or USC in 2019, but we definitely see a lot of the tried-and-true against Wisconsin. Why? Stubbornness is a part of it, I'm sure. It does seem like Iowa gets more exotic (exotic for Iowa, at least) when they perceive a talent gap with the other team and that's rarely been the case with Wisconsin. The similarities between the programs in terms of their play styles and recruiting profiles also probably feeds into things. 

Like right this second? Nah. He definitely wants to see this season out. Would he retire at the end of the season if Brian was guaranteed to be the next head coach? That's a little trickier. I would say "maybe," but probably not. He still seems energized to be coaching and he has a pretty young team that should return a lot of pieces next year. In addition to that, Iowa's had some of its best recruiting classes in recent years and is in on a lot of top local prospects in the next few years, too. I think he wants to see how that pans out. That said, if Iowa (improbably!) wins out or wins the Big Ten or a Rose Bowl, it might be pretty tempting to go out on such a high note. Let's cross that (incredible) bridge if we get to it, though. 

Oh man. Talk about an impossible choice there. Let's look at the evidence.

Pinball Pick-Six: 

Lateral to Hyde: 

Oof. Two amazing, unforgettable, unlikely to ever be duplicated plays. If I had to pick just one, though, I think I'd go with the pinball pick-six; it was truly mind-melting. Seeing the ball deflect around like that and magically land in the hands of Sash (who happened to be blitzing on the play) with nothing but open field ahead of him was truly astonishing. That play was also absolutely pivotal in Iowa's ability to turn the tide and come back in that game. 

But what about you all? Which INT do you prefer? Why note vote in our poll? 

That's a good note to wrap things up, too -- go Hawks, Go Iowa Awesome, and see you next week. 

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