I was re-watching the 2005 Iowa game. A few things popped out. One, we dominated that game. And, on offense, we only had 2 senior starters. Defense was different, particularly on the back-end with three seniors in the backfield. But, overall, there were 6 underclassmen coming back.
Secondly, the case can be made that this may have been Mac's most under-achieving team. Questionable coaching decisions cost us the chance to win several close losses, not to mention the outright north division championship.
But mostly, it probably can be argued that Jason Berryman and Matt Robertson's stupidity and Adam Carper's injury cost Mac his job - along with his conservative nature. The other thing that pops out is that 2 losses for 2006 on offense were on the offensive line - and once again we failed to really replace them.
We have struggled to have a good offensive line for a long, long time. Some were better, but I would argue none were really good. Seldom were we able to exert our will against upper tier defenses. That was Mac's undoing and, if it truly isn't at least markedly improved this year, will be CPR's undoing.
We just struggle getting to the point where our offensive line is Jrs and Srs (developed) with Sophomores waiting in the wings to take the departing seniors places. Until we get to that point, we will have difficulty sustaining success.
To that point, I think we underestimated the impact of the injuries to Farniok's class of offensive linemen. We need 2-3 O-line in each class that can start as RS Juniors. No one should start before their RS Soph year - ever. We just don't recruit the type of talent that can successfully do that.
Secondly, the case can be made that this may have been Mac's most under-achieving team. Questionable coaching decisions cost us the chance to win several close losses, not to mention the outright north division championship.
But mostly, it probably can be argued that Jason Berryman and Matt Robertson's stupidity and Adam Carper's injury cost Mac his job - along with his conservative nature. The other thing that pops out is that 2 losses for 2006 on offense were on the offensive line - and once again we failed to really replace them.
We have struggled to have a good offensive line for a long, long time. Some were better, but I would argue none were really good. Seldom were we able to exert our will against upper tier defenses. That was Mac's undoing and, if it truly isn't at least markedly improved this year, will be CPR's undoing.
We just struggle getting to the point where our offensive line is Jrs and Srs (developed) with Sophomores waiting in the wings to take the departing seniors places. Until we get to that point, we will have difficulty sustaining success.
To that point, I think we underestimated the impact of the injuries to Farniok's class of offensive linemen. We need 2-3 O-line in each class that can start as RS Juniors. No one should start before their RS Soph year - ever. We just don't recruit the type of talent that can successfully do that.
