MY .02 on Iowa at #2

Great defense but my God.......if Clifford doesn't get hurt they lose that by 17.  Granted Penn St. has a stout defense but their offense was TOTALLY INEPT.  

THIS IS THE #2 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY???   If they meet Ohio St.  in the Big Ten Champ they will get boat raced.

@Natty68

 Not so sure. The game was 17-10 when he came out with 6 minutes left in the 1H - far from over. You are also not giving credit to the wizard that is Phil Parker and his halftime adjustments, along with Iowa's own adjustments offensively facing an 80% blitz rate.

While i don't disagree with you on the face, you cannot assume that one of the best defenses in the country cannot make adjustments and make a difference (as they have over the last 2-3 years). That same argument can be made the other way and do not think that PSU should be penalized in the rankings as they too, were not given the chance to hold their lead with their starter.

All we can hope is a neutral site matchup in Indy for round two. Both teams have a lot of work to do on their schedule to get there.

I 100% agree. They are a good team, but if Clifford doesn't go down, they lose. Ohio State will smack them around if they meet in the Big Ten Championship.

@fsutomahawk

 This is exactly what everyteam said:

-> Top 15 Indiana? Most Predicted Pennix would wipe Iowa

-> Top 10 Iowa State? Most Predicted a beat down in Ames

-> Up & Coming Maryland on the Cusp of the Top 25? Most Predicted Iowa Loss

-> Top 5 Penn State? Most Predicted Iowa would lose.

Iowa has won 12 straight Overall, including 9 straight B1G, and 6 straight vs Ranked Opponents, all while holding opponents below 25 points in their last 28 games.

At some point people will be forced to recognize them. Maybe if they make the CFP? Nope, they will probably still be sold as an underdog.

@Natty68

 Rankings are a joke,always were and now they seem to get worse every year

@CABraden

 Agree with all your points and my wallet has benefited nicely from Iowa this year.  Count me as a huge Ferrence fan as well.....I think he is a class-act as the elder statesman of coaches.  I'm just saying their offense is anemic against better defenses and not even on par of one would expect of the SECOND RANKED team in the country.

Iowa win because after Clifford went out they didn’t score any more points , actually 3 . I would have to assume that with Clifford in the game penn state would of scored 3-7 more minimum . But we never will know 

@green33

 They've allowed only 17 points all season in the second half? Even if Clifford doesn't leave with an injury there, we had made our adjustments and he was likely going to be less and less effective running the ball.

We can all talk about what if's, but the fact they mitigated ISU Purdy [pre-season Heisman Hype] Pennix [last year's darling prior to injury], and Tualia [hiesman hype after 4 games], and there is not enough data to refute your biases.

Their offense isn't world-beaters, but they are efficient and effective.

@Natty68

 Just like the last time Ohio St played Iowa and got smoked 55-24. haha.  Ohio St hates teams that are methodical and don't make mistakes. 

On most points I agree. I can't believe this is the #2 Team in the Country. I live in Iowa and root for all Iowa Teams, but yeah...  But you know some years there's  just teams that have that lucky horseshoe up their azz and they continue to win by getting 5 Turnovers a game or a key player goes out etc etc. Many special seasons have that tendency trait. 

I think you have to give Iowa credit.  They do a lot of things well and don’t beat themselves.  They get turnovers and force teams to drive the field on that defense.  Field position is one of the things they do so well that gets overlooked.  I think they deserve to be #2 based on what they have done.  That being said - if I ignore records and look at how good the teams are in the big ten today I would put Iowa #4.  That means if they played Ohio St, Mich, or Penn St on a neutral field and the spread a pick i for sure bet those 3 teams.  I don’t think Iowa would get blown out and they are capable of beating those 3 teams I just don’t see them being better.  In regards to the Penn st game / u never know what happens but Penn st clearly looked better the first 18 min with Clifford in - the backup was horrendous and Iowa still didn’t pull that out till late in 4th.  On a neutral field with Clifford Penn st would clearly be the play to win the game. Iowa is very good though and most likely will be in the big ten champ and if they play Ohio st I think that would be a close game.  Northwestern gave Ohio st issues last year and iowas def even better.  

@CABraden

 Agree to disagree.  

Sorry...... nothing I saw from their offense could be described as efficient or effective.   Alas,  it would appear Georgia's overwhelmingly a defense-centric so maybe I'm off base here.  Just think any of the three thru twelfth ranked teams would have had an exponentially better offensive showing.