It Has To Be Said...
When Iowa lost to Michigan, there were some poor calls against Iowa in that game. However, I contended then, as I do now, that a few blown calls don't ruin a game for a team. If Iowa had dominated Michigan like they should have, they'd have won. Plain and simple. The bad calls in that game were in the first half, anyway, and Iowa blew several opportunities to win.
That said, the Outback Bowl was one of the few times when I truly believe that poor officiating influenced the outcome. Since the bad calls all went against Iowa, they were not only playing the Gators, they were playing against the officials. That would have been alright if we were playing Ball St. or Illinois or someone who sucks, but Florida is a good team. They came out with an excellent game plan for Iowa and were beating us up pretty bad in the first quarter.
As we moved toward halftime, though, Iowa had started to work out of few of the kinks. They had a drive stalled by a bad call. Then, a bad helmet to helmet call put Florida in a position to score before the half. I could let the helmet to helmet call slide, because it's not terribly uncommon for a ref to fuck that one up. On the replay, you can plainly see Hodge's facemask skid across the top of Leak's helmet. He started in on the hit with his head down, but you can see him bring his head up, and actually throw his arms out because Leak was sliding and he didn't want to get called for a late hit. Regardless, it was called and Florida got into scoring position and capitalized. (On an aside, I read somewhere that one of the officials had thrown a marker to signify that a reciever had stepped out of bounds. That same reciever caught the touchdown pass on that play. I don't know if this is true, I've not seen the tape. But it wouldn't suprise me).
Then in the second half, Iowa made adjustments. The defense held Florida pretty well, only allowing 7 points in the second half. Then in the forth quarter, Iowa's offense got it going (finally!). And in spite of piss poor officiating (I have heard Florida had 12 men on the field several times in the last quarter), they made a comeback... Now, I've heard the argument that Florida "let" Iowa back into the game by running prevent defense. That makes no sense. PREVENT defense is designed to PREVENT your opponent from scoring. Iowa scored 2 TD's and a field goal in the first 13 minutes of the forth quarter.
Then, the worst officiating I have seen in a while happened. A PERFECTLY executed onsides kick was recovered by Iowa. The only onsides kick I have seen that well done, was done by Northwestern against Iowa earlier this season. Northwestern recovered, and won. That was not the case for Iowa. They were penalized for offsides. Clearly, on review, Greenway was not offsides. Iowa had to try again, but lightning truly does not strike twice. Florida recovered, and won the game.
I'm not trying to take anything away from the Gators. They are a very good team, and will continue to have success with Meyer as their coach. They showed up prepared, and held off my Hawkeyes very well for most of the game.
But, the game should be decided by that players on the field. Poor officiating should never have that much affect on the outcome. I don't know if Iowa would have scored after the onsides. If they did, I don't know if they could have won in OT. That's not the point. The problem is, the Hawks played a good game, and came back like warriors in the 4th quarter. They deserved the opportunity to win it. Florida deserved the opportunity to stop them. The officials should be strung up by there whistles and beaten.
These two teams were pretty evenly matched, but Iowa had to overcome poor officiating as well as a good Florida team. Too much for most teams to overcome...
I have one friend, a Gator fan, who likes to think that Iowa was dominated by Florida. I say that they were beaten in the first half, but Iowa got it together. The second half was a very even game, and Iowa outscored Florida 17-7. The stats for the game were pretty even, you can view them for yourself here. However, it seems that folks from down south have trouble believing that any team north of the Mason/Dixon line could be as good as a Florida team. It's OK, I still love ya' Heiney.
The point is, Iowa played a decent game. Not a great game, but a decent game and made a valiant comeback. Florida had a great game plan that they executed well. The outcome was tarnished by poor officiating. And, I dare say that if the shoe had been on the other foot, the Gator Nation would be in an uproar as well.
I'm not going to talk about it any more... It makes my head hurt. I got it off my chest.
That said, the Outback Bowl was one of the few times when I truly believe that poor officiating influenced the outcome. Since the bad calls all went against Iowa, they were not only playing the Gators, they were playing against the officials. That would have been alright if we were playing Ball St. or Illinois or someone who sucks, but Florida is a good team. They came out with an excellent game plan for Iowa and were beating us up pretty bad in the first quarter.
As we moved toward halftime, though, Iowa had started to work out of few of the kinks. They had a drive stalled by a bad call. Then, a bad helmet to helmet call put Florida in a position to score before the half. I could let the helmet to helmet call slide, because it's not terribly uncommon for a ref to fuck that one up. On the replay, you can plainly see Hodge's facemask skid across the top of Leak's helmet. He started in on the hit with his head down, but you can see him bring his head up, and actually throw his arms out because Leak was sliding and he didn't want to get called for a late hit. Regardless, it was called and Florida got into scoring position and capitalized. (On an aside, I read somewhere that one of the officials had thrown a marker to signify that a reciever had stepped out of bounds. That same reciever caught the touchdown pass on that play. I don't know if this is true, I've not seen the tape. But it wouldn't suprise me).
Then in the second half, Iowa made adjustments. The defense held Florida pretty well, only allowing 7 points in the second half. Then in the forth quarter, Iowa's offense got it going (finally!). And in spite of piss poor officiating (I have heard Florida had 12 men on the field several times in the last quarter), they made a comeback... Now, I've heard the argument that Florida "let" Iowa back into the game by running prevent defense. That makes no sense. PREVENT defense is designed to PREVENT your opponent from scoring. Iowa scored 2 TD's and a field goal in the first 13 minutes of the forth quarter.
Then, the worst officiating I have seen in a while happened. A PERFECTLY executed onsides kick was recovered by Iowa. The only onsides kick I have seen that well done, was done by Northwestern against Iowa earlier this season. Northwestern recovered, and won. That was not the case for Iowa. They were penalized for offsides. Clearly, on review, Greenway was not offsides. Iowa had to try again, but lightning truly does not strike twice. Florida recovered, and won the game.
I'm not trying to take anything away from the Gators. They are a very good team, and will continue to have success with Meyer as their coach. They showed up prepared, and held off my Hawkeyes very well for most of the game.
But, the game should be decided by that players on the field. Poor officiating should never have that much affect on the outcome. I don't know if Iowa would have scored after the onsides. If they did, I don't know if they could have won in OT. That's not the point. The problem is, the Hawks played a good game, and came back like warriors in the 4th quarter. They deserved the opportunity to win it. Florida deserved the opportunity to stop them. The officials should be strung up by there whistles and beaten.
These two teams were pretty evenly matched, but Iowa had to overcome poor officiating as well as a good Florida team. Too much for most teams to overcome...
I have one friend, a Gator fan, who likes to think that Iowa was dominated by Florida. I say that they were beaten in the first half, but Iowa got it together. The second half was a very even game, and Iowa outscored Florida 17-7. The stats for the game were pretty even, you can view them for yourself here. However, it seems that folks from down south have trouble believing that any team north of the Mason/Dixon line could be as good as a Florida team. It's OK, I still love ya' Heiney.
The point is, Iowa played a decent game. Not a great game, but a decent game and made a valiant comeback. Florida had a great game plan that they executed well. The outcome was tarnished by poor officiating. And, I dare say that if the shoe had been on the other foot, the Gator Nation would be in an uproar as well.
I'm not going to talk about it any more... It makes my head hurt. I got it off my chest.
posted by Marklar at 22:54
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