Thoughts, Observations and stories....

[panther2317]

..from the weekend in Iowa City and beyond.

I had a great day in Iowa City and found Iowa fans to be very generous with their praise of the way the Panthers played in Kinnick. I had one older gentlemen tell me that he really liked our QB, "He's going to be really good" I said, "Yes sir". As he was leaving he stopped and said, "Good luck the rest of the season, we'll be following the scores." I thought that was very good compliment. Others in the all Hawkeye section where I was sitting loved our receivers and talked over and over how easily they got open.

Watching the game it was ovbious to me that UNI had players on the field that were as athletic if not more athletic than Iowa's players....Iowa just has more of those type of players at every position (which should be the case with 23 more scholarships).

After the game, listening to Sound Off on the way home...it was frustrating to listen to the callers still talking about Iowa State and the loss in Ames. There were a handful of calls that were complimentary to UNI and the game that they had played, but the majority of callers apparently still choose to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to UNI. That's disappointing.

Then I open the Des Moines Register Sunday morning (thinking I'm going to read about a hard fought win for Iowa) to see Andrew Louge's account of the game and for the first time I read the words "EASY WIN" and "BLOW OUT". I was shocked and disappointed that a beat writer could watch the same game that I did and come away with a feeling like Iowa dominated the game. With :31 seconds left in the game...the score was 38-21...UNI scored all three of it's TD's vs. Iowa's FIRST TEAM DEFENSE. I guess it's just perspective...but Iowa fans in my section Saturday most definitely didn't think the game was a blowout, I didn't think it was a blowout...but the media (the Hawkeye biased media) proclaims the game a blowout. I was confused by this.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it...but the average sports fan m(who didn't watch the game or attend) reads that story and think's UNI was Iowa's 'whipping boy' Saturday and I don't think that was the case at all

Anyway, just wanted to rant about that for a second. Finally, got home and I had TiVo'd the game and on the ESPN broadcast...I noticed a familiar face in the intro yelling, "GO PANTHERS!!!" Did anyone else catch this???

Great days are ahead for this Panther football team. If they play every game as focused and with as much passion as this one....it's going to be a special season in Cedar Falls! One game at a time...GO PANTHERS!!! BEAT WESTERN!!! That's our cry for the next two weeks!

[Matt Trump]

Funny 2317, I experienced the almost exact same thing this weekend when I read and heard the post game commentary.

[GonzoCat]

I had many of the same thoughts panther, watching the sports on tv sat night and reading the register, everyone was reporting game like a blowout, very frustrating. Same crap from pretty much all the posters on HR, no one giving UNI much respect at all for what was a pretty competitive game. I know the Hawk players and coaches didn't feel that way so I guess I will just consider the source. You'd think that some of the people predicting a 40-50-60 point game with Iowa starters out in the second quarter (and that includes a few of the Panther "fans" on this site) would have the decency to admit they couldn't have been more wrong and give UNI some credit, but no.

UNI can definitely play with Iowa and no question could have won this game. Our defense gave up 14 points in the first 8 minutes, whether that was nerves or playing in kinnick or whatever I don't know, but they settled down and only allowed 17 points the rest of the game until the meaningless td in the final 40 seconds. BTW that was the first time I've ever seen a Ferentz team at Iowa score in the last minute of a game that was out of reach. A couple dozen times I've seen them just take a knee and run the clock in that situation, so not sure what was up with that, but KF or somebody takes a hit on the classometer for that stunt.

Iowa got all the breaks in this game and that on top of the slow start by UNI defense is why they won. You take away the two UNI unforced turnovers that resulted in Iowa touchdowns and we are looking at a 3 point game going down to the wire. On the other side UNI forced the hawks to fumble twice but they were fortunate to recover both times. If UNI comes up with either or both of those fumbles it could have made the difference. Now I understand about "ifs" and "buts" and my aunt would be my uncle, so give Iowa credit, they won the game and the final score says it wasn't close. I also know Abdul Hodge, who was sucking wind the entire second half, and Chad Greenway, whose postgame comments have made it into my signature, have a hell of a lot more respect for UNI than the Iowa media and fanbase.

In the end it doesn't matter what fans of other state schools or the media think of our team. It would be nice to get some well earned respect, but it doesn't change the fact this is a very good team. I think we can run the table from here on out. It won't be easy, there are a couple other gateway teams that could compete in the B10, but I like our chances to win the conference, get a decent playoff seed and a couple home games, and see where the chips fall from there.

[panther2317]

!

One thing I really noticed this weekend, that was encouraging to me, was that many Hawkeye fans were not only complimentary of UNI, but knew a lot about them. It impressed me that many of the Iowa fans sitting near me were genuinely interested in getting information about UNI and their players and when we played next. It's a complete 180 from the message boards and call-in shows.

Then I left Kinnick and started hearing the radio call in shows and reading the message boards and it's an entirely different world. It seems as if it's the extremely negative/arrogant/ignorant members of the jihadic wing of Hawkeye Nation are the ones posting on their web pages (and ours) and calling the sports talk shows. (Not you News or FM...you're more members of the positive Panther Nation in my opinion) It's like they have nothing in their lives EXCEPT Iowa sports. That's really sad. There was a mom on Hawke Report who said she would disown her kids if they played sports for any other college other than Iowa. WOW...really? Great parenting.

I think that may be true of our site as well...except I think it's the EXTREMELY POSITIVE Panther fan that posts here, writes e-mails to television and radio stations and calls the sports talk shows to talk about and promote UNI.

I hope we always remember that this site is a vehicle in which to PROMOTE and SUPPORT UNI Athletics!!! We can be a positive beacon for UNI fans around the world! I hope that Panther Nation continues to grow and that we become a more visible group in the landscape of Iowa sports, but I hope we never have to deal with some of the yahoos that are members of Hawkeye Nation. Many of them are extremely negative and abrasive and I hope we don't have to deal with fans like those here at Panther Nation!

[Matt Trump]

On WHO tv soundoff, someone from West Des Moines asked Fales and Murphy why that HATE UNI. They laughed it off and I think it made UNI fans look worse. I wished whoever send that email would have sent something more positive, or not at all.

Fales and Murphy actually had some nice things to say about our team.


On another note:

I think its funny that it took this game for fans and media outlets to realize how good our team is. If these people actually took the time to follow UNI, they would see what we see: that this team is for real and have been red hot since last year.

[primetime21]

I attended the game and was really impressed with the Hawkeye fans I met. We walked quite a distance to get to the stadium from where we parked and along the way did not meet a single fan who trashed UNI or boasted of a blow-out.......they pretty much asked questions about some of our players or just wished us luck.

[VistaPanther]

Newspapers to read

Apparently, this Des Moines Register writer who called the game a blow-out must have skipped the game.
Please pick up copies of the Sunday Cedar Rapids Gazette or read the other articles in the Register, specifically the Iowa City Press-Citizen section.
These articles stressed upon: UNI playing a great game, Sanders a talented QB, UNI receivers beating the Iowa backs, Iowa having many questions still to answer for the future schedule.
To be fair, they all talked about Iowa's running game, which did hit us hard as well as a couple of opportune pass receptions. They also talked about Iowa capitalizing on the two turnovers, but how could they not after losing to ISU on their own turn-overs. But everything I read stressed the talents and bright futures of all the UNI players and the Panther team. Some of the hishest praise came from Ferentz and his players without a doubt. I listened to several interviews on air and really only felt that Tate was the only one that didn't compliment UNI much, but really if you think about it, his experience was probably quite different than A Allen's, Chad Greenway's and some of the rest of the Hawkeyes...
Overall, when objectively reviewing the media response to the game, I would say that this Register "blow-out" writer was the minority, while the rest of the articles had nothing but praise for UNI's efforts and players and coaching. And after having navigated the huge crowds exiting Kinnick, I can guarantee you that there was not an air of pillaging victors amongst the crowd. If anything, people were in shock and awe that the Panthers put up 21 points in three fast and powerful offensive sets of downs. Any Hawkeye fan that isn't mindful of that, either didn't go to the game or drank their way past functioning by the end of the 1st quarter.

[Blue42]

I noticed Fales and Murphy finally gave UNI some decent respect, after the chippy comments they've made over the last couple weeks. It's possible that maybe they did that becasue a UNI fan finally did call them out and challenged them to be more even-handed in their commentary.

On WHO tv soundoff, someone from West Des Moines asked Fales and Murphy why that HATE UNI. They laughed it off and I think it made UNI fans look worse. I wished whoever send that email would have sent something more positive, or not at all.

Fales and Murphy actually had some nice things to say about our team.


On another note:

I think its funny that it took this game for fans and media outlets to realize how good our team is. If these people actually took the time to follow UNI, they would see what we see: that this team is for real and have been red hot since last year.

[Blue42]

Believe me I'm the last guy who'd make excuses for the Hawks, but I don't think you can be too hard on Ferentz for that last touchdown. They ran it into the line three plays. 9 out of 10 times UNI makes the tackle on that play and the clock runs out. It's not like he was throwing the ball or running a sweep. It was pretty conservative.

BTW that was the first time I've ever seen a Ferentz team at Iowa score in the last minute of a game that was out of reach. A couple dozen times I've seen them just take a knee and run the clock in that situation, so not sure what was up with that, but KF or somebody takes a hit on the classometer for that stunt.

[UNIAlum95]

You'd think that some of the people predicting a 40-50-60 point game with Iowa starters out in the second quarter (and that includes a few of the Panther "fans" on this site) would have the decency to admit they couldn't have been more wrong and give UNI some credit, but no.

I guess I'm one of the people you are singling out here. I think anyone that knows me, realizes where my loyalties lie. I was really worried going into this game and rightfully so. But take away our three unforced errors (missed FG, ball through the hands interception, and botched hand off and it's a 7 point game. The offense gets and A for the game. Even after being down early, they continued to move the ball effectively. They were never intimated and made all panther fans proud. The offensive line was fantastic at protecting the QB. We still haven't really found our running game though, and we are going to need during conference play. I don't think that being worried about a route by Iowa makes me a lesser fan than anyone else on this site. I try to look at match ups as objectively as possible and I saw some distinct mismatches. Our defense struggled with Iowa's offense for most of the first half, but they stepped up on several occasions and made stops too. Without the offensive passing game and the threat of the run, this game is a route. Our offense looked like it will be one of the best we have ever seen here at UNI and I can't wait to see it match up against our conference opponents.

BTW that was the first time I've ever seen a Ferentz team at Iowa score in the last minute of a game that was out of reach. A couple dozen times I've seen them just take a knee and run the clock in that situation, so not sure what was up with that, but KF or somebody takes a hit on the classometer for that stunt..

I don't agree with this either. This is a running play and all we need to do is tackle him and it's over. It's not like they threw the ball. It's a simple run and he burned the defense. I looked to me like we were ready for the game to be over and thought that he'd just hit the pile and go down. I think Farley would fight you on this too.

No matter what you thought going in, UNI played a fantastic game. Iowa fans are showing this either by giving UNI credit, which they deserve, or by ripping on the Iowa defense, which is still a credit to us considering how everyone said what a great D they had after the ISU game. Now we need to move on and look to WIU. I personally will be cheering on the hawks too from here on out as every win they get makes us look even better.

[GonzoCat]

On WHO tv soundoff, someone from West Des Moines asked Fales and Murphy why that HATE UNI. They laughed it off and I think it made UNI fans look worse. I wished whoever send that email would have sent something more positive, or not at all.

Fales and Murphy actually had some nice things to say about our team.

I've given up watching SO because if I wanted to watch a show that was about nothing but the UI/ISU rivalry I'd watch that stupid new Deace/Miller show, which I don't.

However I've watched it enough in the past Reed to know that there could have been 20 calls or emails that were positive about UNI and they would still have picked only that one to put on the air.

[Purple Reign]

..from the weekend in Iowa City and beyond.

I had a great day in Iowa City and found Iowa fans to be very generous with their praise of the way the Panthers played in Kinnick. I had one older gentlemen tell me that he really liked our QB, "He's going to be really good" I said, "Yes sir". As he was leaving he stopped and said, "Good luck the rest of the season, we'll be following the scores." I thought that was very good compliment. Others in the all Hawkeye section where I was sitting loved our receivers and talked over and over how easily they got open.

Watching the game it was ovbious to me that UNI had players on the field that were as athletic if not more athletic than Iowa's players....Iowa just has more of those type of players at every position (which should be the case with 23 more scholarships).

After the game, listening to Sound Off on the way home...it was frustrating to listen to the callers still talking about Iowa State and the loss in Ames. There were a handful of calls that were complimentary to UNI and the game that they had played, but the majority of callers apparently still choose to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to UNI. That's disappointing.

Then I open the Des Moines Register Sunday morning (thinking I'm going to read about a hard fought win for Iowa) to see Andrew Louge's account of the game and for the first time I read the words "EASY WIN" and "BLOW OUT". I was shocked and disappointed that a beat writer could watch the same game that I did and come away with a feeling like Iowa dominated the game. With :31 seconds left in the game...the score was 38-21...UNI scored all three of it's TD's vs. Iowa's FIRST TEAM DEFENSE. I guess it's just perspective...but Iowa fans in my section Saturday most definitely didn't think the game was a blowout, I didn't think it was a blowout...but the media (the Hawkeye biased media) proclaims the game a blowout. I was confused by this.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it...but the average sports fan m(who didn't watch the game or attend) reads that story and think's UNI was Iowa's 'whipping boy' Saturday and I don't think that was the case at all

Anyway, just wanted to rant about that for a second. Finally, got home and I had TiVo'd the game and on the ESPN broadcast...I noticed a familiar face in the intro yelling, "GO PANTHERS!!!" Did anyone else catch this???

Great days are ahead for this Panther football team. If they play every game as focused and with as much passion as this one....it's going to be a special season in Cedar Falls! One game at a time...GO PANTHERS!!! BEAT WESTERN!!! That's our cry for the next two weeks!

2317---I have to agree. I was very surprised by the number of VERY positive comments I heard on the WMT call-in show while driving home from the game. I have never heard so much praise for the Panthers from Hawkeye loyalists. It was very refreshing. I also tiVo'd the game and saw that same familiar face during the opening segment.

PR

[hitemhardcats]

What a great day Saturday. It will be a long 2 weeks waiting for the conference opener!

[GonzoCat]

UNIalum95 - No, I wasn't singling you out, did I mention any names? I'm not one of those posters who makes a note of people whose opinions don't match mine. I don't know who all was saying UNI was going to get killed and I don't care who it was, if the shoe fits wear it. I remember someone telling me twice I was on drugs for thinking UNI could score against Iowa or something like that, but I don't know who it was.

As for the other point, you missed mine so let me say I don't disagree with you or coach Farley, UNIs defense should be ready to play until the final whistle and they weren't on that last play. All I said was I've never seen an Iowa team not take a knee and end the game since Ferentz has been coach. Do you disagree with that? No law says they have to, but I always thought it was one of the classier things about KF, not to mention I don't see the point in risking getting someone hurt at that point in the game. I guess in this case it looks better for the Iowa team, fans, and media to say they won by 24 instead of 17 to a lowly 1AA team. I think we got sucker punched a little bit, that's all.

Truth be told I bet KF wanted them to take a knee and there was a miscommunication or the players decided on their own to try for another score. And I bet he was none too happy about it.

[tcondon]

As for the other point, you missed mine so let me say I don't disagree with you or coach Farley, UNIs defense should be ready to play until the final whistle and they weren't on that last play. All I said was I've never seen an Iowa team not take a knee and end the game since Ferentz has been coach. Do you disagree with that? No law says they have to, but I always thought it was one of the classier things about KF, not to mention I don't see the point in risking getting someone hurt at that point in the game. I guess in this case it looks better for the Iowa team, fans, and media to say they won by 24 instead of 17 to a lowly 1AA team. I think we got sucker punched a little bit, that's all.

Truth be told I bet KF wanted them to take a knee and there was a miscommunication or the players decided on their own to try for another score. And I bet he was none too happy about it.

Damian Sims just moved back to running back from cornerback this week. I'm sure that Ferentz wanted to give Sims an opportunity to run the ball a time or two if he gets thrown into the mix at OSU, Purdue vs. Michigan, etc. It was a simple dive play up the middle, with UNI's safeties cheating up. I wouldn't get too worked up over that play.