Monday, October 29, 2007

HigbyforHeisman.com is Gone

Sorry to those who frequented that site... unfortunately the domain name expired and I forgot to renew, so HigbyforHeisman.com is parked by another company. I didn't released it was only a 1 year deal on it, my bad. Sorry.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Why Iowa is Losing Ballgames: COMPLETELY STAT BASED

FIRST DOWNS G Rush Pass Pen Total
-----------------------------------------------
1. Purdue.............. 8 67 117 17 201
2. Northwestern........ 8 54 116 20 190
3. Michigan............ 8 83 88 15 186
4. Minnesota........... 8 87 89 8 184
5. Penn State.......... 8 87 85 6 178
6. Wisconsin........... 8 78 86 9 173
7. Ohio State.......... 8 81 77 14 172
8. Indiana............. 8 65 84 22 171
9. Michigan State...... 8 86 74 5 165
10.Illinois............ 8 91 57 10 158
11.Iowa................ 8 61 68 7 136

RED ZONE OFFENSE G RedZone Percent TDs R/P FG-AT Fumb/Int/Downs/Other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Purdue.............. 8 34-37 91.9 26 10/16 8-8 2/ 0/ 1/ 0
2. Ohio State.......... 8 27-30 90.0 20 10/10 7-9 1/ 0/ 0/ 0
3. Penn State.......... 8 37-42 88.1 24 16/8 13-14 1/ 2/ 1/ 0
4. Michigan State...... 8 30-36 83.3 24 16/8 6-9 1/ 1/ 1/ 0
5. Wisconsin........... 8 29-35 82.9 21 14/7 8-9 2/ 0/ 0/ 3
Indiana............. 8 29-35 82.9 19 10/9 10-11 1/ 3/ 1/ 0
7. Illinois............ 8 18-22 81.8 15 12/3 3-3 1/ 2/ 0/ 1
8. Minnesota........... 8 25-31 80.6 22 11/11 3-3 2/ 1/ 3/ 0
9. Northwestern........ 8 29-37 78.4 22 12/10 7-10 1/ 0/ 4/ 0
10.Michigan............ 8 29-38 76.3 22 12/10 7-12 0/ 1/ 1/ 2
11.Iowa................ 8 16-23 69.6 10 3/7 6-10 1/ 1/ 0/ 1

3RD-DN CONVERSIONS G Conv Att Pct
-------------------------------------------
1. Wisconsin........... 8 58 118 49.2
2. Minnesota........... 8 59 126 46.8
3. Michigan............ 8 60 129 46.5
4. Ohio State.......... 8 50 109 45.9
5. Penn State.......... 8 55 121 45.5
6. Northwestern........ 8 59 132 44.7
7. Indiana............. 8 50 116 43.1
8. Michigan State...... 8 49 116 42.2
9. Purdue.............. 8 51 126 40.5
10.Illinois............ 8 44 111 39.6
11.Iowa................ 8 41 129 31.8

OPP 3RD-DN CONVERT G Conv Att Pct
-------------------------------------------
1. Ohio State.......... 8 36 128 28.1
2. Purdue.............. 8 39 129 30.2
3. Penn State.......... 8 41 129 31.8
4. Wisconsin........... 8 41 113 36.3
5. Illinois............ 8 48 131 36.6
6. Indiana............. 8 49 129 38.0
7. Michigan State...... 8 46 120 38.3
8. Michigan............ 8 46 119 38.7
9. Iowa................ 8 52 128 40.6
10.Northwestern........ 8 46 108 42.6
11.Minnesota........... 8 56 129 43.4

SACKS AGAINST G Sacks Yards
---------------------------------------
1. Minnesota........... 8 6 45
2. Illinois............ 8 9 70
Ohio State.......... 8 9 69
4. Purdue.............. 8 11 88
5. Michigan............ 8 14 102
6. Penn State.......... 8 16 109
7. Wisconsin........... 8 17 117
8. Northwestern........ 8 19 126
9. Michigan State...... 8 21 126
10.Indiana............. 8 22 171
11.Iowa................ 8 32 186

PENALTIES G No Yds Avg/G
------------------------------------------
1. Penn State.......... 8 33 273 34.1
2. Minnesota........... 8 42 315 39.4
3. Purdue.............. 8 43 320 40.0
4. Ohio State.......... 8 49 330 41.2
5. Michigan............ 8 41 341 42.6
6. Wisconsin........... 8 47 353 44.1
7. Michigan State...... 8 40 373 46.6
8. Northwestern........ 8 41 392 49.0
9. Iowa................ 8 47 401 50.1
10.Indiana............. 8 41 411 51.4
11.Illinois............ 8 44 425 53.1


ALL RESULT IN THIS:

SCORING OFFENSE G TD XP 2XP DXP FG Saf Pts Avg
--------------------------------------------------------------
1. Purdue.............. 8 37 37 0 0 9 0 286 35.8
2. Indiana............. 8 34 34 0 0 15 0 283 35.4
3. Michigan State...... 8 36 35 0 0 8 0 275 34.4
4. Ohio State.......... 8 34 31 0 0 13 0 274 34.2
5. Penn State.......... 8 32 31 0 0 14 0 265 33.1
6. Minnesota........... 8 33 29 1 0 3 0 238 29.8
Wisconsin........... 8 29 26 1 0 12 0 238 29.8
8. Michigan............ 8 29 26 0 0 9 0 227 28.4
9. Northwestern........ 8 28 26 0 0 9 1 223 27.9
10.Illinois............ 8 25 24 0 0 10 0 204 25.5
11.Iowa................ 8 14 12 0 0 8 0 120 15.0

Additionally, Iowa almost has as many punts as Ohio State and Wisconsin... COMBINED.
Almost every team in the Big Ten has more Red Zone ATTEMPTS than Iowa has CONVERSIONS!
Iowa has taken more sacks than Minnesota (passing team), Purdue (passing team), and Ohio State... COMBINED!

Iowa's QB play hasn't help out much either:

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G
------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Bacher, C.J......... NU JR 8 346 216 8 62.4 2598 14 324.8
2. Painter,Curtis...... PUR SR 8 339 213 6 62.8 2238 22 279.8
3. Weber, Adam......... MINN FR 8 310 181 15 58.4 2046 19 255.8
4. Lewis, Kellen....... IND SO 8 265 163 6 61.5 1952 19 244.0
5. Morelli, Anthony.... PSU SR 8 247 147 7 59.5 1739 13 217.4
6. Donovan,Tyler....... WIS SR 8 219 130 8 59.4 1711 12 213.9
7. Henne, Chad......... MICH SR 6 167 105 5 62.9 1258 10 209.7
8. Hoyer, Brian........ MSU JR 8 211 127 4 60.2 1602 11 200.2
9. Boeckman, Todd...... OSU JR 8 182 119 7 65.4 1539 18 192.4
10.Christensen, Jake... IOWA SO 8 257 138 3 53.7 1511 11 188.9

TOTAL OFFENSE Team Cl G Rush Pass Plays Total Yds/G
--------------------------------------------------------------
1. Bacher, C.J......... NU JR 8 57 2598 405 2655 331.9
2. Weber, Adam......... MINN FR 8 401 2046 408 2447 305.9
3. Lewis, Kellen....... IND SO 8 476 1952 354 2428 303.5
4. Painter,Curtis...... PUR SR 8 -44 2238 363 2194 274.2
5. Donovan,Tyler....... WIS SR 8 142 1711 284 1853 231.6
6. Morelli, Anthony.... PSU SR 8 -64 1739 276 1675 209.4
7. Henne, Chad......... MICH SR 6 -68 1258 181 1190 198.3
8. Hoyer, Brian........ MSU JR 8 -79 1602 240 1523 190.4
9. Boeckman, Todd...... OSU JR 8 -22 1539 202 1517 189.6
10.Christensen, Jake... IOWA SO 8 -23 1511 322 1488 186.0

PASS EFFICIENCY Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Eff.
------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Boeckman, Todd...... OSU JR 8 182 119 7 65.4 1539 18 161.4
2. Lewis, Kellen....... IND SO 8 265 163 6 61.5 1952 19 142.5
3. Henne, Chad......... MICH SR 6 167 105 5 62.9 1258 10 139.9
4. Hoyer, Brian........ MSU JR 8 211 127 4 60.2 1602 11 137.4
5. Painter,Curtis...... PUR SR 8 339 213 6 62.8 2238 22 136.2
6. Donovan,Tyler....... WIS SR 8 219 130 8 59.4 1711 12 135.8
7. Bacher, C.J......... NU JR 8 346 216 8 62.4 2598 14 134.2
8. Morelli, Anthony.... PSU SR 8 247 147 7 59.5 1739 13 130.4
9. Weber, Adam......... MINN FR 8 310 181 15 58.4 2046 19 124.4
10.Christensen, Jake... IOWA SO 8 257 138 3 53.7 1511 11 114.9

Monday, October 15, 2007

Hawks beat Illinois: Ferentz is emotional, Zook shoves a cameraman.

Huge win for Iowa.

I had been waiting to put out a video of Kirk Ferentz for a while. After the Illinois game, it seems as appropriate as ever to release it.

Check out "The Captain"



The Ol' Zooker still cannot figure out how to beat Ferentz. Perhaps he took his frustrations out on a cameraman. I uploaded this video to YouTube. So it wasn't vicious, but come on, it's Zook.

Check it out as Ron Zook gives a camera guy a shove after his very brief handshake with Kirk.



On Iowa!

PS - Thank you Ken O'Keefe for giving Albert Young the ball. You gave it to him 25 times. He rushed for about 100 yards. The Hawks won. It really is that simple. Seriously.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

OFF TOPIC: The Infamous Craigslist - Pers-431649184 Post (Beautiful Woman Looking for Guy Who Makes at Least a Half a Million Dollars)

This has been going around the Net and E-mail boxes, so it's only fair it gets on here. Good stuff, actually.

Here's is the post from Craigslist:

THE ORIGINAL POST/QUESTION

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I’m articulate and classy.
I’m not from New York . I’m looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won’t hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I’m 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I’ve seen really ‘plain jane’ boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I’ve seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What’s the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I’m putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I’m being up front about it. I wouldn’t be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn’t able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 432279810



THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament.
Firstly, I’m not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here’s how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here’s why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here’s the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity…in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold…hence the rub…marriage. It doesn’t make good business sense to “buy you” (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease. In case you think I’m being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It’s as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as “articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful”
as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn’t found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn’t need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you’re going about it the right way.
Classic “pump and dump.”
I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Monday, October 01, 2007

And Further More... In Regards to Ken O'Keefe vs. Indiana

Once Indiana started to load the box, it would have been time to go to the air.
The thing is, it never came to that.

IOWA'S FIRST FIVE POSSESSIONS:

Base package by Indiana - first series:
AY for 6 yard, 2nd and 4. What does KOK do? Pass. Sack. Loss of 6. Back to 3rd and long. 3 and out. Punt.

Next series, great field position. 1st and 10. Run? Nope. Pass. Sack. Run by AY for 9 yards (would have been 2nd and 1 had we ran on 1st down). , but illegal formation called. First down on the slant. Try the toss to DJK (good idea, as good as a run). AY for 3, 3rd and 2. Pass. Incomplete. Missed FG.

Next series, Backed up deep in the endzone. Run? Nope. Pass. Incomplete. 2nd down Sims is stopped and now we're forced to pass with 3rd and long again. 3 and out. Bad punt. Great FP for Indy. TD Indy.

Next series, Sims gets the ball on first down (THANK YOU KOK!). 17 yards, but penalty brings it back. 18 yard pass to Cleveland. Sims loses 2 on 2nd and 2. Draw play (I actually loved this call) falls 1 yard short. 3 and out. Punt.

Next series, decent PF. Run? Nope. Pass. 25 yards to TE. First down. Run? Nope. Pass. Sack. Loss of 9. 2nd and forever. Screen pass. 3rd and long. Incomplete. 3 and out. Punt.

So now at this point Iowa is down 21-0.
Albert Young rushes? 3 for 18 yards. So you are telling me that through a quarter and a half of football vs. an awful rush D, Albert Young carried the ball 3 times. 3 times. That's just amazing to me.

Alright, Iowa gets the ball back down 21 to zip and finally KOK "gets it" or so I thought he did.

First down - AY up the gut for 4 yards. Second down - AY up the gut for 21 yards. First down - AY up the gut for 3 yards. Hey, this is working pretty good, huh? Let's keep running... 2nd down and 7. Pass. Sack. 3rd and 9 - forced to pass, Chaney with the 7 yard gain. Go for it on 4th, Jake with the 2 yard rush. First down. We should run, right?! WE DO! AY off left tackle for 3 yards. 2nd down - AY off right tackle for 11 yards. First down! Great job line! Great job AY! Keep feeding him!! First Down on the 10 yard line - run it right? Nope. Pass. Incomplete. 2nd down - screen to Sims for 3. 3rd down - pass to Chaney. Incomplete. 25 yd FG missed.

Am I missing something here? Until Indiana was able to stop our run, there is NO REASON to go away from it. FORCE them to stack the box. Iowa didn't do this, though.

Frustration, to say the least.

Give Albert Young the Damn Ball Already!

What should Team A do offensively against Team B?

Team A has at its disposal a 3rd year starting senior running back who, by the time he leaves the program, will most likely rank in the Top 5 (and possibly Top 3) on that said school's all-time rushing list. Team A is matched up against Team B, which has one of the worst rushing defense in all of college football, at home. Team A is starting an inexperienced, 1st year redshirt sophomore QB who will be throwing the ball to four freshman receivers.

What's the answer? Here's the incorrect answer (one that played out this past Saturday):
15 rushes by the senior running back, and 7 rushes by his backup (each rush averaging over 6 yards per carry for both backs), for a total of 22 rushes. On the other side of things, 42 passes from the green QB. Negative rushes by the #1 running back? ZERO. Number of sacks taken by the QB? NINE.

Team A, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Team B, the Indiana Hoosiers.

A look at the rushes by Albert Young and Damian Sims vs. the Indiana Hoosiers this past Saturday:

1st-10, Iowa40 14:54 A. Young rushed to the left for 7 yard gain
2nd-12, Iowa48 10:43 A. Young rushed up the middle for 9 yard gain
2nd-6, Ind27 8:24 A. Young rushed to the left for 3 yard gain
2nd-10, Iowa2 5:38 D. Sims rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
1st-10, Iowa14 3:12 D. Sims rushed up the middle for 17 yard gain
2nd-2, Iowa39 1:38 D. Sims rushed to the right for 2 yard loss

1st-10, Iowa41 8:24 A. Young rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, Iowa45 7:46 A. Young rushed up the middle for 21 yard gain
1st-10, Ind34 7:21 A. Young rushed up the middle for 3 yard gain
1st-10, Ind24 4:55 A. Young rushed up the middle for 3 yard gain
2nd-7, Ind21 4:10 A. Young rushed to the right for 11 yard gain

1st-10, Iowa17 13:18 A. Young rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain
1st-10, Iowa35 10:41 A. Young rushed up the middle for 9 yard gain
2nd-1, Iowa44 10:07 A. Young rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain
1st-10, Iowa46 9:44 A. Young rushed to the left for 13 yard gain
2nd-10, Ind41 9:10 D. Sims rushed to the right for 12 yard gain. D. Sims fumbled. D. Sims recovered fumble
1st-10, Ind16 8:36 D. Sims rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, Ind12 8:00 A. Young rushed to the left for 2 yard gain
2nd-10, Iowa23 1:41 D. Sims rushed to the left for 2 yard gain

1st-10, Iowa25 14:43 A. Young rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
1st-10, Ind41 12:26 D. Sims rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
4th-2, Ind33 10:36 A. Young rushed to the right for 6 yard gain

ALBERT YOUNG WAS NEVER STOPPED ON CONSECUTIVE RUNS.

Look, I know that you have to run to open up the pass... and you have to pass to open up the run. But the fact is this; Indiana was not loading the box. Indiana did not consistently put 7 or 8 in the box to stop the run. Iowa was running at will on Indiana. The Hoosiers could not stop the Iowa running game. So what does Iowa's offensive coordinator, Ken O'Keefe, decide to do? Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass.

Give me a break.

You have a guy in your backfield who is on the verge of becoming one of the Top 3 rushers all-time at the University of Iowa and you don't have the common sense to give him the ball 25-30 times in this game?? Iowa wasn't up against USC's front 7 or Ohio State's front 7. No... They were up against INDIANA'S FRONT SEVEN! Run the damn ball. Give the ball to Albert Young. When you are averaging 6 yards a rush, it doesn't take a mathematician to realize how that calculates into first downs, and ultimately TDs. Yes, Iowa was down in the ballgame, but not down enough to completely abandon the ONLY THING that was working against one of the nation's worst rush defenses in the entire nation.

KEN O'KEEFE, GIVE THE DAMN BALL TO ALBERT YOUNG. ENOUGH OF THIS ALREADY.