Iowa football: Five reasons Iowa can make a playoff run

#NewKirk

Is there any more exciting development than the progression of #NewKirk?

It’s been so profound, we devoted an entire article to how he has changed this year. He’s less risk-adverse and willing to go for it on fourth down, which has resulted in more points on the board. He’s even gone as far as to implement a few trick plays that have worked smoothly thus far.

While I could go on about the different moments that have led us to #NewKirk, just read the article above. What I want to focus on is why this is important.

A famous saying is “Play to win the game, don’t play to not lose”. Basically, what this saying means is have an aggressive mindset and continue to attack. Teams that play to not lose are bound to lose because they play with fear. I won’t go as far as to say Iowa played not to lose, but the Iowa football team of year’s past played with highly frustrating amount of conservatism.

There were no risks or chances taken, and sometimes, you need to risk it to get the reward. It felt like in years past, if the Iowa football team won 10 games, people were happy. That was a great season, and it is by all means, but this year the Iowa Hawkeyes look like a team that is willing to risk it all to win 11, 12, or even 13 games.

That aggressiveness makes them a threat in every game and causes opposing teams to be more aware of trickery that historically isn’t seen from the Iowa football program.