Advanced Iowa Stats…Pretty Interesting Stuff…



I think the defense may comprehensively be one of the best we have seen in awhile. Doesn't mean they won't get torched here and there. Or some team won't "figure them out" to a degree. Ir they run into a team that just has that much skill.

Sure, they may not have the usual handful of draft picks or standouts. And they don't have gaudy take away numbers. Not sure they have any do they? I think that will change.

But I've only seen one single drive against them.
Granted, early days. And even non TD drives sometimes require flukey plays.

Even without sacks, the line rarely lets the opposing offense execute what and when they are trying to do.

Secondary always seems to be there when the catch is being made.

Linebackers not letting back rack up yards after contact or receivers racking up yards after catch.

Maybe "comprehensive" isnt the best way to say it. In Ferentz parlance, he would call it "complementary defense".

Everybody doing their job and doing it the way they were taught. Phil Parker, man. Phil Parker. We are gonna rue the day we lose him.
 
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Let's revisit this after the IU game.
Agree. We know Iowa hasn't beaten a top 20 team in sometimes it seems. Now I realize much of that is due to the offensive issues they have had, but Iowa hasn't really been tearing it up on D against top notch teams. We'll know more after the first two BIG games.
 


Agree. We know Iowa hasn't beaten a top 20 team in sometimes it seems. Now I realize much of that is due to the offensive issues they have had, but Iowa hasn't really been tearing it up on D against top notch teams. We'll know more after the first two BIG games.
We will on the 27th! :)
 


That UMass game is gonna skew Iowa’s stats for a while.
Yeah there's nothing I take away from that game... The not having forced a TO thing has became a thing. Does XN even play? When's he made an impact play since his freshman yr? He's a solid tackler but he can't defend the pass he's just too slow and doesn't seem to be instinctual. We've had many a 2 star walk on be more impactful then he's been over his time here.

I'm nervous about the Indiana game. I hope I'm wrong but I just have a feeling their O is going to go up and down the field on us. And I'll have a more solidified feeling about that once we see how we look against Rutgers.
 






I've been surprised most with Harrell and Sharar at LB and excited to see how good Hank Brown will be next season.
Hank looks like a qb. He moves well and that TD he threw wasn't as easy as he made it look. He put that right on KJ who's not a big target. From what little bit I've seen of him I like his arm and what his physical attributes are.

MG has a Tim Tebow feel to him. His arm is inconsistent as all get out. He seems slow to see it and rip it. He likes to hold it for too long. He's a bowling ball of a runner and a tough guy. But the dropping back and delivering the ball part is something he hasn't bowled me over with yet.
 




Yeah, I dunno about that. 2022 and 2023 were pretty exceptional. We've faced one decent opponent and two jokes. Let's take a look a month from now.

Oh...don't get me wrong.

That's why I changed it from "comprehensive" to "complimentary".
Because, from Ferentz we know that means "Some parts of it do their job real real well. And that makes up for major deficiencies elsewhere."
 


I like the idea that Phil has started to blitz a bit more but it also scares the heck out of me. Could mean opening ourselves up to some big plays. But I think you have to take some chances once in a while or teams with any sort of passing attack will pick us apart.

I thought we actually did a fairly decent job against Rocco and the Clones, but as previously mentioned, we have some teams that can move the ball down the field. Personally, much like baseball, sometimes stats can be misleading. I can't stand sabermetrics.

Iowa had some long drives against Iowa State, and did so in the other games too. That's KF Football #101. Ball control and time of possession. That can skew stats also since the opposing teams offense can't get on the field.

I can recall Norm Parker having that "bend don't break" defensive mentality. Of recent, we have had a bit more of a stingy defense. But I don't see this unit have the star power of recent defenses. At the end of the day, as long as we can keep teams out of the end zone that is what is going to matter.
 




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