Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti previews Iowa football, taunts Illinois after blowout

[#1DieHardHawk]

Harrell seems to be a step slow on everything. I have been told a 100 million times that Sharar is this stud athlete. He may be, but my dude is always trailing behind someone in pass coverage. In regards to pass coverage you are not confusing him with Chad Greenway or AJ Edds.

Yeah, I share your concerns, especially with Harrell. I watched a couple of games on DVR, so was able to use rewind and slow-mo. Harrell has some really bad tendencies. He usually takes a poor step at the snap followed by a bad angle. When his angle is good, he still struggles to shed blocks anyway. I'm surprised Wallace hasn't given one of the younger guys at least a good shot.

Sharar runs hot and cold. He occasionally shows great awareness and hustle, but at times can get lost. Of the two, he has shown the most promise though. Neither is Greenway in coverage.

 

[HuckFinn]

Not sure I would be quite so critical of our LB’s and our secondary. I think they have continued to improve. I see some good coverage out of corners and Lutmer. Sometimes the other team’s completions are really superior throws or catches, or both. That’s going to happen. We expect it from our QB and receivers. It seems common to complain about pass coverage from LB’s. Well, yes. They aren’t corners or even safeties. Teams all over the place try to isolate LB’s with wide receivers. Of course it appears that Indy has an excellent passing game with a solid run game as well. But, we shall see how circumstances impact them at Kinnick On Saturday. Run clock, Iowa. D, limit big plays and make them march. Turnovers, please. Special teams must be a factor.

 

[trj]

Yeah, I share your concerns, especially with Harrell. I watched a couple of games on DVR, so was able to use rewind and slow-mo. Harrell has some really bad tendencies. He usually takes a poor step at the snap followed by a bad angle. When his angle is good, he still struggles to shed blocks anyway. I'm surprised Wallace hasn't given one of the younger guys at least a good shot.

Sharar runs hot and cold. He occasionally shows great awareness and hustle, but at times can get lost. Of the two, he has shown the most promise though. Neither is Greenway in coverage.

I wasn’t expecting Harrell to be Jewell/Campbell/Higgins, but I was expecting a little bit more. From people who know waaay more than I do, in terms of reading/reacting, it is the reacting part where he is struggling.

I know some want to see more of Ries/Montgomery…I couldn’t tell you if those two playing more is a solution or not.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Not sure I would be quite so critical of our LB’s and our secondary. I think they have continued to improve. I see some good coverage out of corners and Lutmer. Sometimes the other team’s completions are really superior throws or catches, or both. That’s going to happen. We expect it from our QB and receivers. It seems common to complain about pass coverage from LB’s. Well, yes. They aren’t corners or even safeties. Teams all over the place try to isolate LB’s with wide receivers. Of course it appears that Indy has an excellent passing game with a solid run game as well. But, we shall see how circumstances impact them at Kinnick On Saturday. Run clock, Iowa. D, limit big plays and make them march. Turnovers, please. Special teams must be a factor.

I wasn’t expecting Harrell to be Jewell/Campbell/Higgins, but I was expecting a little bit more. From people who know waaay more than I do, in terms of reading/reacting, it is the reacting part where he is struggling.

I know some want to see more of Ries/Montgomery…I couldn’t tell you if those two playing more is a solution or not.

I wouldn't characterize it as being "critical." From a purely football standpoint, play tendencies are analyzed and scrutinized regularly by their own coaches, rival coaches, PFF, scouts, etc. It's not personal at all. Harrell I'm sure is a great young guy and I sincerely hope he progresses and gets over the hump but in this early season, he's struggling.

At the end of the day, we need to trust the coaches to make the right call as far as playing time, but, as fans, we all have seen a tendency for Kirk to be loyal to upper-classmen to a fault at times. That's very commendable, but frustrating at times.

 

[NCHawker]

Those IU fans have gone from zero to orgasam. They didn't get the thrilling foreplay of seeing their team's gradual ascent to winning 6-7-8 games. Beating the mid tier teams and so on. Just zoom. I wonder if they fully appreciate it all.

 

[HuckFinn]

I wouldn't characterize it as being "critical." From a purely football standpoint, play tendencies are analyzed and scrutinized regularly by their own coaches, rival coaches, PFF, scouts, etc. It's not personal at all. Harrell I'm sure is a great young guy and I sincerely hope he progresses and gets over the hump but in this early season, he's struggling.

At the end of the day, we need to trust the coaches to make the right call as far as playing time, but, as fans, we all have seen a tendency for Kirk to be loyal to upper-classmen to a fault at times. That's very commendable, but frustrating at times.

Nothing personal about my post. I was speaking from a football standpoint as well.

 

[Grady]

Take it for what it is worth, but Dochterman thinks there is a 50% chance Iowa gets boat raced this weekend. He thinks Indiana is a better team than Penn State or Oregon right now, and Hawk fans should think of this as Ohio State coming into Kinnick.

Feels like they'll need to take some chances and try to get to Mendoza early, get a good shot or two in and hope the crowd helps rattle him. And then maybe take more chances on offense than Kirk would typically prefer.

I haven't watched the Nits this season, but Oregon hasn't overly impressed me to this point. At Evanston, in that h.s. stadium they're playing in, the Cats hung with the Ducks for the 1st half. Oregon started really slow, NW drives ate up a lot of clock, and late 1st quarter NW was driving to take the lead but then threw an INT which jumpstarted the Oregon offense. Then the Ducks scored another TD just before halftime to lead 17-0 at half, but it was much closer than that...and NW is the least talented, worst team in the BTen.
With Cignatti's personality and their talent, I think Indiana can probably play with any team in the Top 10.
Iowa will HAVE to get Gron out of the pocket: roll left, roll right, run him up the gut, quick slants, quick bubble screens -- Indiana's defense thrives on TFL. CAN'T let Gron take regular drop-backs and throw from the pocket in this game.....period!