A Way Too Early Look at... ISU

Also, I don't buy ISUs defense. Please.
This is going to be their best D in awhile... wow, that's saying a lot.
 
Maybe I have my Hawkeye glasses on, but I don't see any team (minus big spread passing teams) that didn't have success running against the Cyclone D. And on top of that they have some issues getting to the passer. I guess my question is....who do they have coming back that will make this D-line anywhere close to the 05 line? I am not trying to come off as a jerk. I guess just educate me a little on the current line and what they bring to table.
 
Rump and Lattimer will be All-12 players. Maggitt has come into his own. Add in Pompey and Rony Nelson they will be solid and their will be depth.
 
While I agree with 1, I certainly don't agree with two. Herman takes way too much heat. Arnaud was god awful against Iowa. Herman can call the plays but its up to Arnaud to make the throws.

Herman does not take to much heat. His game plan against Iowa has been bad. Really bad.
 
You lose Arnaud, Robinson, Franklin, Lamaak, Sims, etc... etc... and this will be the best team you've had in awhile? You are insane.

Well you never know; it won't be hard for whomever ISU runs out there at QB to improve upon Arnauds 1:9 touchdown/interception against the Hawks.
 
What are you talkin about? Latt was an honorable mention and played in only 6 games. Ask Texas what they think of Latt. And do some research on Rump. Also check out Nelson's stats his sophmore year in juco.
 
Rump and Lattimer will be All-12 players. Maggitt has come into his own. Add in Pompey and Rony Nelson they will be solid and their will be depth.


Could you by chance give a position breakdown of the D-line? I just don't really know what these guys are about. Are Rump and Latty both pass rushers? I have heard of Pompey, that dude is a stud.
 
Lattimer has shown some flashes but is he better than Brandon Graham or O'Brien Scholfield, Aldon Smith, Derrick Morgan? I am pretty sure I know the answer.

ISU's DEs are small as a unit. ISU's defense will not be as talented as the Missouri D that Coker and the O-line owned in the bowl game.

Serious questions for the Clone faithful- O/U on Coker's yards 138.
 
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You lose Arnaud, Robinson, Franklin, Lamaak, Sims, etc... etc... and this will be the best team you've had in awhile? You are insane.

You lose Stanzi, DJK, Sash, Claiborne, Ballard, Klug, Vandervelde, Reisner, Hunter and Donahue...etc....etc...and this will be a really tough to beat team? You are insane.:rolleyes:
 
I hate getting into the we will this or that suff or the were are going to win by XXXX stuff. All we can really do is look at trends and history. We can rely a little on what is returning but even that isn't full proof as we have seen.

What we know is this....if we have to have holes we have proven we fill them much easier on D!! Of the 42 Iowa kids ESPN currently lists on NFL team rosters in some capacity, 23 are defensive players, most of the rest are O-linemen and TE's The chances of Iowa having several NFL prospects on defense and on the O-line/TE's slots are very, very good.

Furthermore in that fateful 2005 year that many like to bring up we had FOUR brand new starters on D-Line and very young ones at that. (I believe Homer mentioned this as well) This year we have 2 very good starters back who are potential All-Big 10 candidates and another SR who has played a ton of football. Not even a one off comparison.

Furthermore Jason Manson went 10-31....wow?!?! did I not remember that. Albert Young ran for 140 yards and we still weren't close. If an already experienced Vandy goes 10 for 31 we have a lot more to worry about then ISU.

Once again for Iowa it will be attitude coming into the season. Will they embrace the role that has fueled them so well in the past.

Chad
 
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Lattimer has shown some flashes but is he better than Brandon Graham or O'Brien Scholfield, Aldon Smith, Derrick Morgan? I am pretty sure I know the answer.

ISU's DEs are small as a unit. ISU's defense will not be as talented as the Missouri D that Coker and the O-line owned in the bowl game.

Serious questions for the Clone faithful- O/U on Coker's yards 138.

Who knows at this point.

As far as our defense vs Mizzou's last year. ISU is still weak at DE. We obviously have no Aldon Smith. But Mizzou didn't have a Jake Knott, or even an AJ Klein. They also didn't have a CB as good as Leonard Johnson who started slow last year but was a stud come conference play
 
I hate getting into the we will this or that suff or the were are going to win by XXXX stuff. All we can really do is look at trends and history. We can rely a little on what is returning but even that isn't full proof as we have seen.

What we know is this....if we have to have holes we have proven we fill them much easier on D!! Of the 42 Iowa kids ESPN currently lists on NFL team rosters in some capacity, 23 are defensive players, most of the rest are O-linemen and TE's The chances of Iowa having several NFL prospects on defense and on the O-line/TE's slots are very, very good.

Furthermore in that fateful 2005 year that many like to bring up we had FOUR brand new starters on D-Line and very young ones at that. (I believe Homer mentioned this as well) This year we have 2 very good starters back who are potential All-Big 10 candidates and another SR who has played a ton of football. Not even a one off comparison.

Furthermore Jason Manson went 10-31....wow?!?! did I not remember that. Albert Young ran for 140 yards and we still weren't close. If an already experienced Vandy goes 10 for 31 we have a lot more to worry about then ISU.

Once again for Iowa it will be attitude coming into the season. Will they embrace the role that has fueled them so well in the past.

Chad

Manson went 10-31 b/c he was being pressured like crazy that game. If you remember Tate didn't do any better before he got rocked. At least Manson could get some yards running
 
ISU's DL is still very much a question mark, and Iowa's OL is a lot for them to try and handle. Which is why I expect the defense to take a few more gambles than usual...with Benton and the corners doing some blitzing, not to mention Klein and Knott. I think most of these blitzes, interestingly, are going to be aimed at stopping the run rather than sacking the QB...though that is often a nice fringe benefit. But ISU's DL cannot handle the Iowa OL in a straight up match. Lattimer is dangerous off the edge...but a bit undersized, though he has quite a motor on him. Maggit is steady but too small to be much of a run stopper. Rony Nelson, from most accounts, is strictly going to be a pass rush type guy. Ruempelhamer, on the other hand, is a legitimate DT who will give the OL all it can handle....but there is a question mark adjacent to him at the other DT spot.

Overall, the ISU defense looks to be a good bit better than last season...though THAT defense was decidedly average. The LB's are the strength, so I expect Iowa to throw in a good bit of play action early to try and freeze them up a bit...if Klein and Knott start to look like they are running downhill towards the Iowa RB's, look out because there's going to be some big collisions between them and Coker (who I believe is a VERY good running back). Ultimately, as the game goes along, I expect Iowa will mostly stick to pounding straight off the tackles at ISU's smaller DE's. And if the Time-of-Possession gets too favorable for the Hawks, ISU's defense will really start to wear down by the 4th Quarter....so its imperative the ISU offense put together a few sustained drives in the first half. So, anyway, I think there will be a bit of a chess match between the Iowa OC and the ISU DC...and I must admit, I like Wally Burnham's ability in that matchup.

ISU can win this game, though certainly Iowa is a solid favorite. The most important thing ISU can do to win this game, is win the turnover battle. If that happens by +2 margin or so...its going to be a very tough game for both teams. If Iowa holds even or wins the turnover battle, they win going away IMHO.
 
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ISUer... You're a glass half full type of guy aren't ya? Unfortunately I think you may be getting your hopes up a bit. Only setting yourself up for failure there bud, but that's the beauty of being a fan I guess.

That's a good question for the Cyclone fans tho spudhawk. I don't think there is any way in hell the ISU defense holds Coker under 138 (unless he's injured... knock on wood). I like how someone previously compared this year's ISU defense to last years Mizzou D. No way ISU's D will be better and Coker ran all over those guys. He will run wild on ISU's defense until they're forced to keep 8 in the box and blitz. JVB will have some wide-open opportunities down the field and he's good enough to take advantage of it.

The only way ISU has a chance at winning is if they can force the Coker/Vandy combo to commit 2 or more turnovers. Knott is a guy who can make big plays. They'll need him to in this one.
 
Who knows at this point.

As far as our defense vs Mizzou's last year. ISU is still weak at DE. We obviously have no Aldon Smith. But Mizzou didn't have a Jake Knott, or even an AJ Klein. They also didn't have a CB as good as Leonard Johnson who started slow last year but was a stud come conference play

You are definitely right on the Knott & Klein comment, but for all the pub garnered by Leonard Johnson, color me unimpressed. After all the hubbub I don't think he'd start for Iowa and I don't think he is appreciably better than Mizzou's corners. Safeties yes, but not corners per se...

For perspective there was a time when I would have told you corner and WR was the 2 areas where ISU typically had at least as good a talent as us if not better. That is no longer the case and quite frankly I thought Simms at sfty digressed last year. Johnson did get a little better and he is now a Sr but he is still very spotty in my mind. Which at 5-10 (is he that tall) is even a bigger problem against 6-3 plus receivers when technique, position and identification are paramount

Chad
 
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Manson went 10-31 b/c he was being pressured like crazy that game. If you remember Tate didn't do any better before he got rocked. At least Manson could get some yards running


With all due respect intended, and I'm not an excuse maker, there is no way Drew Tate goes 10 for 31 in that game. We lost, we deserved to and Berryman was uncontainable, but Tate was 5-11 for 57 yards in the 1st quarter. Manson threw for 117 the rest of the game. Not even comparable....the game is long over and I'm not going to trivialize you or embarrass myself by saying anything stupid, but Manson just wasn't as good as Drew Tate period.

Chad
 
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You are definitely right on the Knott & Klein comment, but for all the pub garnered by Leonard Johnson, color me unimpressed. After all the hubbub I don't think he'd start for Iowa and I don't think he is appreciably better than Mizzou's corners. Safeties yes, but not corners per se...

For perspective there was a time when I would have told you corner and WR was the 2 areas where ISU typically had at least as good a talent as us if not better. That is no longer the case and quite frankly I thought the Simms at sfty digressed last year. Johnson did get a little better and he is now a Sr but he is still very spotty in my mind. Which at 5-10 (is he that tall) is even a bigger problem against 6-3 plus receivers when technique, position and identification is paramount

Chad

No offense Chad, but I'm guessing you watched very little of ISU play all year except when they played against Iowa. Leonard Johnson will get drafted next year. The kid is very talented

Also, 5'10 is plenty tall for a CB
 
ISU's DL is still very much a question mark, and Iowa's OL is a lot for them to try and handle. Which is why I expect the defense to take a few more gambles than usual...with Benton and the corners doing some blitzing, not to mention Klein and Knott. I think most of these blitzes, interestingly, are going to be aimed at stopping the run rather than sacking the QB...though that is often a nice fringe benefit. But ISU's DL cannot handle the Iowa OL in a straight up match. Lattimer is dangerous off the edge...but a bit undersized, though he has quite a motor on him. Maggit is steady but too small to be much of a run stopper. Rony Nelson, from most accounts, is strictly going to be a pass rush type guy. Ruempelhamer, on the other hand, is a legitimate DT who will give the OL all it can handle....but there is a question mark adjacent to him at the other DT spot.

Overall, the ISU defense looks to be a good bit better than last season...though THAT defense was decidedly average. The LB's are the strength, so I expect Iowa to throw in a good bit of play action early to try and freeze them up a bit...if Klein and Knott start to look like they are running downhill towards the Iowa RB's, look out because there's going to be some big collisions between them and Coker (who I believe is a VERY good running back). Ultimately, as the game goes along, I expect Iowa will mostly stick to pounding straight off the tackles at ISU's smaller DE's. And if the Time-of-Possession gets too favorable for the Hawks, ISU's defense will really start to wear down by the 4th Quarter....so its imperative the ISU offense put together a few sustained drives in the first half. So, anyway, I think there will be a bit of a chess match between the Iowa OC and the ISU DC...and I must admit, I like Wally Burnham's ability in that matchup.

ISU can win this game, though certainly Iowa is a solid favorite. The most important thing ISU can do to win this game, is win the turnover battle. If that happens by +2 margin or so...its going to be a very tough game for both teams. If Iowa holds even or wins the turnover battle, they win going away IMHO.

The turnover war is quite possibly the most important battle in this game. Iowa has dominated that battle the last two games. With Hyde and Prater still in the backfield I like our chances of winning that battle a third year in a row, but I think ISU will get some of their own this time.
 

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