All in All - It boils down to our offense and offensive scheme.

briankaldenberg

briankaldenberg

Well-Known Member
The entire scheme DOES NOT put our players in position to "execute" AS WELL as other schemes being run in college football.

I was once sold on the idea that our vanilla, predictable, requires perfect execution,..... offense was the best fit for poor old Iowa because we can't recruit.

Instead... I think we have it all wrong. WAY WRONG. Our vanilla, predictable, requires perfect execution.... offense requires excellent recruiting and NFL TE's, NFL Olineman, and NFL RB's to work like it is intended.... like it has worked "ONE" time during the Ferentz era and that was the 2001 dream team offense. Outside of that year... our offense hasn't even come close to sniffing the top 10 in scoring or total yards. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I no longer believe it takes great athletes to run a more intuitive offense. What's more depressing is often times these intuitive offenses move the ball on the ground at much greater ease than our pack everyone in a box and "out execute" everyone.

And before anyone tries to say well we've done this and that over the years... Guess what... Our success over the years has been a result of DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE. When our defense is lacking, I've yet to see our offense pick up the slack EVER. Our offense is half the reason why our defense struggles in games too.

The best offenses in college football run offenses that look almost NOTHING like ours. This is college football, not NFL football. Let's start running a scheme tailored for college effing football.
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
A team loss. I'd put it on everybody ... players AND coaches. No finger pointing.

Just a terrible game and a terrible loss.
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Usually I like making fun of your posts and would like to tell you to STFU (notice I never do, though)...but today I couldn't agree w/ you more. I feel like today was Ground Hog's Day, Western Michigan-style. All the things this team has done that have resulted in losses this season, happened today - occasional bouts of poor OL play, some very predictable play calling making execution very difficult, missed reads and throws by Stanzi, some drops by WR's, the D not stepping up in the 4th, giving up a ton of underneath throws, missed tackles, a couple turnovers...but I don't think (ironically) there was a major special teams gaffe. Today was a collective, painful, TEAM fail.
 
Wisconsin has a one loss team and is heading most likely to the Rose Bowl. They are not an exact copy but play a brand of football extremely similar to ours.

Guess what? They run a very pridictable offense also and are trouncing teams.

I never buy scheme as the reason for wins and losses. A great football team can even tell the opponent at the line of scrimmage what they are going to run and then run it anyway to perfection.

Football is a man's sport. It's about who is bigger, faster, stronger and tougher PERIOD. That's who wins most games. Sure there a few cases on both sides of the bell curve but most winners are decided by these factors.

Want to have a better offense? Someone ask our offensive line guru KF why he does not put out a better offensive line personnel wise? Ask KF the hard question why he put in Jeff Koeppel at the right guard spot after injuries to Gettis & McMillan passing over other players more suitable for that position; Boeffelli, Orne, Van Sloten to name a few. This decision really took the wheels of this offense. Prior to that insertion there was not a lot of margin for error but the offense was moving the ball. This insertion gave Iowa one of the smallest interior set of lineman in the Big Ten. The effect was we lost consistent control of the line of scrimmage. Too many drives were stalled due to negative yardage plays/minimal gains, pocket pressure/collapses. Bingo.... offense dropped to 17 points per games after MSU. Games which included three of the five worst defensive teams in the conference.

Guess what... last time this same thing happened was when we were 6-6. We started out that season playing a vastly undersized guard(Meade) and a young undersized center in Eubanks. That season was a total disaster blocking wise also and we had issues moving the football.

Coincidence??? Not.

Most fans do not value the importance of blocking because they follow the ball and skilled players.
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
LOL! That just means that you haven't dropped your grudge ... and apparently nor do you break down much film.
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I'd say that I've been vindicated beyond rebuttal.

I don't need to break down film. I can understand things like "scores" and "third down conversions."
 
SpecialKHawk said:
Wisconsin has a one loss team and is heading most likely to the Rose Bowl. They are not an exact copy but play a brand of football extremely similar to ours.

Guess what? They run a very pridictable offense also and are trouncing teams.

I never buy scheme as the reason for wins and losses. A great football team can even tell the opponent at the line of scrimmage what they are going to run and then run it anyway to perfection.

Football is a man's sport. It's about who is bigger, faster, stronger and tougher PERIOD. That's who wins most games. Sure there a few cases on both sides of the bell curve but most winners are decided by these factors.

Want to have a better offense? Someone ask our offensive line guru KF why he does not put out a better offensive line personnel wise? Ask KF the hard question why he put in Jeff Koeppel at the right guard spot after injuries to Gettis & McMillan passing over other players more suitable for that position; Boeffelli, Orne, Van Sloten to name a few. This decision really took the wheels of this offense. Prior to that insertion there was not a lot of margin for error but the offense was moving the ball. This insertion gave Iowa one of the smallest interior set of lineman in the Big Ten. The effect was we lost consistent control of the line of scrimmage. Too many drives were stalled due to negative yardage plays/minimal gains, pocket pressure/collapses. Bingo.... offense dropped to 17 points per games after MSU. Games which included three of the five worst defensive teams in the conference.

Guess what... last time this same thing happened was when we were 6-6. We started out that season playing a vastly undersized guard(Meade) and a young undersized center in Eubanks. That season was a total disaster blocking wise also and we had issues moving the football.

Coincidence??? Not.

Most fans do not value the importance of blocking because they follow the ball and skilled players.
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Excellent post.
 
SpecialKHawk said:
Wisconsin has a one loss team and is heading most likely to the Rose Bowl. They are not an exact copy but play a brand of football extremely similar to ours.

Guess what? They run a very pridictable offense also and are trouncing teams.

I never buy scheme as the reason for wins and losses. A great football team can even tell the opponent at the line of scrimmage what they are going to run and then run it anyway to perfection.

Football is a man's sport. It's about who is bigger, faster, stronger and tougher PERIOD. That's who wins most games. Sure there a few cases on both sides of the bell curve but most winners are decided by these factors.

Want to have a better offense? Someone ask our offensive line guru KF why he does not put out a better offensive line personnel wise? Ask KF the hard question why he put in Jeff Koeppel at the right guard spot after injuries to Gettis & McMillan passing over other players more suitable for that position; Boeffelli, Orne, Van Sloten to name a few. This decision really took the wheels of this offense. Prior to that insertion there was not a lot of margin for error but the offense was moving the ball. This insertion gave Iowa one of the smallest interior set of lineman in the Big Ten. The effect was we lost consistent control of the line of scrimmage. Too many drives were stalled due to negative yardage plays/minimal gains, pocket pressure/collapses. Bingo.... offense dropped to 17 points per games after MSU. Games which included three of the five worst defensive teams in the conference.

Guess what... last time this same thing happened was when we were 6-6. We started out that season playing a vastly undersized guard(Meade) and a young undersized center in Eubanks. That season was a total disaster blocking wise also and we had issues moving the football.

Coincidence??? Not.

Most fans do not value the importance of blocking because they follow the ball and skilled players.
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BS - I clearly said our scheme works if.... and then listed off the NFL talent required.

Wisconsin has NFL's running backs.... 3 of them. Maybe one of their best offensive lines ever... and a very good TE....

This scheme will work when you're loaded with talent.

Other schemes that I see work well and they don't need to have overbearing talent. The scheme makes up for the deficiencies in talent.
 
SeattleHawkeye said:
Usually I like making fun of your posts and would like to tell you to STFU (notice I never do, though)...but today I couldn't agree w/ you more. I feel like today was Ground Hog's Day, Western Michigan-style. All the things this team has done that have resulted in losses this season, happened today - occasional bouts of poor OL play, some very predictable play calling making execution very difficult, missed reads and throws by Stanzi, some drops by WR's, the D not stepping up in the 4th, giving up a ton of underneath throws, missed tackles, a couple turnovers...but I don't think (ironically) there was a major special teams gaffe. Today was a collective, painful, TEAM fail.
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The problem is that fans want their "blame" to fit in a nice, neat, clearly dilineated package. Thus, most go with the knee-jerk reaction of attempting to throw a coordinator under the bus. That was certainly NOT the case in this game ... as you stated ... this was a TEAM fail (even in special teams we had an error that cost us 25 yards in field position).
 
You want to know the difference between Iowa and Wisky. Wisky will let their offense go and that gives them more scoring drives,and keeps their defense off the field. They will run a two minute drill instead of sitting on it just in case. Games are your best practice but we constantly say thats enough lets run out the clock. We cant do anything when it counts because we are to scared to do it right before the half.
 
briankaldenberg said:
BS - I clearly said our scheme works if.... and then listed off the NFL talent required.

Wisconsin has NFL's running backs.... 3 of them. Maybe one of their best offensive lines ever... and a very good TE....

This scheme will work when you're loaded with talent.

Other schemes that I see work well and they don't need to have overbearing talent. The scheme makes up for the deficiencies in talent.
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I'm going to call big BS on 3 NFL running backs to start. If I had a dime for every time someone noted that our team or others were loaded with NFL talent I'd be rich. Last time I checked it's pretty difficult to get drafted in the NFL.

Look I'll start the year again with this offensive line, run the football 60% of the time and see if we can beat the awesome programs; NW & Minny.

Rieff - LT,
McMillan - LG
VandeVelde - C
Boeffelli - RG
Zuvieks - RT

If McMillan (has been listed on the 2 deep) is still injured then the better of Van Sloten and Orne.

Now I'd bet money this line could take control of the LOS and we score 30 points a game again using the same plays. The smallest guy now is our center at 6' 3" & 300 lbs.
 
I agree with you, Brian.

I don't have the mentality that everything has to change, but think there is one major component missing from our offensive scheme: get explosive players in space and let them create.

I actually like Iowa's running game. I think it's a well built, solid scheme based on taking what the other teams gives you. It's proven that it can be dangerous and we've had backs that do well behind zone blocking. The biggest problem I see is that when teams move their safeties down we don't make them pay. We routinely run into 8-man fronts rather than checking to a pass or simply getting the backs out to the edge and dumping the ball off into the flat where they can try to make something happen.

To this day I think Damien Sims was the most poorly utilized player I have personally seen go through the Iowa program. I'm fine if the coaches want to base their system off the offensive scheme already in place. But every year we should be adding packages to the game plan specifically designed to utilize our most explosive, dangerous players.

When Sims was on the team the question was constantly asked, "Are we going to see two backs on the field together?" And the question was routinely brushed off and we never did see it that I can recall (maybe once)...certainly not on a regular basis. Failure to do it was a mistake then and failure to add those types of packages to the offense is still a mistake today.

We don't have to go to a spread offense. But we do need to add wrinkles that will force other teams to account for our best players every single down. Creativity is paramount on offense today. It's almost the sole reason for the rise of teams like Boise State and TCU. They get players in space where either your guy will make a play or our guy will make a play...and at some point your guy is going to miss.
 
VAHawkFan said:
I agree with you, Brian.

It's almost the sole reason for the rise of teams like Boise State and TCU. They get players in space where either your guy will make a play or our guy will make a play...and at some point your guy is going to miss.
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No credit given to their 'rise' in that they play the majority of their games in the WAC and Mountain West ???
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
The problem is that fans want their "blame" to fit in a nice, neat, clearly dilineated package. Thus, most go with the knee-jerk reaction of attempting to throw a coordinator under the bus. That was certainly NOT the case in this game ... as you stated ... this was a TEAM fail (even in special teams we had an error that cost us 25 yards in field position).
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Yeah, I think the entire "fire the coordinators" is a little knee-jerk. I understand people are emotional and the IA O hasn't exactly lit up the scoreboard, but KOK is implementing KF's scheme. I'm not certain firing KOK will matter if another OC comes in and just runs the same offense. Others and I have been calling for minor tweaks and changes to the O and D schemes for 3-4 wks - NOT MAJOR OVERHAULS OR SWITCHING SCHEMES - but just being slightly more attacking and aggressive, i.e. using 4-6 yard CB cushions instead of 7-10. I think minor tweaks like those are reasonable, but everyone is entitled to their own views. And I completely understand people being upset w/ KOK, as IA's offense is usually ranked very low...but I think he's just following his marching orders.
 
OUTofTOWNHAWK said:
You want to know the difference between Iowa and Wisky. Wisky will let their offense go and that gives them more scoring drives,and keeps their defense off the field. They will run a two minute drill instead of sitting on it just in case. Games are your best practice but we constantly say thats enough lets run out the clock. We cant do anything when it counts because we are to scared to do it right before the half.
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The funny thing about your comment is my Wisky buddy complains constantly about Bielema not sitting on the football before half (allowing the opponent too many scoring opportunities).

If you noticed during this year's game Wisky had an opportunity to run out the clock or most of it in the first half of our game. They had first and ten @ their own 20 yard line. Instead of running it, they threw three straight passes, two of which were incomplete. They did not pick up the first down and punted the ball back to us with plenty of time remaining and giving us good field position. Guess what we marched the ball down the field and scored a TD before half. My buddy was furious saying Bielema may have just blown the game.

LOL how each program views the %'s.
 
VAHawkFan said:
I agree with you, Brian.

I don't have the mentality that everything has to change, but think there is one major component missing from our offensive scheme: get explosive players in space and let them create.

I actually like Iowa's running game. I think it's a well built, solid scheme based on taking what the other teams gives you. It's proven that it can be dangerous and we've had backs that do well behind zone blocking. The biggest problem I see is that when teams move their safeties down we don't make them pay. We routinely run into 8-man fronts rather than checking to a pass or simply getting the backs out to the edge and dumping the ball off into the flat where they can try to make something happen.

To this day I think Damien Sims was the most poorly utilized player I have personally seen go through the Iowa program. I'm fine if the coaches want to base their system off the offensive scheme already in place. But every year we should be adding packages to the game plan specifically designed to utilize our most explosive, dangerous players.

When Sims was on the team the question was constantly asked, "Are we going to see two backs on the field together?" And the question was routinely brushed off and we never did see it that I can recall (maybe once)...certainly not on a regular basis. Failure to do it was a mistake then and failure to add those types of packages to the offense is still a mistake today.

We don't have to go to a spread offense. But we do need to add wrinkles that will force other teams to account for our best players every single down. Creativity is paramount on offense today. It's almost the sole reason for the rise of teams like Boise State and TCU. They get players in space where either your guy will make a play or our guy will make a play...and at some point your guy is going to miss.
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You SOB! If you come over here talking about expectations and entitlement I'm going to be ******! :D (And FYI, I agree w/ your last post re the prima donna of the fanbase calling for Ferentz and feeling entitled to BCS bowls. I definitely think that's the minority, also, but at times - especially today - a very, very vocal minority w/ a little more backing.)

And I'm w/ you on the last paragraph re the O. Just a few wrinkles and twists here and there to not be so vanilla would be nice, along w/ letting your playmakers make plays - like getting DJK more than 4 touches today.
 
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