Another Feather for Stanzi & KOK....

hawkfaninTX

Well-Known Member
.... to put in their hat.

After watching the video, I noticed another feature about Stanzi & KOK that I guarantee no one saw on Saturday.

Preamble: (14:50 2nd Quarter)
We had just had a huge momentum swing with Sash intercepting the ball.

1st & 10 at UM 49:
For that first down play we chose to not play-action but roll the pocket to the wide side of field, only sending McNutt and DJK out for a route. Amazingly, even though we kept both Reisner & A-Rob in for extra protection I think that Stanzi out ran the protection and was forced to throw it away.

2nd & 10 at UM 49:
Awesome Screen play for 15 yards, GREAT Call. (they show the replay and have good commentary on our schematics there.)

1st & 10 at UM 34:
We break the Huddle at the :16 second mark of the play clock. The Defense shows it's true colors around the :09 mark, Stanzi tries to audible, but WISELY takes a T.O. (hint: Notice the alignment of our receivers at the top of the screen, the slot is on the line of scrimmage)

What was the play called there? PASS or RUN?
-I'm going to go with a pass for a couple reasons. First, we were blitzkreiging them in the passing department, especially on first down. Plus Stanzi was starting to settle down & heat up at the same time.

Why does the play call matter in that particular situation?
-You might remember at this point that this is the drive that DJK scores on a flag route, My point is that the play he scores on later was called on this play just before Stanzi called T.O. and here's why Stanzi called T.O.

When the defense showed it's alignment they appear to be in Man under with a Free Safety over the top- there was little time to audible in that formation to a run to the wide side of the field in that environment, and instead of wasting a play that both the coaching staff and stanzi agreed to be a great play call against ZONE Coverage, or worse he takes a penalty-- he correctly burns a T.O.

1st & 10 at UM 34 post T.O:
The alignment of our receivers are now switched, the Slot is now off the LOS, but same general formation with just a little tweak, THIS is the play stanzi was trying to audible too. Still in man coverage, but now a counter trey over left tackle for 3 yards, not very successful, but it's the play that follows is where this pay's dividends. (note: with the free safety in the middle of the field this running play had tremendous upside too.)

2nd & 7 at UM 31

When I re-watch game film I try to "scout" or understand what Iowa is trying to do against the opposing Defense, and not just on the next play. This is a Key Situation in the Game to capitalize and put points on the board for reasons previously mentioned, so it is "4-Down Territory" because of our kicking woes, and Meyer just hasn't proven that he has the leg to hit from 40+. If I'm Michigan and I know that, then 2nd & 7 is now a short passing situation. If I'm Robinson (UM DC) then I either blitz aggressively or try to defend a short pass play with a ZONE scheme- but more than likely a blitz won't get there in time. Problem for Michigan is that Iowa has had 2 weeks to prepare and is 3 moves ahead of Robinson going back to before the T.O. So they come out in the same formation they had before the timeout (slot back on the LOS), now because of the quick pass situation, Iowa now has the play they wanted to run, only it fits favorably against the Michigan pre-snap alignment (obvious zone). All we need now is about 3-4 seconds of protection against a 4 man rush(we know they will not blitz as previously mentioned), a double move and the rest is history.

-----------------

Final Comment:

Chalk up the genius that is KOK and Stanzi for both recognizing this at the same time. Give credit to the pregame "scripting" of plays by the OC. I can almost guarantee this was something implemented earlier in the week because of UM tendencies defensively. Can you imagine what KOK can do with a Seasoned QB if somehow it was possible to have EACH year?
 
Last edited:
Thanks boji, it really jumped off the page at me when re-watching the tape. A crucial sequence of plays missed in the fog of the game. I have a sunday night tradition. After my adult flag football league Sunday night (during which I have slammed a 5Hr energy shot) I always re-watch the games and look for plays like this.
 
Come on, man!

My WIFE spotted all that stuff, and she asks me how many runs do the Hawks have.

If you are going to post here, please bring some detail.

j/k.
 
Come on, man!

My WIFE spotted all that stuff, and she asks me how many runs do the Hawks have.

If you are going to post here, please bring some detail.

j/k.

Wife Swap? If that is true then your wife is a dream wife for my weekends.
 
Original post

I think there were quite a few assumptions in there, but I'll go with you. On that TD to DJK, we ran that same route combo out of that same formation in the Orange Bowl last year, except it didn't go for 6. But it was wide open last year just like it was on Saturday. DJK runs that post/corner double move very well.
 
I think there were quite a few assumptions in there, but I'll go with you. On that TD to DJK, we ran that same route combo out of that same formation in the Orange Bowl last year, except it didn't go for 6. But it was wide open last year just like it was on Saturday. DJK runs that post/corner double move very well.

I agree with you about the assumptions, but i cannot provide the smoking gun. All i have is circumstantial evidence, strong at that. I really think that Iowa saw what they had set up during the timeout, called the counter trey to put them in a short passing play situation. I think the play set up nicely at that time, and the fact at that point we are probably still in our "pre-scripted" plays. Those "pre-scripted" plays usually go either 2-3 series into the game with VERY little variance, especially in a program run like an NFL program.
 
Good post tex, youre right the things KOK can do with a veteran QB is really fun to watch. I think they are finally using some stuff that was being held in KOKs pocket. I think we will see Vandenberg progress quickly. I havent got the chance to watch the film as I was at AA sitting half way up the bowl. I could not see nearly what I can see in my seats at Kinnick.
 
I think KOK is one of the best in the business. Ironic, because he's generally a whipping boy around here.

It's also been amazing to see Ricky Stanzi's development as a QB & getting us into the correct play.

A couple of my observ's...

Michigan brings a short side corner blitz in the first half...Marvin & Ricky don't quite appear to be on the same page & the play nearly results in a pick, by Kovacs.

Michigan brings the short side corner blitz in the second half & Marvin immeditely recognizes the blitz & Ricky hits him on a stop route, getting about 6 YAC for about a 12 yard gain. I'll bet that they were looking for that corner blitz in preparation & Marvin forgot to make the read adjustment & Ricky ended up throwing a tenatative ball (just a guess).

Ricky repeatedly got us into the short side lead play when he recognized favorable #'s -- Rogers simply had to kick out the end, RR & JV combo block the DT, before RR goes to the second level to dominate the LB. Only unaccounted for tackler is the SS...

Lastly, we run the delay handoff on 3rd & 1 against an 8-man front & an unaccounted for Kovacs blitz off the edge. Robinson gets blown up. Ricky immediately apologizes to Robinson for missing the read & (I'm sure) says the same thing to KOK when he gets to the sideline (who is standing there with a perplexed look on his face as Ricky runs to the sideline). You can't run the delay on 3rd & 1 -- but Ricky immediately knew he blew it. I LOVE that.

KOK was 3 steps ahead of Greg Robinson all day. The guy just doesn't get the credit he deserves...And Ricky Stanzi is playing at a very high level right now. He's really learned how to attack all the varied looks other teams' are giving us...The KOK interview last week told us as much...
 
Does anyone else have a sequence of plays like this out of stanzi before?

A good example of a planned attack in this one was how Iowa used the scissor route play call....It's a pretty obvious play call for opposing teams to pick up on by now with Iowa showing it 4 or 5 times. They run it it out of an ACE variation and McNutt starts wide and motions in a few steps in towards the line and then they snap the ball. If you rewatch the first time they called it the Michigan corner actually turns around and yelled to the safety as McNutt came in motion. Michigan was in 2 deep on the play and a scissor route wasn't going to work very well. Iowa had previously run this as a 2 man route in previous games with no safety valve. This time they slipped out Robinson underneath and he picked up and easy first down.

Later in the game they ran the exact same play against cover 2 and again slipped out Robinson who got picked up quickly by a LB. However, they also slipped out Rodgers from the other side who was totally uncovered. Worked for another easy first down.

This was a pretty well thought-out way to use Michigan's own scouting against them.
 
This board needs way, way more posts like this. Very interesting stuff. Please don't think twice about starting more conversations like this...or blogging if you're not already doing it. Now I can look for these situations, too. The use of screens and plays where ARob drifts out by himself has increased over the last few games. What did Iowa coaches see that brought this about? Just increased attacking of the line, more guys in the box, more blitzes? I watch all the games multiple times but don't get this in-depth. Hats off to you guys.
 
.... to put in their hat.

After watching the video, I noticed another feature about Stanzi & KOK that I guarantee no one saw on Saturday.

Preamble: (14:50 2nd Quarter)
We had just had a huge momentum swing with Sash intercepting the ball.

1st & 10 at UM 49:
For that first down play we chose to not play-action but roll the pocket to the wide side of field, only sending McNutt and DJK out for a route. Amazingly, even though we kept both Reisner & A-Rob in for extra protection I think that Stanzi out ran the protection and was forced to throw it away.

2nd & 10 at UM 49:
Awesome Screen play for 15 yards, GREAT Call. (they show the replay and have good commentary on our schematics there.)

1st & 10 at UM 34:
We break the Huddle at the :16 second mark of the play clock. The Defense shows it's true colors around the :09 mark, Stanzi tries to audible, but WISELY takes a T.O. (hint: Notice the alignment of our receivers at the top of the screen, the slot is on the line of scrimmage)

What was the play called there? PASS or RUN?
-I'm going to go with a pass for a couple reasons. First, we were blitzkreiging them in the passing department, especially on first down. Plus Stanzi was starting to settle down & heat up at the same time.

Why does the play call matter in that particular situation?
-You might remember at this point that this is the drive that DJK scores on a flag route, My point is that the play he scores on later was called on this play just before Stanzi called T.O. and here's why Stanzi called T.O.

When the defense showed it's alignment they appear to be in Man under with a Free Safety over the top- there was little time to audible in that formation to a run to the wide side of the field in that environment, and instead of wasting a play that both the coaching staff and stanzi agreed to be a great play call against ZONE Coverage, or worse he takes a penalty-- he correctly burns a T.O.

1st & 10 at UM 34 post T.O:
The alignment of our receivers are now switched, the Slot is now off the LOS, but same general formation with just a little tweak, THIS is the play stanzi was trying to audible too. Still in man coverage, but now a counter trey over left tackle for 3 yards, not very successful, but it's the play that follows is where this pay's dividends. (note: with the free safety in the middle of the field this running play had tremendous upside too.)

2nd & 7 at UM 31

When I re-watch game film I try to "scout" or understand what Iowa is trying to do against the opposing Defense, and not just on the next play. This is a Key Situation in the Game to capitalize and put points on the board for reasons previously mentioned, so it is "4-Down Territory" because of our kicking woes, and Meyer just hasn't proven that he has the leg to hit from 40+. If I'm Michigan and I know that, then 2nd & 7 is now a short passing situation. If I'm Robinson (UM DC) then I either blitz aggressively or try to defend a short pass play with a ZONE scheme- but more than likely a blitz won't get there in time. Problem for Michigan is that Iowa has had 2 weeks to prepare and is 3 moves ahead of Robinson going back to before the T.O. So they come out in the same formation they had before the timeout (slot back on the LOS), now because of the quick pass situation, Iowa now has the play they wanted to run, only it fits favorably against the Michigan pre-snap alignment (obvious zone). All we need now is about 3-4 seconds of protection against a 4 man rush(we know they will not blitz as previously mentioned), a double move and the rest is history.

-----------------

Final Comment:

Chalk up the genius that is KOK and Stanzi for both recognizing this at the same time. Give credit to the pregame "scripting" of plays by the OC. I can almost guarantee this was something implemented earlier in the week because of UM tendencies defensively. Can you imagine what KOK can do with a Seasoned QB if somehow it was possible to have EACH year?

You're right about one thing, nobody else saw it the way you did. KOK is a brutal offensive play caller.

Michigan is one of the worst defenses in the country. We had 248 passing yards and 135 rushing yards. They average giving up 256 yards passing and 250 yards rushing per game. We got off to a big lead and he (KOK) pulled the chute on the offense and went conservative in the 4th quarter and nearly killed us.
 
You're right about one thing, nobody else saw it the way you did. KOK is a brutal offensive play caller.

Michigan is one of the worst defenses in the country. We had 248 passing yards and 135 rushing yards. They average giving up 256 yards passing and 250 yards rushing per game. We got off to a big lead and he (KOK) pulled the chute on the offense and went conservative in the 4th quarter and nearly killed us.

Seriously, do you even watch the games? We had the ball 4 times and scored on 2 of those drives in the 4th quarter. The last time we had the ball was after Tate's INT, we ran out the rest of the game clock. So scoring 2 out of 3 possessions is pulling the chute on the O?

You don't like KOK, we get it. Yet to say he pulled the chute on the O in the 4th is just simply delusional on your part. We scored on 2 of 3 drives for Christ sakes.....
 
It never ceases to amaze me how anybody who follows Iowa football, can place the blame on KOK if Iowa gets conservative with it's offense. I guess that means O'Keefe really runs the team. Brilliant!
 
I could say the same conservative **** about our defense with our 3-5 blitzes every game.......WOW that sure is an aggressive style of defense!

Hawkintexas.......I sit in front of your parents every game. Great to find out who you are! GO HAWKS!
 
You're right about one thing, nobody else saw it the way you did. KOK is a brutal offensive play caller.

Michigan is one of the worst defenses in the country. We had 248 passing yards and 135 rushing yards. They average giving up 256 yards passing and 250 yards rushing per game. We got off to a big lead and he (KOK) pulled the chute on the offense and went conservative in the 4th quarter and nearly killed us.

Seriously, did you watch this week's game? Our defense was what seemed to shut down in the 4th quarter. Michigan scored THREE 4th quarter TD's. When's the last time our defense gave up that many TD's in a GAME? The offense was fine. The only thing I didn't like was running on first down after Michigan cut the deficit to 14 again, simply because the place was rocking, the defense was amped, and I felt confident that they would stuff the run, thereby driving the place nuts even further (which is what happened). But he came back on the next drive and went to play-action, like I was hoping he'd do on the previous series.
 

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