As long as the defense can win every game we're gonna be fine
- Thread starter Joshbrown
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83Hawk
Banned
I'm afraid Wisconsin and Michigan's backs are going to run all over us. If we can't stop weak teams from doing this, how are we going to stop the good ones? Our defense is going to be worn out by the end of the season, unless the offense can sustain drives.
Lots of time left to fix things!
Lots of time left to fix things!
SouthSideHawk
Well-Known Member
I doubt Iowa lands in the top 25 the rest of the season. The middle of the defense is wide open the entire game. I think the Hawks miss Jim Reid more than they would like to admit. I also think old Kirk has shown up again.
Our only chance is playing harder because of motivation for a big game. If that doesn't change how we look, we won't be playing in Indy this year for sure.
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
Time for some positivity.
Yes, against FCS/MAC we've struggled.
But now we're into the FBS portion of the schedule and I've got some good news. Against P5 schools we've allowed 3 points and 7 points. Let that give you hope the D will do its job while the O is finding its way.
Parker is getting beat up on these boards and that's probably unfair. Let's be honest. Almost every year the D is asked to carry the water. And most years since 1999 Iowa has had a top 25 scoring Defense. If CJB can regain his pissed off personality we might come alive and do some nice things.
That's all for now. . . . Happier?
Yes, against FCS/MAC we've struggled.
But now we're into the FBS portion of the schedule and I've got some good news. Against P5 schools we've allowed 3 points and 7 points. Let that give you hope the D will do its job while the O is finding its way.
Parker is getting beat up on these boards and that's probably unfair. Let's be honest. Almost every year the D is asked to carry the water. And most years since 1999 Iowa has had a top 25 scoring Defense. If CJB can regain his pissed off personality we might come alive and do some nice things.
That's all for now. . . . Happier?
HawkeyeDenis
Well-Known Member
Until they fix the defensive line problem, the defense is a big question mark.
Iowa's defense has been pretty good except on the defensive line. We expected two seniors to be dominate. The rest of the defense has to compensate for their lack of production. Overall the defense hasn't been bad but they haven't played anyone except an FCS team. The defense ends are young, but they have a lot of potential. The middle is just mind bogglingly bad
Northwestern may not have the horses to exploit Iowa's defensive problems, but Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan won't have any problem.
Iowa's defense has been pretty good except on the defensive line. We expected two seniors to be dominate. The rest of the defense has to compensate for their lack of production. Overall the defense hasn't been bad but they haven't played anyone except an FCS team. The defense ends are young, but they have a lot of potential. The middle is just mind bogglingly bad
Northwestern may not have the horses to exploit Iowa's defensive problems, but Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan won't have any problem.
Right now the defense is great in one stat and that is points allowed. Granted they havent played great offenses but when you hold a big 10 opponent to 7 points at their place that is great.
I hope to see some more improvement in getting lower leverage, stopping the push, better tackling, and if they can crash and control the handoff point they should stop jNW pretty well.
I hope to see some more improvement in getting lower leverage, stopping the push, better tackling, and if they can crash and control the handoff point they should stop jNW pretty well.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
One of my biggest concerns defensively is the amount of time they spend on the field. To be successful we cannot lose the time of possession battle and continue to find ourselves among the nation's bottom feeders in terms of offensive plays run. To give the defense the opportunity to get better statically we need to get them more time off the field and keep them there. If we can flip the script and sustain more drives, increase time of possession, and increase our offensive snaps per game the defense numbers will improve without our defense having to do anything.
chadfrey
Well-Known Member
In the past two games Iowa's offense has been, in a word, lethargic. The biggest problem is inconsistency in the run game and pass protection. All of that points to upfront. Get that line in shape, and everything will look different. The D won't be on the field as much, nor protecting a one-score lead. Give the D some wind, and some room, and they will look much better.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Against good team, the problem will not be the defense, it will be if the offense can't make drives, score points, and give the D some rest. The defense is not great this year, but they have been put in a rough spot in 3 of the 4 games by the offense. You can't be in the bottom 1/3 of the country in number of offensive plays run, and expect your defense to be stellar.
If we can get back to avg 30+ points per game, we still got a shot at all reasonable goals.
If we can get back to avg 30+ points per game, we still got a shot at all reasonable goals.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I've said that in other threads as well. I think right now our defense is being punished as a direct result of our offenses inability to sustain drives and win the time of possession battle. I think our defense has done great keeping teams out of the endzone and if we are able to continue to do that and our offense can turn things around I think the defense may prove to be better than they've led us to believe these first 4 games.
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
Yikes, are you thinking we miss a bowl this year? I agree the Defense has let us down, especially against NDSU. But overall Iowa's scoring D has been better than our scoring O almost every year under Kirk. His attitude of "Let's just play until we can capitalize on our opponents miscues" means he will rely on the Defense to keep the score low rather than rely on the offense to blitzkrieg anyone. This is a HC who used to get angry if we scored late in a contest that we were winning.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't mind this mentality if we could prove time and time again that offensively we can move the ball under pressure. It would be a great philosophy if we didn't have a history of our defense getting worn out and/or giving up points late in games just so our offense can come out with a "deer in headlights" look and appear lethargic.
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
I think a large source of frustration among many fans is that KF's risk-aversion strategy worked for the first half of his tenure. But since the infamous 2010 Wisky game (which cost us Gordon and sent us into a dive), it feels like whoever has the ball last will win the game. Now maybe that's okay if we're playing Ohio State (and I would argue against that btw), but it certainly isn't okay to keep so many games within striking distance until the bitter end.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
Agreed especially if/when we give up that late field goal/TD and find ourselves in a two minute drill needing to go the length of the field.
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
I feel better about Parker adjusting and shoring things up than I do Davis. But as others have mentioned, maybe Vandy going down will somehow jumpstart things.
I agree that things can be fixed. Tomorrow we'll find out how the coaches and players are responding to adversity.
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
Two minute drill? We're good at the 1 minute drill. That's where you have two minutes but manage to punt it back after 1 minute. I think the HC has a patent on that technique.
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kicker22
Well-Known Member
Great point. Like in basketball, see how many possessions you can get at the end of game/half, they give us the ball back under 5 minutes we'll see if they can get a third possession if they play their cards right.
