Bryce Miller: Lack of playmakers, not Ferentz, causing Hawkeyes’ woes

[Section136]

I haven't seen anything from CJ to show he is anything other than an average tightend. But the problem is that the offense results are well, well below average. As I said earlier, the talent is not great (including CJ), but it's better than the results being produced. The other thing on CJ - his is 6-7. Whether he is all that talented or not, he should be a matchup problem for a defense. I've seen enough of CJ to think we could line him up on one side of the field, get a one on one match-up and throw him jump ball down towards the goal line every now and then.

Look, we all know what the ultimate problem is on offense. This should be at least a serviceable/average offense, particularly given the defenses it gets to go up against. Just read Gamefilm's reviews from all of the games this season. The two big recurring problems on O: (1) the receivers/tightends are indeed getting open, but the QB can't find them, and (2) we have the worst, most unimaginative, predictable offense on 3rd and 2-3, which essentially entails bringing in a frosh receiver we never through the ball to, line up everyone else right next to each other on the line and go off tackle into the teeth of a 9 man front. This isn't my analysis, but rather a fairly obvious conclusion to Gamefilm's analysis, which I think everyone on this board respects.

Point being, despite not having great talent, the offense shouldn't be this bad.

The offenses results during the first 13 years of the KF era were either average or above average. You all wanted a change and you finally got it.

And you have "seen enough" of CJ to know how he should best be utilized more than the coaches who are with him everyday? Highly unlikely.

 

[LutherHawk]

The offenses results during the first 13 years of the KF era were either average or above average. You all wanted a change and you finally got it.

And you have "seen enough" of CJ to know how he should best be utilized more than the coaches who are with him everyday? Highly unlikely.

 

[LutherHawk]

The offenses results during the first 13 years of the KF era were either average or above average. You all wanted a change and you finally got it.

And you have "seen enough" of CJ to know how he should best be utilized more than the coaches who are with him everyday? Highly unlikely.

Section8-

Can you please provide the statistical evidence that KF's offenses were consistently average to above average? What...in the BIG or nationally? Because you are wrong!

Do you KF lovers have any idea what the rest of the nation thinks about KF and Iowa football at this point? Do you ever leave your bubble. People outside Iowa think KF is a JOKE! They can't believe that he gets paid as much as he does. And, yes, this is relevant. College football fans and bloggers talk about it outside of Iowa...and the are befuddled. The team is boring to watch and makes other teams boring to watch too. This is entertainment...it's about time people realize this because this is the new reality of college football.

 

[Section136]

Section8-

Can you please provide the statistical evidence that KF's offenses were consistently average to above average? What...in the BIG or nationally? Because you are wrong!

Do you KF lovers have any idea what the rest of the nation thinks about KF and Iowa football at this point? Do you ever leave your bubble. People outside Iowa think KF is a JOKE! They can't believe that he gets paid as much as he does. And, yes, this is relevant. College football fans and bloggers talk about it outside of Iowa...and the are befuddled. The team is boring to watch and makes other teams boring to watch too. This is entertainment...it's about time people realize this because this is the new reality of college football.

2001 and 2002 the Iowa offense led the B1G in PPG.

ESPN goes as far back as 2004 for their stats. Here is what they said. These are total offense rankings:

2004: 83...lets remember we had no RB's
2005: 27
2006: 32
2007: 105
2008: 48
2009: 83
2010: 52
2011: 62

That there is an average of 61.5. There are 119 FBS teams I believe. So they were in the middle of the pack when it comes to total offense, in other words.......AVERAGE!!!!!!

If we could use the 2001-2003 offensive numbers, I would guess it would even be a bit higher of an average. Thank you.

2011 NCAA Division I-A College Football Team Statistics Leaders for Total - ESPN

 

[NickM]

The offenses results during the first 13 years of the KF era were either average or above average. You all wanted a change and you finally got it.

And you have "seen enough" of CJ to know how he should best be utilized more than the coaches who are with him everyday? Highly unlikely.

Hey, most of us saw enough to know Law should have been playing ahead of Donatel. Seriously, you are right. The staff is absolutely maximizing the potential of the offensive players.

Also, there has been no change to the offensive tempo or philosophy. Not sure what everyone else wanted, but I wanted more tempo, more taking advantage of matchups. That hasn't happened.

 

[NickM]

2001 and 2002 the Iowa offense led the B1G in PPG.

ESPN goes as far back as 2004 for their stats. Here is what they said. These are total offense rankings:

2004: 83...lets remember we had no RB's
2005: 27
2006: 32
2007: 105
2008: 48
2009: 83
2010: 52
2011: 62

That there is an average of 61.5. There are 119 FBS teams I believe. So they were in the middle of the pack when it comes to total offense, in other words.......AVERAGE!!!!!!

If we could use the 2001-2003 offensive numbers, I would guess it would even be a bit higher of an average. Thank you.

2011 NCAA Division I-A College Football Team Statistics Leaders for Total - ESPN

Those stats are all fine and well, but are those stats for yards or points? I could care less about yards. Also curious where Iowa ranked against BCS teams.

 

[9YRPLAN]

the GD offense made mccoy, not vice versa.

 

[GhostofBTT]

Hey, most of us saw enough to know Law should have been playing ahead of Donatel. Seriously, you are right. The staff is absolutely maximizing the potential of the offensive players.

What did Law do when he was in the game? He was hardly a step up from Donatel.

 

[SheagleHawk]

What did Law do when he was in the game? He was hardly a step up from Donatel.

Well he certainly wasn't a step down. Even if he gets burnt a couple times a game, that's no worse than Donatell and at least Law has a few more years to get better and better help the team.

 

[NickM]

What did Law do when he was in the game? He was hardly a step up from Donatel.

He's clearly quicker, more athletic, and didn't have the benefit of 8 starts prior to last week. Where would Law be if he started the season and played regularly? I don't know the answer, but my guess is that he would improve with more playing time. He's clearly quicker and more athletic, and most importantly, has eligibility remaining after this year. His improvement is much more important to the program right now than Donatell's improvement. Not trying to rag on Donatell, but he may be the most nondescript safety in the KF era - doesn't hit particularly well, not a particularly great tackler, not fast, not all that great in coverage. Knowing where to be on every snap is not worth much if you physically can't get there.

All I'm saying is that over the past couple of years the philosophy is not working. So try something different - play your athletes - get creative with them. Gameplan around your athletes instead of around a philosophy/ideology.

 

[GhostofBTT]

Quicker and more athletic? I'd be surprised if Law could cover my grandma deep. He's many things, but quick ain't it.

 

[Section136]

Those stats are all fine and well, but are those stats for yards or points? I could care less about yards. Also curious where Iowa ranked against BCS teams.

I figured an elite football mind like yourself would know the words "total offense" meant yards. ESPN didnt have PPG as a category and I didnt feel like searching for it. By my guest if you would like. And how much less could you care about yards?

 

[Section136]

He's clearly quicker, more athletic,

How do you know this? Is it because he is black? Are you into stereotypes NickM?

 

[NickM]

Quicker and more athletic? I'd be surprised if Law could cover my grandma deep. He's many things, but quick ain't it.

It's all relative. I'm comparing him only to Donatel. He is clearly quicker and more athletic than Donatel to my naked eye. If you see it differently, that's fine. I'm only going by what I see in person and on TV. To me it's pretty clear Law gets from point A to point B much quicker. No way to prove this, but I can only presume he would be light years ahead of what we saw last Saturday had he play more earlier in the year. To me it's really more about Donatel being ineffective than the internet magic of Law. Donatell's a 5th year senior. He's blown a lot of coverages and missed a lot of tackles - just b/c the opposing QB hasn't hit the receiver doesn't change the fact there's been a lot of blown coverages. Based on the types of mistakes we are seeing, I'd rather see them being made by a younger player who has a chance to improve than from a 5th year senior.

 

[Stanzi]

It's hard for our playmakers to make plays when either A. JVB can't get them the ball (occurs often) or B. we call plays that give them no chance to make a play (bubble screens without proper blocking, running on 2nd and long, etc.)

 

[NickM]

How do you know this? Is it because he is black? Are you into stereotypes NickM?

Nope. Just from watching the games live and on TV. I think the fact that you brought up skin color says more about you than it does about me.

There's a reason Donatel hasn't seen any legit playing time until his 5th year walk-on season. He's just not that talented. There's a reason the Iowa coaches offered a scholarship to Law. You can do the math on that, I guess.

 

[trj]

BUT HE'S 6'7" 260lbs!!!!!!????? HE'S JUST LIKE GRONK!!!!!!!

I never compared him to Gronk, but the dude looked the part. I saw the meat hook for hands and assumed he would be open all the time on seam routes. I envisioned him having a beast mode running over people in open space. Yes, I was a sucker for the hype, unfortunately it hasn't been the first and probably will not be the last.

 

[NickM]

I figured an elite football mind like yourself would know the words "total offense" meant yards. ESPN didnt have PPG as a category and I didnt feel like searching for it. By my guest if you would like. And how much less could you care about yards?

Dude, you take Internet message boards too seriously. I'm sorry my world view of Iowa football doesn't fit with yours. I see systemic problems with the philosophy and schemes. You apparently see the problems as a blip that will definitely get better. Good for you, keep the optimism. And yes, ESPN does keep track of points per game; probably found it in the same link all the way to to the right of the stats. If you click the PPG heading it re-shuffles the teams to that order. Iowa actually had some years where they scored more than I thought, but a couple where it was much worse.

So to be correct, I couldn't care less about stats. Stats say whatever you want them to say. Can you make the stop when you need to make the stop? Can you get the points when you need to get the points? Those are the two big questions for every team in every sport. Unfortunately for Iowa, the answer to both questions has been "no" more times than yes over the past couple of years.

 

[Section136]

Dude, you take Internet message boards too seriously. I'm sorry my world view of Iowa football doesn't fit with yours. I see systemic problems with the philosophy and schemes. You apparently see the problems as a blip that will definitely get better. Good for you, keep the optimism. And yes, ESPN does keep track of points per game; probably found it in the same link all the way to to the right of the stats. If you click the PPG heading it re-shuffles the teams to that order. Iowa actually had some years where they scored more than I thought, but a couple where it was much worse.

So you would agree that the offense was average or above average in KF's first 13 years?

 

[Bigtenchamp]

61.5 isn't avg... when you are a BCS team

Thats effin horrible.

When you are a BCS team you play some seriously outmatched teams where you roll them over.

61.5 is a joke.