STILLBUSTER
Well-Known Member
Good write-up, Jon. After possibly the worst 'tween games week in the KF era I appreciated your honest nutshell -- particularly about the offense.
Despite solid box scores, Ricky and the WR have really been "off" the last 2 weeks.
We've seen RS regress to poor decisions and poor accuracy / execution in a couple ways:
1) Most notable to me all season has been Ricky more willingly check down. (Getting greedy has always been one of his weak points.) Now, the other notable thing was it seemed almost exclusively a dump off to A-Rob. Rarely did the TE get a ball that wasn't by design.
-- Against IU, A-Rob was out and the TE's caught 1 ball for no gain.
2) I'm not so certain that those red zone fades against IU weren't audibles.
3) He seemed consumed by the scouting report in that IU's and NW's secondaries were beatable with the long ball. When it wasn't there, or the weather negated the advantage, he didn't adjust to the game situation that called for just moving the chains.
-- Obvious by the TE stats against IU.
-- A successful part of the gameplan against NW was the involvement of the TE's (caught 7 balls for 78 yards). Looking at the play x play, the only first downs on the 4th qtr drives that stalled were to Reisner. When the chips were down and the offense needed to convert, it was Ricky's greed (to DJK against the wind) and poor execution (consecutive incomplete passes -- at least they were attempts to Reisner) that was part of the breakdown.
I'm not trying to attack Ricky, just pointing out that he seemed to be "rattled" away from how he had been playing up until the last 2 weeks and he has not managed the passing game very well. (His 2 worst efficiency ratings of the season have been against IU (144.42) and NW (122.63)).
He hasn't gotten a lot of help from the WR. We've seen poor blocks, routes broken-off and a lot more "going through the motions" the last 2 weeks. Complaceny? Lack of focus?
My point is, about the only advantage Iowa might have against OSU is in the passing game. If the Hawks have any chance of being competitive, they are going to have to have Ricky & DJK be at their best. Mostly, they need Ricky to recognize McNutt and Reisner as weapons at crucial times.
Despite solid box scores, Ricky and the WR have really been "off" the last 2 weeks.
We've seen RS regress to poor decisions and poor accuracy / execution in a couple ways:
1) Most notable to me all season has been Ricky more willingly check down. (Getting greedy has always been one of his weak points.) Now, the other notable thing was it seemed almost exclusively a dump off to A-Rob. Rarely did the TE get a ball that wasn't by design.
-- Against IU, A-Rob was out and the TE's caught 1 ball for no gain.
2) I'm not so certain that those red zone fades against IU weren't audibles.
3) He seemed consumed by the scouting report in that IU's and NW's secondaries were beatable with the long ball. When it wasn't there, or the weather negated the advantage, he didn't adjust to the game situation that called for just moving the chains.
-- Obvious by the TE stats against IU.
-- A successful part of the gameplan against NW was the involvement of the TE's (caught 7 balls for 78 yards). Looking at the play x play, the only first downs on the 4th qtr drives that stalled were to Reisner. When the chips were down and the offense needed to convert, it was Ricky's greed (to DJK against the wind) and poor execution (consecutive incomplete passes -- at least they were attempts to Reisner) that was part of the breakdown.
I'm not trying to attack Ricky, just pointing out that he seemed to be "rattled" away from how he had been playing up until the last 2 weeks and he has not managed the passing game very well. (His 2 worst efficiency ratings of the season have been against IU (144.42) and NW (122.63)).
He hasn't gotten a lot of help from the WR. We've seen poor blocks, routes broken-off and a lot more "going through the motions" the last 2 weeks. Complaceny? Lack of focus?
My point is, about the only advantage Iowa might have against OSU is in the passing game. If the Hawks have any chance of being competitive, they are going to have to have Ricky & DJK be at their best. Mostly, they need Ricky to recognize McNutt and Reisner as weapons at crucial times.
