Can't Iowa Afford To Take More Chances On Offense?

[MelroseHawkins]

I mean think about it. Your team typically has a top defense and they should be stout again this year. In addition, you also have an All-American candidate punter that seems to put the ball within the 20 yrd line 80% of the time.

I have heard that Cade takes care of the ball pretty well. So, if you have the above and trust your QB, with that D, take some chances a bit more on offense and put pressure on the opposing team's defense.

Thoughts?

 

[oldhawk12]

I mean think about it. Your team typically has a top defense and they should be stout again this year. In addition, you also have an All-American candidate punter that seems to put the ball within the 20 yrd line 80% of the time.

I have heard that Cade takes care of the ball pretty well. So, if you have the above and trust your QB, with that D, take some chances a bit more on offense and put pressure on the opposing team's defense.

Thoughts?

Ferentz taking chances on offense is an oxymoron. And what other school in America talks about their offense in the same conversation as the punter more than iowa?

 

[InGoodCo]

Ferentz taking chances on offense is an oxymoron. And what other school in America talks about their offense in the same conversation as the punter more than iowa?

Probably not many, but I'll go out on a limb and say none or very few of those schools have won 70% of their games over the last decade either. Winning, all that matters to me really and IMO, should be how we judge Iowa football. We're pretty good at that. The winning thing.

Iowa threw 68 TD's in three years 2017, 2018, 2019.... if they have the players, they take plenty of chances on offense. When they don't have the players, they're smart enough to know that taking risks are not in the best interests of that thing we keep talking about being the most important thing. What was that again??... oh yeah winning.

 

[InGoodCo]

I mean think about it. Your team typically has a top defense and they should be stout again this year. In addition, you also have an All-American candidate punter that seems to put the ball within the 20 yrd line 80% of the time.

I have heard that Cade takes care of the ball pretty well. So, if you have the above and trust your QB, with that D, take some chances a bit more on offense and put pressure on the opposing team's defense.

Thoughts?

I think Iowa will take a lot more risks with a QB that is accurate and a playmaker, they've lacked that for some time, but like, does everyone not remember Stanley and CJB? They took plenty of risks and our offense was fine. I personally like that Iowa knows how to win and it doesn't have to look a certain way. Sign of a good staff that adjusts to the pieces they have and ultimately care about the bottom line.

 

[BILLYBOBSTEXAS]

I think Iowa will take a lot more risks with a QB that is accurate and a playmaker, they've lacked that for some time, but like, does everyone not remember Stanley and CJB? They took plenty of risks and our offense was fine. I personally like that Iowa knows how to win and it doesn't have to look a certain way. Sign of a good staff that adjusts to the pieces they have and ultimately care about the bottom line.

Generally I agree with most of what you post. But this. not so much. Sports are supposed to be entertainment. Can you honestly say you are entertained by Iowa's offense??? Also leave winning out of this question.

 

[InGoodCo]

Generally I agree with most of what you post. But this. not so much. Sports are supposed to be entertainment. Can you honestly say you are entertained by Iowa's offense??? Also leave winning out of this question.

Hard to leave out the most important thing lol. Winning is literally the only thing that matters. Iowa needs to win more, I don't give AF how they do it. That's all I want. I don't care if they score 7 points a game, just as long as the team they are playing doesn't score 8. On the same subject of entertainment, does Iowa not have one of the best Defenses in the country? Are you not entertained by the fact they can score on litterally every play of the game? There special teams are special, and incredibly entertaining to watch. I watch Iowa excell at field position and just club their opponents routinely into submission. It's great entertainment for me and again, winning, I like that. I like when we do that thing that is winning football games.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Hard to leave out the most important thing lol. Winning is literally the only thing that matters. Iowa needs to win more, I don't give AF how they do it. That's all I want. I don't care if they score 7 points a game, just as long as the team they are playing doesn't score 8. On the same subject of entertainment, does Iowa not have one of the best Defenses in the country? Are you not entertained by the fact they can score on litterally every play of the game? There special teams are special, and incredibly entertaining to watch. I watch Iowa excell at field position and just club their opponents routinely into submission. It's great entertainment for me and again, winning, I like that. I like when we do that thing that is winning football games.

Correct. I'd rather go 12-0 while the defense scores 24 points for the whole season than go 0-12 losing every game 69-70.

 

[NCHawker]

Correct. I'd rather go 12-0 while the defense scores 24 points for the whole season than go 0-12 losing every game 69-70.

you gotta admit, it would be fun to watch an electric offense for a change.

 

[guffus]

Last year really tested my limits as an Iowa fan. I like to be entertained while Iowa also wins. If both don't happen, I don't feel satisfied.
A 10-7 game is OK once a year because the fact that it rarely happens makes it interesting. But 10-7 games all year long get old, no matter who wins. Iowa games were simply boring last year.

 

[InGoodCo]

you gotta admit, it would be fun to watch an electric offense for a change.

I would admit that, but then we'd be talking about how horrible our D is and people would be like "man, wouldn't it be awesome if like, we just stop people from scoring?"

I believe Iowa is sold out for the season, the bottom line is all that matters to people. People want to win, they want to watch a team that wins and they expect Iowa to win every season. That get's lost in all this hand wringing over the offense. We're spoiled as Iowa fans. we've been ranked at some point of the season in 8 of the last 10 years. The offense stunk the last 2 seasons, but it's not like it's never been good right?

Iowa is essentially a football factory and the model of consistency. I want the offense to be better, but really, IDGAF as long as the old winning a lot more than you lose thing continues.

 

[InGoodCo]

Last year really tested my limits as an Iowa fan. I like to be entertained while Iowa also wins. If both don't happen, I don't feel satisfied.
A 10-7 game is OK once a year because the fact that it rarely happens makes it interesting. But 10-7 games all year long get old, no matter who wins. Iowa games were simply boring last year.

Last year was rough, I agree. It was brutal, but I always knew we were in every game because we have a coach that knows how to win. Let me ask, do you just not like defense or is having one of the best in the country not that entertaining to you? I watch both sides of the ball personally. I don't go take a break or get my beer when Iowa switches to defense. I get pretty excited to watch cause I know one wrong move and that shit's getting taken to the house. That's exciting to me. Iowa hasn't allowed over 20.0 ppg since 2015. The 2019 defense allowed just 14.0 ppg, the 2020 gave up only 16.0 ppg, and last year's defense permitted just 13.3 ppg.

Personally that is super entertaining to me - I love watching Iowa crush teams on Defense and could do it all day, it's a thing of beauty.

 

[Motigerhawk]

Isnt a horizontal 2 yard pass on 3rd and 5 taking a chance?

 

[InGoodCo]

And to answer the OP question - yes they can take more chances, specically when they have the personel to do so. I think they have those ingrediants this year if our QB stays healthy. One thing i noticed from most the kid day video, they were throwing downfield, a lot.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Generally I agree with most of what you post. But this. not so much. Sports are supposed to be entertainment. Can you honestly say you are entertained by Iowa's offense??? Also leave winning out of this question.

Good point.

you gotta admit, it would be fun to watch an electric offense for a change.

I don't even need an electric offense at this point, I just want a competent one.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Last year was rough, I agree. It was brutal, but I always knew we were in every game because we have a coach that knows how to win. Let me ask, do you just not like defense or is having one of the best in the country not that entertaining to you? I watch both sides of the ball personally. I don't go take a break or get my beer when Iowa switches to defense. I get pretty excited to watch cause I know one wrong move and that shit's getting taken to the house. That's exciting to me. Iowa hasn't allowed over 20.0 ppg since 2015. The 2019 defense allowed just 14.0 ppg, the 2020 gave up only 16.0 ppg, and last year's defense permitted just 13.3 ppg.

Personally that is super entertaining to me - I love watching Iowa crush teams on Defense and could do it all day, it's a thing of beauty.

I also find watching their D is rather entertaining. Iowa has had a chitty offense the past few seasons, but, when you listen to other fans or their podcasts, they always say how tough Iowa is to play and against their D, how consistent they are from year to year. I take that as a compliment. They are fun to watch along with Taylor's punting.

Knowing Iowa made some key roster additions should make opposing teams and fans shiver a bit more. Iowa is never an easy out in the eyes of those who know football.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Last year was rough, I agree. It was brutal, but I always knew we were in every game because we have a coach that knows how to win. Let me ask, do you just not like defense or is having one of the best in the country not that entertaining to you? I watch both sides of the ball personally. I don't go take a break or get my beer when Iowa switches to defense. I get pretty excited to watch cause I know one wrong move and that shit's getting taken to the house. That's exciting to me. Iowa hasn't allowed over 20.0 ppg since 2015. The 2019 defense allowed just 14.0 ppg, the 2020 gave up only 16.0 ppg, and last year's defense permitted just 13.3 ppg.

Personally that is super entertaining to me - I love watching Iowa crush teams on Defense and could do it all day, it's a thing of beauty.

To your point, thinking about a team holding a college football team to under 20 ppg in todays game this day and age is mind boggling. To be around the 15ppg mark is outrageous. Most college offenses now are scoring over 35ppg and not uncommon over 40.

That's a good place to start if trying to build team success! That let's a team be IN EVERY game regardless how good the opponent they are playing.

On the flip side, it also means you let some lower tier teams play with you a bit and sometimes in striking distance if a freak play happens or something. It's just what it is playing that style.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

I would be okay with just a competent offense.
We could not even run the ball well (which is conservative by today's standards).
Unless big improvements are made in the OL, look for more of what we have had for the two previous years.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I would admit that, but then we'd be talking about how horrible our D is and people would be like "man, wouldn't it be awesome if like, we just stop people from scoring?"

There's an alternative, though. The defense could theoretically be the best in the country and give up 0 points and we could lose 69-70 on the back of 10 pick sixes plus converted extra points each week. We could have the best offense and best defense in the country and still wind up 0-12 on the back of a negative 120 turnover differential during the season. The "let's take more risk" on offense crowd would surely be silenced by that development, would they not?

 

[InGoodCo]

I would be okay with just a competent offense.
We could not even run the ball well (which is conservative by today's standards).
Unless big improvements are made in the OL, look for more of what we have had for the two previous years.

People forget how bad Iowa's WR room was last year. It's hard to run the ball when you can't pass and have no threat to pass. When you have no threat to move the ball down field with anything other than a tightend, teams can key on the run. It was easy for defenses to know what was coming. We had a bad line, with a bad QB with literally no receivers and the ones we had were literally betting against the team...

the line was good enough for Kaleb Johnson to set the freshman running record at Iowa. Now imagine that with a competent QB and at least some healthy bodies at WR.

I don't expect anything like the last 2 seasons honestly.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Good point.


I don't even need an electric offense at this point, I just want a competent one.

I don't need to have a spread O with 4 WRs out there all the time throwing deep every other play. But mixing up formations and being more aggressive situationally would sure be nice. Too many 3rd and 8s we don't even seem to try to convert. We almost exclusively go to a screen pass of some kind and hope. (continuing to make us predictable) In the redzone we settle for fgs instead of trying to throw the ball in the endzone. (Dochterman I believe had the stat of how seldom we actually threw the ball into the endzone the last yr and it was insane wish I could remember it)

You can have aggressive play calling from double tight end formations with full backs too. I just wish we'd look at offense as a means to try and score instead of just play a game of keep away from the other team. Which we weren't even any good at that either. What good is possession of the ball if you aren't scoring points and never in the lead.

What burned us bad a couple times last year was when we were behind a score or 2 in 4th q and we had no hurry up O to try and come back. We huddled got up to the LOS slow still snapping the ball with 3 seconds or less on play clock. And we had a senior Qb so no excuses there..... Why the media wasn't ripping BF for those sort of things is beyond me and shoulda been totally fair to do. We can't play as though we have a 2 score lead in the 4th q when we are actually down 2 scores.