Coaches Treated Game Like a Scrimmage

[nationalchamps]

Amazing how most people on here the past few years have ****** and moaned to throw the ball more and then when we do........

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Amazing how most people on here the past few years have ****** and moaned to throw the ball more and then when we do........

Geez, that one took a lot longer than I expected. It's so myopically incorrect and out of context that it's just too much work to address. Anyone else want to take a shot?

 

[iowalaw]

Simple. I believe those clamering to have the team throw more than in years past had something in mind other than two yard throws to Bullock for 4 yrd gains. We have WRs who run 4.4 40s...what is the purpose? So that they can be decoys for our mighty dump off pass attack?

 

[bighawkeyedaddy]

I highly disagree with the OP's premise. KF may have wanted the right side of the line to do a lot of blocking for reps but they knew it was not going to be a scrimmage against last years MAC champions.

We played Bowling Green? I thought we played Ball State? No wonder we struggled, I am sure the coaches were preparing for Ball State since they were on our schedule.

 

[hawkinn3]

We try to believe this every year to excuse poor scoring offense against weak/bad OOC competition...then about 6 weeks in, we realize that this is our offense.

I swear this happens every single year at Iowa.

Yep, every year there is talk of "opening up the playbook" only to learn it was open and only had 6 pages.

 

[judzeehawk]

Here's how I see it: I think Ferentz thought our defense was good enough that we could beat Ball State without using our offensive A game. So the passing attack was intentionally emphasized instead of the running game against Ball State because the staff wanted to work on it more. I think they believe the running game will be there when they need it, so they used this game to improve the passing attack. Let's face it, we and everyone knows we can run the ball. But we haven't had a good passing attack since Stanzi left. In year 3 of Greg Davis, we finally have an experienced QB and some talent at receiver. So to get the program to the next level, they're trying to develop what they hope is an actual passing threat. Hence the 55 pass attempts in a game that we were not playing from behind in until the 4th quarter. The defense was in fact good enough, but Kirk nearly got his tit caught in a ringer because 2 fumbles led to 10 Ball State points.

I predict we revert back to our normal predictable selves and run the ball down the Clones' throats next week. Hopefully the attention we gave to developing the passing game will pay dividends later in the season when we will need it to beat teams that can stop the run.

I agree with this except I believe KF let Davis run his pass offense so he could virtually prove it really isn't going to work and all will be normal this week. You will see a heavy dose of the run game just like you said. The chess match has ended!

 

[PCHawk]

Geez, that one took a lot longer than I expected. It's so myopically incorrect and out of context that it's just too much work to address. Anyone else want to take a shot?

Maybe one group of people were complaining because they think we should have been passing more. Now a different group of people are complaining because they liked how much we ran the ball and now they wish we would go back to that.

 

[Billso]

We played Bowling Green? I thought we played Ball State? No wonder we struggled, I am sure the coaches were preparing for Ball State since they were on our schedule.

John Millar, whar is teh 'like' bvtton?

 

[lightning1]

Vanilla offense is what we've seen during the OOC schedule, since KF became HC. That's why we are subject to OOC losses. KF has admitted as much in the past. It's not like he isn't taking the game seriously, as the OP is suggesting. KF wants to establish the bread and butter consistency of our offense before he opens the play book up and he's always done that in the OOC part of our schedule. It's no surprise that he opened up the offense in the 4th qtr because he had no choice. This is not new and should come as no surprise to anyone. It's also the reason why KF will never schedule a series with an Alabama, or another power house team from another conference. That would be ugly and for the reason's stated above. You can't go into one of those games using 2/3 of your play book. That's my opinion anyway.

 

[OttoWagonhurst]

I highly disagree with the OP's premise. KF may have wanted the right side of the line to do a lot of blocking for reps but they knew it was not going to be a scrimmage against last years MAC champions.

JFC, they were the 3rd or 4th best team in the MAC last year and finished 2nd in their division behind N Ill. Bowling Green won the conference. We have some really stupid fans.

 

[OttoWagonhurst]

Vanilla offense is what we've seen during every game since KF became HC.

FIFY

 

[OttoWagonhurst]

KF wants to establish the bread and butter consistency of our offense before he opens the play book up and he's always done that in the OOC part of our schedule.

Except that, ummmmmmm...we didn't even TRY to do that. Did you even watch the game? Serious question. We ran the same offense in the 4th quarter that we ran the entire game (55 pass attempts? Gotta be a KF-era record) it's just that Rudock didn't suck as bad during the last 5 minutes.

 

[lightning1]

Except that, ummmmmmm...we didn't even TRY to do that. Did you even watch the game? Serious question. We ran the same offense in the 4th quarter that we ran the entire game (55 pass attempts? Gotta be a KF-era record) it's just that Rudock didn't suck as bad during the last 5 minutes.

Really? I thought he went deep more in the 4th qtr. Throwing 55 - 3 yard passes does not equal a wide open offense, IMO. But maybe that's what Davis brings to the table. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

 

[GesterHawk]

I wouldn't say the coaches treated the game like a scrimmage - it felt more like an audition for many of the skill positions.

I don't think you will see as much running back substitution this week. I don't think you will see as much WR substitution. I do think you will see more of what we traditionally think of Iowa's offensive balance as I do expect to see improvement in the run blocking.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Big Ike get some time at guard. He filled in well when Brandon was out.

 

[HawksMN]

I find it very odd that the Hawks could not open up some running lanes, yet gave Rudock superior pass protection for nearly the whole game.
Usually linemen struggle with pass protect vs power blocking, not vice versa??

 

[CheddarHawk]

I truly think KF is keeping his powder dry. He said more than once since the spring that he has a goal of keeping Weisman fresh for the 4th quarter of the game AND for the 4th quarter of the season.

There is probably more going on than just that--regarding the lackluster run game--but I'm convinced that it plays a large part in the equation.

 

[GesterHawk]

I find it very odd that the Hawks could not open up some running lanes, yet gave Rudock superior pass protection for nearly the whole game.
Usually linemen struggle with pass protect vs power blocking, not vice versa??

This is usually an indication of inexperience for a zone blocking team and not a lack of talent.
Welsh is brand new and Donnal is at tackle for basically the first time.

The fact that the pass protection is so good actually gives me hope that once the line gets more experience and finally gels they will be a force.

Losing CJF as a blocker also hurts, he was really good at blocking once he wanted to be.

 

[Bordone]

By playing all of these running backs the coaches are showing them they will play the best players. Helps with recruiting helps with keeping kids around and giving their all in practice. Didn't we know it would take a few games for the o line to gel? What's scaring me right now is Lowdermilk vs Indiana or any team with a semi decent passing scheme honestly. Only time I see that kid on the screen is because he's getting beat in coverage.

 

[OttoWagonhurst]

Really? I thought he went deep more in the 4th qtr. Throwing 55 - 3 yard passes does not equal a wide open offense, IMO. But maybe that's what Davis brings to the table. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Wrong. The official play-by-play shows that the longest completion thrown on either of the last two drives was for a whopping 16 yards. Granted, in a Greg Davis offense that is pretty much throwing a bomb, but we were hardly pressing the defense vertically, even when we were in panic mode. Try again.

 

[RocknRollface]

I agree with this except I believe KF let Davis run his pass offense so he could virtually prove it really isn't going to work and all will be normal this week. You will see a heavy dose of the run game just like you said. The chess match has ended!

Counter argument. Davis proved to KF that JR won't and possibly can't stretch the field and CJ will.

There are receivers running longer routes and getting open and not being thrown to all while the QB is not experiencing pressure.