D will be better next year...

hawkinn3

hawkinn3

Well-Known Member
IMHO, true we lose a ton of talent on that line but I think the increased rotation will mean we don't have 4 guys who are gassed in the 4th quarter and other teams won't have one guy to focus on.

It also seems we have increased our frequency in blitzing which will throw a wrinkle in the gameplan when a team plays Iowa. Secondary will be shaky still but no worse then this year.

Also can't discount the fact that nobody (besides Sash if he returns) is really looking at a guaranteed starting spot we should see some big time battles and young guy playing their guts out to impress the captain.

By the end of the season (barring a ton of injuries) I forsee a top 20 defense that forces a lot of turnovers and has alot of depth as 2nd and even 3rd stringers should have some decent playing time.

Finally everyone will be writing our D off since the line is leaving, and Iowa has its best years when nobody expects anything from us.
 
I think linebacking and Secondary will be better than this year, but the Dline is an unknown at this point in time.
 
Unfortunately, the defense depends heavily on the dline for pass defense.

Great win for the hawks against Mizzou - Iowa made mistakes then overcame them.
 
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If you dont think prater and hyde have guaranteed their starting spot for nExt year you are crazy. Prater was 1st team all-big ten and hyde improved trrmendously as the season progressed. The secondary will be very solid next year.
 
Dline brings back two excellent starters in Binns and Daniels. Add Lebron Daniel to the mix that gives you three guys with a good amount of experience. I'm not as worried about the line right now as I was earlier in the year.
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
Dline brings back two excellent starters in Binns and Daniels. Add Lebron Daniel to the mix that gives you three guys with a good amount of experience. I'm not as worried about the line right now as I was earlier in the year.
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The depth of next year's D-line is a concern.


If Sash and Prater head to the NFL, Iowa's defense in 2011 will ....."underwhelming".......
 
I think the dline will be okay. Somebody will step up; be it Bigach, Alvis, Davis, or whoever. It would help alot if Nielsen is able to come back at lb.
 
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If everyone comes back, I will be excited about our defense. Could it be the best defensive backfield under Ferentz?

Plus, I think the linebacker play will be head and shoulders above '10.

You can't ignore the holes on the defensive line, but how does a line that returns Binns and Daniels be considered a weakness?
 
I was thinking about this the yesterday, and maybe it's just because it was such a glaring weakness this year but i think one of the most important parts of our defensive is coverage by the LBs. (you also saw this killing us last night) Having a healthy, and more experienced Line backing corps will make up for the loss on the D line in my opinion.
 
If Nielsen is back at 100%, then the linebackers will be better. Not having him hurt big time last night (they picked on Troy Johnson all night). Morris, if he adds a little more weight, could really dominate next year.

If Sash and Prater are both back, then I feel very good about the secondary. Bernstine also looked very good last night. He and Miller should have a pretty heated battle to replace Greenwood. Prater is a very good corner who should improve with another offseason of work, and Hyde I think will look like a totally different player next year. Teams will pick on him to avoid Prater, and Hyde will make them pay for it (much like Spievey did as a sophomore).
 
tm3308 said:
If Nielsen is back at 100%, then the linebackers will be better. Not having him hurt big time last night (they picked on Troy Johnson all night). Morris, if he adds a little more weight, could really dominate next year.

If Sash and Prater are both back, then I feel very good about the secondary. Bernstine also looked very good last night. He and Miller should have a pretty heated battle to replace Greenwood. Prater is a very good corner who should improve with another offseason of work, and Hyde I think will look like a totally different player next year. Teams will pick on him to avoid Prater, and Hyde will make them pay for it (much like Spievey did as a sophomore).
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Just adding to this:

Johnson got smoked over and over but I put a lot of that on the coaches. I don't think it was realistic for him to be guarding a receiver that is much quicker than him man on man.
 
I don't know if they'll be better next year but I don't think they'll be bad. I think the run defense won't be as good but the pass defense should be a little better.

The d-line won't be as deep so they can't afford any serious injuries there.
 
DexterMorgan said:
Just adding to this:

Johnson got smoked over and over but I put a lot of that on the coaches. I don't think it was realistic for him to be guarding a receiver that is much quicker than him man on man.
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I agree completely with that. Nielsen is much better equipped to handle that responsibility. Johnson is a solid run stuffer, but weak in coverage, especially when matched on a wide receiver. The scheme works very well when you have an Angerer, Edds, Greenway, etc. at linebacker, but when we are forced to play guys not as well equipped, we don't always change it up, and the unit struggles against offenses like Mizzou's. We went to more nickel packages in the second half though, which was good to see. Bernstine played very well in those instances.
 
Its a system defense & Iowa will play good defense.
I might not know much, but I feel pretty confident the defense will be solid
 
treychase said:
Its a system defense & Iowa will play good defense.
I might not know much, but I feel pretty confident the defense will be solid
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System defense? As opposed to letting the D run around and do whatever they want? Every defense is a "system" defense.
 
hawkinn3 said:
IMHO, true we lose a ton of talent on that line but I think the increased rotation will mean we don't have 4 guys who are gassed in the 4th quarter and other teams won't have one guy to focus on.

It also seems we have increased our frequency in blitzing which will throw a wrinkle in the gameplan when a team plays Iowa. Secondary will be shaky still but no worse then this year.

Also can't discount the fact that nobody (besides Sash if he returns) is really looking at a guaranteed starting spot we should see some big time battles and young guy playing their guts out to impress the captain.

By the end of the season (barring a ton of injuries) I forsee a top 20 defense that forces a lot of turnovers and has alot of depth as 2nd and even 3rd stringers should have some decent playing time.

Finally everyone will be writing our D off since the line is leaving, and Iowa has its best years when nobody expects anything from us.
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Didn't the announcers say that our Defense was the 7th leading scoring defense in the nation? We'll need a top 5 defense to improve.
 
As long as Iowa plays zone defense and gives a 5-yard cushion to the wr's, opposing QBs will continue to pick Iowa apart on spread teams and Iowa will lose to teams like NW. You could see last night what happened when Iowa actually blitzed a couple of times and actually made Gabbert hurry his throws. But that is the most we will see from Iowa...maybe a couple of blitzes. Otherwise Iowa is happy to let opposing teams just pick us apart and not change anything. I'm not sure why teams even want to run on Iowa when they can do about anything they want passing. Iowa put little if any pressure on Gabbert last night and he had all day to throw. Our front four was gassed by halftime and Norm did nothing to change things up to throw off Missouri's routine...as usual. We were very very lucky to win that game and probably should have lost it like the other 5 games we lost to spread teams. Iowa simply has no defense against passing teams and has no intention of changing anything and opposing teams no this. Next year willl be more of the same...Norm still lives in the 70s and thinks every game consists of teams primarily rushing all game long so he schemes against the rush while opposing coaches lick their lips against our pass defense or lack of pass defense. Iowa won but it was a hollow victory because it was just more of the same...like the 5 games Iowa lost...Gabbert passed for what...more than 400 yards? Norm should be ashamed of himself to allow an opposing QB to do that and not even try to do anything different. It is time for Norm to retire and for Iowa to get a defensive coach that is more in tune with the times.
 
Talent up front will be down next year, but I'd be happy with a little better depth and, most importantly, some much better conditioning. These guys were gassed all year. I understand some of it is a by-product of our inability of getting off the field, but they seemed to be gassed a lot more than most teams.
 
I guess I look at our team next year as a team that would probably be picked to go 8-4. That being said, that means they go 10-2 lol It just seems when we get all hyped up with returning starters and NC talk, our guys turn mental. yes we lost some players to injuries, but I believe our players put too much hype into themselves and shame on us for adding to it!
I firmly believe a 9-3 campaign is doable and our offense will be better in my opinion. I think Vandenberg or Weinke will fill in nicely and I don't give a rats a## about losing DJK. NEXT :)
 
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