Defense moving forward

deanvogs

deanvogs

Well-Known Member
Ok, I know everyone want to bash the D, and I was doing the same sitting in the stands myself. After re watching, I really think the only thing they need to do is clean up the Big plays. They do that, and this game is a blowout.

David Johnson 3 receptions (53, 60, 70) 183 yards leads to 2 TD and a FG
Rest of game, 59 plays 222 yards 2 FG

Allowing those big plays is concerning, but not totally unexpected in that we are breaking in 3 new LB. I think all of us understood there would be a learning curve for those guys.

With the tendency of Iowa to look very poor at the beginning of years, I am pretty optimistic that this D will clean up allowing those big plays. I think with Iowa's D line it will be a very tough go of it for teams running the ball against us. Tighten up the LB play in pass coverage, and we could have a pretty darn good D this year.
 
I was thinking about this same thing on the drive home from Iowa City.
Aside from those really big yardage plays, which were breakdowns in Iowa's coverage more so than UNI's big play ability, the Panther offense really didn't do all that much.

Iowa has a lot to clean up defensively, but it's nothing to hit the panic button about. We still have 2 warm-up games before it starts getting tough vs Pittsburgh. Ball State and ISU will be extremely over-matched against Iowa.

I'm shocked that Iowa still thinks they can run that QB sneak on 4th and 1 for a first down. No one is falling for that anymore. NO ONE.
 
I am anxious to see how Jewell can defend the pass. Hopefully he is back for ISU. I could see Jewell slide into the starting lineup after the first bye and transitioning Spearman to a rush defensive end.
 
More worried about the offense than the defense. Almost all of our new Lb struggle with pass coverage initially. They'll make a lot of progress in the next 2 weeks.
 
DexterMorgan said:
More worried about the offense than the defense. Almost all of our new Lb struggle with pass coverage initially. They'll make a lot of progress in the next 2 weeks.
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Why are you worried about the O?

We showed next to nothing and managed to hang 31 points on them. If Iowa was as aggressive the whole game like they were for the last touchdown drive the score could have been closer to 50.

Good win against a pretty good opponent and now you just get better each week.
 
HawkIPA said:
Why are you worried about the O?

We showed next to nothing and managed to hang 31 points on them. If Iowa was as aggressive the whole game like they were for the last touchdown drive the score could have been closer to 50.

Good win against a pretty good opponent and now you just get better each week.
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Not overly worried, and i give UNI a lot more credit than most of the people around here. Jake missed guys open deep and was too quick to hit the check down on what felt like numerous occasions. I was at the game, so it's a little harder to get a good feel, but he didn't look comfortable.


Wish we could have pushed then around a bit more in the running game too.

Im not jumping off the ledge though. My predictions for the season haven't changed at all due to yesterday's game
 
The defense will get sorted out. Unfortunately it might cost us a few big plays and games early. But by end of the year, assuming no major injuries, they'll be good.

The O is always the problem. I don't agree with "we are holding back" talk. This is our offense. You can take the tape from this game, and the last game and it's close enough to say it's the same gameplan
 
DexterMorgan said:
Not overly worried, and i give UNI a lot more credit than most of the people around here. Jake missed guys open deep and was too quick to hit the check down on what felt like numerous occasions. I was at the game, so it's a little harder to get a good feel, but he didn't look comfortable.


Wish we could have pushed then around a bit more in the running game too.

Im not jumping off the ledge though. My predictions for the season haven't changed at all due to yesterday's game
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Wow...31-41 with two TD's and three drops wasn't comfortable. I think he was conservative and didn't want to force anything against UNI as he thought they could keep moving the chains and wear down their defense. I agree, with the time he had to throw, he should have let things develop and keep his eyes downfield a count longer. The kid has a clock in his head, that was for sure...and it may be because he's been practicing against our DL. CD and LTP were in the backfield all day...and Ott was pretty good too.

Here is the reality...UNI played much of the game with 8 in the box or seven with one cheating in on the snap. Iowa is going to have to throw teams out of this set up. If good teams do this, you have to commit to throwing on every down and say, we are going to beat you today throwing the ball. Say what you will about KOK, he used to do that. Iowa would start out throwing 7-8 in a row to change the defense. Rudock was accurate yesterday...very much so...I expect us him to get 40 throws if teams keep doing what UNI did. UNI's corners were also better than I thought they would be...very athletic. The only problem I have is the horizontal flat throws to the TE. If you do that, do it with Powell or Smith from the slot where they can have a step and turn upfield. Our TE's have no chance to turn those up.
 
deanvogs said:
Ok, I know everyone want to bash the D, and I was doing the same sitting in the stands myself. After re watching, I really think the only thing they need to do is clean up the Big plays. They do that, and this game is a blowout.

David Johnson 3 receptions (53, 60, 70) 183 yards leads to 2 TD and a FG
Rest of game, 59 plays 222 yards 2 FG

Allowing those big plays is concerning, but not totally unexpected in that we are breaking in 3 new LB. I think all of us understood there would be a learning curve for those guys.

With the tendency of Iowa to look very poor at the beginning of years, I am pretty optimistic that this D will clean up allowing those big plays. I think with Iowa's D line it will be a very tough go of it for teams running the ball against us. Tighten up the LB play in pass coverage, and we could have a pretty darn good D this year.
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I agree completely, we just need to stop those long gains. Some of this appeared to be breakdowns in coverage obviously. The D line looked very good. Just need some time for the LBs to get more experience working together. King looked outstanding again.

One a positive note we played a clean game with only 2 penalties (not bad for the 1st game) and we also walked away with no injuries. Nebby and Bucky got dinged up a bit with their D lines yesterday and Bucky is very thin at D line to begin with.
 
Regarding the O - UNI stacked the box right? And Iowa's receivers were not getting open very often on deep routes. Look at the film. Rudock dropped back, looked deep, and dumped it off during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Iowa's running backs accounted for a wopping 99 yards against a DII team. The holes were not very good. And Iowa is supposed to be a running team that can run into the teeth of a defense...yes even when they stack the box. And that will happen in conference play.

Maybe its typical of Iowa to come out in mid-summer form in week 1. - I hope they shake this off and we forget all about it. I was hoping for a better showing out of the gates.
 
NCHawker said:
Regarding the O - UNI stacked the box right? And Iowa's receivers were not getting open very often on deep routes. Look at the film. Rudock dropped back, looked deep, and dumped it off during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Iowa's running backs accounted for a wopping 99 yards against a DII team. The holes were not very good. And Iowa is supposed to be a running team that can run into the teeth of a defense...yes even when they stack the box. And that will happen in conference play.

Maybe its typical of Iowa to come out in mid-summer form in week 1. - I hope they shake this off and we forget all about it. I was hoping for a better showing out of the gates.
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Iowa receivers were open, Jake was just taking the dump offs. My buddies and I were talking during the game how many Jake missed that were open, and that he will be kicking himself watching the film. I think he cleans that up. Plus we did go deep 4 times, got 2 PI penalty calls, a big gain to Willis, just missed on the overthrow to Bullock
 
NCHawker said:
Regarding the O - UNI stacked the box right? And Iowa's receivers were not getting open very often on deep routes. Look at the film. Rudock dropped back, looked deep, and dumped it off during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Iowa's running backs accounted for a wopping 99 yards against a DII team. The holes were not very good. And Iowa is supposed to be a running team that can run into the teeth of a defense...yes even when they stack the box. And that will happen in conference play.

Maybe its typical of Iowa to come out in mid-summer form in week 1. - I hope they shake this off and we forget all about it. I was hoping for a better showing out of the gates.
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Iowa's receivers were getting open deep. Jake missed many deep ball opportunities. Not sure if that was by design or not, but the receivers were open.
 
deanvogs said:
just missed on the overthrow to Bullock
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Bullock slowed up before realizing the ball was in the air. That throw may have been on the money if Bullock keeps running.

Jake made good throws, but took the shorter throw nearly every time. Hopefully they open things up.
 
NCHawker said:
Regarding the O - UNI stacked the box right? And Iowa's receivers were not getting open very often on deep routes. Look at the film. Rudock dropped back, looked deep, and dumped it off during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Iowa's running backs accounted for a wopping 99 yards against a DII team. The holes were not very good. And Iowa is supposed to be a running team that can run into the teeth of a defense...yes even when they stack the box. And that will happen in conference play.

Maybe its typical of Iowa to come out in mid-summer form in week 1. - I hope they shake this off and we forget all about it. I was hoping for a better showing out of the gates.
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Agree with this from what I saw in the stands. We were not poor overall in terms of our blocking but far less than dominant in the trenches than what I expected. You can run effectively against a stacked box. In fact when you punch through it can result in long TD runs so I do not completely buy the stacked box as our problem with running it. I also thought the RB's were missing the opportunity to cut back when the blocking was there. It just did not look like our guards and center were physical enough at the point of attack. What happened to this whole low man wins BS? The tackles as usual are fine.

I do agree with many that we need to throw the ball down the field some this year. We have the personnel finally to do this. I am beginning to wonder about Jakes confidence in throwing deep because we had both some guys open and some favorable one-on-one match-ups where he should have taken some shots. He also over threw a couple that he did take and almost did with a wide open Willies. I am just not sure about his long to intermediate ball. He is accurate underneath.

I have to remind myself it is week 1.
 
For the most part the offense did what they were supposed to. They moved the ball up and down the field and they controlled the clock. My guess is that Greg Davis and the offense have been working on a hurry up pass offense where Jake gets rid of the ball within a very short time. And that was he was focused on in going to the check down too soon. That's something I expect they will tweak this week. The checking to a running play every check play is an easy fix. Jake will get more comfortable every week with the system.

The defense did good. They played hard and gave up a few long plays, but when they needed to they shut down UNI. The offensive and defensive lines did and excellent job. Got some good experience for some new players. Some new stars are emerging, Mabin, Bower and Willies. Lot's of effort and some confusion. You can teach out the confusion. No effort and your in trouble. This is all workable. You want to see trouble. Watch the Iowa State game.

UNI comes into Kinnick to win. Iowa needed a good competitive game and they got one. An easy game is nice but at some point your team needs to be tested. And UNI tested Iowa.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
For the most part the offense did what they were supposed to. They moved the ball up and down the field and they controlled the clock. My guess is that Greg Davis and the offense have been working on a hurry up pass offense where Jake gets rid of the ball within a very short time. And that was he was focused on in going to the check down too soon. That's something I expect they will tweak this week. The checking to a running play every check play is an easy fix. Jake will get more comfortable every week with the system.

The defense did good. They played hard and gave up a few long plays, but when they needed to they shut down UNI. The offensive and defensive lines did and excellent job. Got some good experience for some new players. Some new stars are emerging, Mabin, Bower and Willies. Lot's of effort and some confusion. You can teach out the confusion. No effort and your in trouble. This is all workable. You want to see trouble. Watch the Iowa State game.

UNI comes into Kinnick to win. Iowa needed a good competitive game and they got one. An easy game is nice but at some point your team needs to be tested. And UNI tested Iowa.
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This+1! Additionally, I would have liked to see the reserve defensive tackles get some work but with the close game is was not ment to be.
 
Good stuff in this thread...thanks! Just a couple of additional comments...

Offense: (1) I think the focus on rotation among the running backs may have hurt the ability of any one back to become comfortable. But, I get it...we wanted to get a look at them on film in real time. (2) Jake had a lot of time to throw. No sacks. I did not look carefully for open receivers that were missed, so no comment. Jake was careful, but successful...stats don't typically lie. (3) I was frustrated at times with the offensive line, but the comments above explain a lot of that.

Defense: UNI coach Farley did not just fall off the turnip truck. He schemed Iowa and got a middle linebacker isolated on a NFL class running back/receiver who runs a 4.35. No LB I have ever seen will beat that match up. He did it three times before Iowa's defensive coaches started doubling up with an LB and a safety...after that, Johnson was stacked up pretty fast when he caught the ball at all. If we can stay reasonably healthy, this will be a very solid defense...maybe a 1/2 step below 2013, but pretty salty.
 
smbhawk1 said:
Iowa's receivers were getting open deep. Jake missed many deep ball opportunities. Not sure if that was by design or not, but the receivers were open.
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Early in the game it looked very much by design. As the game went on he went through his progression more and they started hitting more deep. I think it was a specific gameplan for the first game of the yr and we will see how it evolves.
 
Iowa turned it up in the 4th both on offense and defense. The offense oppened it up and the defense played faster.

I am willing to chalk this one up to first game sluggishness.

The linebackers have to play better in the passing game and Jake needs to trust hi line more and wait for receivers to get open.

This week will have plenty to teach on.
 
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