Defensive Scheme

big10fan

big10fan

Well-Known Member
Can you coaches/former players on here help me out. Haven't been able to watch much of the games so far, and when I've been able to watch it has been at get togethers where I can't watch closely.

How are we lining up on the D-line? 5-3-1-5 basic cover 2 style? didn't look like anyone was consistently lining up in that traditional 1 technique, but then again haven't been able to watch closely, let alone look at the tape. Looks like we're doing lots of stunting and twisting up front to generate pressure.

LBers doing the same things as before? I know we've going with more nickel out there. Haven't noticed if we're using our LB's to bring pressure.

I can see that we are pressing at times with the CB's. And that has really seemed to cut down on the freebie 5 yard passes. At least it looks like that's what has been happening in the second half of most games.

Anything anyone can add would be great. Thanks. Love talking x's and o's, but just haven't been able to study the Hawks this year like I wish.
 
pretty sums up the legitimacy of the members here! Just kidding!

i guess there is no real brain trust! Besides the additions of a few more blitzes here & there- i really think Parker is benefiting from very good defensive players. three linebackers that have significant starting experience, with some very good recruits getting their first crack at contributing.

Don't sleep on the senior leadership we have on this team either!
 
They're doing some new things. Very difficult for me to see at the game. If I watch a replay, and maybe read HGF, I pick up on some of it.

The corners are playing up more this year. That one's hard to miss. Foval, and a couple other guys on here whose names I don't recall know more about it then me.
 
4-3 Cover 2 with a little nickle sprinkled in on third downs. And the occasional blitz. Nothing new here folks, and there is nothing wrong with that.
 
iahawks912 said:
4-3 Cover 2 with a little nickle sprinkled in on third downs. And the occasional blitz. Nothing new here folks, and there is nothing wrong with that.
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i could be very wrong, but i've seen some different things. like man under, cover 1 and the like. at least it looks like that. but, then again, i haven't been able to get a good look at the tape. and i probably won't any time soon.
 
There doing different things. Hard for the average fan to pick up on. Me included. Both sides of the ball.

Whatever they're doing, I'm sold on it. The improvement this early, game to game, is nothing I've ever seen out of an Iowa team recently. Especially given who we're putting on the field this year.

If I step back away from it, let enough time pass after the game, this year has actually been fun to watch.
 
It's a more aggressive mix of what they did under Norm Parker. They seem to be tweaking the game plan each week and the mix of schemes has has been different each game. They've used a lot more man schemes than they ever did under Norm. Blitzing was much more common in games 1 and 2 than 3, but UNI being an FCS team probably had something to do with that.

There has still been a quite a bit of Cover 4, Cover 2, and Cover 6. They've shown 2 Man under looks some and the familiar 2 over 5 under zone. They have been using match-up zone and Cover 0 in goal-line situations. They've used mostly basic blitzes, CB fire, OLB crash etc....I would guess they'll use more complicated blitz packages as they get into the meat of their schedule.
 
hawkeyegamefilm said:
It's a more aggressive mix of what they did under Norm Parker. They seem to be tweaking the game plan each week and the mix of schemes has has been different each game. They've used a lot more man schemes than they ever did under Norm. Blitzing was much more common in games 1 and 2 than 3, but UNI being an FCS team probably had something to do with that.

There has still been a quite a bit of Cover 4, Cover 2, and Cover 6. They've shown 2 Man under looks some and the familiar 2 over 5 under zone. They have been using match-up zone looks in goal-line situations. They've used mostly basic blitzes, CB fire, OLB crash etc....I would guess they'll use more complicated blitz packages as they get into the meat of their schedule.
Click to expand...

thanks for bringing the info!

i remember on one of the ISU TD's, wasn't it a safety that got beat in man coverage in the slot? Miller? do you remember that play? was there safety help on that? can't remember.
 
big10fan said:
i remember on one of the ISU TD's, wasn't it a safety that got beat in man coverage in the slot? Miller? do you remember that play? was there safety help on that? can't remember.
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Yeah it was Tanner Miller guarding the inside WR on the trips side in a 5 WR look. He was matched up with Aaron Horne who's short area quicks are impressive. Horne originally sat down about 3 yards into the end zone on a little sit route and Miller was in decent position at that point but had his back turned. Horne just continued the route and Jantz made a nice throw over the top of Miller who was blind to the ball. Tough for a safety to defend a guy like Horne for that long.
 
I haven't really had much of a chance to study the games either, but I know that I've seen quite a bit of Cover 6 (mostly because I've been looking for it). Within the last couple weeks I've heard a couple of former Iowa safeties that played under Norm say that while they were at Iowa we were sitting in cover 6 on a large majority of the defensive snaps. I think Phil even has a coaching book on Coaches Choice about Cover 6...so it would stand to reason that we'd play quite a bit of that.

**Edit - After further review, it looks like the Coaches Choice video is gone.
 
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hawkfan2679 said:
I haven't really had much of a chance to study the games either, but I know that I've seen quite a bit of Cover 6 (mostly because I've been looking for it). Within the last couple weeks I've heard a couple of former Iowa safeties that played under Norm say that while they were at Iowa we were sitting in cover 6 on a large majority of the defensive snaps. I think Phil even has a coaching book on Coaches Choice about Cover 6...so it would stand to reason that we'd play quite a bit of that.

**Edit - After further review, it looks like the Coaches Choice video is gone.
Click to expand...

Also i don't know if anyone has mentioned the man under and cover 1 we've used on first down some so we can get a safety in the box. Another thing i noticed last week at the end of the game that i didn't think was a good idea was our corners were pressing when UNI had the ball in the 4th with a minute left. WTF we'll play deep zones on 3rd and 5 but not in the last minute of the game when we know they're throwing?:mad: Other than that i'll say that the other in-game adjustment i haven't like this season was how long it took them to add in the nickel against Iowa State. This was probably because ISU runs out of the shotgun a lot but if they saw we were in our regular 4-3 stack they would just iso a RB on a 8 yard out on an OLB every time. Other than that he's made good adjustments from what i could tell needed corrected in-game. Oh well guess I'm a negative nancy, though!:p
 
big10fan said:
Can you coaches/former players on here help me out. Haven't been able to watch much of the games so far, and when I've been able to watch it has been at get togethers where I can't watch closely.

How are we lining up on the D-line? 5-3-1-5 basic cover 2 style? didn't look like anyone was consistently lining up in that traditional 1 technique, but then again haven't been able to watch closely, let alone look at the tape. Looks like we're doing lots of stunting and twisting up front to generate pressure.

LBers doing the same things as before? I know we've going with more nickel out there. Haven't noticed if we're using our LB's to bring pressure.

I can see that we are pressing at times with the CB's. And that has really seemed to cut down on the freebie 5 yard passes. At least it looks like that's what has been happening in the second half of most games.

Anything anyone can add would be great. Thanks. Love talking x's and o's, but just haven't been able to study the Hawks this year like I wish.
Click to expand...

I really haven't noticed any LBs used to bring pressure, but then again, when we actually DO that it's tough NOT to notice it. DL seems to be pretty "basic" in schemes, although I do notice the interior guys seem to "roll" off a lot.

The DEs are what has impressed me so far. Nobody has been able to seal the edge more than once (maybe twice) in any game.

Our scheme(s), vanilla though they may be, are, and always have been, about staying on assignment and in "lanes".

LBs are also playing pretty well. DB are the ones that seem to have missed assignments more than the other units, probably because of the perception that run support is needed. I suspect that will improve significantly over the course of the season.

I think it goes to show just how good a position coach Reese Morgan is, and that Phil Parker is no slouch. He learned a lot from Norm.
 
In the ISU game they did a lot of man to man coverages. In the UNI game they went more zone and couple of times they went (going from not so good memory) to a nickle package. In both games the standard four lineman were used, but with a lot more subbing than in past years(IMO). They haven't been getting a lot of penetration, but they have been getting much better on their gap coverage. Their play has helped the LB's. I did notice that Davis drew the double team a lot. As other's have said the scheme hasn't changed all that much.
One thing I think is happening is that there are some stars are starting to emerge from this group. Last year it seemed like it was all talk. This year we are seeing Hitchens, Morris, Alvis really getting better and better.
 
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