Did an Iowa offensive player have a 'tell'?

I

iahawk72

Well-Known Member
The reason I ask is that I can't get the story of Iowa beating Michigan State with Jeff Smoker and Charles Rogers when Iowa broke CR's consecutive TD game streak out of my head for some reason when it popped into my mind a few days ago.

If you recall Iowa shut down MSU's offense and the story that resulted was that a walk-on defensive back who didn't play significant minutes (if at all) had noticed studying gamefilm of MSU at home in his apartment one night that Charles Rogers had a tell when the play was going to be a run versus when it was going to be a pass. I think it had to do with the heel of his back foot when he was lined up for the snap.

Anyway, Iowa pretty much shut down MSU and won the game.

Is it possible that an Iowa player on this year's team had a 'tell' sign and that the book on it got out there as the season progressed? I realize it may be a stretch but until someone can explain how Iowa's offense that was averaging over 30 points a game gets held to 17 points per in the last 4 playing against 3 of the worst defenses in the league I think it is as good of an explanation as there is out there.

iahawk72
 
Stanzi licked his lips when he was going to pass to DJK. He rolled his finger through his hair when he was going to do a naked bootleg. He squated lower when he was going to hand it off. And he patted/grabbed his nuts when he was going to pass to McNutt. I saw it after the ISU game and kept passing it on to teams
 
iahawk72 said:
The reason I ask is that I can't get the story of Iowa beating Michigan State with Jeff Smoker and Charles Rogers when Iowa broke CR's consecutive TD game streak out of my head for some reason when it popped into my mind a few days ago.

If you recall Iowa shut down MSU's offense and the story that resulted was that a walk-on defensive back who didn't play significant minutes (if at all) had noticed studying gamefilm of MSU at home in his apartment one night that Charles Rogers had a tell when the play was going to be a run versus when it was going to be a pass. I think it had to do with the heel of his back foot when he was lined up for the snap.

Anyway, Iowa pretty much shut down MSU and won the game.

Is it possible that an Iowa player on this year's team had a 'tell' sign and that the book on it got out there as the season progressed? I realize it may be a stretch but until someone can explain how Iowa's offense that was averaging over 30 points a game gets held to 17 points per in the last 4 playing against 3 of the worst defenses in the league I think it is as good of an explanation as there is out there.

iahawk72
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I'll tell you what I noticed a lot. When the call was a run, McNutt would almost always leave the huddle a little early. When it was a pass play, he would leave with the huddle at the same time as everyone else.
 
Doubtful. That kind of thing could account for shutting down one player but it's unlikely there was a tell for every play that we were going to run. The dropoff in production came because our RB was dealing with concussions and the rest of the team gave up on this season. There really isn't a deeper meaning to any of it.
 
Cyclones17 said:
Stanzi licked his lips when he was going to pass to DJK. He rolled his finger through his hair when he was going to do a naked bootleg. He squated lower when he was going to hand it off. And he patted/grabbed his nuts when he was going to pass to McNutt. I saw it after the ISU game and kept passing it on to teams
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Squated.


Strong work, Clown.
 
This is actually not too far off base as a possibility. Remember either last year or in 2008 during at least one game, Ricky would either put his mouth piece in or leave it in his helmet. This pattern seemed to be based on the type of play being run. Does anyone remember this game or when it happened? It was pretty clear on TV and I think it was in 2008 and it would have been a road game.
 
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MidnightBlueSix said:
Doubtful. That kind of thing could account for shutting down one player but it's unlikely there was a tell for every play that we were going to run. The dropoff in production came because our RB was dealing with concussions and the rest of the team gave up on this season. There really isn't a deeper meaning to any of it.
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If it were something that gave away whether the play was a run or pass, it would very much help shut down the whole offense.
 
I can't remember the year or even the team, but once a QB told his team they were running a full back dive at the goal line. Everybody ran the dive, except the QB pulled the ball in right before it hit the back and he ran it around the end for the score with ease.

Yep, tipping can kill a team, but I doubt we were consistently doing something that more than one team knew about. (although I am pretty sure OSU knew we were passing in the last min. even when Stanzi was under center.)
 
i wish i could find the post on TOS that said that Ricky did something last year that happened on all pass plays, Something like his mouthpiece or something.... However, more often than not, when he audibles it is a run (like 8 times out of 10). When it's third down and our FB (not the RB) is in there it will be a draw/dive at worst so you might as well bring the house because our receivers are running long developing routes - so it will not matter.
 
The Iowa formations do to some degree. When the RB back lines up at normal depth there is a high percentage of a run play. If the RB lines up 5yds deep, it's almost always pass. This is nothing new, as I remember several announcers over the years mentioning this.
 
It is a "tell" whenever the team sees KOK on the opposite sideline.



(sorry, couldn't resist throwing a steak to the lions, I actually like KOK and the MSU game indicated what he's capable of when the team is healthy and executing)
 
you don't need a 'tell' to figure out Iowa's offense. I can tell you if it'll be a run or a pass with about 90% accuracy. I've seen enough game film to have the Iowa offense figured out. 1st down is a run... every time.
 
Iowa RB is at least two yards closer to QB when its a passing play, save for very, very, very few quick hitters to morse
 
"1st down is a run...every time." Really? Because Iowa ran 224 1st down plays this year and 124 of them were pass plays. That is a 55:45 pass to run ratio on first down. I'm just saying that it isn't as simple as we ONLY run on 1st down.

67.5% of all FBS teams had a higher percentage of pass plays on first down than running plays. Iowa ranked 53rd nationally (81 teams passed more than ran on 1st down) and was ahead of schools such as Utah, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Southern Cal, Texas, Miami(FL), Iowa State, NORTHWESTERN, South Carolina, Florida State, BYU, Stanford. If anything it appears they may have been too predictable in passing on 1st down.

The other interesting number relative to 1st down is that Iowa had 18 penalties that don't even count towards the total plays run of 224. If you figure then that Iowa lined up on 1st down 242 times, 7% of those plays didn't count due to penalties AND it resulted in a minimum yards to go of 15 depending on the penalty. Ironically, Iowa was ranked 53rd in this category as well meaning they were within the top half of all FBS teams who committed penalties on 1st down. Again, Iowa's offense has a smaller margin for error then many because of the ball control philosophy and penalties on 1st down tip the odds in the opponents favor when they happened as frequently as they have this year.

iahawk72


expos1994 said:
you don't need a 'tell' to figure out Iowa's offense. I can tell you if it'll be a run or a pass with about 90% accuracy. I've seen enough game film to have the Iowa offense figured out. 1st down is a run... every time.
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I have noticed that almost every time we audible at the line it is a run play. Have noticed this since Tate was QB.
 
I am sure both Indiana and Northwestern knew what Wisconsin was going to run before they racked up 84 and 70 vs. them. The difference they couldn't stop them.

Even if Minny, Indiana, NW at the very least knew what was coming there is no reason our O and the players we have on that side of the ball couldn't score more then 30 on all of those teams. It comes down to execusion and players wanting to kick the crap out of the guy across from them.

Sorry but if we played the same way vs. those teams as we did vs. MSU, tOSU, Wisc. etc. we win all three of those games by 20+ points that's the problem the players only showed up for the "big" games this year.
 
iahawk72 said:
"1st down is a run...every time." Really? Because Iowa ran 224 1st down plays this year and 124 of them were pass plays. That is a 55:45 pass to run ratio on first down. I'm just saying that it isn't as simple as we ONLY run on 1st down.

67.5% of all FBS teams had a higher percentage of pass plays on first down than running plays. Iowa ranked 53rd nationally (81 teams passed more than ran on 1st down) and was ahead of schools such as Utah, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Southern Cal, Texas, Miami(FL), Iowa State, NORTHWESTERN, South Carolina, Florida State, BYU, Stanford. If anything it appears they may have been too predictable in passing on 1st down.

The other interesting number relative to 1st down is that Iowa had 18 penalties that don't even count towards the total plays run of 224. If you figure then that Iowa lined up on 1st down 242 times, 7% of those plays didn't count due to penalties AND it resulted in a minimum yards to go of 15 depending on the penalty. Ironically, Iowa was ranked 53rd in this category as well meaning they were within the top half of all FBS teams who committed penalties on 1st down. Again, Iowa's offense has a smaller margin for error then many because of the ball control philosophy and penalties on 1st down tip the odds in the opponents favor when they happened as frequently as they have this year.

iahawk72
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Love the stats, where did you find those? This is something I have been very interested in all season. I have thought all year that they are passing too much on 1st downs, mainly because they like to take deep shots on 1st down, often ending in incompletions and 2nd and 10.
I'd be interested in knowing, how often they gained 4 or more yards on first down? And what the run/pass ratio is on 2nd down? I am going to guess they are much more run heavy on 2nd down then they are on 1st down.
 
hoffahawk said:
I am sure both Indiana and Northwestern knew what Wisconsin was going to run before they racked up 84 and 70 vs. them. The difference they couldn't stop them.

Even if Minny, Indiana, NW at the very least knew what was coming there is no reason our O and the players we have on that side of the ball couldn't score more then 30 on all of those teams. It comes down to execusion and players wanting to kick the crap out of the guy across from them.

Sorry but if we played the same way vs. those teams as we did vs. MSU, tOSU, Wisc. etc. we win all three of those games by 20+ points that's the problem the players only showed up for the "big" games this year.
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Wisconsin also has a MUCH more physical offensive line than we do. That's something that can't be helped this year, as we are VERY undersized up front.
 
Section136 said:
I have noticed that almost every time we audible at the line it is a run play. Have noticed this since Tate was QB.
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this is the majority of the time I agree, but you dont know if its left or right. And every audible is a run play, except for those pass audibles they call ;)
 
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