Did we show our hand?

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NorthernHawkI

Well-Known Member
I think we can all agree that what Iowa showed on offense and defense yesterday was very vanilla. Do you think we open things up against Ia St?

I can only recall Iowa using 4-5 different formations on Offense and we really didn't blitz very much on defense. I know this may be wishful thinking, but I just have this feeling that our offense can be much better than what it showed. I don't just mean more points I mean more diverse looks, and playcalling. Lets remember that this was the first game of the year, has Iowa ever opened up the playbook this early?
 
We ran pistol formation. 2 te sets, 5 wide outs, no huddle. from shotgun and under center.

How much more diverse you wanting?
 
If the coaches were holding anything back in a game we nearly lost, and deservedly so, they are dumber than I give them credit for.
 
This argument is out played. I would imagine that it's pretty rare for coaches to hold back different aspects of their game.
 
Yes...I agree...they were trying to keep this thing close. Really...when you are down to a MAC team and can't score in the red zone...well, you throw everything you got at them.
 
I think we ran a lot of "Sets" - but that is for Iowa state to wonder just how many plays we have behind them. But the actual plays ran on Saturday were as vanilla as they come- even if we would have shown 50 sets- the plays would have still been vanilla.

My problem with this approach is even though their may be some surprises from our end during next weeks game- they will be plays being run for the first time in a game setting. I hate the slow cascade of plays throughout the year- but I understand why they do it. Let's Face it; new OC & youth are the biggest culprits here.

Either way we will double our play book size next week from 15 plays to 30, lol
 
One another thing is if Iowa is having trouble running there so-called Vanilla plays, I can only imagine how will look when we running those so called non vanilla plays.. :)
 
if we were "holding back" it simply was because very few have the offense down yet. more will be revealed when they get it down.
 
NorthernHawkI said:
I think we can all agree that what Iowa showed on offense and defense yesterday was very vanilla. Do you think we open things up against Ia St?

I can only recall Iowa using 4-5 different formations on Offense and we really didn't blitz very much on defense. I know this may be wishful thinking, but I just have this feeling that our offense can be much better than what it showed. I don't just mean more points I mean more diverse looks, and playcalling. Lets remember that this was the first game of the year, has Iowa ever opened up the playbook this early?
Click to expand...

Didn't see the game - but come on man, from everything I have read - Iowa just wasn't very good in game one and that isn't because they are trying to "save it" for better opponents. Iowa State looked decent in their opener. Iowa will improve a lot from week one to two but this is an important game for ISU and their bowl hopes, not so much for Iowa. Expecting to see a tough game with Iowa State leaving nothing on the field.
 
Even though the screen passes didn't work, I am glad we tried them often. The last one that KMM caught, he was a Ferentz block away from being gone as the rest of the line was out ahead of him. Also, we did not run any of our typical crossing routes with our 2 WR and 2 TE sets. Those are still in the bag and things that the current offense is comfortable with scheme wise.

With the yards per attempt being so low, we can only take more vertical shots and maybe even mix in a double move here and there with a WR next week. Or a crossing/scissor route with WR's and TE's, if the line can give JVB time. Heck, we didn't even run a wheel route yesterday, which his supposed to be part of the mix to take advantage of quicker rb's on lb's. Just screens where the o-line didn't hold blocks long enough and they got to Vandy too soon.

I think the formations were diverse enough, but the play-calling was safe and maybe the WR's were given too many options trusting that them and Vandy were on the same page. Maybe these guys made the right reads in camp and not yesterday...one can only hope so. That being said, there are definitely "set-up" plays, or pop plays that can be used out of a few of those sets, depending on the match-ups that we see.

I do hope next week if we get in the red-zone we see the package for CJF and the mismatches he should be able to create.
 
big10fan said:
if we were "holding back" it simply was because very few have the offense down yet. more will be revealed when they get it down.
Click to expand...

You are spot on, totally agree. They couldn't have looked more hesitant yesterday then they did. I asked a buddy during the game if we are just this slow or are they over thinking it.

Shortly after that Davis broke away from the screen pass for close to 30 yards and showed the speed I was expecting.
 
Hawkeye11en1 said:
I think we can all agree that we just didn't execute like we wanted to. :D
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Yes...And that we are fairly inexperienced at most areas. There will be more plays and variations added each week for next few weeks. That is how you coach a playbook. Iowa did what they could given their youth and experience.

I would have liked to have seen a better result from our line on short yardage situations where you pound the ball several plays in a row, but we (especially at RB) just aren't built for that. We will improve, and we will hopefully execute better.
 
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