Does Kirk really value ball security?

[Healzya]

I went to look at some Big Ten QB numbers from last year. I constantly hear the Iowa staff harp on ball security and wanted to check for myself. I pulled all the QB stats for anyone with over 100 attempts. Padilla was far better than Petras in the ball security department. Petras even got the much easier schedule at the beginning of the season. Neither of these guys are good but I really don't think they can use ball security as an excuse anymore.

Player

Team

Att

Cmp

Pct

Yds

TD

Int

Int%

Sack

Loss

Rate

Int/Att.

Jack Plummer

PUR

127​

87​

68.5​

864​

7​

0​

0​

9​

53​

143.8​

127.00​

Artur Sitkowski

ILL

148​

74​

50​

704​

6​

2​

1.4​

8​

48​

100.6​

74.00​

C.J. Stroud

OSU

441​

317​

71.9​

4,435​

44​

6​

1.4​

13​

103​

186.6​

73.50​

Alex Padilla

IOWA

112​

55​

49.1​

636​

2​

2​

1.8​

7​

39​

99.1​

56.00​

Cade McNamara

MICH

327​

210​

64.2​

2,576​

15​

6​

1.8​

11​

81​

141.9​

54.50​

Sean Clifford

PSU

428​

261​

61​

3,107​

21​

8​

1.9​

30​

189​

134.4​

53.50​

Ryan Hilinski

NW

176​

95​

54​

978​

3​

4​

2.3​

9​

74​

101.7​

44.00​

Noah Vedral

RUTG

304​

181​

59.5​

1,824​

7​

7​

2.3​

19​

108​

112.9​

43.43​

Taulia Tagovailoa

UMD

474​

328​

69.2​

3,860​

26​

11​

2.3​

25​

234​

151.1​

43.09​

Brandon Peters

ILL

170​

91​

53.5​

1,170​

7​

4​

2.4​

15​

121​

120.2​

42.50​

Aidan O'Connell

PUR

440​

315​

71.6​

3,711​

28​

11​

2.5​

18​

144​

158.4​

40.00​

Payton Thorne

MSU

390​

235​

60.3​

3,240​

27​

10​

2.6​

21​

151​

147.8​

39.00​

Spencer Petras

IOWA

288​

165​

57.3​

1,880​

10​

9​

3.1​

24​

168​

117.3​

32.00​

Adrian Martinez

NEB

306​

189​

61.8​

2,863​

14​

10​

3.3​

27​

154​

148.9​

30.60​

Tanner Morgan

MINN

250​

149​

59.6​

2,044​

10​

9​

3.6​

22​

168​

134.3​

27.78​

Graham Mertz

WIS

284​

169​

59.5​

1,958​

10​

11​

3.9​

13​

108​

121.3​

25.82​

Michael Penix Jr.

IND

162​

87​

53.7​

939​

4​

7​

4.3​

8​

54​

101.9​

23.14​

Andrew Marty

NW

110​

66​

60​

707​

6​

6​

5.5​

13​

97​

121.1​

18.33​

 

[HawkGold]

I think he values qbs that do what he says.

 

[guffus]

It's almost like Kirk believes that the key to winning the game is to make no mistakes whatsoever. If you try anything on offense it could result in something bad, so it's best not to try anything. Let the other team make the mistakes and Iowa will win.

 

[JoeyLabasForPresident]

Small sample size, but also of note, Padilla has the lowest completion percentage. The folks with low total attempts are clustered at the bottom and top of this list, so I suspect this stat for the folks with few attempts is more variance than anything else. Troubling that Petras is that close to Martinez, lol.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Kirk Ferentz:

"If I throw the ball down the field, we may get a big gain or score a touchdown. On the other hand, the ball might get dropped, picked off, or we take no time off the clock. I could send a makeable, manageable pass that gets a first down. Then again, having Petras throw a 3 yard pass has a higher percentage of a completion and 3 yards is better than nothing, even if it does not result in a first down because we have a great punter. However, passing the ball is much more of a risk than just handing the ball off....the ball has to travel from hand to hand and a much shorter distance. Oh, man what should I do.........uh...uh....uh.........send in the stretch play to the short side of the field."

Petras:
"Stretch Play on a snap count 4."

Iowa Receiver A thinking to himself:
"F, why do we even play here....all we do is wind-sprints and when the ball is thrown our way we have to jump 20 feet into the air to even have a chance at the ball."

Iowa Receiver B thinking to himself:
"I saw Charlie the other night make a bunch of catches....Purdue is kind of close in our color scheme."

Head Official:
Delay of Game....5 yard penalty...repeat 3rd down.

Kirk Ferentz:
"At least we have more room to punt if we don't pick this up. Well, we didn't pick it up....l should probably write something down....no wait....what a beautiful punt. Punting really is winning."

Iowa Defense and Phil Parker:

"Time to bail out the fucking offense yet again."


Rinse and Repeat.

 

[beavdawg8216]

Kirk Ferentz:

"If I throw the ball down the field, we may get a big gain or score a touchdown. On the other hand, the ball might get dropped, picked off, or we take no time off the clock. I could send a makeable, manageable pass that gets a first down. Then again, having Petras throw a 3 yard pass has a higher percentage of a completion and 3 yards is better than nothing, even if it does not result in a first down because we have a great punter. However, passing the ball is much more of a risk than just handing the ball off....the ball has to travel from hand to hand and a much shorter distance. Oh, man what should I do.........uh...uh....uh.........send in the stretch play to the short side of the field."

Petras:
"Stretch Play on a snap count 4."

Iowa Receiver A thinking to himself:
"F, why do we even play here....all we do is wind-sprints and when the ball is thrown our way we have to jump 20 feet into the air to even have a chance at the ball."

Iowa Receiver B thinking to himself:
"I saw Charlie the other night make a bunch of catches....Purdue is kind of close in our color scheme."

Head Official:
Delay of Game....5 yard penalty...repeat 3rd down.

Kirk Ferentz:
"At least we have more room to punt if we don't pick this up. Well, we didn't pick it up....l should probably write something down....no wait....what a beautiful punt. Punting really is winning."

Iowa Defense and Phil Parker:

"Time to bail out the fucking offense yet again."


Rinse and Repeat.

View attachment 9246

This is Gold!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Kirk values his balls.

 

[Northside Hawk]

That offensive plan on Saturday was the equivalent of a basketball team letting the shot clock expire on almost every possession. They knew-

They wouldn't need any more points
They had a hot punter
The only way they were going to lose was to give the Jackrabbits a short field.

They didn't even seem to concerned about the lost fumble near the goal line. To them that probably felt like another vintage Taylor punt.

 

[Healzya]

That offensive plan on Saturday was the equivalent of a basketball team letting the shot clock expire on almost every possession. They knew-

They wouldn't need any more points
They had a hot punter
The only way they were going to lose was to give the Jackrabbits a short field.

They didn't even seem to concerned about the lost fumble near the goal line. To them that probably felt like another vintage Taylor punt.

I have been thinking about this more and more as the week goes on. They ran the same plays over and over. I mean they don't have a lot of plays to begin with but last Saturday seemed even worse. Rewatching the game there was almost no chance that South Dakota State was going to score without some fluke play like a turnover or broken coverage. It might be me just grasping at straws but I am hoping that's the case and this Saturday they will actually open it up.

None of that explains the O-line and QB play being abysmal though.

 

[HawkGold]

I have been thinking about this more and more as the week goes on. They ran the same plays over and over. I mean they don't have a lot of plays to begin with but last Saturday seemed even worse. Rewatching the game there was almost no chance that South Dakota State was going to score without some fluke play like a turnover or broken coverage. It might be me just grasping at straws but I am hoping that's the case and this Saturday they will actually open it up.

None of that explains the O-line and QB play being abysmal though.

Who thought KY was going to score again last season?

 

[Healzya]

Who thought KY was going to score again last season?

I always have great confidence in the D, until the other team needs to score at the end of the game.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I always have great confidence in the D, until the other team needs to score at the end of the game.

Well, when Iowa's offense doesn't sustain long drives all game, the D has a tendency to get a bit tired in the 4th Q. That is a reason for a ball control offense and to win the TOP.

 

[RobHowe]

Everyone should value secure balls

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Everyone should value secure balls

Look at Rob a little punchy today!

Perhaps that Hawkeye Cyclone rivalry is building up in him all week.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Everyone should value secure balls

..........and rough them up when needed. Ya don't want to be playin' with smooth balls.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Kirk fears risk.

 

[MursenarySkum]

Does he value ball security? Can you really consider giving the other team the ball every 4 plays ball security? He's starting a guy with 8 interceptions to 1 TD over the last however many games. I think in his mind he does, but in reality he does not. Not when it means making hard decisions on Brian. As another poster says, he fears risk, not the turnovers themselves

This isn't something I've looked up, but turnovers are really about field position, momentum and giving extra opportunities to the other team's offense. With the constant 3 and outs, I wonder how many opportunities Iowa's opponents have on average vs other teams that commit more turnovers.

Does that make any sense?

 

[Ben Rumson]

Everyone should value secure balls

Haines has a awesome ball pouch.

 

[kicker22]

Starting to ask myself if Kirk really values the ball in general.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

Petras has had a fumble and interception in each of the two games to start the year.
Hardly ball security.
Typically, Kirk would have pulled any other player and given them some bench time, possibly for the whole game (Think IKM).
Why do his standards not apply to Petras?