RobHowe
Administrator
Drew Stevens Named B1G Special Teams Player of Week
Iowa Freshman Kicker Receives Honor from Conference
www.si.com
Drew Stevens Named B1G Special Teams Player of Week
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
www.si.com
Fryowa
Administrator
How many successes like this does LeVar woods need before he gets a crack at OC?Drew Stevens Named B1G Special Teams Player of Week
Iowa Freshman Kicker Receives Honor from Conference
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
We can't fire Rob! We are stuck with him....or he's stuck with us...something like that.
Fryowa
Administrator
Look at the byline. That story is straight from the University of Iowa SID.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
OK, you and Melrose are going to get upset by this.
If Woods is responsible for recruiting, he's doing a terrific job. Not sure if he recruited CJ though as a return guy.
That said, as good as Taylor is (and he's fantastic), he is lacking some but yet glaring fundamentals.
He was pretty much lost at IL when punting from deep in the EZ. He was not comfortable. He was right in front of me.
Memorial Stadium is one of the worst places for punters. That was maybe Taylor's first game under adverse conditions. He did not play the wind. As a rugby player, he kicked the ball into swirling winds like a rugby player exposing the ball to wind drag. He did not drive the ball. Iowa played in nearly perfect weather up until that time. Taylor did get a couple really good kicks off though, but a couple weren't very good.
What I am talking about were basic kicking fundamentals. This missed FG by Stevens was not a big deal.
Kick returns for and against have been pretty non-existent good and bad. CJ was likely better than some gave him credit for.
Talent means about everything and if it's recruiting, then yes, promote him if he can learn.
There were several glaring issues in one game under less-than-ideal conditions. I have no idea if they have been corrected.
Cumulative stats.. not bad though. As a side note, IL's back up kicker never came close to the EZ Missing is average starting point.
| Kicking | Iowa | Opponent |
| FG: Makes - Attempts | 12 - 15 | 12 - 13 |
| Punt: Avg. Yards Per Game | 44.77 | 41.70 |
| Punt: Total Yards | 48 - 2149 | 50 - 2085 |
| Returns | ||
| Kickoff: Total | 17 - 381 | 7 - 118 |
| Kickoff: Average | 22.41 | 16.86 |
| Punt: Total | 18 - 134 | 14 - 49 |
| Punt: Average | 7.44 | 3.50 |
Hawkboys
Well-Known Member
I wonder if Taylor is hurt? His punts have gotten worse, week by week since the IL game.
Fryowa
Administrator
I'm not upset. I know LeVar Woods' personality and the success he's had at every position group he's coached. You gotta do better than some special teams stats to convince me he's not a good candidate for an OC job.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
Talent is almost everything as well as relationships. I'm sure he is good at that.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
The weather hasn't been as good. Wind. And how he kicks. The ball surface is exposed to the wind rather than the point first. Sort of.
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hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
A coach that's not afraid to change players, even if the new guy is a walk-on Freshman.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Taylor had a rough night in Champaign by his standards and his average effort on the last punt, which allowed Illinois to begin its game winning drive in plus territory, was a killer. I duly noted it in one of the post game threads.
We left one on the table that night, and it's going to bite us if we're on the fence for bowl eligibility. We let a backup QB do just enough and kicked away an opportunity against the team that's going to win the West.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
That's a good way of putting it. IL put pressure on Taylor and he decidedly didn't like it. No way to know if it was fear or just not wanting to get hurt and damage his future golden foot.
The punt deep from the EZ he didn't go to the back line but instead seemed about 3 yards away and quick kicked it. Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he was protecting himself.
The better teams like IL, OSU, and M backed Iowa deep in their own field. Completely different mindset for a punter.
Iowa's offense was so bad at that point, not sure it qualifies as leaving it on the table. A lot of people are upset at Petras over that game, but being there live, near field level you could see exactly where the pressure was coming from and it wasn't stopped. Petras a lot of times never had a chance. He did do a Jon Lester pickoff move though.
guffus
Well-Known Member
I have always thought freshman of the week was a dumb award anyway. I can see maybe a freshman of the year award but freshman of the week is overkill.
With that said, congrats to Iowa kicker Drew Steven's on a great freshman season so far. I only wish he would have been kicking against SDSU and ISU too.
With that said, congrats to Iowa kicker Drew Steven's on a great freshman season so far. I only wish he would have been kicking against SDSU and ISU too.
Fryowa
Administrator
Nobody can tell me he's not qualified. I mean if BF was then that opens the door to damn near anyone with a pulse. But Woods is certainly qualified to climb the ladder and he I hope he does. He could go to either side of the ball.
