Has anyone re-watched the game?

[franstheman]

I just watched it for like the 3rd time and all I gotta say is regarding defense. We better hope B.J. Lowery is back for the MSU game because, while i respect Castillo and what he's done for the program with hard work and being a good representative off the field, there were 3 plays I counted where he bit HARD on the play fake and got burnt deep and is lucky that a) Our D-line got pressure and b) Max Shortell sucks.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Castillo also got a pick. It basically all evens out. Let's not forget, only a great theft by Miller hid the fact he would have been burned.

Max Shortell doesn't "suck". He has a great play-fake, throws a pretty good ball, and not having the best receiving corps, does okay.

Or were YOU a star college QB?

 

[CPHAWK82]

Shortell is also a young guy with not a lot of experience. He'd be a Hawk if Rudock didn't commit.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Shortell is also a young guy with not a lot of experience. He'd be a Hawk if Rudock didn't commit.

I get that we support the Hawks. I get that we don't want other players to have success at the expense of the Hawks. I will NEVER understand calling out an opposing player in a mean-spirited way, save for thuggery or multiple arrests or openly cheating.

Shortell seems to be a good kid. I think he'll be a good player and full-time starter when Gray is gone.

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

^ I think Phillip Nelson will give him a good run next year for QB1

 

[SLarew]

BJ has not played all that well this year. Watch the CMU game again and see how many times he was beaten. Castillo is not an elite CB but he plays the system pretty well. He is a target this year like Tobin was last year.

All CBs are going to be beaten at times. Also, I dont think MSU QB is any better than Shortell and WRs may be comparable too as I believe their top WRs from last year graduated.

 

[Scorpio79]

Good ol' Bob, baring his fangs in yet another thread.
Bob, you have to ease up, m'man. You're going to have a gripper soon if you don't. Wow.

 

[olddude]

Fact of it is, our secondary needs work. I can handle a player who does one thing extremly well and lacks in a couple other areas, but besides a few bright spots back there, it is hard to find ANY area that does not need A LOT of work. Things like getting heads around, being in position to jump routes and if a catch is made, hand placement while wrapping them up.
The only reason I can think that the play back there is what it is, comes down to run support. With all the youth up front it is stressing our secondary. Hopefully as the guys upfront put in the work and get some more pt and come into their own, the secondary can commit less to run support.

 

[franstheman]

Good ol' Bob, baring his fangs in yet another thread.
Bob, you have to ease up, m'man. You're going to have a gripper soon if you don't. Wow.

No kidding. Jeez I didn't know I couldn't say a player sucked. Guess it'll probably hurt his feelings right? And as for Castillo's interception.... bob that was a wounded duck thrown by Minnesota's currently sucky but certainly able of improving QB, Max Shortell

 

[JHHawk]

I was counting on our back seven to be our strong suit on defense. So far, I think the lbs have been solid but the safetys/ Lowery need work. I am really hoping BJ is back,and starts playing better. We need to be able to trust that back 4 to cover in order to bring more pressure on some of these qbs.

 

[ICHawk24]

Fans expect cornerbacks to be perfect. Its the hardest job in football.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Fans expect cornerbacks to be perfect. Its the hardest job in football.

agreed. back 4 are just fine. and they will get better if the front 4 can get a little more pressure.

 

[olddude]

Fans expect cornerbacks to be perfect. Its the hardest job in football.

I agree with you and Walker. As they say if it was easy women and children would be doing it.
It is a heady position. Watching film for "tips" and timing is very important. Sometimes that helps players who are coming up or plain are just a little less talented.
I really think a lot of it is contain and run support, but if the decisions are not made sooner, getting burnt will become a problem.

 

[311hawk]

Like the kid but not the player that Castillo is.

 

[Thawki]

Castillo also got a pick. It basically all evens out. Let's not forget, only a great theft by Miller hid the fact he would have been burned.

Max Shortell doesn't "suck". He has a great play-fake, throws a pretty good ball, and not having the best receiving corps, does okay.

Or were YOU a star college QB?

Actually, one doesn't have to be a big time college QB to accurately assess that someone is a bad QB. If you don't like it to say someone sucks without giving more detail, that is fine. But I think the other guy is right, I think he does probably suck.

i mean, our D was giving up yards to CMU when we needed to stop them, yet Minnesota couldn't get anything against us. And there have been other QBs this year that weren't even that great of QBs that were moving the ball on us when we really needed stops. But Minnesota got nothing.

That should mean something, unless yu are a elation of Shortell.

 

[SeattleHawkeye]

I was counting on our back seven to be our strong suit on defense. So far, I think the lbs have been solid but the safetys/ Lowery need work. I am really hoping BJ is back,and starts playing better. We need to be able to trust that back 4 to cover in order to bring more pressure on some of these qbs.

I generally concur. I'd say the front 7 has been better than the back 7, though that is largely due to expectations. BJ got worked against CMU, and there was a deep route in particular he got toasted by a fantastic route. Castillo was also beat on the pick he got last week, but the ball was so underthrown he easily made the play.

As others have said, playing CB is one of the most physically challenging things in sports, which makes it all the more impressive when players are good. Our DBs have collectively been beaten over the top all season and are constantly in trail position, but there's only been a few passes completed against them. Like Castillo above, the interception Miller had last week was b/c he was beat on a ball that was underthrown and the WR bobbled it. Donatell was beat all day against ISU (and in other games) but Jantz couldn't hit a deep ball. As long as QB's are inaccurate, IA's back 7 will be ok, but they're asking to get beat over the top constantly being in trail position. All that said, getting more pressure from your front 4 (and 7) will always make DBs jobss easier, and hopefully the front 4 continues to progress and improve, along w/ Parker's utilizing good blitz schemes sending LBs at opportune times.