Hawkeyes Believe Offense Close to Breaking Through

Sweet! An 80-post thread about Iowa's offense! Grabbing some popcorn and can't wait to read all of the positive comments about our 26 PPG, while playing the 11th toughest schedule in the nation!
 
Pink Bathroom said:
So being pessimistic about an offense that repeatedly misuses their RB, and is doubling down on that strategy makes us debbie downers? Even Jon has expressed his frustration of continuing to run Wadley between the tackles when that is not the type of runner he is or because of OL issues. Any defense Iowa plays will just stack the box and prevent or limit any 3+ yard rushes, because the coaches are quoted to saying as much.

Honestly, a lot of us aren't out for blood when it comes to KF. Some definitely are! But I recognize KF will be here until he decides to retire. But when we notice systemic issues on the offensive side of the ball, a lot of us are labeled whiners. Iowa has one of the most predictable offenses in college football. Period! That comes from the inability of the head coach to accept change and recognize that every defense in college football knows what you are going to do. Instead of using that to your advantage and mixing things up to throw them off, the coaching staff continues to pound their heads into the brick wall. It's just maddening. You won't have fans stop watching Iowa football because they're boycotting Kirk Ferentz, they'll do it because it's BORING!
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My frustration, and perhaps the frustration of others on this board is not with his record or the KF program overall, it is the unwillingness or inability of KF to adapt to the tactics of the opponent as the game unfolds.
 
JoeHawk said:
If Iowa loses this weekend, is the season basically over with and does BF get a chance to come back as OC?
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Do other schools allow their first year offensive coordinators back after a bad year? Did we fire KOK or GD after their first years, which were non-stellar to say the least? Why is this question even being asked?
 
Knight78 said:
Do other schools allow their first year offensive coordinators back after a bad year? Did we fire KOK or GD after their first years, which were non-stellar to say the least? Why is this question even being asked?
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I still don't see BF as the problem. It's KF who is the issue.

I read this quote from KF again today and am still laughing my backside off. This man is now officially delusional in my mind. 105th in total offense and he thinks they're close to a breakthrough. WOW. Just WOW!
 
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Substitute with "Iowa Football", "60 mins" and "score 10 points"....I think we'd be on to something
 
RayLuca said:
Can anybody tell the difference between the offensive calls between this year and last year?
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It's tough to see on TV, but in person, it's very noticeable. The route combinations are much more sophisticated than last year. A lot more flooding and vacating of zones and running routes such as dig routes into the vacated zones, very similar to KOK's route combinations. The play are much more creative and impressive...only to have OL breakdowns, Stanley miss an open receiver, make a bad throw, or have a WR drop it. Really reminds me of what went on in the Drew Tate years. The crowd would be pretty restless at the number of open receivers he didn't see, partly because they not in his progression until the defense closed on them or he had already thrown and never progressed to them.

While the run game has the same inside and outside zone plays, there are a lot of differences in that as well. There are different ways they use misdirection, set up and break tendencies (yes, there are tendencies, which coaches use set up to break on future play calls), use motion before and after the snap, and have even handed off to the H-back to try to give the defense a different look.

This year's offense and last year's offense are no where near the same. Unfortunately, the results are very similar. I know this goes against the vast majority of the posters here, but I honestly don't feel this is on the coaches (other than possibly player development and recruiting) as much as it is on the lack of playmaking up front, at QB, and in the WR corps.
 
RobHowe said:
Iowa's offense has been marred by inconsistency this season. The Hawkeyes think they're close to breaking through:

LINK
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Inconsistency is to be expected, to a degree with so many young or 1st year players. I'm okay with that. The play calling has to be much better. Fair or not, brian is a coach who is paid money to be good. You shouldn't be allowed a throw away season to "learn on the job" which was my main criticism of hiring him as OC. Zero experience calling plays. He's had 7 games; no more excuses for him.
 
A valid question I've heard posed throughout this week is why does Iowa have two freshmen tackles after losing two fifth-year senior tackles to injury? I think it's a fair criticism to wonder why there aren't any options in the other classes.

I'm not dumping on Jackson and Wirfs. They'll be better from this in the long run. It would have been nice for them to have more development time, however.
 
99topdawg said:
It's tough to see on TV, but in person, it's very noticeable. The route combinations are much more sophisticated than last year. A lot more flooding and vacating of zones and running routes such as dig routes into the vacated zones, very similar to KOK's route combinations. The play are much more creative and impressive...only to have OL breakdowns, Stanley miss an open receiver, make a bad throw, or have a WR drop it. Really reminds me of what went on in the Drew Tate years. The crowd would be pretty restless at the number of open receivers he didn't see, partly because they not in his progression until the defense closed on them or he had already thrown and never progressed to them.

While the run game has the same inside and outside zone plays, there are a lot of differences in that as well. There are different ways they use misdirection, set up and break tendencies (yes, there are tendencies, which coaches use set up to break on future play calls), use motion before and after the snap, and have even handed off to the H-back to try to give the defense a different look.

This year's offense and last year's offense are no where near the same. Unfortunately, the results are very similar. I know this goes against the vast majority of the posters here, but I honestly don't feel this is on the coaches (other than possibly player development and recruiting) as much as it is on the lack of playmaking up front, at QB, and in the WR corps.
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Yeah, I would agree. There are definite differences. Count me in the camp that doesn't miss GD one iota.

Execution no doubt has been an issue, but the coaches don't get a complete pass either. Player talent level is a factor, but how players execute also relates directly to how they're coached. Also, I'm not a huge fan of criticizing play-calling per se, as a lot of that is the classic 20-20 hindsight error, but, the inability to adapt and adjust to what the defense is doing still falls under play-calling, and that definitely deserves criticism IMO.
 
RobHowe said:
A valid question I've heard posed throughout this week is why does Iowa have two freshmen tackles after losing two fifth-year senior tackles to injury? I think it's a fair criticism to wonder why there aren't any options in the other classes.

I'm not dumping on Jackson and Wirfs. They'll be better from this in the long run. It would have been nice for them to have more development time, however.
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This actually has been a recurring theme for many years. It seems like almost every year we are forced to play one or more players that aren't ready developmentally. Some of that has been the result of attrition (for example, I think losing Waechter is an issue in this circumstance), and, the type of program we have simply cannot overcome inordinate attrition. Our recruiting has been very spotty as well (case in point, DT currently), but I do sense that the coaches have started ramping up their efforts there over the past few cycles.
 
We all had optimism at the beginning of the year. We had a award winning offensive line coming back. The best linebackers in the B1G. While the defense has done a very good job for the most part. The offense has never produced. They struggled against Wyoming. Made it past Iowa State. Looked abysmal at Northwestern. And now we are supposed to buy that they are close to a breakthrough? If Iowa scores 40 on Minnesota there are going to be some that will say that Iowa made a break through. Don't buy it. It's Minnesota.

Iowa's recruiting problem stems from having one good team once every 4 or 5 years. A couple of mediocre years and a couple of sub par years in a 5 year span. Iowa had two weeks to correct their offensive problems. Instead they felt that recruiting trips were more important.

After a bye week Iowa arrived in Evanston with players not knowing their assignments, not focused. Coaches with a bad game plan and horrible play calling. There were no new wrinkles in the offense, it was just the same old plays, badly executed. The Northwestern game was a failure of leadership from the coaches on down.
 
99topdawg said:
It's tough to see on TV, but in person, it's very noticeable. The route combinations are much more sophisticated than last year. A lot more flooding and vacating of zones and running routes such as dig routes into the vacated zones, very similar to KOK's route combinations. The play are much more creative and impressive...only to have OL breakdowns, Stanley miss an open receiver, make a bad throw, or have a WR drop it. Really reminds me of what went on in the Drew Tate years. The crowd would be pretty restless at the number of open receivers he didn't see, partly because they not in his progression until the defense closed on them or he had already thrown and never progressed to them.

While the run game has the same inside and outside zone plays, there are a lot of differences in that as well. There are different ways they use misdirection, set up and break tendencies (yes, there are tendencies, which coaches use set up to break on future play calls), use motion before and after the snap, and have even handed off to the H-back to try to give the defense a different look.

This year's offense and last year's offense are no where near the same. Unfortunately, the results are very similar. I know this goes against the vast majority of the posters here, but I honestly don't feel this is on the coaches (other than possibly player development and recruiting) as much as it is on the lack of playmaking up front, at QB, and in the WR corps.
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Best assessment of The present state of Hawkeye football on this board. I’m not being facetious as a Gopher either.
 
RobHowe said:
A valid question I've heard posed throughout this week is why does Iowa have two freshmen tackles after losing two fifth-year senior tackles to injury? I think it's a fair criticism to wonder why there aren't any options in the other classes.

I'm not dumping on Jackson and Wirfs. They'll be better from this in the long run. It would have been nice for them to have more development time, however.
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I don't mind playing the future, now, if there isn't a significantly better option. kirk has always done this with the OL. It has not always been true at other positions. This is why I am not super concerned with wins/losses, as long as we're playing the young pups and they are learning and improving. The issue to me has been the play calling. It has been too inconsistent and, all to often, it has been predictable to the point where it seems we are throwing away offensive possessions simply to run clock.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I think it will work this time....................I think it will work this time....................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time...................I think it will work this time.


INSANITY!!
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FYI, It's called being thick headed. It's pretty common stuff. It does not denote insanity. You won't find it in any DSM manual, or any addition thereof.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
FYI, It's called being thick headed. It's pretty common stuff. It does not denote insanity. You won't find it in any DSM manual, or any addition thereof.
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Thank you Mr. Literal.

I don't think anybody is calling KF insane. It's the action/behavior of it that can look insane to some people. That's my point.
 
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