Howe: Hawkeyes Show There's Plenty More Room to Grow

[RobHowe]

I agree that the separation is overstated to a degree. DBs at this level are usually too good for receivers to be wide open most times.

Watching from the press box yesterday, I still noticed receivers failing to get the necessary separation too often. That said, it's better than recent years.

 

[SonofaSailor]

Agreed. Although I still think the "separation" issue is overstated a little, it's very rare for wr to have a lot of space unless they are crazy good, schemed open, or "thrown open. I am very pleased with the improvement in vertical passing, and guys seem much more open than in many years. Easley, VB, Hock, and Fant are catching a lot more balls in space, and ISM and Stanley are getting closer and closer to getting the big one. AW us also open a lot underneath.

I'm a koolaid drinker, but I think the Hawks are close. We are quite literally a little more ball security and 2-3 completed deep shots from 6-0 and maybe seeing the best offensive production since '02.

Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.

Exactly how I feel...if the Oline ever gets it figured out this season...and Stanley gets dialed in on the deep ball...this offense could be special.

The OL is the biggest issue with this offense I think...I can't count the number of times this year I've seen a lineman literally have someone come right across their face and they run up field and end up blocking absolutely no one while Wadley gets hammered in the back field.

 

[trj]

I've often wondered if a 3-4 would work at Iowa. The 4-3 requires traditional pass rushing DEs to work, when you have a guy like Clayborn or Roth it works great but when you don't it's tough to get pressure.

A 3-4 let's you use more tweener guys, guys a program like Iowa can find easier

If Iowa went to a 3-4 I wonder if they would have to change their philosophy on D-lineman. Iowa lineman have a tendency to be on the leaner side. In a 3-4 your lineman have to eat up blocks. Obviously, that’s easier to do when you are larger.

That being said I have no idea what size Wisky’s d-lineman are going at.

 

[hawkinstl]

While there's plenty of room to grow i.e. things to get better at, I saw 3 things yesterday in one Iowa game I don't think I've seen in one season under KF.

1. Fake punt (and it worked)
2. Onside kick (and it worked)
3. Letting the backup QB throw a TD pass up by 22 with 5:30 to go.

Now, try those things against better competition. Even if they don't work, give future opponents something to think about.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

The lack of a pass rush is becoming a huge concern for the defense. As Rob stated, failure to get consistent pressure against Illinois offensive line starting four freshman has to be a major red flag.

The issues are a combination of personnel and Iowa's scheme. The 4-3 cover-four scheme that we run is highly predicated on getting pressure from the front four, and is out of its element with more blitzes.

From a personnel standpoint, we just don't have the horses right now. Eppy and A. Nelson flash at times at end, but we need someone to provide some interior pressure as well, a la, JJ, Daniels, King, etc. It's hard to see Bazata, Lattimore and Reiff filling that role. We've had some recruiting misses along the interior and that is hurting us (ironically, MSU's tackles Williams and Panasiuk gave us fits and we recruited both hard).

It might be worth experimenting with moving Eppy inside and bringing in someone like Simon at end on obvious passing downs.

 

[DDThompson]

Woods and Spencer have had a huge effect on Iowa's special teams this season. I wonder if Spencer's 25+ years experience has KF giving the nod to running some "trick plays" on ST?

 

[trj]

Roetlisberger just threw another interception.


Brincks and Anthony Nelson were excellent against PSU. What happen to those 2 guys? They just disappear?

 

[RobHowe]

Roetlisberger just threw another interception.


Brincks and Anthony Nelson were excellent against PSU. What happen to those 2 guys? They just disappear?

A Nelson started the day with a forced fumble.

I think, as someone said, there’s not a interior rush threat so opponents can focus on stopping the ends. Also, a lot was asked of the defense the last three weeks. It looked tired, at times, yesterday.

 

[Xerxes]

If Iowa went to a 3-4 I wonder if they would have to change their philosophy on D-lineman. Iowa lineman have a tendency to be on the leaner side. In a 3-4 your lineman have to eat up blocks. Obviously, that’s easier to do when you are larger.

That being said I have no idea what size Wisky’s d-lineman are going at.

Their NT is a tank. He's like 6'2 340/350 but their ends look similar to what Iowa usually has a DE. I've always liked the idea of a 3-4 simply because its different and give the opponents a very different look up front and it allows one more LB and one less DL on the field which is a good thing in today's college football passing world. But finding guys to play NT is tough. Guys like Mike Daniels don't grow on trees and he's one of the few Iowa DL I've seen that is powerful enough and talented enough to hold down the middle in the 3-4 alignment.

 

[RobHowe]

Jaleel and Carl Davis would have worked in the middle of a 3-4. The list is short, however.

 

[ohhawk]

I like Dochterman's summation of this team so far.........we're like jello still looking to form some sort of shape.

Maybe being put in the refrigerator for a week will help.

 

[RobHowe]

Jello is nasty.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Changing to a 3-4 scheme is no easy task, and would probably result in at least 2-3 seasons of growing pains. There's a domino effect on the DBs, who have to switch back and forth from press to cover, and a lot of moving parts. The learning curve is quite steep. Also, with Nebraska switching, and Wisconsin already running the scheme, recruiting the proper body types becomes significantly more competitive as well.

What's unique and odd about the system we run is that the scheme is a 4-3, but the tackles are instructed to two-gap. Typically, you two-gap the tackles in a 3-4 and one-gap in a 4-3. The idea is to free up the linebackers to make the plays, but, with one OLB basically serving as a large safety, we are only freeing up two players - currently Jewell and Bower.

I think the scheme we run is okay, but we simply have to recruit better along the line. We need more true "edge" players combined with at least one tackle that can provide inside pressure. Clayborn and Roth were very good ends, but, when you think about it, we probably haven't had a true explosive edge guy since Leroy Smith.

 

[BVHawk95]

If anyone wants to see what the transition to a 3-4 looks like, just look at Nebraska. No thank you.