Indiana's initial 2 scores: An amateur breakdown

[urohawk]

I appreciate the debate homer and I don't mind at all the difference of opinion. I do mind you saying that I don't provide any support to my arguement. I think I provided excellent support with my player analysis in multiple posts. When examining the roster as is for next year I don't see any possibility of having a good defensive line and a very low chance of having a servicable one. In my mind you are like Kevin Bacon in Animal House screaming out all is well.

I was concerned this year and next year I am terrified. Hence my reasoning for why KF needs to evaluate every aspect of the defense because the trend is looking very scary.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Dude ... all of a sudden have you just forgotten the '10 season? There are a number of things that can be quickly learned from it.

First off .... Morris easily proved that he could tackle. Not only could he tackle ... but, behind a very good line, he looked great! Is Morris playing great now? Not necessarily ... he's certainly had his issues ... but young players still learn and improve.

Secondly ... the '10 season quickly showed how medicre even an excellent D can look if there are tangible exploitable weaknesses. Specifically, Iowa got hit badly by the injury bug at LB in '10 ... and consequently Iowa's coverage by the LBs was mediocre AT BEST for stretches of the season. During those stretches ... the QB would ALWAYS have the outlet pass open. What we're seeing THIS YEAR is very similar to what we saw last year .... only this year we don't have the benefit of 3 NFL-ready D-linemen as starters. Heck, the situation is even worse this year ... because not only is there a bit of a drop with regard to the talent-level on the DL ... but also the DL has been pretty darn banged up too!


Now here's a news flash for ya. Alvis and Bigach have been getting A TON of quality reps this season. Furthermore, Davis and Gaglione have been getting a lot of quality reps too. Also, Carl Davis was generating a lot of pre-season buzz ... however, he hasn't been healthy enough all season to really give us a good impression of what he brings to the table. In other words, I wouldn't marginalize that young man anytime soon.

I'll agree that a few good recruits in the 2012 recruiting class could certainly give the '12 Hawkeye DL a nice shot in the arm. Heck, as it is, I anticipate that Darian Cooper and Jaleel Johnson will really help solidify the interior of the '12 DL. Furthermore, Alvis has shown flashes ... but he's also made obvious "young-guy" mistakes too. What I don't get is that you don't seem to recognize the fact that Alvis is only a SO ... he still has his best ball ahead of him!

The big question, as I've frequently written about, is that the DE spot opposite Alvis in '12 is currently a big unknown. Apart from Bigach continuing to play inside and out and getting reps at the spot .... I just don't see anybody who's able to play the spot at the level that we'd ideally like. That's not to say that someone won't emerge ... guys like Hardy, McMinn, or Spears might just prove to do just that. Or, alternatively, maybe a guy like Lohn or Ekakatie could nab the spot if they were to become Hawkeyes. I don't know ....

What I will say is that Iowa's situation on D in 2012 isn't nearly as dire as you suggest.

well said. You can see massive changes in size, experience, "talent" from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd years, depending on playing time, health, etc. Our "small" Dlinemen could easily be 20-30 lbs bigger next year, the LB 5-15 lbs bigger, etc. You can see massive jumps. Folks, I don't expect anything crazy...but all this "next year is gonna be worse" stuff if crazy talk, how the heck to we know???? I still believe the defense we will see in the next few weeks and at the end of the year is going to be noticeably better than what we've seen thus far....already have seen improvements... the things we can control with continue to improve... (noting that there are things we can't contral = injuries)

Let's worry about next year......NEXT year.

Go Hawks...

 

[urohawk]

You highlight a key problem I have...I am obsessed with hawkeye football and I look ahead to much.

 

[ChosenChildren]

After the first two scores, the first string defense only gave up 3 points the rest of the game.

That performance allowed Iowa to win the game, since we scored 31 points during that time period.

The defense was pretty good after the initial two scores.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

Thanks Homer. So in summary, we are young and still making a lot of mistakes. Getting out of position is something that can and will be fixed.

Yeah, as I read the summary I am hopeful because it looks like it is mostly mistakes vs getting blown off the ball or over-powered. We can fix mistakes, but we can't fix not having the size/power/strenght. I hope that is not what it is lacking but rather we are making mistakes. Not 100% sold on this however, but hopeful.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

I appreciate the debate homer and I don't mind at all the difference of opinion. I do mind you saying that I don't provide any support to my arguement. I think I provided excellent support with my player analysis in multiple posts. When examining the roster as is for next year I don't see any possibility of having a good defensive line and a very low chance of having a servicable one. In my mind you are like Kevin Bacon in Animal House screaming out all is well.

I was concerned this year and next year I am terrified. Hence my reasoning for why KF needs to evaluate every aspect of the defense because the trend is looking very scary.

I'm not one who believes that "all is well" for the D in 2012. I see it as a transition year ... and that pisses me off considering the enormous potential of the O.

I definitely feel that the DL will have enough issues to cost us a few games next year.

However, I also believe that the composition of our roster is setting up really well for Iowa to field a pretty elite D come the 2013. I have high standards for our D ... and it pains me when our D isn't elite. It pains me when our DL isn't among the best in the nation. Thus, just because I feel that the DL is capable of being above serviceable in 2012 ... that doesn't mean that I'm satisfied with the group. I definitely want them to be better than that.

Of course, I've also learned through the years that you can't just "judge a book by its cover" when it comes to breaking down the future of Iowa's DL. For instance, look at the transition on the DL from '03 to '04. Roth was the only player who really had really impressive production on the field. Babs was clearly a pretty high ceiling guy ... but he had just gotten injured in '03 and it wasn't clear at what sort of level he'd play the DT spot in '04. On top of that ... we lost both Hodges and Clauss ... and we lost one of our more promising and explosive back-up DTs in Neubauer to attrition.

Who would have guessed that the combo of Roth, Babs, Luebke, Robinson, and absolutely NO DEPTH behind them would have been such a dominant unit? Heck, after the Arizona State game ... what were you expecting?

My point being ... never count out the spirit if Hawkeye ... and, what's more, don't forget that Iowa's coaches are exceptional when it comes to developing talent!