Iowa is NOT Going to go Spread Crazy

[UrbandaleHawk01]

Completely false. Ball control offenses still dominate the NFL and college. Teams just change the way they control the ball. New England is a prime example of a team that controls the ball utilizing the pass. It's essentially a souped up version of the west coast offense.

Fine. Traditional ball control offenses will be a thing of the past. If Iowa dominated ball control using a NE type offense, that would be perfectly fine by me. And you know what, I think they actually could with this QB and the receivers at his disposal

 

[deanvogs]

I said this exact thing in a thread about Iowa's offense going forward. I could not agree more. We need our 5 best skill players on the field as much as possible. I think the 5 best are Mcnutt, Davis, KMM, Zach Derby and Coker if we are going 3 WR, 1 TE and 1 RB.

This is exactly it. Watch the game, especially the first touchdown drive at the end of the 3rd quarter. If no huddle was solely to credit for this win, then how did Iowa drive the field and score their 1st touchdown in 5 plays, playing with a huddle and under center? They completed 3 passes, got to the 5 yard line, and then Bullock scored, but they didn't call it, so it took the 5th play with JVB sneaking it in.

Iowa coaches are very good at learning lessons, whether the fans want to give them credit or not. The staff's philosophy is to have the best players on the field, they do this on the DL, they do it with the OL, they do it with the LB, and they do this with the back 4 between the CB and S. I think after this game we will see a lot more 3 WR sets, as the coaches now know that this is an effective set for us. We need to have McNutt, Davis, KMM, and a TE on the field, and the opponents will have a lot to think about. It really matters little if JVB is under center or out of the shotgun, coming out of a huddle, or doing no huddle. What matters is having the best players on the field.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

The main advantage to occasionally working out of shotgun and/or no-huddle is that it's worth doing something to help get Vandenberg into a rhythm. Once the QB had gotten into a groove ... they are more confident and are typically that much harder to stop.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Agreed - almost identically - as posted here a few minutes before this thread

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/football/33848-our-offense-going-forward.html#post524892

A slight edit ...

After live and rewatch, I actually believe you will see even more noticeable pass emphasis than I first thought. No, not rampant no-huddle, but noticeable -- more 1st down shotgun, more quick outs and TE sit-downs at 6-7 yards, at least in the near-term and until they can get Bullock further developed and Marcus out of his head and back on the field.

Marcus is only averaging 3.9 / carry but is really struggling on 1st downs -- 127 / 38 carries = 3.34 / carry. Watching him against Pitt and seemed he often took 3-4 stutter steps to make his cut. Don't know if this is physical (is it possible he's a little to tall & heavy to change direction effectively in the zone-block / cut-back scheme?) or mental (over-thinking, indecision and ball protection?) Seems he was much more effective as a straight-ahead power runner to the designated hole against Missouri rather than asking him to pick his lane.

Just an observation but 1st down is critical to how Iowa plays the game. Right now, the running game is fairly impotent on 1st down so will need to use the short passing game to get those crucial 4-6 yards to allow the series to evolve.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

Why Derby over Herman?

 

[Section136]

Why Derby over Herman?

He has played better than Herman this year, and I dont think its been all that close.

 

[ssckelley]

He has played better than Herman this year, and I dont think its been all that close.

Really? So Herman allows blitzing linebackers get around him without barely touching them as well? If they are putting in Derby to help out on blocking over Herman then the coaches have a LONG way to go on these tightends.

 

[Section136]

Really? So Herman allows blitzing linebackers get around him without barely touching them as well? If they are putting in Derby to help out on blocking over Herman then the coaches have a LONG way to go on these tightends.

Im not saying Derby plays 100% of the snaps. The coaches are smart enough to figure out the rotation that works best. I just think through the first 3 games Derby has outperformed Herman.

 

[Bigtenchamp]

The New England offense throws 75% of the time and down field often - its hardly conservative ball control - also they go for it on 4th down like they don't give an eff


Jon - in regards to the title of your post - I know its true but it still is a little frustrating.

Looking at the talent of this team - we have way more in the passing game then the running game. Trying to rely on coker and the defense doesn't look like it will work this year,

 

[briankaldenberg]

What does ball control offense mean? Does that mean cramming 8 to 9 guys in the box and trying to run the football with either 2 TE or 1 TE and a FB?

I guess I'd think of a ball control offense as an offense that racks up a lot of yards and first downs. If you don't get first downs you don't "control" the ball.

The offenses that rack up the most yards, get the most first downs, score the most points..... typically look NOTHING like our offense. They spread the field with speed.

Notice the word typically. There's exceptions to the rule like Alabama and your occasional Wisconsin like this year. But these types of offenses make up the minority of the top 10 production offenses year in and year out.

So if a ball control offense is judged on it's ability to "control the ball" then the majority of these ball control offenses spread the field.

You can spread the field with a pro-style offense.

You can spread the field with a spread option offense.

Either way, "most' of the nation's potent offenses are spreading the field a hell of a lot more than we do and using all of the real estate afforded to them.

 

[FBletterman]

Yeah that's right? Let's not do exactly what we did in the 4th qrt. that led to us blowing out a good Fb team??? Let's just tweak things a bit instead, that's the plan???? Why on earth would we even consider tinkering with what worked so amazingly in that last 1 1/2 quarters is beyond me? I believe this is like 2004 and we need to get drastic now; why does it have to take us losing a few more games to figure that one out?

 

[SDK46]

The downside to the offense Pitt ran is it doesn't milk the clock when you need it.

Pitt would have been well-served to go to a pro-style in the 4th, but they didn't or couldn't, giving us extra time...and it cost them.

 

[theboat]

The downside to the offense Pitt ran is it doesn't milk the clock when you need it.

Pitt would have been well-served to go to a pro-style in the 4th, but the didn't, giving us extra time...and it cost them.

Agreed. Pitt ran what they knew and what they spend time on in practice. It helped them some and it cost them some. I think some fans don't realize it isn't a video game. You can't mix in the patriots offense with a triple option with a little run and gun and expect the players to be able to know how to do it all.

Each play takes time to perfect and learn, and they don't have endless time to implement all of these different things to be able to do it all.

Teams run what they practice, and if they want to try to be good at it they have to spend a lot of time on it.

 

[CP87]

People need to quit referencing what successful NFL teams do as an example of what Iowa should do. The NFL has different rules designed specifically to open up the passing game. Furthermore, they have much more practice time each week to implement game plans, and 25-35 year old players are probably a little more football savvy than 19-22 year old players.

When looking at what has worked in college over the past few years, some spread teams (Auburn, Oregon) have certainly had success, but so have some offenses based heavily on the power-running game (Alabama, LSU, USC, Wisconsin). Scheme has less to do with success than talent, execution, and a little offensive creativity.

 

[olivecourt]

Seems like a good place to repost the Hayden press conference that JD posted last week:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsWTHIKrtGc&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[ImInTheSouth]

I think the Hawks will also make some defensive tweaks in the bye week...the D got a lot better this last week with Alvis to end, Hyde to corner and Bernstine in the lineup.

Unless Miller makes huge strides over the next few weeks, I believe Hyde will be back at safety once Lowery returns. I refuse to believe the coaches were comfortable with the thought of Castillo starting at corner all year long. They probably thought he could fill in until BJ's return. The degree to which he was over-matched in the ISU game was too great to ignore, thus Hyde back to corner.

 

[OlRustyBoy]

As someone else posted I would like to see Iowa run no huddle most of the game. It doesn't need to be a hurry up offense, just no huddle so the d can't sub playes in and out. We can take our time and call the plays at the line, like the colts do with Manning. (Not saying JVB is Manning.) The colts hardly ever huddle up but I wouldn't call there offense a hurry up tho. That we can get favorable matchups like we had on saturday in the 4th quarter. example KMM had either a LB or a safety trying to cover him.

 

[DuffMan]

As someone else posted I would like to see Iowa run no huddle most of the game. It doesn't need to be a hurry up offense, just no huddle so the d can't sub playes in and out. We can take our time and call the plays at the line, like the colts do with Manning. (Not saying JVB is Manning.) The colts hardly ever huddle up but I wouldn't call there offense a hurry up tho. That we can get favorable matchups like we had on saturday in the 4th quarter. example KMM had either a LB or a safety trying to cover him.

yes because as we've seen on two weeks that volts offense works so well without manning.

 

[OlRustyBoy]

Collins is terrible and doesn't know the offense is why it is working for the colts. It would be a great change of pace for Iowa's Offense. Again I'm not saying go to the hurry up the whole game just don't huddle. KOK can call the plays from the sidelines like Stoops and Oklahoma does. Just doesn't allow the D to huddle and make changes.

 

[Herkyalert]

Good on not going all out on the spread. Iowa cannot abandon the running game and the TE's which is Iowa Football. I never thought they would become a true spread anyhow. It does add a nice wrinkle that teams will have to gameplan for.

This only helps the run game.