Iowa Sucks at Running the Football

DuffMan

DuffMan

Well-Known Member
This is 100% undeniable fact. Offensively we are really bad at running the football. How can that be for a team that is an NFL OL factory?

Here are our conference rankings for rushing offense the last 5 years.

2011- 12th, 3.95ypc, 138 ypg
2010- 8th, 4.3 ypc, 148 ypg
2009- 10th, 3.27 ypc, 114 ypg
2008- 4th, 4.76 ypc, 189 ypg
2007- 10th, 3.46 ypc, 126 ypg

The only year we werent in the bottom 25% of the leage was casue we had a Shonn Greene.

Purdue has had a better running game than we have over the last five years.

The only B10 teams Iowa has been better than are Northwestern, Indiana, and Minny, and of those Indiana has a better ypc average than Iowa.
 
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I just brought these statistics up within the last week or so here when someone touted us as a run first offense.
 
DuffMan said:
This is 100% undeniable fact. Offensively we are really bad at running the football. How can that be for a team that is an NFL OL factory?
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Because we can't keep a running back around for more than a week and are reduced to playing injured freshman for most of the season that's how.
 
DuffMan said:
The only year we werent in the bottom 25% of the leage was casue we had a Shonn Greene.
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I think there is a part of it. Greene is the only drafted RB Iowa has had since 2002 when Ladell Betts was drafted. Iowa has had their fair share of good RB recruits since then, but as we know, AIRBHG has reaped a bountiful harvest there.

Iowa can't keep talent on the field and the ranks get thin..whether its injuries, self inflicted issues, etc.

Coker was a horse, but would have been so much more effective with a solid wingman...and Iowa of course saw McCall go down in the first quarter of game one.

Many of the teams you cite have multi-headed RB attacks. Wisconsin rarely has had a featured back...you see this featured back trend dying (or dead) in the NFL, and that is how its going to be in college going forward, too. You will have more success running the football (on a macro statistical level) with multiple ball carriers. It's one of the reasons why I hated to see Canzeri go down..having different backs with difference skill sets is important.

John Clay, Monte Ball and James White were all different...hammer and anvil, bring in some lightning, then Ball more of an every back.

Coker was a hammer and anvil and needed some lightning to go with him...McCall looked to be more of an every back with power and speed. I think Garmon could be that guy down the road.

But as we saw with Coker, he was overused and spent by the time Iowa got to Lincoln.
 
DuffMan said:
This is 100% undeniable fact. Offensively we are really bad at running the football. How can that be for a team that is an NFL OL factory?

Here are our conference rankings for rushing offense the last 5 years.

2011- 12th, 3.95ypc, 138 ypg
2010- 8th, 4.3 ypc, 148 ypg
2009- 10th, 3.27 ypc, 114 ypg
2008- 4th, 4.76 ypc, 189 ypg
2007- 10th, 3.46 ypc, 126 ypg

The only year we werent in the bottom 25% of the leage was casue we had a Shonn Greene.

Purdue has had a better running game than we have over the last five years.

The only B10 teams Iowa has been better than are Northwestern, Indiana, and Minny, and of those Indiana has a better ypc average than Iowa.
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No, this is 100% undeniable opinion. The definition of the word "fact" seems to be the holy grail in the realm of internet posters' understanding.

This is a fact: Iowa runs the ball. This is an opinion: Iowa is horrible at running the ball. Third graders get this distinction better than sports fans. Mind-boggling.
 
I would say we have a running game that over the long run is slightly below average. The numbers are further impacted by giving up an above average number of sacks.
 
I understand we have had some injury issues, but keep in mind one of the years included in this featured Damien Simms and Albert Young both as seniors. We still finished 10th in the leage in rushing managing only 1,500. (the ypc figures that year are skewed a bit because JC was our QB and had an astounding 99 carries for 0 yards).

This all ain't about AIRBHG.
 
DuffMan said:
This is 100% undeniable fact. Offensively we are really bad at running the football. How can that be for a team that is an NFL OL factory?
Click to expand...
Because the NFL is a passing league and cares more how linemen pass block (or have the ability and/or brains to pick up the blitz).

Here's the weaknesses of Matt Kalil (possibly 3rd pick in the draft) from NFL.com

There are some concerns surrounding Kalil's ability to anchor and stall bull rushers, given his tendency to play upright. There were few examples of his anchor actually being an issue in college, but the limited level of knee bend he plays with could be a concern. He rarely snaps his hips through when blocking in the run game and is more of a mirror/positional blocker. He could have to work on his knee bend and flexibility to take on the more explosive ends in the NFL.

Here are the weaknesses of Reilly Reiff from one of the scouts on NFL.com

Reiff is not the strongest prospect at the position, as he is more of a catch blocker in pass protection and won't have the ability to decleat any ends in the NFL. If any type of foe will give him issues at the next level, it could be heavy 3-4 defensive ends who could blow him back.
 
Its the lack of imagination and the most predictable play calling, offensive scheme in the country. Doesnt matter how good your players are when the other side knows whats coming.
 
Why? Maybe Iowa's OL, across the board, are not that good. Individually, Iowa has had some great ones, but not over the whole line in every year. The number of OL in the NFL does not correlate to success at Iowa. Last year was a good example. There were a lot of holes in the OL last year. Reiff couldn't block everybody.
 
DuffMan said:
This is 100% undeniable fact. Offensively we are really bad at running the football. How can that be for a team that is an NFL OL factory?

Here are our conference rankings for rushing offense the last 5 years.

2011- 12th, 3.95ypc, 138 ypg
2010- 8th, 4.3 ypc, 148 ypg
2009- 10th, 3.27 ypc, 114 ypg
2008- 4th, 4.76 ypc, 189 ypg
2007- 10th, 3.46 ypc, 126 ypg

The only year we werent in the bottom 25% of the leage was casue we had a Shonn Greene.

Purdue has had a better running game than we have over the last five years.

The only B10 teams Iowa has been better than are Northwestern, Indiana, and Minny, and of those Indiana has a better ypc average than Iowa.
Click to expand...

Are the rankings based on ypc or total yards?
 
attrition, having backs that are not ideal for the zone blocking scheme, what Jon posted.
 
eveningnewsteam said:
Its the lack of imagination and the most predictable play calling, offensive scheme in the country. Doesnt matter how good your players are when the other side knows whats coming.
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I think this is certainly part of the reason. There are a bunch of reasons for this. Running the ball in predictable situations, running into 8 and 9 man fronts. This definately lowers the ypc averages.
Throw injuries, attrition, and some holes up front every couple years and you've got yourself quite the analysis of the problem.
 
Let's face it. Iowa has pretty much sucked a lot in the last 5 years. Those rushing numbers reflect that.
 
eveningnewsteam said:
Its the lack of imagination and the most predictable play calling, offensive scheme in the country. Doesnt matter how good your players are when the other side knows whats coming.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Play calling style of play and predictability has alot to do with it.
 
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