Iowalaw's Postgame Report: Northern Ilinois

[BVHawk95]

It's amazing how you guys can make such astute observations based upon one game.

 

[bitmap]

College football is officially back!

1. We Have a Legit Punt Returner

Sure looks that way. He puts himself in position to catch the ball and then runs.

2. DLine is For Real.

Reminded me of the 2009 unit. I liked it when they moved Hesse inside so we had Anthony Nelson, Matt Nelson, Parker Hesse, and AJ Esponesa on some of the third downs. Relentless pass rush. Thinking about it, the entire team has a 2009 feel to it - 3rd Qtr gear change, the D putting out fires started by the O, the O showing some upside here and there. The only thing missing is a pair of WRs...

3. Overhype Rears Its Head -

He'll be fine - At least he was blocking. Technically I guess that was a hold but seemed like kind of a picky call

4. Most Improved Player-

Looks that way but this is only one game. That said the punt coverage was great, looks like they have been practicing getting in front of the ball. This may be a workable solution but only time will tell.

5. Stanley is Who I Said He Is, a Game Manager -

Seems that way. I have to give credit to him for "holding back" a bit. He is a big guy and at some point a smaller DB is going to pay when Stanley decides to run through him instead of out of bounds. Mansell looked competent and congrats on his first Iowa TD!

6. Loving the RB By Committee -

This lineup is going to serve Iowa well.

I have a couple observations to add:

1. Iowa looks to have some depth on the OL. This was a question coming in. They shutdown an All American DE. Smith did get a sack but overall he wasn't a big factor. This w/ two number twos @ tackle. Stanley had time. The play action helped. Unfortunately he made some poor decisions when he was pressed.

2. Linebacking depth isn't as thin as I thought coming into the game. They did alright but Fitzgerald is probably already developing a plan to exploit their collective lack of experience. I imagine Campbell is too. As it stands the pistol is going to give this unit fits until they become a little more disciplined in their gap coverage. Hopefully they are fast learners.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Players who didn't look ready for prime time.
WR Brandon Smith - can't catch the ball Finding a serviceable outside WR is going to be very much a project.
MLB Amani Jones - slow on reads. The rest of the linebackers out there had a better day. Hockaday looked serviceable. Niemann did quite well, and Welsh looked the part out there.

Fant and Easley had a bad game. Fant will bounce back. The only place Fant is obviously deficient is run blocking in short yardage situations.

Defensive backfield really wasn't tested much by the opposing QB, which probably wasn't a bad thing considering all the new personnel back there.

Players that really stepped it up.
DE Parker Hesse - took it to another level in this game.
RB Toren Young ran like he had something to prove once he got in.
TE TJ Hockenson looks like he is going to step up now that Fant is getting more attention from defenders.
TE Nate Wieting - Is the best blocking tight end and is also in play as an occasional receiving option.
C Keegan Render & LG Ross Reynolds looked ready for a good senior year.

Offensive Tackle depth looks a lot better after this game.
Having Jackson and Wirfs out, no doubt contributed the offense being out of sync early on. It did answer some questions though. Kallenberger, Paulson, and Ferguson all looked serviceable.

Defensive line improved against the run in the second half. Having Lattimore and Reiff back should help. It looks like they have plenty of options to play inside in various different circumstances.

It looks like they have good help blocking out of the backfield. TE Nate Wieting, FB Brady Ross, and RB Mekhi Sargent all seem to be superior blockers at their respective positions. FB TJ Hockenson and FB Austin Kelly are both good blockers as well. I would expect to see plenty of 22 personnel this year. Mekhi Sargent's abilities as a power runner able to create extra yardage after contact, his good blocking ability and his abilities receiving the ball make for a excellent third down back, plus he might be a good getting things going early in games.

 

[lightning1]

College football is officially back! While there was too much randying around in the first half, where we managed just 3 points against a MAC opponent, the Hawks shook off the rust and played better than most of the experts expected (point spread was 10 points this week). Here are Iowalaw's observations:

1. We Have a Legit Punt Returner - Despite having a guy starting in the NFL as our punt returner last year, we were one of the worst return teams in college football. Josh Jackson was a stud CB, but if he and Vandeberg weren't fair catching (despite a 5 yard cushion of running room), he was letting it roll past him and be touched dead inside our 20 yard line. Unheralded walk-on Kyle Groeneweg was a breath of fresh air! Not only did he field all 5 returnable punts rather than calling fair catches (Josh Jackson only returned 5 punts all season), but he made plays. He's not the fastest guy, but he's got a knack for the return game, and a lightning quick first step that allowed him to average 8.4 yards per return. Those are borderline all-Big 10 numbers and make a huge difference in the field position game.

2. DLine is For Real. - It is great to have an elite level DL putting pressure on the QB and stuffing runs. Nelson had 1 sack, Hesse had 2 sacks, and AJ had 1 sack and 2 QB hurries, so it really didn't matter who was out there, they were all pushing back the OL and making plays. We may get very little from our LBs this year, but top notch QBs will not be able to sit back and pick our DBs apart because they aren't going to have time to throw. NIU managed just 101 yards rushing in large part to the DL.

3. Overhype Rears Its Head - While there were several pleasant surprises today, some of the most hyped guys on the team proved that they have work to do to. Iowa's #1 WR on the depth chart, Brandon Smith, who I was outspokenly skeptical of given his lack of results last year (he came in with a ton of hype and had more drops in the season than catches)...ended up with a familiar stat line...0 catches, with more drops than catches. The guy can have all the size and speed in the world, but if he continues with the drops, we are better off playing 3 TE sets or throwing to the walk ons. Consensus "first round pick" Noah Fant too had a rough day. While homers will note that he had 1 yard touchdown catch when left wide open in the end zone, he also had a bad drop, a bad penalty, and wasn't much of a blocker. He finished with just 3 catches for 3 yards each. We need him to have better games ahead.

4. Most Improved Player - I was as hard on our punter as anyone last year. He finished 110th out of 111 D1 punters in punting yards. I was highly critical of the decision to start Raestetter this week, but he went out there and played the best game of his career, by a long shot! 4 punts for a 54 avg (without the benefit of a 60 mph tail wind) thought you we. Who would have guessed it?! That kind of punting game can easily make the difference in 1 or 2 games this year.

5. Stanley is Who I Said He Is, a Game Manager - Perhaps the talk of Stanley leaving college after his jr year as an NFL 1st round draft pick will die down a bit after today's reality check. He had a mediocre game throwing for just 108 yards, despite getting pretty good blocking. The same problems he had last year continue to dog him this year. His completion percentage was under 50%, he couldn't connect on deep balls, his short touch passes were thrown behind targets, and he's a bit of a statue back there with no threat at all to run the ball. Perhaps more concerning, Stanley completed just 3 passes to WRs today, all to Smith-Marsette. We have something like 10 WRs on scholarship. Only 1 of them is making any kind of contribution?

6. Loving the RB By Committee - Typically, I like having a stud RB get the majority of the carries and watching him work. But this team has 3 above avg RBs, and it looks like they are all going to carry the ball. RB by committee seems to be working (granted, we were not playing against a Big 10 defense). Sargent was a quick little slasher, Kelly-Martin was an all around back, and Young was a bruiser. You really can't go wrong with any of these guys. Unfortunately for Kelly-Martin, he had three different great runs called back due to holding penalties, or his stats would have been even better. The one drawback is I hope they are all cool with getting 1/3 of the carries for the next 3 years.

You really don't know much about football, do you? You're better than a comedian because you want us to take you seriously. It's always the unintended comedy that's the best. Too funny.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I know Jon made a long podcast trying to dispel the argument Iowa QBs have worse years after their first year in the program. I think he was right on some points, but the eyeball test tells me otherwise on others. Stats may go up, but efficiency I'm not sure about.

It will be interesting to see how well Stanley performs throughout the year.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

College football is officially back! While there was too much randying around in the first half, where we managed just 3 points against a MAC opponent, the Hawks shook off the rust and played better than most of the experts expected (point spread was 10 points this week). Here are Iowalaw's observations:

1. We Have a Legit Punt Returner - Despite having a guy starting in the NFL as our punt returner last year, we were one of the worst return teams in college football. Josh Jackson was a stud CB, but if he and Vandeberg weren't fair catching (despite a 5 yard cushion of running room), he was letting it roll past him and be touched dead inside our 20 yard line. Unheralded walk-on Kyle Groeneweg was a breath of fresh air! Not only did he field all 5 returnable punts rather than calling fair catches (Josh Jackson only returned 5 punts all season), but he made plays. He's not the fastest guy, but he's got a knack for the return game, and a lightning quick first step that allowed him to average 8.4 yards per return. Those are borderline all-Big 10 numbers and make a huge difference in the field position game.

2. DLine is For Real. - It is great to have an elite level DL putting pressure on the QB and stuffing runs. Nelson had 1 sack, Hesse had 2 sacks, and AJ had 1 sack and 2 QB hurries, so it really didn't matter who was out there, they were all pushing back the OL and making plays. We may get very little from our LBs this year, but top notch QBs will not be able to sit back and pick our DBs apart because they aren't going to have time to throw. NIU managed just 101 yards rushing in large part to the DL.

3. Overhype Rears Its Head - While there were several pleasant surprises today, some of the most hyped guys on the team proved that they have work to do to. Iowa's #1 WR on the depth chart, Brandon Smith, who I was outspokenly skeptical of given his lack of results last year (he came in with a ton of hype and had more drops in the season than catches)...ended up with a familiar stat line...0 catches, with more drops than catches. The guy can have all the size and speed in the world, but if he continues with the drops, we are better off playing 3 TE sets or throwing to the walk ons. Consensus "first round pick" Noah Fant too had a rough day. While homers will note that he had 1 yard touchdown catch when left wide open in the end zone, he also had a bad drop, a bad penalty, and wasn't much of a blocker. He finished with just 3 catches for 3 yards each. We need him to have better games ahead.

4. Most Improved Player - I was as hard on our punter as anyone last year. He finished 110th out of 111 D1 punters in punting yards. I was highly critical of the decision to start Raestetter this week, but he went out there and played the best game of his career, by a long shot! 4 punts for a 54 avg (without the benefit of a 60 mph tail wind) thought you we. Who would have guessed it?! That kind of punting game can easily make the difference in 1 or 2 games this year.

5. Stanley is Who I Said He Is, a Game Manager - Perhaps the talk of Stanley leaving college after his jr year as an NFL 1st round draft pick will die down a bit after today's reality check. He had a mediocre game throwing for just 108 yards, despite getting pretty good blocking. The same problems he had last year continue to dog him this year. His completion percentage was under 50%, he couldn't connect on deep balls, his short touch passes were thrown behind targets, and he's a bit of a statue back there with no threat at all to run the ball. Perhaps more concerning, Stanley completed just 3 passes to WRs today, all to Smith-Marsette. We have something like 10 WRs on scholarship. Only 1 of them is making any kind of contribution?

6. Loving the RB By Committee - Typically, I like having a stud RB get the majority of the carries and watching him work. But this team has 3 above avg RBs, and it looks like they are all going to carry the ball. RB by committee seems to be working (granted, we were not playing against a Big 10 defense). Sargent was a quick little slasher, Kelly-Martin was an all around back, and Young was a bruiser. You really can't go wrong with any of these guys. Unfortunately for Kelly-Martin, he had three different great runs called back due to holding penalties, or his stats would have been even better. The one drawback is I hope they are all cool with getting 1/3 of the carries for the next 3 years.

Pretty fair takes I'd say. The WRs really have my head scratching. From what we'd heard in practice etc I expected a whole lot more than the turd sandwich they provided. Stanley was not all that accurate at all out there. He got lucky he didn't throw a pick 6 on that one across the field throw he attempted to Easley on 3rd down. Hockenson is the only person in the passing game I think that had a good game. And he did let's not take anything away from him.

BF has his hands full but not because of why I would have originally thought. I thought our Oline would have had some bad plays in there leaving Stanley with little to no time. But even with the new faces and being down 2 starters they get a B in my book. If it weren't for the penalties it could have been better. I can't really remember Stanley having less time than he should have on any of his throws. That one time he got blasted that was on Stanley holding the ball too long and or they had good coverage. Either way the Oline gave him closer to 4 seconds than 3 which is what you hope for.

The running game was ok. First half left a lot to be desired obviously but they wore down that oh so scary NIU Dline…. Our 3 RBs were great. I wonder if saving Young till the 2nd half was intentional or not but boy having his fresh legs out there was huge. Think of how a tired D trying to bring down a guy like him that's fresh as can be must be? Dude has some Shonn Greene to him the more I see of him. But he'll probably never get the chance to be that type of bell cow. To me Young was the MVP of the offense week 1.

Dline was exactly what we hoped. Gave up a little too many rushing yards for my liking in the first half but they had us spread out on most of their successful plays and our LBs were just out of position some. But as far as our Dline rushing the passer goes we mostly thought we should be solid there and they are. Having that many talented guys to rotate through all game long just gives them fresh hungry legs in the 4th q. It was fun watching them tee off once we had a 2 and 3 score lead.

LBs.… Man early on that was rough. After taking Jones out for Hockaday things settled down. Nieman made that huge play and Welch made a couple as well. Can't really give them a high grade but they passed thanks to the rest of the team around them. Film session for those guys will be quite educational after that.

DBs weren't really tested all that much. Hooker got that pick which at the time was huge. Not sure how much of that was luck in that he started to float that way with the receiver that got behind him. A good throw and that would have been a TD. But it was what it was and no harm no foul. The others I can't really pick on so they must have done a good enough job. That offense they played against wasn't exactly an air raid so they'll get tested more later.

Punting was a huge breath of fresh air. Holy smokes I didn't even remotely think he was capable of booming the couple he did. Good for him. Now just get the protections down so he can have time to get them off.... You'd think with an entire off season with a special teams coach that that shouldn't happen on the first snap but humans are just that.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I may be in the minority here but I thought Stanley looked fine. As usual with Iowa we don’t show a whole lot of the playbook early in the season. We didn’t take many deep shots, likely due to the two tackles being out. Don’t recall many screens either?

I thought he looked like he was focusing a lot on ball placement, throwing the ball where only his guys to get it, and trying to be perfect probably cost him some incompletions. He will get that figured out as the season rolls on.

The Fant drop. (I continued to say all offseason his hands are still an issue separating him from being great. Monster drops at NW and at UW last year) That was a huge drop and probably completely changes Nate’s stat line. Also, you couldn’t have walked that pass out there any better, remeber deep accuracy concerns?

The interception. Great play by the NIU player, not to mention another bad moment for B Smith. As a WR you cannot get completely pinned into the sideline on that route. Nate still made a mistake with the throw but it should have likely been an incompletion had Smith done his job.

WRs have to step up, and Nate will be better. That doesn’t concern me much.

 

[83Hawk]

Punting game was good. Also nice to have a guy who actually returns punts instead of fair catching them all.

For the life of me, I don’t understand why Iowa can’t seem to get a decent WR threat. Or receivers that can get open or at least catch the ball.

Stanley better improve next week. ISU is going to score. We can’t try to grind it out and expect to win.

Fant still having trouble catching the ball. Was pretty much a non-factor, other than his TD.

Defense looked great. Only concern was not wrapping up the RB very well in the first half. They do that next week, and the Hawks will get torched on the ground. Jury is out on the secondary...they were never really tested. They will be next week, which makes it extra important that the d-line pressure the QB.

Hawks look like they have a nice group of RB’s. Will be an advantage later in the season to rotate guys with fresh legs.

Had a drunk in the row behind me and one seat to the right, who puked all over himself then the seats in front of him. Thankfully only a little got on me. People were asking him to leave. Naturally he responded with “I don’t give a **** what you think.” “I got a little drunk. Big deal.” Sat there like a lump, covered in his own puke. A few minutes later 3 of IC’s finest showed up to escort him out. I expected him to resist. Fortunately he didn’t. I hope to heck he isn’t a season ticket holder. I don’t recall ever seeing him before, so hopefully I never see him again.

And people want beer sold at the stadium......

 

[CP87]

The offense struggled mightily in the first half, but the plays were there to be made, which I did not think was always the case last year. Smith drop on play 1, the Fant drop on 3rd down, an errant throw on the next drive to a wide open Easley along with Easley not hauling in a catchable ball, several big runs called back on penalties, several times missing the one block needed to spring a play...those are killers, but I think the right plays were called in many of those instances. The coaches just need to get the players coached up to make those plays.

I liked the draw on 3rd and 15, Iowa had decent #s advantage, just needed to get more OL to the next level.

The unsuccessful 4th and 1 (it was closer to 2 than 1) got messed up from the start. Stanley and the FB got in each other's way (not sure who was at fault), that messed up the mesh between Stanley and Sargent, and the OL allowed penetration. Bottom line is the play looked awful; I am not sure how much was due to the call, and how much due to bad execution.

The jet sweep to ISM would have gone big but B. Smith did not even get a hand on his guy. Smith took a terrible angle to him, the defender cut inside and went straight upfield, forcing ISM to cut up. Fant had his man sealed to the inside, but once ISM cut up, that defender was in perfect position to make a play. Had Smith gotten even a hint of a block, that would have gone for big yards.

Iowa was starting to have a little success in the run game with Wieting and a FB in (21 personnel). NIU was really loading up. Iowa ran play action with max protect, with ISM and B. Smith running crossing routes (Smith deep, ISM shallow). ISM got hung up on LBs and never got clear. B. Smith did not get open. The design was solid, but the WR didn't get the job done.

Execution is absolutely on the coaches as much as the players, but the blame needs to be placed correctly. The issue did not seem to be on the plays calls or design of the offense (at least from my perspective), but rather on the coaches' ability to get the players to execute. I didn't think that was always the case last year, and so I am encouraged that the play calling seems improved. I am confident that the execution will get better.

The WRs and LBs are the groups that showed some struggles. ISM looked okay out there. Brandon Smith just is not getting anything done. The next play he makes on the field will be his first. He obviously is performing in practice, and the Hawks DBs are no slouches, but something is not translating. He probably needs to hang out with Rastetter's sports psychologist.

Welch flashed at times, also had a few errors. Niemann the same. I am encouraged by both. Obviously, Jones struggled mightily. Hopefully first game nerves and he will get over that. Good on Hockaday for stepping up when we needed it. Colbert got a fair amount of run. Wade looked interesting at the end, as well. I am going to say something ridiculous here: the way Wade looks and moves reminds me of Lawrence Taylor. I am not predicting Wade becomes LT, but he is long-limbed, thick, and his body just looks "violent." Not even sure how to describe it, but when I saw him (first time seeing him in person), that is where my brain went.

Last comment: I am not a fan of the Dline milling about before a snap in passing situations. It worked for a couple of sacks as OL did not account for a blitzing LB and that created havoc (AJE dropped into a coverage a few times). However, AJE coming from a 3-pt stance is so much more effective than AJE starting from a standing position. That is not my favorite wrinkle, but I suppose Parker knows more than me.

I enjoyed the game, Go Hawks!

 

[InGoodCo]

I thought Stanley looked pretty good. He wasn’t given a lot help early on, as the game wore on his weapons helped him out. Iowa didn’t show anything in this game. This team has potential to be a double digit win football team

 

[83Hawk]

My favorite part of the game was when NIU was needlessly calling timeouts at the end, and we threw a pass downfield on them.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Punting game was good. Also nice to have a guy who actually returns punts instead of fair catching them all.

For the life of me, I don’t understand why Iowa can’t seem to get a decent WR threat. Or receivers that can get open or at least catch the ball.

Stanley better improve next week. ISU is going to score. We can’t try to grind it out and expect to win.

Fant still having trouble catching the ball. Was pretty much a non-factor, other than his TD.

Defense looked great. Only concern was not wrapping up the RB very well in the first half. They do that next week, and the Hawks will get torched on the ground. Jury is out on the secondary...they were never really tested. They will be next week, which makes it extra important that the d-line pressure the QB.

Hawks look like they have a nice group of RB’s. Will be an advantage later in the season to rotate guys with fresh legs.

Had a drunk in the row behind me and one seat to the right, who puked all over himself then the seats in front of him. Thankfully only a little got on me. People were asking him to leave. Naturally he responded with “I don’t give a **** what you think.” “I got a little drunk. Big deal.” Sat there like a lump, covered in his own puke. A few minutes later 3 of IC’s finest showed up to escort him out. I expected him to resist. Fortunately he didn’t. I hope to heck he isn’t a season ticket holder. I don’t recall ever seeing him before, so hopefully I never see him again.

And people want beer sold at the stadium......

As an aside. I think the argument for selling Beer inside the stadium is so people don’t binge drink as much at the tailgate knowing they are going to be inside for the next 3 hours at the game. Bottom line though is their are going to be drunk idiots either way you slice it. The revenues from selling beer can be used to staff more patrol and puke cleaners (jk ). I think other Universities who have done this have had some success. The fan experience at TCF Bank was pretty good when I was there and they sold beer.

 

[dahlhawk]

My observations are carried over from all of last season. This offense seems to run by accident than by design. It is so fragile and stagnate it frustrates me. Parker has year after year put a solid defense out there that passes the eyeball test. The offense by comparison is always a work in progress no matter how many returning starters. Then you get that performance against Ohio State and you see the potential. When you claim it's poor execution by players week after week, when does it become poor execution by coaching staff?

 

[HawkGold]

Iowa D line size caused problems for a short qb.

Stanley will miss the threat of Big play Wadley. He is limited by weakness of wideouts. This is a major issue even with a good TE game.

Punting is a mixed bag. Lack of straight punting will cause a problem.

LBs played too shallow in 1st half. Easily corrected.

Compared to traditional Iowa 1st games this was encouraging.

KF has always beenva decent coach but lazy and maybe stubborn. Still stubborn about wrs. However he is coaching for Brians future.

 

[Jonrn]

The WRs are a concern, everyone of them looked underwhelming unless you consider Groeneweg as a punt returner.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Brandon Smith has been so consistently bad about executing and catching the ball that you have to wonder if it is just a case of stone hands. I have to wonder if he's got himself psyched out and his attention isn't the way it should be. He needs some successes to build upon, but so far its been nothing.

Smith-Marsette has some successes to build upon,and there seems to be some talent there. Whether he will slowly or quickly improve remains to be seen.

Easley didn't have a good game. Another problem is Easley and Smith Marsette have overlapping responsibilities. Neither of them is really the outside guy. In most sets they haven't been on the field at the same time so it is either one or the other.

Groeneweg seems to be the other option on the outside. It might be time to see what he's got.

 

[BVHawk95]

Brandon Smith has been so consistently bad about executing and catching the ball that you have to wonder if it is just a case of stone hands. I have to wonder if he's got himself psyched out and his attention isn't the way it should be. He needs some successes to build upon, but so far its been nothing.

Smith-Marsette has some successes to build upon,and there seems to be some talent there. Whether he will slowly or quickly improve remains to be seen.

Easley didn't have a good game. Another problem is Easley and Smith Marsette have overlapping responsibilities. Neither of them is really the outside guy. In most sets they haven't been on the field at the same time so it is either one or the other.

Groeneweg seems to be the other option on the outside. It might be time to see what he's got.

I could see Smith having a case of the jitters/yips. You could tell the coaches are looking for ways to get him the ball. He was targeted, what, 6-7 times yesterday? He's just got to take advantage of those opportunities (on decent throws, anyway).

 

[PlatypusMessiah]

5. Stanley is Who I Said He Is, a Game Manager - Perhaps the talk of Stanley leaving college after his jr year as an NFL 1st round draft pick will die down a bit after today's reality check.

I entirely agree Stanley would be nuts to go to the NFL in this draft. I’m still waiting on a 3 year collage QB to ever amount to anything in the NFL. That being said, I’d rather have Nate Stanley on my NFL team more than any other B1G QB. Shea Patterson is close, but I’ll go with Nate. If he continues to develop, he could make himself a lot of money in 2020.

Nate is a lot more than a game manager. No game manager pulls Iowa out of the frying pan the Hawks were in last year in Ames. Against Ohio St., Stanley was a cold blooded killer. In those games, Iowa didn’t have such easy drops. If Smith catches his 2 drops, there is probably 25 more yards, 60 more yards and a TD for Fant’s drop, and another 5 for Easly’s drop. Add 90 yards and a TD to Stanley’s day and he smells like roses. You can’t blame the guy for lack of execution of the receivers. I have a hard time blaming him for targeting Fant and TJ. Nobody blames Tom Brady for throwing to Gronk all the time. If you can exploit a mismatch, you do it.

 

[EstronHawkKing]

College football is officially back! While there was too much randying around in the first half, where we managed just 3 points against a MAC opponent, the Hawks shook off the rust and played better than most of the experts expected (point spread was 10 points this week). Here are Iowalaw's observations:

1. We Have a Legit Punt Returner - Despite having a guy starting in the NFL as our punt returner last year, we were one of the worst return teams in college football. Josh Jackson was a stud CB, but if he and Vandeberg weren't fair catching (despite a 5 yard cushion of running room), he was letting it roll past him and be touched dead inside our 20 yard line. Unheralded walk-on Kyle Groeneweg was a breath of fresh air! Not only did he field all 5 returnable punts rather than calling fair catches (Josh Jackson only returned 5 punts all season), but he made plays. He's not the fastest guy, but he's got a knack for the return game, and a lightning quick first step that allowed him to average 8.4 yards per return. Those are borderline all-Big 10 numbers and make a huge difference in the field position game.

2. DLine is For Real. - It is great to have an elite level DL putting pressure on the QB and stuffing runs. Nelson had 1 sack, Hesse had 2 sacks, and AJ had 1 sack and 2 QB hurries, so it really didn't matter who was out there, they were all pushing back the OL and making plays. We may get very little from our LBs this year, but top notch QBs will not be able to sit back and pick our DBs apart because they aren't going to have time to throw. NIU managed just 101 yards rushing in large part to the DL.

3. Overhype Rears Its Head - While there were several pleasant surprises today, some of the most hyped guys on the team proved that they have work to do to. Iowa's #1 WR on the depth chart, Brandon Smith, who I was outspokenly skeptical of given his lack of results last year (he came in with a ton of hype and had more drops in the season than catches)...ended up with a familiar stat line...0 catches, with more drops than catches. The guy can have all the size and speed in the world, but if he continues with the drops, we are better off playing 3 TE sets or throwing to the walk ons. Consensus "first round pick" Noah Fant too had a rough day. While homers will note that he had 1 yard touchdown catch when left wide open in the end zone, he also had a bad drop, a bad penalty, and wasn't much of a blocker. He finished with just 3 catches for 3 yards each. We need him to have better games ahead.

4. Most Improved Player - I was as hard on our punter as anyone last year. He finished 110th out of 111 D1 punters in punting yards. I was highly critical of the decision to start Raestetter this week, but he went out there and played the best game of his career, by a long shot! 4 punts for a 54 avg (without the benefit of a 60 mph tail wind) thought you we. Who would have guessed it?! That kind of punting game can easily make the difference in 1 or 2 games this year.

5. Stanley is Who I Said He Is, a Game Manager - Perhaps the talk of Stanley leaving college after his jr year as an NFL 1st round draft pick will die down a bit after today's reality check. He had a mediocre game throwing for just 108 yards, despite getting pretty good blocking. The same problems he had last year continue to dog him this year. His completion percentage was under 50%, he couldn't connect on deep balls, his short touch passes were thrown behind targets, and he's a bit of a statue back there with no threat at all to run the ball. Perhaps more concerning, Stanley completed just 3 passes to WRs today, all to Smith-Marsette. We have something like 10 WRs on scholarship. Only 1 of them is making any kind of contribution?

6. Loving the RB By Committee - Typically, I like having a stud RB get the majority of the carries and watching him work. But this team has 3 above avg RBs, and it looks like they are all going to carry the ball. RB by committee seems to be working (granted, we were not playing against a Big 10 defense). Sargent was a quick little slasher, Kelly-Martin was an all around back, and Young was a bruiser. You really can't go wrong with any of these guys. Unfortunately for Kelly-Martin, he had three different great runs called back due to holding penalties, or his stats would have been even better. The one drawback is I hope they are all cool with getting 1/3 of the carries for the next 3 years.

Are you some kind of expert on football? Do you work for ESPN or the Big 10 Network? Why are we suppose to be in awe of what your write up's are? Seriously, you come across as some kind of know it all.

 

[ModebaSan]

Not taking anything away from Toren Young. 84 yds. rushing and 2 td’s is a pretty good day. But I think Iowa’s unsung hero of the game was Ivory Kelly-Martin who finished with 62 yds. rushing. IKM had a run of 11 yds. and a run of 45 yds. called back because of penalties. If not for those 2 penalties, IKM would of had 118 yds. rushing! That just proves to me, that we have some good rb’s, any which can bust out for 100 yd. game at anytime. Hopefully we can clean up those penalties.