IowaLawWasRight
Well-Known Member
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.
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.
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