Iowa's allowing 179 rushing yards per game
- Thread starter mrolympia
- Start date
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
I'll save you the time....it's NEVER been that high under Ferentz. Not during the crap early years of 1999 and 2000....not ever.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
We returned everyone in the front 7 except Meier and Fisher. In fact, the only players we had to replace were Meier, Fisher, and Lomax. There's absolutely no reason, aside from internal dissention, that we should be this bad against the run.
The quotes from players and KF after the game indicate that some of the players are not hearing or getting to their spot when a defensive adjustment is called. Some people say that bzjata (sp?) is getting held alot,
But Meier and Drew Ott were great at crashing down from the DEnd position to stop the run.
Hesse looked better as he was limping a good bit against NDSU but seemed running better against Rutgers.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
Great point. Not an expert by any means but I think a lot of our woes against the run and our defensive play over all is that we're missing tackles, trying to make arm tackles as opposed to wrapping guys up, or trying to strip the ball instead of making the tackle.
mrolympia
Well-Known Member
btw, 179 ypg is, uh, "good" for 86th in the nation. This is a program who consistently has a top 20 defense against the run. Worst fears confirmed, have to rely on a greg davis led offense to score points 
it's a shame this site doesn't have a crying and puking emoticon, those two would be appropriate
it's a shame this site doesn't have a crying and puking emoticon, those two would be appropriate
trj
Well-Known Member
I disagree I think it is the D-line. NDSU/Rutgers O-line were able to get out to that second level and maul people. What Jewel is doing is remarkable considering he isn't getting clean looks to tackle guys. i think the D-line up the middle is simply underperforming.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
The whole "receiver separation" thing has been a problem since GD arrived on campus. I'm convinced it's on him and not our receivers...especially when you consider he doesn't believe in route trees...it's all based on "read and react"...
HawkeyeDenis
Well-Known Member
And at a 179 yards a game against the weakest (except NDSU) competition on the schedule. What is up with the defensive tackles? They did well last year, then this year as seniors they are getting pushed all over the field?
mrolympia
Well-Known Member
holding happens on every play in college football. you honestly believe that last years line never got held? This run defense is a failure with all the guys they have back. They look like a bunch of true freshman out there.
Of course they did. I'm talking about overly obvious ones that turned minimal gains into huge plays. Zero holding calls the last two weeks compared to 2 each game can make a huge difference.
DBAHawkFan
Well-Known Member
A few possible ideas:
Our Senior leadership on defense is lacking. King is no longer a captain, and there doesn't seem to be any urgency or fire to the play of our DL. I will say the Nelsons have played the best out of everyone. Shame as I thought Johnson was poised for a huge year. Still time to turn it around
Opposing teams have found something on film that is obviously working. Whether it's scheme, tendencies by our DL/LB, or what. But near the end of last year teams were starting to move the ball with pretty good ease against us. MSU game we buckled down till that final drive. and the Rose Bowl...well...
Schedule last year was softer than this year, and it hid our issues
Our Senior leadership on defense is lacking. King is no longer a captain, and there doesn't seem to be any urgency or fire to the play of our DL. I will say the Nelsons have played the best out of everyone. Shame as I thought Johnson was poised for a huge year. Still time to turn it around
Opposing teams have found something on film that is obviously working. Whether it's scheme, tendencies by our DL/LB, or what. But near the end of last year teams were starting to move the ball with pretty good ease against us. MSU game we buckled down till that final drive. and the Rose Bowl...well...
Schedule last year was softer than this year, and it hid our issues
The DTs both have under performed I think. Now Johnson has had a handful of plays behind the line but that's just been that a handful of 100s of snaps. He's often getting himself too high and pushed out of his gap. Bazzata too. If they aren't going to be getting penetration they need to be holding their gaps and not getting pushed either to the side or backwards like they have been too much. I think the LB play has been good. Jewel has been playing awesome and out of his mind. The other two aren't so bad. I know some have railed on Bower but I thought he looked good and did his job against the pass for sure anyway. They all need to tackle better and get some more turnovers. There wasn't a bigger play then Snyder doing what he did. For a second as that play went I thought they might have called forward progress was stopped before he fumbled. Which would have made the play non reviewable and screw us over. Thankfully it’s the one time the refs did the right thing in our favor.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I thought a lot about it being a D-line issue as well but I'm not so sure. The catch and run by Grant got me thinking about it. Even at the end of the play, King goes for the hack across the arm to jar the ball loose and truthfully I think we were fortunate he was stepped on (if I recall correctly) or Grant may have just broken King the second time on that run.
I thought the front 7 looked great at times as did the secondary, but I'd love to see some sort of consistency.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Agreed. You can scheme receiver open, whether it be short or medium, we dont. While we may not have great talent at wide receiver, we have enough to get looks. I don't know enough to prove it, I believe it's more on Davis than the receivers. That said, we've had way to many drops by the receivers outside of the one we just lost, and that is a concern...and 100% mental.
