Lone PSU Positive: GameFilm Defensive Back Review

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
by HawkeyeGameFilm

As far as pass coverage goes this unit was pretty good most of the day. They only allowed PSU’s QBs to have a combined rating of 115.7 and allowed only 164 yard through the air. Iowa brought some blitz packages with DBs in this game and they were effective. It was clear Penn St was not expecting Iowa to bring pressure from the secondary and the closing speed of the DBs made it tough to adjust for. Of the three defensive groups I feel like the DBs played best game by a fair margin.

Overall, I don’t think Prater played all that bad of a game. He happened to make a few very obvious mistakes that no one missed, but he didn’t give up any big plays in coverage or have lapses there. The TD at the goal-line was a blown assignment and something he needs to fix going forward. PSU stayed away from him though and he was holding his own in coverage out there. It’s a little discouraging to see him making this many mistakes as a Senior but there is a lot of football yet to be played and Prater has the tools to make plays for this team.

Micah Hyde played a very good game this week. He was in good position virtually all day in the passing game and filled hard in run support when needed. He looked very relaxed out there and was comfortable in 1 on 1 coverage outside. He’s been very solid for Iowa all year long and is very comfortable in zone schemes Iowa relies on.

Really liked the play of the safeties this week, especially Tanner Miller. He’s learning fast out there this year and isn’t repeating his early mistakes. He clearly learned his lesson about coverage at the goal-line from the Pitt game earlier in the year. In this one he was in much better position on PSU’s goal-line sets. He made a lot of good tackles and made some nice reads and plays in pass coverage. He also continues to show solid athleticism and is very quick coming forward when he needs to support the run. Solid young player.

Prater
-1 Slow to attack the FB on the reception in front of him and then doesn’t wrap up. Not a good effort. Cover 2 corners should love the opportunity to come up and hit guys in front of them S2
-1 Got caught with his eyes in the back-field here and the PA to the TE is wide open. This looked to be man coverage and even if it was zone, this was Praters area. S7

Overall: -2

Bernstine
-1 Flies up in run support and takes a good angle but just doesn’t wrap up the back. He may have gotten run into by his own guys here a bit, but he had a clean shot to wrap the back up and didn’t get him down. S4
+1 Nice blitz route here. Was a touch later than you’d like to see but he closed very quickly and caused an ugly in-completion. S6
+1 Nice job beating a couple of blocks and stretching the play horizontally and backward. Solid play here lets pursuit catch up and make the play for a loss. S6

Overall: +1

Miller
+1 Nice job making a play in the goal-line against the run here. Nice job reading and attacking. S2
+1 Great job shadowing his WR here in the end-zone, was in his line of sight and had his hands on it. Learned his lesson from a few weeks ago. Very nice play here. S2
+1 Robber coverage on Moye here, great job. Good call to double their best receiver here and Miller squeezed it very well here as he breaks up the pass. S4
-1 Poor job with his feet and of wrapping up the back in run support here. Needed to attack low on the back with a full head of steam here instead of diving high and stopping his feet. S6

Overall: +2

Hyde
+1 Nice job disrupting the QB here on the slot blitz. Fought through the RB and got to Bolden to disrupt the play. S5
+1 Great vertical coverage against Moye here, ball was late but he was in solid position and went up and made a play on the ball. S6
+2 Great job reading the QBs eyes here and plays the ball well. The INT in the end-zone is a big play for his defense at a crucial time. S6
+1 Nice job avoiding the cut block here and then makes the big TFL on Redd. Nice play with Iowa backed into a corner. S9

Overall: +5
 
I have to ask, because it still makes me mad....WTF were the coaches thinking moving Hyde off corner??
 
I have to ask, because it still makes me mad....WTF were the coaches thinking moving Hyde off corner??

There were probably thinking that Miller wasn't ready for the Safety spot or Benrsine wasn't there yet. Lowery was a pretty darn good corner prospect and that you want your best 4 out there;

prater, lowery, hyde and bernstine/Miller
 
That would make sense, except neither Miller or Berstine were listed as starters coming into the season.

Jon, who does these gamefilm breakdowns? I enjoy them and just curious what their background in football is.
 
That would make sense, except neither Miller or Berstine were listed as starters coming into the season.

Jon, who does these gamefilm breakdowns? I enjoy them and just curious what their background in football is.

1. We know how reliable the preseason depth charts are

2. That is my point, the staff didn't think they had a very strong Safety position, but corner had more depth, so moving Hyde to Safety solidified that position while still having a strong corner position.
 
Jon, who does these gamefilm breakdowns? I enjoy them and just curious what their background in football is.

That would be me.

Background: Played in HS & college. Spent the last 4-5 years in the scouting business. Done mostly NCAA->NFL prospects but have done a fair amount of HS->NCAA evaluations as well well. This is the 3rd season I've broken down Iowa games in this fashion.
 
My guess is they were thinking that...

I have to ask, because it still makes me mad....WTF were the coaches thinking moving Hyde off corner??

they didn't know what they had at safety and they liked what they had seen out of Lowery. And it's not crazy to think of Hyde as a safety. He has excellent ball skills and lacks elite top-end speed that you might need to play corner in the NFL. Godfrey and Spievey are both recent very good Hawkeye corners who are now good safeties in the NFL.

Problem is/was Hyde just didn't take very good angles/diagnose plays quickly enough from his safety position. When you combine that with the need at corner once Lowery went down and the emergence of Miller/Bernstine once they got healthy, they moved Hyde back.

If Lowery could play this week (or soon) effectively that would be a very big boost to the defense. Would allow Iowa to play more nickel and even utilize Hyde and/or Bernstine more as blitzers (each guy had effective blitzes against PSU out of the nickel). Both Hyde and Bernstine have the size/speed to get home on blitzes, it's a look that was good for Iowa this week and I hope will be utilized each week.
 
Penn States offense scoring this year.

Bama 11
Temple 14
Indiana 16
Iowa 13

That is really horrible.
 
Penn States offense scoring this year.

Bama 11
Temple 14
Indiana 16
Iowa 13

That is really horrible.

PSU's D allowed

Bama 27
Temple 10
Indiana 10
Iowa 3

That is really not horrible. Vandy held Bama to 34, other than that Bama has hung 38+ on everybody except PSU.
 
I have to ask, because it still makes me mad....WTF were the coaches thinking moving Hyde off corner??

I hate to ask as well, but what happened in camp and the first two weeks that caused Sleeper to play ahead of Miller?
 
no way Hyde is leaving. He is a true junior with limited athleticism. He will have to play safety inthe pros and needs much more experience.
 

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