Miller: Are Hawkeye Offensive Problems Systemic?
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
I am holding out hope that Iowa will be more dynamic on offense as the season wears on....now with Scherff out for a couple of games, at least, I do worry that our QB's blindside will not be protected as it has been since Scherff arrived on the scene. Now, I do like Big Ike's big frame and quick feet so he might be ok in pass protection, so maybe it is not a legit fear.
As for Davis, I do wonder if he is very happy with Jake's tendancy to check down to short receivers also....not sure he can be very pleased with Jake's timidity.
I am a fan of CJ and Jake, but will let the coaches decide that battle, but I agree with some who see CJ as having a higher ceiling, but that he will make more mistakes.....so be it. Iowa will never make the giant leap to win the league playing it safe, in my book.
But, easy for us to sit here and say change QBs....much harder in the room. I hope that CJ gets a couple of series early again, and he gets a good call on a td pass this time. I suspect that KF might want to quell the QB talk tho, so could see CJ sitting most of the rest of the way.
I hate to say it, but it is going to take a bad loss or huge deficit on the scoreboard to get CJ off the bench. Ricky Stanzi in 2008 started the ISU game, and we floundered, and KF brought Jake C in who saved the day. Then Jake started the next game vs Pitt, and Ricky came in and looked better, but then ultimately we went back to Jake for the second half, and lost....then Ricky was named starter the rest of the way....is this deja vu time?
As for Davis, I do wonder if he is very happy with Jake's tendancy to check down to short receivers also....not sure he can be very pleased with Jake's timidity.
I am a fan of CJ and Jake, but will let the coaches decide that battle, but I agree with some who see CJ as having a higher ceiling, but that he will make more mistakes.....so be it. Iowa will never make the giant leap to win the league playing it safe, in my book.
But, easy for us to sit here and say change QBs....much harder in the room. I hope that CJ gets a couple of series early again, and he gets a good call on a td pass this time. I suspect that KF might want to quell the QB talk tho, so could see CJ sitting most of the rest of the way.
I hate to say it, but it is going to take a bad loss or huge deficit on the scoreboard to get CJ off the bench. Ricky Stanzi in 2008 started the ISU game, and we floundered, and KF brought Jake C in who saved the day. Then Jake started the next game vs Pitt, and Ricky came in and looked better, but then ultimately we went back to Jake for the second half, and lost....then Ricky was named starter the rest of the way....is this deja vu time?
I completely agree with the article...although it doesn't put much blame on the guy who has the ball in his hands each and every play. We have to remember that on virtually every passing play, at least one guy goes 15+ yards down the field. It is not Greg Davis' fault the ball seldom goes that far. We do have the weapons and it is time we took some risk.
HawgEyeState
Banned
I'm with Jon on this...........Jake Rudock has been successful and is NOT the problem.
Not being able to Block on running plays and hit the hole for some yardage IS the
problem.
Run Block and this offense will tear-it-up, against anyone.
Do not necessarily agree....who will take it to the house from the line of scrimmage. Same problem as recent years..no game-breaking rbs.
We can block well, for 5 yard gains maybe, but it is hard to run the ball 14 times to move 70 yards without making a mistake.
I think our rb talent is only average. We need a speed runner who can outrun a few people once in a while.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Good Post. I am still holding out hope we can see more offense while continuing to improve on D. The next couple weeks will reveal a lot.
HomerChampless
Well-Known Member
I was going to read these posts and bite my tongue.. until this one came along. How many mistakes (interceptions) did Rudock throw last season? Wasn't his total the highest among starting QBs in the B1G last season? I hardly doubt mistakes is the main determiner of whether a player gets on the field for Iowa. You mentioned Stanzi in your post and his high total of interceptions in 2009. Why wasn't Stanzi put on the bench for his mistakes and bad judgements?
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ThunderHawk
Well-Known Member
Derp Gregvis + Jake Checkdown =
Okay,
Jon used to defend his taking a soft approach to criticizing Iowa football because of his necessity for gaining access to the program. Now that he is in Tulsa, he has been much more critical. However, he is talking about people being at practice that he respects. Does Jon have a Deep-Throat? It can't be the same people who were giving him intel before, unless there is get rid of Davis contingency in the football admin ranks. Otherwise, you would expect them to clam when he takes a critical perspective.
Please don't let it be that his people who he respects that have been at practice are the same mythical people as Fox News's "some people say." BTW: I don't think that is the case.
Perhaps Jon has a paid snitch, like an unpaid grad student assistant or a walk-on who needs a bit of scratch?
Jon used to defend his taking a soft approach to criticizing Iowa football because of his necessity for gaining access to the program. Now that he is in Tulsa, he has been much more critical. However, he is talking about people being at practice that he respects. Does Jon have a Deep-Throat? It can't be the same people who were giving him intel before, unless there is get rid of Davis contingency in the football admin ranks. Otherwise, you would expect them to clam when he takes a critical perspective.
Please don't let it be that his people who he respects that have been at practice are the same mythical people as Fox News's "some people say." BTW: I don't think that is the case.
Perhaps Jon has a paid snitch, like an unpaid grad student assistant or a walk-on who needs a bit of scratch?
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Perhaps you're spending way too much time thinking about things that are pointless. This isn't my first rodeo, been doing this since 1999. There have been hits and misses, but more hits than misses. I am comfortable with what I have written.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
I think many are selling Rudock short. I think a good chunk of the offensive problems are systemic and philosophically based. The offense just invites the compression of the defense. When Weisman is in a single back, the safeties crash. Iowa needs to exploit that and Rudock is more than capable.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Can you please cite/link some specific examples?
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I know the offense hasn't looked that great, especially last week, but I honestly think this offense has a chance to be pretty good. Week one, you had a forth and inches foul up, Hamilton dropped a touchdown, and Hillyer fumbled. If those three routine plays are made, we score 38, maybe more and the mishaps on defense were what they were...learning opportunities.
Against Ball State, our red zone issues cropped up, and the two fumbles absolutely killed us. That being said, we didn't have a bunch of three and outs...and if Powell doesn't bobble, Coble doesn't drop the pass at the goal line, and our kickers actually made routine kicks, the Ball State game wasn't that close. We gave them 10 points and our miscues (roughing punter / fumble) kept our offense off the field for the first 8 minutes of the second half. That was huge.
I get everyone's frustration that we have looked in sync and it appears systemic through the years, but sometimes a game like Ball State happens. It's a very fine line in making plays that change games and in the first two, we didn't make them on offense. I don't think it's systemic....I still believe there are execution issues and if the execution and consistency improves...well, those first two wouldn't have been close. I'm going to give this team 4-5 games to put it together. I think we are closer than most people.
Against Ball State, our red zone issues cropped up, and the two fumbles absolutely killed us. That being said, we didn't have a bunch of three and outs...and if Powell doesn't bobble, Coble doesn't drop the pass at the goal line, and our kickers actually made routine kicks, the Ball State game wasn't that close. We gave them 10 points and our miscues (roughing punter / fumble) kept our offense off the field for the first 8 minutes of the second half. That was huge.
I get everyone's frustration that we have looked in sync and it appears systemic through the years, but sometimes a game like Ball State happens. It's a very fine line in making plays that change games and in the first two, we didn't make them on offense. I don't think it's systemic....I still believe there are execution issues and if the execution and consistency improves...well, those first two wouldn't have been close. I'm going to give this team 4-5 games to put it together. I think we are closer than most people.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I also love the fact that we have thrown 95 times in two games. When we step up in competition, you have to be able to beat teams in the air and if they load up to stop the run...you better have an answer. In the grand scheme, this is good for the passing game development. It will pay dividends.
RocknRollface
Well-Known Member
Texas was always loaded with high level offensive talent for Davis until the end. Young wasn't even the best player he coached, Ricky Williams was.
ThunderHawk
Well-Known Member
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
90% of the passes were under 15 yards. This haven't helped our passing game develop at all.
