JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Iowa lost 13-3 at Penn State, which is a shocking point total for this Iowa offense given the production we had seen in recent weeks.
Iowa amassed 640 total yards in their previous five quarters before the start of the game against Penn State and more than 60 points.
On Saturday in Happy Valley, Iowa gained just 253 yards and scored three points. Those numbers are alarming.
On the one hand, I more than likely overreacted to the positives we saw in the fourth quarter against Pitt and the game against ULM. On the other, this Penn State defense is the best Iowa has seen this season and may be the best they see all year. I don't know that, but Michigan State and Nebraska are the only two defenses remaining on Iowa's schedule that I could envision being better. I am not sold on Michigan State just yet and Nebraska's defense has been one of the most disappointing units in the nation.
However, this Iowa offense is better than just three points and one trip to the redzone; that's a scary stat. Iowa made just one trip to the Penn State redzone for the entire 60 minutes.
There were offensive struggles in numerous areas for Iowa on Saturday.
On their opening drive, they used the no-huddle and moved the ball across midfield. At that point, they stopped using it and promptly punted.
There were times when plays were there to be had but James Vandenberg was either off the mark or the intended target dropped the ball; there were a lot of drops on the day and even Marvin McNutt was not immune from that.
Kirk Ferentz often talks about execution...I have written several articles on conservative philosophy vs lack of execution through the years.
There seemed to be a bit of both on Saturday. Iowa shot itself in the foot on offense and they had some opportunities at some turnovers on defense and could not pull the trigger.
However, Iowa's overall offensive game plan seemed like it was torn out of a recent Hawkeye history book;
-Keep things close to the vest on offense
-Pound the ball to set up play action later in the game
-Don't get aggressive with the ball before halftime with more than 1:40 on the clock and two timeouts
That philosophy has worked well for Kirk Ferentz and he's won quite a bit using it.
However, this isn't the year to use that formula, because the other indgredients in that recipie for success included a Top Ten defense, something Iowa has had the last three years.
They don't have that this year.
Hey, I don't want to rip the defense, because they did their job. They kept the game close (it was 6-3 Nits until 8:08 in the fourth quarter) regardless of how many yards they gave up.
This is going to be a defense that will give up yards, we've known that since January.
Therefore this is going to be a team that needs its offense to carry its weight, something we have also known since January.
The offense didn't do its part today, much in the way it didn't do its part against Iowa State on the road a month ago.
These two road games have something in common; conservative offensive game plans. At least that's how I saw it from the couch, though I am certainly willing to read and hear more comments from the coaches from the post game.
I don't know what the game plan was and I realize that after Penn State went on a long field goal scoring drive in the first quarter (18 plays, 88 yards and over eight minutes long) you don't want to go no huddle and be three and out to put your defense back on the field.
Still, it just felt like the staff played this one real close to the vest. It felt like the players were being put into tough spots, having to convert lower percentage chances due to some predictable play calling.
Penn State looked like it had tapped into Iowa's offensive hand signals or something, because they were dialing up things correctly all day long.
Perhaps Iowa felt it could play it close against a Penn State offense that had looked weak and uncertain the previous four games. That offense didn't look great, but the Iowa offense sure as heck didn't look like one that had an extra week to work on its identity.
That is perhaps the biggest concern I take away from this game. Iowa was coming off of a bye week, a chance to work on things, tweak some things and add a few new wrinkles. They had a chance to drill, drill and drill on offense and keep the momentum going in the passing game.
Instead, this game just felt real familiar, sans the nationally ranked defense.
Finally, Iowa had the ball at its own 20 yard line with 1:49 to go before halftime and two timeouts. I jokingly tweeted 'handoff to Coker' as the Iowa offense jogged onto the field. In past years, I felt you could make book on that one. This year? I felt things would be different based on the performances we had seen in the past two games.
Sure enough, Iowa handed the ball off to Marcus Coker and only chose to attack after picking up a first down on a third and five play and after more than a minute of that 1:49 had gone from the clock.
After the Pittsburgh game, with the furious fourth quarter finish, I wrote that the toothpaste was out of the tube and it would be difficult to put it back in.
We hit that point today...it felt like some folks were trying to stuff that genie back in the bottle and the offense looked a lot like it did against Iowa State and the first three quarters of the Pittsburgh game; confused, uncertain and uncomfortable.
Perhaps it's just a matter not wanting to beat yourself on the road with a team that is still searching for its identity.
Beating yourself on the road with aggressive turnovers is a sure way to get lose.
Then again, Iowa heads home with a road loss because it appeared not to use all of the weapons it has shown to have in its arsenal.
Me? I'd rather go down guns blazing.
Iowa finds itself at 3-2 with losses against two teams that it could have beaten. They have four of their next five games at home.
Will Iowa make a firm and final decision on who it is offensively? Will they open it up at home due to this stretch of the schedule? Perhaps the only good that will come from this loss is the Iowa coaching staff will know, beyond a doubt, what this offense has to be this year.
I hope so, otherwise we can expect similar results this year.
This week, it looks like Iowa thought it could steal one on the road...but in the end, they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Iowa amassed 640 total yards in their previous five quarters before the start of the game against Penn State and more than 60 points.
On Saturday in Happy Valley, Iowa gained just 253 yards and scored three points. Those numbers are alarming.
On the one hand, I more than likely overreacted to the positives we saw in the fourth quarter against Pitt and the game against ULM. On the other, this Penn State defense is the best Iowa has seen this season and may be the best they see all year. I don't know that, but Michigan State and Nebraska are the only two defenses remaining on Iowa's schedule that I could envision being better. I am not sold on Michigan State just yet and Nebraska's defense has been one of the most disappointing units in the nation.
However, this Iowa offense is better than just three points and one trip to the redzone; that's a scary stat. Iowa made just one trip to the Penn State redzone for the entire 60 minutes.
There were offensive struggles in numerous areas for Iowa on Saturday.
On their opening drive, they used the no-huddle and moved the ball across midfield. At that point, they stopped using it and promptly punted.
There were times when plays were there to be had but James Vandenberg was either off the mark or the intended target dropped the ball; there were a lot of drops on the day and even Marvin McNutt was not immune from that.
Kirk Ferentz often talks about execution...I have written several articles on conservative philosophy vs lack of execution through the years.
There seemed to be a bit of both on Saturday. Iowa shot itself in the foot on offense and they had some opportunities at some turnovers on defense and could not pull the trigger.
However, Iowa's overall offensive game plan seemed like it was torn out of a recent Hawkeye history book;
-Keep things close to the vest on offense
-Pound the ball to set up play action later in the game
-Don't get aggressive with the ball before halftime with more than 1:40 on the clock and two timeouts
That philosophy has worked well for Kirk Ferentz and he's won quite a bit using it.
However, this isn't the year to use that formula, because the other indgredients in that recipie for success included a Top Ten defense, something Iowa has had the last three years.
They don't have that this year.
Hey, I don't want to rip the defense, because they did their job. They kept the game close (it was 6-3 Nits until 8:08 in the fourth quarter) regardless of how many yards they gave up.
This is going to be a defense that will give up yards, we've known that since January.
Therefore this is going to be a team that needs its offense to carry its weight, something we have also known since January.
The offense didn't do its part today, much in the way it didn't do its part against Iowa State on the road a month ago.
These two road games have something in common; conservative offensive game plans. At least that's how I saw it from the couch, though I am certainly willing to read and hear more comments from the coaches from the post game.
I don't know what the game plan was and I realize that after Penn State went on a long field goal scoring drive in the first quarter (18 plays, 88 yards and over eight minutes long) you don't want to go no huddle and be three and out to put your defense back on the field.
Still, it just felt like the staff played this one real close to the vest. It felt like the players were being put into tough spots, having to convert lower percentage chances due to some predictable play calling.
Penn State looked like it had tapped into Iowa's offensive hand signals or something, because they were dialing up things correctly all day long.
Perhaps Iowa felt it could play it close against a Penn State offense that had looked weak and uncertain the previous four games. That offense didn't look great, but the Iowa offense sure as heck didn't look like one that had an extra week to work on its identity.
That is perhaps the biggest concern I take away from this game. Iowa was coming off of a bye week, a chance to work on things, tweak some things and add a few new wrinkles. They had a chance to drill, drill and drill on offense and keep the momentum going in the passing game.
Instead, this game just felt real familiar, sans the nationally ranked defense.
Finally, Iowa had the ball at its own 20 yard line with 1:49 to go before halftime and two timeouts. I jokingly tweeted 'handoff to Coker' as the Iowa offense jogged onto the field. In past years, I felt you could make book on that one. This year? I felt things would be different based on the performances we had seen in the past two games.
Sure enough, Iowa handed the ball off to Marcus Coker and only chose to attack after picking up a first down on a third and five play and after more than a minute of that 1:49 had gone from the clock.
After the Pittsburgh game, with the furious fourth quarter finish, I wrote that the toothpaste was out of the tube and it would be difficult to put it back in.
We hit that point today...it felt like some folks were trying to stuff that genie back in the bottle and the offense looked a lot like it did against Iowa State and the first three quarters of the Pittsburgh game; confused, uncertain and uncomfortable.
Perhaps it's just a matter not wanting to beat yourself on the road with a team that is still searching for its identity.
Beating yourself on the road with aggressive turnovers is a sure way to get lose.
Then again, Iowa heads home with a road loss because it appeared not to use all of the weapons it has shown to have in its arsenal.
Me? I'd rather go down guns blazing.
Iowa finds itself at 3-2 with losses against two teams that it could have beaten. They have four of their next five games at home.
Will Iowa make a firm and final decision on who it is offensively? Will they open it up at home due to this stretch of the schedule? Perhaps the only good that will come from this loss is the Iowa coaching staff will know, beyond a doubt, what this offense has to be this year.
I hope so, otherwise we can expect similar results this year.
This week, it looks like Iowa thought it could steal one on the road...but in the end, they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
