Miller: Winning Perspective

HawkeyeDenis said:
The main arguement is that the D'line has not played to their potential this year. They are billed as one of the best D'lines in the country, yet they aren't killing anyone in the running game and QBs have time to throw the ball against them. TFL's, hurries, sacks are average. Yesterday they gave up 20 first downs. They got 1-2 sacks(?) against a team with a stationary QB.

Iowa's defense is average. Good at times, not so good at others. And I think not having Norm is a big problem.
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Good heavens. Iowa is on pace for the third best rushing defense total in school history. They are 5th in the nation against the run. 6th in the nation in scoring defense (under 15 per game). What the heck do they have to do to make people happy?

Kirk himself said on Tuesday not to expect sacks this week, as Chappell has a quick release and their plan is to get it out of his hands quickly. AZ the same, EIU the same, ISU the same, Michigan the same, NW the same. Wisconsin did a great job in that game with the best OL in the nation, and yet Iowa had more rushing yards than they did. Iowa held MSU to under 50 yards rushing, they came in as a team averaging nearly 200, and they destroyed them.

Just what the heck do people expect? If you think Iowa's defense is just 'average', THAT'S the problem; out of this world lack of perspective
 
I agree Jon, I thought the D played pretty well yesterday holding IU to only one TD. The play calling is what kills me. The lack of trust in Coker to not give him the ball inside the 10. The only reason why we think me missed ARob inside the redzone yesterday is because Iowa did not try hardly at all to utilize Coker. It was very frustrating! I believe without a doubt that if you give the ball to Coker two, three or even four times in a row from inside the 10 on first down, Iowa most likely scores a TD against that defense! All in all, a win is a win.
 
What triggers the "odd moments" and "low spots" in the play calling? Did they really come into this game with that much mistrust in Marcus? Or were they sticking to a scheme that they thought would put us ahead early and easily, with our QB that has been continously rated in the top 3 for quite some time, thereby making it easier to trust and allow Marcus to carry the load?

I guess it's easier to go with the mistrust card. Myself, I think Coker's play in the first quarter should've been enough proof to the coaches, to trump the mistrust card...
 
#5 in rushing D. 6th in scoring D.

50th in Pass D. 100Th in TFL. 86th in Sacks. 1st down conversion D 15th. 3rd Down D 16th.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
#5 in rushing D. 6th in scoring D.

50th in Pass D. 100Th in TFL. 86th in Sacks. 1st down conversion D 15th. 3rd Down D 16th.
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If a team is ranked 6th in scoring D but 86th in sacks and 100th in tackles for loss, what does that tell you about the relative importance of sacks and tackles for loss?

Florida State leads the nation with 38 sacks. They give up 34 points a game. I know which stat I'd rather be better in.
 
I wonder what some of you are going to do when we actually do strugggle a bit on D. It probably won't last for more than a season, or even part of a season. But at some point we are going to have a truely average defensive team (25+ ppg allowed). What on earth are you guys going to do then.

The same goes for Stanzi. While it's true that he wasn't as sharp yesterday as he had been the rest of the season do ou guys not realize he has literally been PERFECT up until yesterday? When your QB's worst game sees him complete more than 60% of his passes, pass for over 250 yads, and perfectly make 3 very difficult throws with the game on the line, I think I can live with that.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
#5 in rushing D. 6th in scoring D.

50th in Pass D. 100Th in TFL. 86th in Sacks. 1st down conversion D 15th. 3rd Down D 16th.
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Every time I see a poor pass D ranking, the first thing I look at is that team's rush D totals. Really good rush D teams typically are run of the mill pass D ranking because that is all that teams can do against them.

and Scoring defense is the most important category for a defense.
 
Jon - I think you are missing the point about the defense.

We are a defense that doesn't make plays, instead we make the offense make plays continuously against us.

If a team is able to march down the field in 15 plays dinking and dunking, they are taking what we are giving them, and we in turn are not making any adjustments to take them out of that comfort zone.

Conversely, at one point yesterday, we had them at 2nd and 24 because of a tripping penalty, and we kept it in front of us for a 22 yard gain on a freakin out pattern.

Another particularly aggrivating play was on a 3rd and 2 and our DB's are giving them 8 yard cushions.

Ultimately, you are correct because it is about the results and it is tough to argue those, but more and more teams know how to beat our defensive scheme and are showing the patience to do so.
 
BSpringsteen said:
Jon - I think you are missing the point about the defense.

We are a defense that doesn't make plays, instead we make the offense make plays continuously against us.

If a team is able to march down the field in 15 plays dinking and dunking, they are taking what we are giving them, and we in turn are not making any adjustments to take them out of that comfort zone.

Conversely, at one point yesterday, we had them at 2nd and 24 because of a tripping penalty, and we kept it in front of us for a 22 yard gain on a freakin out pattern.

Another particularly aggrivating play was on a 3rd and 2 and our DB's are giving them 8 yard cushions.

Ultimately, you are correct because it is about the results and it is tough to argue those, but more and more teams know how to beat our defensive scheme and are showing the patience to do so.
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In many cases 8 yard cushions on 3rd and 2 make sense. You still force them to execute to get thir first down, and you don't allow a play. On some occasions it's third and 2 and you need a stop and we change things up. Specifically on 3rd and medium at midfield with 4 min left. If I recall we played "0 deep" on that play because we needed a stop there, and we got it. What it comes down to is it is nearly impossible to defend an entire field. If you could do that teams wouldn't score at all.
 
I am not missing this point. I just agree that how Iowa does it has worked over and over and over again and ppl expect them to be able to be something they r not at the drop.of a hat. They do what they do. They are not changing. And what they do is the biggest reason Iowa is 22-4 in last 26 games and has had the kind of success they have had since 2001

If those results are maddening to you, wait until the next coach comes along.

This is as good as it has been for Iowa since the late 50's and there are a lot of ppl that are missing it.

So I am not missing " the point." I think " the point " is fairly ignorant of what really matters
 
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the defense this year is above average, not great. If we had last years defense, we are talking national title. Another reason the defense has given up so few points this year is weve had very few TOs. I think yesterdays INT was Iowas first in 15 quarters.
 
Call it how you want. This team preaches execution and there's been multiple times when they didn't execute.

Take the win and be happy, but don't forget it's a win against a pretty poor team that took a terrible drop to get the win.

I feel somewhat relieved after this, but I'm definitely not jumping around like the hawks did something great.
 
Now you are missing my point Jon...

No one at least sanely is questioning the scheme or that Iowa has a great defense or that our offense should have been able to put up more than 13 points against Indiana (which it did.)

The point is simply, that it feels like teams are much more willing to play Iowa's game. The reason why we are 22-4 in the last 26 games is because so few teams have been willing to do so.

But at the end of the game, when it is on the line, allowing the opposing team to march down the field and be in a position to win is playing with fire.

I would be very curious to see in Iowa's losses in the past few years, how many times the opposing team either took the lead on their final possession.
 
imported_jocohawk said:
Call it how you want. This team preaches execution and there's been multiple times when they didn't execute.

Take the win and be happy, but don't forget it's a win against a pretty poor team that took a terrible drop to get the win.

I feel somewhat relieved after this, but I'm definitely not jumping around like the hawks did something great.
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This.
 
BSpringsteen said:
I would be very curious to see in Iowa's losses in the past few years, how many times the opposing team either took the lead on their final possession.
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That investigation takes about five seconds. Arizona and Wisconsin losses: yes, they took the lead on their final possession. Northwestern and Ohio State losses: no.

Take it back to 2008 if you want to. Illinois: yes. Pitt, Northwestern, Michigan State, no.

People have been saying this stuff for years. Someday, teams will start to take advantage of the soft corners. We won't be able to adjust to the spread. Good quarterbacks can beat it. Someday, someday, someday.

Meanwhile: 22-4 in the last 26, 29-8 in the last 37.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin all drove down the field on Iowa when they needed too.

The main arguement is that the D'line has not played to their potential this year. They are billed as one of the best D'lines in the country, yet they aren't killing anyone in the running game and QBs have time to throw the ball against them. TFL's, hurries, sacks are average. Yesterday they gave up 20 first downs. They got 1-2 sacks(?) against a team with a stationary QB.

Iowa's defense is average. Good at times, not so good at others. And I think not having Norm is a big problem.
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Don't you think maybe that's because teams PREPARE for that defensive front? can't you see from watching the game that Chappell wasn't pressured because his average release time was 2-3 seconds. Forcier did the same thing when michigan was coming back. short passes, qiuck releases mean LESS time the Oline has to engage the defender. Cmon man, look how they faired against cousins, who is a dropback qb. good pressure all day long. It's really NOT rocket science.
 
olivecourt said:
That investigation takes about five seconds. Arizona and Wisconsin losses: yes, they took the lead on their final possession. Northwestern and Ohio State losses: no.

Take it back to 2008 if you want to. Illinois: yes. Pitt, Northwestern, Michigan State, no.

People have been saying this stuff for years. Someday, teams will start to take advantage of the soft corners. We won't be able to adjust to the spread. Good quarterbacks can beat it. Someday, someday, someday.

Meanwhile: 22-4 in the last 26, 29-8 in the last 37.
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but that's evidentally not good enough. wake up people. good post olivecourt.
 
JonDMiller said:
That D made Indiana go 11 plays on their last drive to get into scoring position...and had the kickoff coverage team done their job, they would have been farther out. Perhaps I look at it incorrectly, but I look at what a group does on the whole. Iowa's D turned in another great game yesterday.

Wisconsin game winning drive, they went for it twice on fourth down, once after being held to a 'three and out'. They made Wisconsin go 15 freaking plays to score a touchdown, and some folks act like that is routine and the defense let down.

Against Arizona, one of the best throwing QB's in the country made an unreal throw that if it was two inches longer, would have been incomplete and if it was a foot shorter, would have been picked off. Sometimes the other team has playmakers too.

No defense can make every play, every time. If this is what you are expecting, it's your perspective that may need an adjustment. Or mine I guess, I could be all wrong.
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I sit and watch the defense every game and every year and during the game it feels as though they are giving up a lot of yards and the defense is on the field for much of the game. It's something I'm used to at this point.

Then, you look at the stats and after 9 games this season the Hawks are 6th in the country in total defense (points allowed). It seems most every year the Hawks are very high in the rankings as far as fewest points allowed.

Why are some complaining about the defense? We've held Michigan to their second lowest total for points this year. Indiana was hled well below their average. Yeah, the Hawks have had a few bumps along the way, but year in and year out we don't have that much to complain about. The proof is in the end result.
 
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