Mitch King Breaks Down Miller's 4th Q Scramble

[Eda]

I can generally live with a mistake like that, especially from a young player. Meier got overly aggressive, which isn't an uncommon mistake for a young player to make. I thought Meier might eventually make a positive impact when he walked on, and he's been a pretty good contributor this season.

Agreed about Meier becoming an impact player. One thing I noticed about him on a couple plays (and specifically the play in the OP) is that he didn't break down and come under control to make the tackle. He was in good postion for both plays I noticed, but was "out of control", and missed the tackle opportunity. This will come with experience. He does hustle and play hard when in, tho. Very encouraging to see.

 

[ICHawk24]

On a side note, Meier is listed as the backup at both DE positions on this week's depth chart. Alvis not listed.

The "out of control"ness of Meier matches his high motor reputation. I guess we take the good with the bad.

 

[doclee]

This is really a good thread...thank you! I will have to watch the defensive line play on scrambles more closely against NW. I did not realize the technique needed from the back side defensive players was of such great importance. After it was explained, it makes perfect sense. I guess I was so much in awe of Braxton Miller's abilities to escape, I lost track of the D line! Again, good stuff!

 

[blackngold515]

Pretty clear to see on every Braxton scramble, we did not contain the qb. We got him on the run and every DL played "follow the leader". Even with a young D line, they should know better. DE needed to stay home so when he cut back he would run right back to the DE. I feel like Phil had not prepared this D for OSU and Braxton (obviously). Too many plays our D was not in position and letting BM run around the backfield and get loose for 8-10 yards. The D had a huge task to keep BM from doing what he did. But with a bye week before we played OSU... I expected Iowa to have played better on D and disappointed in absolutely no adjustments on D. Got to fix that this week. Especially against Colter!

 

[DodgerHawki]

Pretty clear to see on every Braxton scramble, we did not contain the qb. We got him on the run and every DL played "follow the leader". Even with a young D line, they should know better. DE needed to stay home so when he cut back he would run right back to the DE. I feel like Phil had not prepared this D for OSU and Braxton (obviously). Too many plays our D was not in position and letting BM run around the backfield and get loose for 8-10 yards. The D had a huge task to keep BM from doing what he did. But with a bye week before we played OSU... I expected Iowa to have played better on D and disappointed in absolutely no adjustments on D. Got to fix that this week. Especially against Colter!

It's one thing to prepare for it, watch film and walk through it against the scout team. It's another to maintain discipline when in the middle of a game against a better athlete at QB than any of these guys have played against before. Well, they played last year against Gardner from UMich, and that didn't go well either.

My guess is Ott/Meier do a better job in the future in the same situation. They might get their chance to see if they have learned this week if Colter plays for NU. And definitely in coming weeks against Gardner and Martinez.

What exactly would you expect Phil Parker to do? Other than magically get better players during the bye week? In the last 2 seasons, no B1G team has had an answer for Miller. Not one. Even the vaunted MSU defense gave up 136 yards rushing and 179 passing against Miller last year. And MSU had talent galore on defense that Iowa does not. Biggest difference this year for Miller is he's become much more accurate, going from 59% last year to nearly 70% as a passer this year. To defend this OSU offense adequately, you really need elite level talent at every level of the defense. No B1G teams have that and just a handful of teams in the country do. I'd like to see what Alabama's defense would do against OSU. Would be a good matchup.

Iowa needed to hope that Miller put the ball on the ground (he does fumble frequently). He did right at the end of the game (of course OSU recovered). I was surprised Iowa got 2 sacks on Miller. OSU has given up a whopping 10 all year. Side note: Iowa has given up only 5 sacks all year. That is a great number considering and testament to the o-line and Rudock's pocket presence.

But my point is it's not a matter of simply scheming to control Miller. If it was, someone would have come up with a plan and others would copy it. The sheer volume of athletes OSU throws out there on offense, paired with a very good o-line and a scheme that stresses the defense everywhere, makes them so difficult to stop.

 

[JHHawk]

It's one thing to prepare for it, watch film and walk through it against the scout team. It's another to maintain discipline when in the middle of a game against a better athlete at QB than any of these guys have played against before. Well, they played last year against Gardner from UMich, and that didn't go well either.

My guess is Ott/Meier do a better job in the future in the same situation. They might get their chance to see if they have learned this week if Colter plays for NU. And definitely in coming weeks against Gardner and Martinez.

What exactly would you expect Phil Parker to do? Other than magically get better players during the bye week? In the last 2 seasons, no B1G team has had an answer for Miller. Not one. Even the vaunted MSU defense gave up 136 yards rushing and 179 passing against Miller last year. And MSU had talent galore on defense that Iowa does not. Biggest difference this year for Miller is he's become much more accurate, going from 59% last year to nearly 70% as a passer this year. To defend this OSU offense adequately, you really need elite level talent at every level of the defense. No B1G teams have that and just a handful of teams in the country do. I'd like to see what Alabama's defense would do against OSU. Would be a good matchup.

Iowa needed to hope that Miller put the ball on the ground (he does fumble frequently). He did right at the end of the game (of course OSU recovered). I was surprised Iowa got 2 sacks on Miller. OSU has given up a whopping 10 all year. Side note: Iowa has given up only 5 sacks all year. That is a great number considering and testament to the o-line and Rudock's pocket presence.

But my point is it's not a matter of simply scheming to control Miller. If it was, someone would have come up with a plan and others would copy it. The sheer volume of athletes OSU throws out there on offense, paired with a very good o-line and a scheme that stresses the defense everywhere, makes them so difficult to stop.

Good post. I thought we did a decent job of gap discipline, but no one could actually lunge at the guy and catch him. Braxton Miller has been hurt all season, until the bye week...and Iowa saw a different Miller than anyone has seen this year. This is the guy who was the Heisman leader when the season started...he is simply that good. Meier needed to make him go upfield, but again, if their was a sliver open...Miller would have busted thru it. Meier and Ott will be solid the next few years.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Mitch went 100%, and was also obviously well-coached on technique.