New starters on defense

Miller had some difficulty closing his gap on the deep corner route. But he had some nice plays in run support.

Tyler tweaked his ankle against ISU and was going at what looked like about 70% after that. Right before halftime against Pitt he showed no effort to disengage from a blocker and gave up a huge gain. Besides that, he was really slow in pursuit and coverage.

Hitchens locked it down when he came in.

But it might just be a sign of the times. Kinda need a couple monster back types to play these spread O's.
 
I see today Morehouse addressed Tyler's injury in his pregame post yesterday with sliding JM over and Davis coming in at MLB.

Game-wise, remember the ankle injury outside linebacker Tyler Nielsen sustained on one of the first drives last week? If he’s not able to go today, it could be senior Bruce Davis to middle linebacker and sophomore James Morris moving to the outside. Not confirming, just something that could happen.
 
Hyde back to his normal corner spot... 2 pics.
Alvis to D-end. Miller came up in run support and made a couple nice plays.
Bernstein back. Credit to coaches for making some changes that I think are for the better. If we can get Lowery and McM back we will be looking even better. Put Vandy in the shot-gun more often and things can be looking up...
 
PJHawk said:
Did Tyler get hurt? How did Tanner Miller look at safety?
Click to expand...

I was sitting pretty high, so maybe I didn't have the best view, but it looked like Tyler totally whiffed on their QB, too, on a key conversion in the 3rd quarter and after that, I didn't see him out there.

Bernstine added some much needed speed. Was he hurt last year? I've gotta think when we down to our 17th string linebacker, we might have been better going nickel with him on the slot guy last season against those spread teams.

Can you guys imagine if Sash hadn't gone pro or if Cato had stayed with the program? This defense would look a lot different.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I was sitting pretty high, so maybe I didn't have the best view, but it looked like Tyler totally whiffed on their QB, too, on a key conversion in the 3rd quarter and after that, I didn't see him out there.

Bernstine added some much needed speed. Was he hurt last year? I've gotta think when we down to our 17th string linebacker, we might have been better going nickel with him on the slot guy last season against those spread teams.

Can you guys imagine if Sash hadn't gone pro or if Cato had stayed with the program? This defense would look a lot different.
Click to expand...

Bernstine was huge - for 3 quarters he was one of the only Iowa players playing fast

I am optimistic the D can get better and Bernstine is a big reason why
 
okeefe4prez said:
Game film. That stuff happens to everyone, but the great ones get to see it on film and end up learning a ton from it. Hopefully Miller does the same.
Click to expand...

Hope so, I remember a lot of people ripping on Greenwood when he was a RS FR. I think Tanner has a great upside.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Game film. That stuff happens to everyone, but the great ones get to see it on film and end up learning a ton from it. Hopefully Miller does the same.
Click to expand...


Ostrich^^^^

Go back to the '08 season when Sash broke into the starting lineup, he made similar mistakes as well. By the end of that year Sash was money and the rest is history. I have little doubt come November Miller will be solid at FS.


My guess Nielsen sits for the Louisana Monroe game and with the bye week be ready to go for Penn. St.
 
In defense of Miller on the first long TD (the option pass), there were like 2-3 OL illegally down field. Pretty easy to get faked on the run when the refs let half the O-line run down the field.

Besides that. Some mistakes, but you can fix inexperience.
 
Law, Lomax and Campbell are RS but i imagine if needed they could play, i will wait to see the current player develope, if the past is any indication i expect this to a better defense at the end, just like the O-L, with NM getting healthy he might be ths missing link in that group, RR-lt, NM-lg, JF-c, Gettis-rg, Zues-rt, will turn the offense into better than avg and will get better before this year is over, i just hope the ISU loss woke up the coaches, to be more open in their play calling, and realize throwing for 300+ per game is not all bad
 
i see our win line at 30. Realistic goals for our O are to score more than 30, and realistic for our D to keep teams below 30. I dont see our D holding people in the teens and below. IMO to win our recipe is to score 30. We needed 31 against Pitt and 24 wasn't enough in regulation against isu.30 is our number for me...
 
It's ridiculous how much Miller reminds of Sash and Greenwood early in their careers. When he was younger Greenwood repeatedly tackled the WR as soon as he caught the ball, but seldom got there early enough to bat it down or hit the WR hard enough to dislodge the ball. Miller did this repeatedly yesterday, which is certainly better than getting beat deep, but at times still frustrating to watch. I also think we were in cover 2 a couple times and Miller was out of position and/or just didn't get there quite fast enough. That said, Pitt's 2 "gadget" plays were great calls and good design, so inexperienced players are going to bite on those. Also, FSs often read uncovered OL. On the fake option pass for the first TD there was 1 OL that was literally 5 yards down field, so you've got to cut Miller some slack on that one. I think he'll be very comparable to Greenwood, and a very good chance of being better, but he definitely needs more experience.

Bernstine dictates to offenses. IA hasn't had a safety do that as much as Bernstine has since Sanders. Sash made plays, but he didn't close as fast as Bernstine and missed too many tackles. The difference w/ Bernstine on the field can't be expressed enough. The only fear I have w/ Bernstine is that he's too aggressive and will bite on play fakes.

Hyde also looked much more natural at CB. I was very much in favor of him moving to FS, but I think this defense is much better w/ him at CB.

Morris, Kirksey and Hitchens all looked fantastic yesterday, also. I thought I read Kirksey slid out to LEO and Hitchens was at the Will spot, but it's tougher to tell w/ their alignments against spread teams. I'm fairly sure this was the situation, though, and I think Nielsen may as well sit this week and essentially get 2 full weeks of rest and get ready for the conference season. This also gives Hitchens more experience, which we all know is invaluable.
 
Dragonhawk said:
Law, Lomax and Campbell are RS but i imagine if needed they could play, i will wait to see the current player develope, if the past is any indication i expect this to a better defense at the end, just like the O-L, with NM getting healthy he might be ths missing link in that group, RR-lt, NM-lg, JF-c, Gettis-rg, Zues-rt, will turn the offense into better than avg and will get better before this year is over, i just hope the ISU loss woke up the coaches, to be more open in their play calling, and realize throwing for 300+ per game is not all bad
Click to expand...

Pretty certain Law's RS is already burned. Fairly positive he's made tackles on kickoff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top