O-line is the problem

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
I didn't really see anything tonight that was a huge concern, except the Offensive line. We couldn't block anybody, and we had no rushing attack at all. I have to say it - Ferentz was totally overmatched at center. I think we have to make a change there.

Penn State is going to be a huge game for this team
 
ChosenChildren said:
I didn't really see anything tonight that was a huge concern, except the Offensive line. We couldn't block anybody, and we had no rushing attack at all. I have to say it - Ferentz was totally overmatched at center. I think we have to make a change there.

Penn State is going to be a huge game for this team
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Yeah, that's like telling a cancer patient he's totally healthy except for the cancer. Iowa wins games in the trenches, we got manhandled on the o-line tonight. Of course, if the ST had come to play, we prolly would have won.
 
Special Teams was a joke, take away the 100 yd KO return and the blocked punt inside the 5, it would have been a 27-20 Iowa victory
 
Yeah, I totally agree. I would almost feel guilty if Iowa snuck away with a victory considering the line play. When a team's #1 back averages .5 YPC they have no business winning any game. If you factor in that Iowa always relies on the O-Line on year in year out basis, they really don't deserve it.
 
OL looked horrible in part because the D got to line up and blitz and rush without worry of the running attack. Special teams screwed the pooch. Then in turn, the young OL had to do things it wasn't ready to do.
 
Hawkfan445 said:
Yeah, I totally agree. I would almost feel guilty if Iowa snuck away with a victory considering the line play. When a team's #1 back averages .5 YPC they have no business winning any game. If you factor in that Iowa always relies on the O-Line on year in year out basis, they really don't deserve it.
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A lot of those runs came against 8-9 man boxes. They were only running to keep the defense honest. Then had to abandon it completely to get back in the game.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I'm really concerned about the o-line. I think we got exposed tonight -- I hope I'm wrong
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Yeah, they got exposed. 8-4 ball club. Going to lose 3 of 5 against OSU, MSU, Michigan, PSU and Wisky. It's a shame given the QB/WR combo we have, but Iowa wins ball games by dominating the LOS and tonight we saw what we're made of. We really miss Dace, Bulaga, Eubanks and Calloway.
 
The O-line got exposed tonight. It's one thing to man-handle undersized D-lines from ISU and EIU but Arizona had some big, fast boys. Our running game totally disappeared. We were lucky to be in this game considering the number of special teams and first half pass catching mistakes. We made plays in the second half and Arizona made a number of mistakes and costly penalties.

What scares me is you do not beat OSU unless you beat them in the trenches.
 
It has always been the problem... I have always been baffled by the credit KF gets for OL. I will say that this rebuilt line held up to the pass rush for the most part. They couldn't block 9 guys at the end...

Really disappointed that we could not run the ball at all early in the game.Even more disappointed that they could not bust a run here and there to keep em honest. We were very one dimensional and with our schemes and talent thats just not good thing.
 
Yeah cause most teams can run on 10 man and 9 man fronts. That is all the O Lines fault.... Seriously, there is one major reason we lost special teams. Out side of that was one over thrown TD, one dropped TD and one bobbled pass for a pick six. That is 35 point difference.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I'm really concerned about the o-line. I think we got exposed tonight -- I hope I'm wrong
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I think its standard reaction after a loss.

Arizona would have been beaten playing that aggressive all night had Iowa not dug themselves a huge hole...that cushion allowed AZ to keep attacking, even after getting beat a few times.

Few offensive lines in the country can block 8 or 9 with 6 or 7. And there were times where they did create that kind of pocket even against bad odds.

The circumstance that special teams put Iowa in was the reason Arizona could be aggressive; they were playing with house money
 
Special teams can be corrected.

Poor O-line play can last an entire season.

Like I said, I hope I am wrong. We could not block anybody tonight (and please remember Arizona is not known as a great defensive team by any stretch of the imagination).
 
I do agree completely that AZ was playing with house money. You are right on with that comment.

I think Koeppel deserves a chance at center - I see a weakness there.
 
ChosenChildren said:
Special teams can be corrected.

Poor O-line play can last an entire season.

Like I said, I hope I am wrong. We could not block anybody tonight (and please remember Arizona is not known as a great defensive team by any stretch of the imagination).
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Yeah, we had 0 yards on offense cause our Oline didnt do anything.......
 
ChosenChildren said:
Special teams can be corrected.

Poor O-line play can last an entire season.

Like I said, I hope I am wrong. We could not block anybody tonight (and please remember Arizona is not known as a great defensive team by any stretch of the imagination).
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ChosenChildren -

You're missing the point. Few teams can get away with blitzing against us all of the time ... and playing with such reckless abandon.

Iowa's dug itself a big enough early hole that Arizona could afford to stay with such a gameplan.

Of course, we probably WILL see a several more teams TRY to use a similar game-plan ... however, we simply won't be facing too many teams who have the combo of having great pass rushing DEs and fantastic cover corners. Thus, most teams who DO try to use such a game-plan will likely not enjoy the same success.
 
A few final thoughts:

1. Wow, do we miss Spievey.
2. Edds and Angerer were huge losses - our linebackers are not as good this year, at least not yet.
3. We lost some great performers in the o-line -- there is a drop off right now.

Let's lower expectations and bounce back next week.

Jon, your 12-0 prediction was over the top - I think 8-4 for this team would be a spectacular season. We look average at linebacker and offensive line, IMO. Yes, the special teams were awful, but they will improve.

Not as confident about LB and O-line.

OK time for me to shut up
 
No way was the O-line the only problem tonight. Obviously the special teams played badly, but I don't think out linebackers played well in coverage and there were a couple of instances where our safety help was not where it should have been.
 
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