Oh to have a QB who can run

[ICHawk24]

If we beat Minnesota, Gronk has the bye week to get healthy and put it all together.

At least that is what I am hoping.

 

[haydensly]

I’ve only seen 3 games with Gronk and his accuracy impressed me in one where we had dimes dropping by our receivers, a mediocre but serviceable game, and the Penn State game where he was off most all of game. I do not think we’ve seen the passing game he / Iowa is capable of yet. ‘‘Tis to come, and our Oline, run game, running QB will help give breathing room for this to develop I’m hoping. Going to game Saturday so will investigate closer

Chad Leistikow said on his podcast that Gronowski indicated in interviews Tuesday that the knee is bothering his throws. Getting better but still not 100%. He hopes that the bye week will get him closer.

You can believe that or not.

 

[Gibsonian]

Chad Leistikow said on his podcast that Gronowski indicated in interviews Tuesday that the knee is bothering his throws. Getting better but still not 100%. He hopes that the bye week will get him closer.

You can believe that or not.

Why the heck wouldn’t I believe that?

 

[kicker22]

Yep. I couldn’t care less how they score. Just score.

Agreed and I'll take it a step further. I don't care where our yards come from as long as we keep moving those chains.

 

[Fryowa]

Agreed and I'll take it a step further. I don't care where our yards come from as long as we keep moving those chains.

I mentioned this in another post...

MG's feet don't need to make big runs or accumulate big yards.

What Iowa needs to do is simply keep the ball moving and create 1st downs. MG adds that dimension. If Iowa gets its recevers and running backs shut down against good teams then you're cooked and relying on Phil Parker and LeVar Woods to win the game by themselves. If you have a guy at QB who can bust out of a collapsing pocket on 2nd & 8 and make it 3rd & 1, defenses have to account for that.

Stanley, Petras, et al, in that situation either threw the ball away or made it 3rd and 14 more often than not.

In the above scenario MG doesn't have to break for 23 yards or score a TD, he just has to keep a drive going. If you can do that repeatedly the scoring will come.

People looking at stats and not the context of the game have zero football or sports IQ.

 

[kicker22]

I mentioned this in another post...

MG's feet don't need to make big runs or accumulate big yards.

What Iowa needs to do is simply keep the ball moving and create 1st downs. MG adds that dimension. If Iowa gets it's recevers and running backs shut down against good teams then you're cooked and relying on Phil Parker and LeVar Woods to win the game by themselves. If you have a guy at QB who can bust out of a collapsing pocket on 2nd & 8 and make it 3rd & 1, defenses have to account for that.

Stanley, Petras, et al, in that situation either threw the ball away or made it 3rd and 14 more often than not.

In the above scenario MG doesn't have to break for 23 yards or score a TD, he just has to keep a drive going. If you can do that repeatedly the scoring will come.

People looking at stats and not the context of the game have zero football or sports IQ.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[HuckFinn]

Lots of drops. Bad. Gronk throw aways, missed receivers

Agreed and I'll take it a step further. I don't care where our yards come from as long as we keep moving those chains.

old ball coach says, “It ain’t about touchdowns, it’s about first downs.”

 

[haydensly]

I mentioned this in another post...

MG's feet don't need to make big runs or accumulate big yards.

What Iowa needs to do is simply keep the ball moving and create 1st downs. MG adds that dimension. If Iowa gets it's recevers and running backs shut down against good teams then you're cooked and relying on Phil Parker and LeVar Woods to win the game by themselves. If you have a guy at QB who can bust out of a collapsing pocket on 2nd & 8 and make it 3rd & 1, defenses have to account for that.

Stanley, Petras, et al, in that situation either threw the ball away or made it 3rd and 14 more often than not.

In the above scenario MG doesn't have to break for 23 yards or score a TD, he just has to keep a drive going. If you can do that repeatedly the scoring will come.

People looking at stats and not the context of the game have zero football or sports IQ.

Iowa scored on every second half possession against Penn St. except for the final drive kneel-down. And they threw the ball twice, completing both of those throws. Kinda tells you all you need to know about Gronowski.

 

[CP87]

I mentioned this in another post...

MG's feet don't need to make big runs or accumulate big yards.

What Iowa needs to do is simply keep the ball moving and create 1st downs. MG adds that dimension. If Iowa gets its recevers and running backs shut down against good teams then you're cooked and relying on Phil Parker and LeVar Woods to win the game by themselves. If you have a guy at QB who can bust out of a collapsing pocket on 2nd & 8 and make it 3rd & 1, defenses have to account for that.

Stanley, Petras, et al, in that situation either threw the ball away or made it 3rd and 14 more often than not.

In the above scenario MG doesn't have to break for 23 yards or score a TD, he just has to keep a drive going. If you can do that repeatedly the scoring will come.

People looking at stats and not the context of the game have zero football or sports IQ.

It was mentioned during that game that although Iowa has one of the worst passing offenses in the nation, AND they are near the top of the country in 3rd down conversion rate. That is a pretty bizarre combo of stats, but as you said, they rarely face 3rd and 8+ anymore. Because of MG's ability to turn shit into something, as well as Lester's varied running game keeping D's guessing, we are much more likely to see a 3rd and 3 or less, these days.

 

[ShemHawk]

I mentioned this in another post...

MG's feet don't need to make big runs or accumulate big yards.

What Iowa needs to do is simply keep the ball moving and create 1st downs. MG adds that dimension. If Iowa gets its recevers and running backs shut down against good teams then you're cooked and relying on Phil Parker and LeVar Woods to win the game by themselves. If you have a guy at QB who can bust out of a collapsing pocket on 2nd & 8 and make it 3rd & 1, defenses have to account for that.

Stanley, Petras, et al, in that situation either threw the ball away or made it 3rd and 14 more often than not.

In the above scenario MG doesn't have to break for 23 yards or score a TD, he just has to keep a drive going. If you can do that repeatedly the scoring will come.

People looking at stats and not the context of the game have zero football or sports IQ.

Really two parts to that: knowing when to pull it down and run and the ability to do something after making that decision. I think Stanley knew when that moment was but couldn't do anything about it. Gronowski has both...he isn't standing back there waiting for everything to go to hell before escaping (when it's too late) but he also isn't just taking off before the moving parts make a scramble a good idea. It also seems like he has been able to look some defenders off after he's decided but before he actually starts running...a step up in the pocket, a glance to the right and run to the left.

 

[Gander Hawk]

In that 3rd and goal TD the entire Penn State team bit on the handoff. That's the dimension we've always been missing since CJB. Lull a team to sleep with really good RBs (Wadley/Daniels/Sargent/Goodson/Johnson/Moulton), and have the QB's legs be a threat.

Since Stanley took over until now we haven't had that ability. Could sell out on the run but no one had to worry about Iowa passing or a QB taking off. Now we have at least one of the two. Dumbasses ragging on and on about how nothing has changed because they go online and look at passing stats don't understand football beyond a box score level. It changed last Saturday and that's how the Hawkeyes need to play ball right now. Will it continue? Who knows...but at least last week that's how you're supposed to play football in the B1G.

Getting beat by a leviathan like OSU or even Oregon can't be helped. You might as well just try to chop an oak tree down with a butter knife. But to beat teams like Indiana '25 and Penn State (PSU is still a big time program, folks) and nebraska, this is how you have to do it at a school like Iowa.

You also need a QB with attitude and not an "oh-shit-what-do-I-do-now-I'm-scared-shitless" thing going on. You're QBs attitude and composure is going to be your team's attitude and composure. Peeing down your leg and wide eyes ain't acceptable (before people come at me remember these guys are making millions now). You can be a great guy and have a high football IQ like what people have said about Petras and Stanley...I met both of them briefly when they were playing and they seemed like awesome dudes...but that doesn't translate into success at QB. Just like the best guy to lead a platoon into war isn't going to kill the enemy and keep his troops alive on intelligence and nice factor. You have to have a toughness and a grit that wears off on people and makes them confident in themselves and what their mission is.

Stanley shouldn't be mentioned in same sentence as Petras.

 

[Grady]

Listening to Coach Fleck yesterday morning during his CBS interview, his main point was that Iowa's offense is MUCH harder to defend now because for the first time in a long time, the Hawks have a QB who can run.

Fleck and Fry on the same wave length....love it.