Our D, is it really

O

olddude

Well-Known Member
this good? Interesting thing on secpn. I never would have guessed it. Maybe we should stop with all the dogging on the D.

"Iowa has been solid in the red zone on both sides of the ball this season. The Hawkeyes are tied for third nationally in red zone offense (96 percent scoring conversions) and tied for ninth nationally in red zone defense (71 percent scoring allowed)."
 
Well, there you go. Hopefully we get by Minny. We'll find out how really good we are with that final 4 game stretch. Pretty brutal
 
I wish we would just get healthy on defense. Hard to develop and improve when the best players are so banged up.
 
Good stat. Our problem is that we let too many of our drives get to the red zone giving the other team too many opportunities to score. I would be interested in seeing a stat that shows how many of our drives that start on the other side of the field make it to the red zone. I guess we wouldn't be so great at that.
 
very good stat, but you need your defense to get stops on their side of the field too. Field position, see Penn State, can be a critical thing in close games. We haven't done well on 3rd down...what's our rank there...???
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
very good stat, but you need your defense to get stops on their side of the field too. Field position, see Penn State, can be a critical thing in close games. We haven't done well on 3rd down...what's our rank there...???
Click to expand...
There are 120 teams so id say 120 so far. I'm jk but I know its not good!
 
This is the first year where I've seen the "bend, don't break" work well (at times). Our D seems to wake up in the Red Zone. It's a shame they can't start keeping other teams out of it though. Here's hoping for a breakthrough weekend!
 
Really makes sense. Good coaching, marginal talent.

When the field is open, there is more space to take advantage of the marginal talent. When things get pinched down, guys don't have to cover as much space, so coaching, technique, and scheme become more important.
 
I was just thinking something similar the other day. Think about it NW put up 24 on The vaunted PSU defense and the Indiana running back had a career day against Wisconsin. So yes our defense is not what we are used to, but appear to be getting better with less talent on the field. This year we are going to have to outscore people period. Our D played well enough at PSU to win, but a turnover on O pretty much gave them the field position they needed to put up a score that cost us the game. JVB needs to step up on the road show he can read the safety and corner blitzes, and win us a game. By the way for the sake if discussion I don't believe this is calling out players at all. If you want to see what that looks like check out the weekly performance reveiws by position.
 
The frustrating thing is 3rd downs and how long the opponents' drives last because of consistently giving up 3rd down conversions. Our D can keep the opponent from gaining more than a yard or two on 1st and 2nd down, but 3rd down is almost a given that they'll gain the necessary 1st down yardage. Indiana had scored 10 points or something against B1G opponents, yet we give up 14 immediately when they're missing anyone of value they have.

The defense isn't "bad" per se, but it's certainly frustrating. I'm frustrated just thinking about it.
 
CAARHawk said:
Really makes sense. Good coaching, marginal talent.

When the field is open, there is more space to take advantage of the marginal talent. When things get pinched down, guys don't have to cover as much space, so coaching, technique, and scheme become more important.
Click to expand...

Idea...let's play like we are in the red zone on the opponents side of the field. Tighten things up when they are on their 20 and pretend their forty is the end zone.

Either that or we can just feed the mayo to the tuna fish.
 
olddude said:
this good? Interesting thing on secpn. I never would have guessed it. Maybe we should stop with all the dogging on the D.

"Iowa has been solid in the red zone on both sides of the ball this season. The Hawkeyes are tied for third nationally in red zone offense (96 percent scoring conversions) and tied for ninth nationally in red zone defense (71 percent scoring allowed)."
Click to expand...

SPIN ALERT!!

... tied for 9th in red zone defense scoring percentage

Looks respectable on the surface until you actually look at the numbers.

That 71% is 22 scores on 31 opportunities -- 31! Only 23 other teams have allowed their opponents to enter their red zone more than Iowa. In other words, Iowa is the 100th best defense in preventing teams from entering their red zone. (Woo-Hoo!!)

How about the real meaningful stat -- actual points allowed. Iowa has allowed 133 points to be scored from inside the red zone. That's better than 45 other teams, or, they are the 75th best defense in points allowed from inside their red zone. (Can I get a hoo-rah!)

By your stat, Iowa is better than Michigan State -- that swiss cheese D has allowed a 75% red zone scoring rate. Except that they've only allowed opponents to enter their red zone 12 times and have only yielded 54 points.

Red Zone Defense - NCAA.com

It's all relative and the ONLY thing that matters is how many points you allow. It doesn't matter from where they are scored, just that they are scored. Right now, this defense is on pace to allow the most points per game in a decade.
 
CAARHawk said:
Really makes sense. Good coaching, marginal talent.

When the field is open, there is more space to take advantage of the marginal talent. When things get pinched down, guys don't have to cover as much space, so coaching, technique, and scheme become more important.
Click to expand...

If its good coaching why are they waiting until the red zone to play tight D?
How often are our guys in a position to make a pick on a pass play before the red zone?
Sash had a bunch of INT's.Because he was a great cover guy? or did the DL put pressure on the QB and thus make mistakes?
If they can cover tight in the red zone thy can do it elsewhere in the field BUT the coaches have to let them.
I prefer the more conservative approach because it is statisically better but you can't sit in that all the time. Why not let them jump a route sometimes just to put doubt in the mind of the O.
That is on the coaches no one else. It doesn't make them bad or anything like that. It makes them conservative and stubborn because it is proven many times every weekend during FB season that some of that has to happen to be successful.
IMO the coaches job is to put the players in the best possible position to be successful even if there is risk involved sometimes. Iowa has gone a little out on the limb offensively this year but not on D.
 
BALDIES7980 said:
If its good coaching why are they waiting until the red zone to play tight D?
Click to expand...

I guess I will be the one to point out the obvious. It is possible to tighten up the coverages in the red-zone because you have the back of the end-zone as an added defender helping to guard against the deep pass.

As CAARHawk said, you can't do this in the middle of the field with marginal talent because there is a good chance a superior athlete may run away from you. And this is not just a concern for corners, but anyone in coverage (safeties and LBs as well).

Do you feel comfortable with our banged-up LBs in man coverage against RBs, TEs, and slot receivers? Do you feel comfortable with true sophomore Tanner Miller in man coverage considering he has probably played very little in his cumulative FB career? If you want to bring more DBs on the field to play tighter coverage, are you comfortable with our DL's ability to control the interior if we take a LB off the field?
 
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