Our defense is fast, does that mean more blitzing?

[DuffMan]

Norm has said on a few occasions that our D will be different this year in that we aren't as strong as we have been in years past but we are faster. Traditionally we have been control the LOS with the DL, linebackers fill your gaps, play your assignments, and make plays. That usually isn't a successful recipe for small and fast defenses. They tend to get worn down and tired.

Fast defenses on the other hand tend to be at thier best when they are flying to the football and blitz frequently. These are things that play to fast defenses strengths.

I realize that it's unlikely we are going to look like the Philidelphia Eagles and blitz on 50% percent of the plays, but do you think we tweak our system a little bit to make best use of our team speed? We saw a glimpse of how effective Morris can be when blitzing up the middle in the bowl game last year. We also saw those blitzes leave our backfield vulnerable which lead to a couple of touch downs in the bowl game.

Do we see a noticible difference in our team approach this year to suit our strenghts?

 

[528646]

Norm has said on a few occasions that our D will be different this year in that we aren't as strong as we have been in years past but we are faster. Traditionally we have been control the LOS with the DL, linebackers fill your gaps, play your assignments, and make plays. That usually isn't a successful recipe for small and fast defenses. They tend to get worn down and tired.

Fast defenses on the other hand tend to be at thier best when they are flying to the football and blitz frequently. These are things that play to fast defenses strengths.

I realize that it's unlikely we are going to look like the Philidelphia Eagles and blitz on 50% percent of the plays, but do you think we tweak our system a little bit to make best use of our team speed? We saw a glimpse of how effective Morris can be when blitzing up the middle in the bowl game last year. We also saw those blitzes leave our backfield vulnerable which lead to a couple of touch downs in the bowl game.

Do we see a noticible difference in our team approach this year to suit our strenghts?

In a word, no.

I just don't see it happening. They have been running the same sets/schemes for 12+ seasons now - I can't see it changing just because we have a few more quick guys on the field than normal.

We've had good "team speed" on defense before and never blitzed.

 

[Schneid]

Actually, if you think about it, it can lead to less blitzing. Iowa's Defense relies on faster-than-average linebackers that can cover slot receivers and tight ends. Blitzing out of the 4-3 requires cornerbacks with truly elite speed or perfect form when jamming the receiver at the line. If you look at how far off the line our corners have to play, they don't possess either. (Spivey was about the only corner I can remember that Parker allowed to play up on the line consistently)

So, No.

It actually plays into the hands of our style of defense as well. Unless the D-Line is truly an embarrassment, the speed allows for players to flow to the ball after securing their pass coverage responsibilities. So as long as the D-line occupies blockers, the linebackers can roam free and make tackles at or near the line of scrimmage.

As long as Norm is the one calling the plays, he knows EXACTLY when to dial up blitzes. Examples: Missouri's last drive and any Penn State game ever. It seems to work every time because Norm is a freaking genius.

 

[JHHawk]

We were small and fast in 2008 with King and Angerer inside,but we did not blitz much more.
I agree that it is doubtful,altho I would not mind it.
We seemed to wear down late in games last year when we were stronger,but played fewer guys. Maybe the suggestion that we will rotate more guys up front this year could address the fatigue factor? I do not think our back seven really get worn down,as much as they got injured and we had inexperienced backups in there.

The best defense is a solid ball control offense,which seemed to fall off last year late in the year,especially in the 4th quarter. That has to be part of the equation...better offense,stemming from a better o-line,and healthy rbs.

The thing about blitzing...you have to have speed to get there..with Morris,and Kirksey/Hitchens,I think we have it this year.

 

[Hawkeye11en1]

The thing about blitzing is...if you don't have to, then don't. Our defenses (for the most part, and I know we struggled late in games last year) have been good enough that we really didn't need to blitz. This year, that may change. You always play the scheme that is going to fit your players the best. I think maybe Norm realizes it isn't his "normal" defense, and might switch it up a little to put these guys in better positions to make plays. TBH, I don't care that they don't blitz so much as they play some more nickel and dime packages against "certain" teams.

 

[Ronco]

As Norm has said in the past- "I used to be a blitzaholic." and "I would go to Vegas and gamble with your money".

To answer the original question- No way in gods green earth.

 

[MidnightBlueSix]

We can use some context clues to flesh this out a little bit. We have two super-successful HS sprinters in our LB corps in Kirksey and Morris (not sure about Hitchens). We also have guys like Lomax and Campbell coming in, but we can't assume they'll play so for the sake of this argument I'll assume they redshirt. We're going to have two really fast, somewhat undersized LBs who are naturally suited to blitz and make plays in the backfield, rather than fighting off blockers.

Secondly, we saw two uncharacteristic blitzes in the bowl game by Morris. Both plays he was able to disrupt the play and I believe he got hits on Gabbert on both as well. That was the best spread quarterback in football and even he was thrown off by a couple of blitzes.

Thirdly, we saw more blitzes during the spring scrimmage than usual. That was probably because we were preparing for what we're likely to see from other teams next year. However, they looked much better at it than usual, which may be because they practiced it more than usual this spring.

Fourthly, Prater has said to expect new techniques from the D this year. Could mean a lot of things, blitzing among them.

Fifthly, the teams and plays we have had the most trouble with over the past couple of seasons have been spread teams and passes to the sidelines. The problem we seem to have is stopping the 5 yard pass on 3rd and 4, and containing mobile QBs in similar situations. Blitzing, if done well, would throw off timing on those short routes and enough hits on a small, mobile QB can really show him down. It's risky, but if it works it can really pay off.

Finally, our DL is smaller and more athletic than usual, which changes the equation some. Ideally, our scheme allows us to let the LBs stay home in coverage and fly to the ball against the run because we can bring enough pressure with the front 4 to occupy the whole OL. But as we saw last year, the front 4 got worn down and beaten up by the 4th quarter and struggled to generate a pass rush. Blitzing more throughout the game would take some of the stress off the front 4.

I'm not saying we blitz all the time, maybe 8-10% of plays all year, but I do expect to see it more than we've come to expect. Our personnel is better suited for it, as are our weaknesses.

 

[ISUhawk]

Why would we ever want to blitz? It's not like a blitz caused a pick 6 that saved us a bowl win

 

[FCAS]

We've had good "team speed" on defense before and never blitzed.

This is just not true. Norm has never been one to call a blitz on every other play, but he has used selective blitzing (maybe one to three times per game) throughout his time at Iowa. Most of the time it's been pretty effective. One exception I can remember is when he called blitzes out of desperation against IU when Hardy was killing us.

 

[cmhawks99]

Why would we ever want to blitz? It's not like a blitz caused a pick 6 that saved us a bowl win

　
I'm not 100% positive we blitzed on said play, but I have it on DVR still so if I think of it I'll look later. As far as our D-line goes, I do believe it will be fast next year, but if it is faster than last year that would be "shocking".....Ballard ran a 4.7 forty at 290 Lbs, Clayborn ran a 4.8 as did Klug and all 3 had electric shuttle and Pro-agility times.

In 2008 we fielded 2-Lbers Anger and Edds that ran low 4.6 forties and Hunter who ran a 4.7 something which would give him solid NFL speed and 2 CB's Flecther who ran 4.48 and Spievey who ran about a 4.5 so it's not like we haven't been fast before?! In fact more to the point, we usually field fast teams so NO we wont blitz a ton more.....The Truth is we blitz more than Iowa fans realize already. I wouldn't be surprised to see it pick up a tick, but we had sooooo many Lber injuries last year we were really running out of options. If we are healthy we will play it a little closer to the vest...that's when we are at our best. The only thing Id really like to see is even more press coverage and more 3-4 in certain situations. Other wise we routinely have one of the best D's in the nation, no need to get silly.

Chad

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

　
I'm not 100% positive we blitzed on said play, but I have it on DVR still so if I think of it I'll look later. As far as our D-line goes, I do believe it will be fast next year, but if it is faster than last year that would be "shocking".....Ballard ran a 4.7 forty at 290 Lbs, Clayborn ran a 4.8 as did Klug and all 3 had electric shuttle and Pro-agility times.

In 2008 we fielded 2-Lbers Anger and Edds that ran low 4.6 forties and Hunter who ran a 4.7 something which would give him solid NFL speed and 2 CB's Flecther who ran 4.48 and Spievey who ran about a 4.5 so it's not like we haven't been fast before?! In fact more to the point, we usually field fast teams so NO we wont blitz a ton more.....The Truth is we blitz more than Iowa fans realize already. I wouldn't be surprised to see it pick up a tick, but we had sooooo many Lber injuries last year we were really running out of options. If we are healthy we will play it a little closer to the vest...that's when we are at our best. The only thing Id really like to see is even more press coverage and more 3-4 in certain situations. Other wise we routinely have one of the best D's in the nation, no need to get silly.

Chad

It was a bit subtle ... but Morris brought delayed heat up the middle that ended up flushing Gabbert over towards Clayborn.

If it wasn't a blitz, then it was Morris spying on Gabbert and then trying to fill the gap in order to prevent the QB keeper.

Regardless, it wasn't any sort of all-out blitz or anything. We only had 5 guys in the box ... everybody else was out in coverage.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Here's my take ....

- Iowa currently have smaller DEs who aren't necessarily going to be as powerful and/or dominant at the point of attack. It is natural to scheme things to play to their strengths. I've witnessed both guys (Binns and Daniel) showing pretty nice flashes when it comes to bringing speed rushes. Furthermore, Binns has a great wing span and has shown an aptitude for batting balls. Given the skill set of Binns ... it makes sense to implement zone-blitzes so that he can hang back, read the QB's eyes, and go for picks.

- I really don't believe that Iowa's secondary is as "slow" as some folks seem to think. Prater, Hyde, Miller, Bernstine, and Sleeper are all guys who can seriously move. Furthermore, I'm willing to bet that guys like Lowery and Campbell can seriously move too. In other words, Iowa is capable of putting together many personnel packages that can match-up better against most passing squads than many folks think.

- As another poster indicated ... Morris and Kirksey have wheelz too. Furthermore, Nielsen has pretty darn nice speed for the LEO spot too. While I'm not uber-stoked about our overall lack of experienced depth at LB, we definitely have a number of guys can run. I'm frankly more concerned about how well guys can consistently tackle. Fortunately, I know that Iowa places a huge emphasis on fundamentals ... so our guys at least have it drilled into them about how to tackle well.

- Iowa arguably won't field a "dominant" presence of the field like a Clayborn or a Klug. Those guys, at times, could simply be unblockable ... and, on most occasions, blocking those guys would require double-teams. A direct result of this is that Iowa will invariably face max-pro much less frequently. This means that the Hawks will get tested more in coverage. However, on the flip side of this ... because Iowa doesn't yet have such a dominant guy, the Hawks will be much more likely to rotate more guys on D. A direct result of this is that guys on the DL will likely be more fresh ... AND opposing O-linemen will have to face off against more contrasting "styles."

- I honestly like Iowa's personnel at DE. We have Binns, Daniel, Forgy, and Alvis. I know that Alvis practiced a lot at DT ... however, I think that a significant portion of that was due to need because both Bigach and Nardo were out due to injury. Anyhow, we all know the good things Binns is capable of ... however, it is worth noting that Ferentz has gone out of his way to make positive comments about Forgy and Alvis is a guy who has received a heap of praise from Norm.

- DT is certainly a bigger issue for the Hawks. However, we at least know that we have a proven commodity in Mike Daniels. Furthermore, I cannot help but believe that a few guys will prove to be a notch or two above serviceable out of Nardo, Bigach, Davis, Hardy, Heissel, and Cooper. When you look at the size of guys like Davis, Hardy, Heissel, and Cooper, it's hard to believe too many comments about Iowa's DL being "undersized." You have to remember that King and Kroul BOTH started in 2005 ... and King was playing at a sub-250 weight and Kroul wasn't a whole lot bigger.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

This is just not true. Norm has never been one to call a blitz on every other play, but he has used selective blitzing (maybe one to three times per game) throughout his time at Iowa. Most of the time it's been pretty effective. One exception I can remember is when he called blitzes out of desperation against IU when Hardy was killing us.

Against passing teams, we actually tend to blitz in the redzone with pretty great regularity. In fact, we'll even rush as many as 9 guys ... hoping to force the QB into making a bad pass and/or decision. Unfortunately, we also pretty regularly get burned when we makes those calls too.

 

[spudhawk]

In '09 we really mixed up our third down packages- especially on 3rd and long, more blitzing including all three LBs and even the occasional safety blitz. In '10 we blitzed in the Arizona game and the Missouri game consistently. Other than that it was usually some variety of 4 man pressure. All 4 DL played some coverage last season coupled with either a linebacker or corner coming from the opposite edge.

I think this season in the Coaches have confidence in the safeties we could see more delay and disguised blitzes from the linebackers. Last season's defense is completely different if Tarp and Nielsen are healthy for the entire year.

 

[ISUhawk]

It was a delayed blitz b/c like homer said, Morris came up the middle late which was the reason for the scramble. I would think that if he was a spy he would have held back and waited for gab to run but who knows, it was an awesome play!

 

[Lazersharpe]

I do not believe the D is going to Blitz alot. My main reason is the
inexperience. We are replacing 7 starters from last year. They need to get a feel for the base D before they start going blitz happy.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

It was a delayed blitz b/c like homer said, Morris came up the middle late which was the reason for the scramble. I would think that if he was a spy he would have held back and waited for gab to run but who knows, it was an awesome play!

The only reason why I mentioned the possibility of "spying" is because Gabbert had burned us on a couple QB draws ... and also because just as Gabbert started moving towards the LOS, Morris came in. However, from angle that they have of the play on youtube, it also could just have easily have been just an instance of Gabbert rolling to his right. Also, considering that the ball wasn't yet tucked, I'm inclined to believe that it was a blitz ... either that or Gabbert's reaction-time is amazing.

 

[trj]

I have the NW game stuck in my head for some reason. Those corner blitzes just never seemed to get home. In fact, Hyde/Prater never even got close to Persa.

My guess and it's strictly a guess is that the blitzing will be limited, unless the obvious occurs: the DL not being able to get penetration and/or pressure.

 

[cmhawks99]

I have the NW game stuck in my head for some reason. Those corner blitzes just never seemed to get home. In fact, Hyde/Prater never even got close to Persa.

My guess and it's strictly a guess is that the blitzing will be limited, unless the obvious occurs: the DL not being able to get penetration and/or pressure.

It's interesting that you remember them (I do too) because there is a whole battalion of fans out there that seem convinced the only time we blitzed in that game was when Morris got to Persa. To the point I’ve seen it suggested he “free-lancedâ€￾…?!?!...as implausible as that would be on a KF team....

Chad

 

[FML]

Blitz or no blitz, let's just stop getting SHREDDED by jNW