Outback Bowl play calling

[ssckelley]

Iowa's offensive line was getting beat like a drum by Mississippi State's defensive line. Those guys were the best defensive line that Iowa has faced or will face in the foreseeable future. Without Mississippi State's penalties it would have been a solid beat down of Iowa. The Nick Easley pass was a fluke. It worked when Iowa needed it.

Having said that, at least the offense only had one screw up. That being the interception. What counts is Iowa got the W!

A FLUKE....seriously????

That play worked because of the over focus on Hockenson. If that play was a fluke then so was their 33 yard TD run where I counted 5 missed tackles. So was the fumble where our KO returner went airborne and lost his grip on the ball.

There had to be at least 10 times during the course of the season where Stanley had a wide open receiver like that and he air mailed it.

 

[skinnykilmer17]

Maybe BF just wanted to prove to some of the posters on this board that we can win next year without Fant and Hock.

Man that's deep. Hadn't thought of that. Oh wait. Easley is gone too. Yikes!!

 

[HuckFinn]

Watch the game. Read the reports on the game. Read the quotes from MSt players. Here it is: The corner/safety who was responsible either man on man or the middle of the zone told the press that he read "run" and came up too fast. He admitted that he made an error and that he has never been fooled like that before. Easley just ran right past him and he could not recover in time. That is what happens when you run a play action offense. No fluke. No mystery. As Iowa made errors that cost them games, Mst did that in the Outback. Deal with it.

 

[HuckFinn]

Yeah, it's a situational thing. But we rarely try anything. No matter where we are on the field. I hate seeing us run the ball with a minute left on our own 40. That kills me.

In the interview with the on the field media at halftime, KF said that HE mad a really dumb series of calls with the three pass plays. End of story. Lesson learned.

 

[HuckFinn]

^This. It was reported during the game that Hock went to Brain angry about his lack of targets. So Hock must have felt he had been open enough.

All of this praise for BF and his playcalling makes me chuckle a bit. After Davis I guess anything feels like an improvement.

We had run the ball 10x for -16 yards before the Easley 75 yarder. The run game ineptitude set up Abrams leaning in to play the run on that play. You guys really think BF was intentionally trying to go backwards just to set up one pass play? For how long was he planning on doing this? That is kind of risky and stupid strategy as we totally got manhandled in that first quarter. We were lucky we weren't down 14. The genius of Ferentz offensive football started the game with the same game plan we do 99% of the time. They think they can play a superior physical team by playing straight up with them. No wrinkles, no creativity to our offense.

Give BF credit for throwing in the second half I suppose but what was he going to do? Run it another 20x for -50 yards?

And throwing 3 straight times before halftime wasn't aggresive. It was just plain stupid. And Kirk got that right when he used that exact same word to Molly McGrath.

Our defense stepped up again, our offense made enough big plays when we needed it, Miss St shot themselves in the foot, and Morehead might be in Tracy Claeys meathead territory. I mean going for two after their first touchdown (??) but not going for two after their second to put you up by at least a FG? That is some smelly game management there.

We gained 199 yards of offense and were 1/11 on third downs. We played a one-dimensional offensive football team. I am glad we won this meaningless football game. I am always happy we win, but would have liked to have won a couple more meaningful games during the regular season. I guessed 8-5 before the season. I will never expect more than 8 wins from Kirk.

I just love the "meaningless football game" comment. Did you watch the kids on the team after the win? Did you watch the coaches? Did you watch the fan reactions? Do you know how much time, effort, players and coaches put into this season? News Flash: This is not about you. Its about the team, the coaches, the parents of players and the fans. But, you will continue your negative narrative from your anonymous ID. Good grief, man.

 

[skinnykilmer17]

Definitely some things to be proud of and kudos to KF for his bowl wins. My point is only our predictable offensive gameplan going in and to refute some of you guys who actually have said the Ferentz's were just setting up Miss St with our inept run game only to strike later. Ridiculous. Junior did finally make some adjustments but Morehead did us a lot of favors and if they don't bobble the endzone pass we most likely lose.

The following is from CBS Sports following the game:


Here are three things to know about this game.

1. Kirk Ferentz has won eight bowl games at Iowa: Which is fitting because earlier this season Ferentz became the winningest coach in Iowa football history, and now he's surpassed Hayden Fry for most bowl wins at Iowa as well. The win also moves Ferentz into third all-time for bowl wins among Big Ten coaches, as he now only trails Penn State'sJoe Paterno (10) and Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez (9). Considering Ferentz is only 63 and his history of success at Iowa, there's a good chance he'll pass both in the coming years.

2. Iowa's total of -15 rushing yards was its lowest rushing total in a single game since 2004: That was when the Hawkeyes finished with -15 rushing yards against Michiganduring a regular season game. The Hawkeyes lost that game 30-17. The last time Iowa finished with negative rushing yards in a game was in 2005 when they only had -9 against Ohio State. Iowa lost that game as well, 31-6. So at least the Hawkeyes were able to end their losing streak in games they had negative rushing yards.

3. This was the seventh time Mississippi State held a team below 100 yards rushing as a team this season: This is the first time they lost while doing so. The Bulldogs defense, which was one of the best in the country all season long, held Stephen F. Austin to 77 yards, ULL to 65, Auburn to 90, Texas A&M to 61, Arkansas to 69 and Ole Miss to 37 yards. The Bulldogs won all six of those games by an average of 35.5 points per game. Until the Outback Bowl, in which the Bulldogs defense allowed the fewest yards it had allowed all season, yet still lost the game. It was the first time Mississippi State had held an opponent to negative rushing yards since Florida had -78 (!) against them in a 47-35 Bulldogs win back in 2000

*The first time Miss St has held a team to negative rushing yards in 18 years.
*Our lowest rushing total since 2004.

>We had the fewest first downs (11) of any of their opponents this season.
>We tied Ole Miss for the fewest total yards (199) of any of their opponents this sesason.
> These stats are from "sports-reference.com"

Brian was lucky we weren't down 14 in the first quarter. Awful game plan. Again.

Look. KF and Barta and Uncle Bruce and multiple unkown fat cats will most likely make sure Brian is our next HC. If it is a given, I hope it gets done sooner than later. Then he can yell and threaten officials and throw shit as a HC and get our guys fired up, and then maybe we can finally have a talented OC. And I do believe Kirk will retire sooner than later. If he wants his nepotistic vision of his world to succeed he MIGHT have to go out on a positive bump. Next year could go backwards with the schedule and possible departures. Maybe following 2020??

 

[skinnykilmer17]

I just love the "meaningless football game" comment. Did you watch the kids on the team after the win? Did you watch the coaches? Did you watch the fan reactions? Do you know how much time, effort, players and coaches put into this season? News Flash: This is not about you. Its about the team, the coaches, the parents of players and the fans. But, you will continue your negative narrative from your anonymous ID. Good grief, man.

Fair point. Of course it is not meaningless to the players and coaches and to fans. And pretty good feeling to be the only conference team to beat an SEC team in a bowl.

Just repeating the exact verbage a lot of sportswriters and football heads say about bowl games. Compared to the regular season, they are meaningless. The only games postseason that matter are the playoffs.

But meaningless is too strong a word. I will refrain. Thank you.

 

[GotTimDodge]

To me our uniforms, especially our pants, just look old and ill-fitting. How often do we actually get new uniforms including helmets?

A lot of fans love our original (errr.. Steelers) uniforms and don't want to change (even tho Hayden changed) them ever.

 

[GotTimDodge]

Despite your inferiority complex, Iowa is a destination program. Power 5, top revenue generating program, great facilities, one of the best fan bases in the nation, one of the best stadiums in the nation and a weak press Corp, and an AD that will throw money at you. You tell me why a top level coach wouldn't want to come here

Agreed.
THIS should be the attitude.
A lot of the "we're little ol Iowa" fans try to say the fans with the above attitude are the pessimistic ones, not being happy with the current regime.

Thats BS.

WE are the optimistic ones. We are the ones who are optimistic our next HC can get it done.
The "we're just little ol Iowa" fans are the ones who are pessimistic, actually.

That said, I ain't ready to dump KF yet.

 

[GotTimDodge]

I just love the "meaningless football game" comment. Did you watch the kids on the team after the win? Did you watch the coaches? Did you watch the fan reactions? Do you know how much time, effort, players and coaches put into this season? News Flash: This is not about you. Its about the team, the coaches, the parents of players and the fans. But, you will continue your negative narrative from your anonymous ID. Good grief, man.

Agreed.
These games aren't meaningless.
These kids are ultra-competitive. Pads on, helmet on, a whistle blown, and you goddamn better believe they care then.

 

[karras]

Agreed.
These games aren't meaningless.
These kids are ultra-competitive. Pads on, helmet on, a whistle blown, and you goddamn better believe they care then.

Plus the NCAA counts these games in the stats category. Does the Univ. not display the trophies cuz the game is meaningless? In the NFL, paychecks carry most of the meaning, in the NCAA, games like the Outback is where you find the meaning. I enjoy the NCAA more than the NFL.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

A FLUKE....seriously????

That play worked because of the over focus on Hockenson. If that play was a fluke then so was their 33 yard TD run where I counted 5 missed tackles. So was the fumble where our KO returner went airborne and lost his grip on the ball.

There had to be at least 10 times during the course of the season where Stanley had a wide open receiver like that and he air mailed it.

It was a fluke. Did it happen again? No. They caught the DB looking into the backfield. And he wasn't looking at TJ. TJ went on a middle route. He got suckered by the play action. As for their 33 yard TD. That was bad defense on Iowa's part.

And in those 10 times during the season, Fant was part of the team. And none of those teams had a defense like Mississippi State's. The point is that their defensive line was manhandling Iowa's offensive line.

 

[ssckelley]

It was a fluke. Did it happen again? No. They caught the DB looking into the backfield. And he wasn't looking at TJ. TJ went on a middle route. He got suckered by the play action. As for their 33 yard TD. That was bad defense on Iowa's part.

And in those 10 times during the season, Fant was part of the team. And none of those teams had a defense like Mississippi State's. The point is that their defensive line was manhandling Iowa's offensive line.

lmao...it was not a fluke, those types of plays do happen. The MSU defense guessed wrong and Iowa cashed in. A fluke play is where something bizarre happens, that 33 yard run was way more bizarre than the 75 yard catch and run. It was very bizarre that our defenders missed those tackles.

 

[GotTimDodge]

Agreed not a fluke.
Yes, the DB bit.
Yes, that's the point.
If it happens by design, it's not a fluke.

A fluke is Iowa's pick in the endzone.

 

[hawkfan2679]

His flipping helmet was coming off

I saw him adjust it once (and then again after he scored) but he was running in a straight-ish line for 55 yards, 35 of which was after that adjustment, and those last 35 looked like he was running in cement shoes. Not the main point of the post, just an observation...

 

[hawkfan2679]

Agreed not a fluke.
Yes, the DB bit.
Yes, that's the point.
If it happens by design, it's not a fluke.

A fluke is Iowa's pick in the endzone.

I would say it is a little fluke-ey only because you wouldn't ever expect a defender in man coverage to get sucked in by a run fake. Zone defenders, yes, but man defenders have no run fit responsibility. That looked like man free coverage and MSU brought 5...a man defender getting drawn in by a run fake is something that you see far less than were it a busted zone coverage.

 

[pythagoras]

I saw him adjust it once (and then again after he scored) but he was running in a straight-ish line for 55 yards, 35 of which was after that adjustment, and those last 35 looked like he was running in cement shoes. Not the main point of the post, just an observation...

"That left Easley wide open up the seam. Stanley saw him, and tossed a perfect throw so that Easley could keep sprinting ahead.

“My job was easy on that play,” Stanley grinned.

Easley raced into the South end zone, but not before twice adjusting his helmet — which he said malfunctioned a play before. But Easley's multi-tasking journey to the end zone pushed Iowa's lead to 10-6 and pushed him into the record books."


If the helmet comes off play is dead...I don't know what to tell you

 

[SCHawkeye2]

When your o-line is as overmatched as ours was, there ain't much you can do and I thought they made the most of it. There weren't too many situations where I thought to myself they needed to do something different because (a) we couldn't run and (b) we couldn't throw it much more than 10 yards down field most of the time because every time Nate dropped back, Simmons was ready to paste him. Not a lot left in the playbook when that shit happens.

When your o-line is as overmatched as ours was, there ain't much you can do...

If Iowa is "O-line U" and "Best O Line in the Country" etc.....how is this possible?

 

[hawkfan2679]

"That left Easley wide open up the seam. Stanley saw him, and tossed a perfect throw so that Easley could keep sprinting ahead.

“My job was easy on that play,” Stanley grinned.

Easley raced into the South end zone, but not before twice adjusting his helmet — which he said malfunctioned a play before. But Easley's multi-tasking journey to the end zone pushed Iowa's lead to 10-6 and pushed him into the record books."


If the helmet comes off play is dead...I don't know what to tell you

Again, that wasn't the main point of the original post of mine that you quoted. I can only go off of what I saw; from what I saw Easley adjusted his helmet once after catching the ball in the field of play and another once he got to the end zone. In the interim, where he "sprinted" and "raced" according to your quote, he either looked extremely slow or the defender looked extremely fast. So if the point you are making is one that suggests that Easley wasn't running as hard as he could because he was worried about his helmet coming off, I'm fine with that opinion; it's just not one that I agree with given the circumstance.

 

[GoHawks12345]

People think play action pass (when it is successfull) is a fluke?

Because you don't want to give the OC credit for setting it up? Because then you'd have to acknowledge there was purpose in running the football, often times for a loss of yards?