Petras early vs later in games; can Brian F get him rolling early

U

uihawk82

Well-Known Member
I observe Petras struggles more early in games then gets into a better rhythm or things come together for him. Is that what you have observed?

Yesterday he started 1 for 9 then finished 16-22 for 73% in that latter streak. What do you think, does he appear too hyped up early, unsure of the coverages, is the play calling also not getting guys open early as he can throw away a fair amount of balls in stretches. It seems like early is when he throws some lame passes.

I like his play overall and I know others do not. Since Petras isnt a running threat when he is in shotgun the defensive front doesnt need to worry about him much running. I noticed when the hawks put Petras under center the hawk running game improved quite a bit.

Should Brian F call a zone read run by Petras early to get him some contact and maybe settle him down?

A 5 for 9 start for Petras can mean early points by the offense and then let our defense do its thing.
 
Just my opinion but I think most of Petras' struggles occur because of immense defensive pressure. The poor guy has lineman right in his face and he is not a mobile qb that can sense pressure coming and avoid it. As soon as we figure out how to protect him better he starts completing passes and our offense clicks. It's all part of playing a young, low on experience o-line. They will learn and keep getting better!
 
Despite the slow start against Penn St., I was impressed with the way he stayed calm, hung in there despite the pressure, and his overall toughness. He looked like a leader. Agree with the comment about the O-line protecting him better. Hopefully, they will all keep improving each game.
 
HawkeyeBK said:
Despite the slow start against Penn St., I was impressed with the way he stayed calm, hung in there despite the pressure, and his overall toughness. He looked like a leader. Agree with the comment about the O-line protecting him better. Hopefully, they will all keep improving each game.
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Our O line played better against Maryland but also Penn state had something to do with it.. Overall BF didn't call a great game, but I feel KF has something to do with that too.. I really don't think BF or KF has real confidence in Petrus.. What you should be asking is can BF take Iowa to the promise land offensively.. ???
 
Hawkeye/swish said:
Our O line played better against Maryland but also Penn state had something to do with it.. Overall BF didn't call a great game, but I feel KF has something to do with that too.. I really don't think BF or KF has real confidence in Petrus.. What you should be asking is can BF take Iowa to the promise land offensively.. ???
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The TD pass to Ragaini was the ballsiest play call in 20 years of Iowa football. We set them up to overcommit on the run and to roll the defense to their left. It's not a playstation game, you take what you can get and BF called a great game against a stout defense.

Other than running a tight I QB sneak literally every freaking play if I was the OC and had the ball at the 6 or closer, there's nothing I can fault BF for in that game.
 
okeefe4prez said:
The TD pass to Ragaini was the ballsiest play call in 20 years of Iowa football. We set them up to overcommit on the run and to roll the defense to their left. It's not a playstation game, you take what you can get and BF called a great game against a stout defense.

Other than running a tight I QB sneak literally every freaking play if I was the OC and had the ball at the 6 or closer, there's nothing I can fault BF for in that game.
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Keegan getting his guy to take the bait on him in coverage was equal in importance to Ragaini getting open. No way Nico takes it to the house if Keegan’s DB went zone as the play developed (which he should have).

Obviously him fading the DB away from the target is high school level stuff, but to for him to do such a good job of it, especially as a true freshman under the lights in the biggest Hawkeye game since Chuck Long was pulling co-ed tail, was impressive. I feel good about he and Bruce on the field together as starters.
 
If the Ferentz' duo wants Petras to improve, they have to allow him to earn genuine confidence on the field of play. In other words, they MUST allow him to take some calculated risks, otherwise he's just going to regress into a smaller playbook, one which is even more predictable than they already are.
 
Fryowa said:
Keegan getting his guy to sell out on him in coverage was equal in importance to Ragaini getting open. No way Nico takes it to the house if Keegan’s DB went zone as the play developed (which he should have).

Obviously him fading the DB away from the target is high school level stuff, but to for him to do such a good job of it, especially as a true freshman under the lights in the biggest Hawkeye game since Chuck Long was pulling co-ed tail, was impressive. I feel good about he and Bruce on the field together as starters.
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Even then, you're just going to have a real scumbag throw in some redshirt freshman nose tackle on one or two snaps to be the injury faker. There needs to be serious consideration of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and frankly probably some financial penalties for coaches.
 
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99topdawg said:
Instead of answering this, I'll just post this, which I came across yesterday: Link

View attachment 8174
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In 2020 it was very different:
1633981804613.png

I think last year they tried to give him really easy stuff early on to build some confidence. But once the D caught on, he struggled like a starting pitcher 2nd time through the order.

I gotta say, I am kind of shocked at the number of fans that came out of that game questioning both our QB and our offensive game plan. What I saw was an offense that was pretty clearly over-matched talent-wise by a very good D that still managed to produce points when needed. And Petras missed a few (I can think of an open one to a 2nd level crosser on a swap boot, and then the high throw to Ragaini that got picked), but he also delivered some darts. I am not saying they played a perfect game, but I don't think their ceiling was too much higher than what they delivered.
 
You wanna fix this problem? Look at the PSU tape, but watch PSU on offense in the first quarter. Petras and Clifford are more alike than different. Petras has a stronger arm, and Clifford is a much better runner, but both of them can advance the sticks with their arms and legs.

BF needs to throw the same wide receiver screens that PSU was throwing. Not the bubble screens, but a tight spiral to a wide out on a hitch route with two WR/TE blocking three defenders in front of them. Now, we may only gain a few yards, but it does four important things:

1. Its a low risk play that is pretty much an extension of the running game.
2. It is a high percentage completion and completions build confidence with our hyped up QB.
3. It allows the OL to chop block. The ball is going to release quickly and you want the DL to not jump, so each OL can cut the aggressive DL in front of him. Slows them down.
4. It forces the LB and safeties to have to honor the outside a bit so they are not coming down hill at Goodson every damn play.

I hate to agree with anything Greg Davis did, but with this offense and QB, we need a bit more horizontal passing to spread the back 7 and loosen up the running game. Petras has the arm to do this.
 
99topdawg said:
Instead of answering this, I'll just post this, which I came across yesterday: Link

View attachment 8174
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Nice find with the numbers Dawg. Now what is the fix for his slow first qtr starts. The big time analysts for pro and college ball have said for years in a situation like this get the QB some short, stationary type targets to settle them down and get a couple easy completions. So that means a TEnd over the middle who is a big target doing a stop or sit down route in front of the defense, or an easy pass to a running back to a side where receivers took their men down the field, or slip the fullback out of the backfield on play action which is many times wide open, or how about those flips to the sideline behind blockers to a receiver who is behind the LOS. Penn St and many teams are using that design now to get the ball in space with blockers to a dynamic receiver/runner.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
BF needs to throw the same wide receiver screens that PSU was throwing. Not the bubble screens, but a tight spiral to a wide out on a hitch route with two WR/TE blocking three defenders in front of them.
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I would have to go back and look, but I think this was part of their option game. Almost like a horizontal triple option, where Clifford could hand the ball off or if he got a pull read, he could either run (if the LB vacated) or throw the bubble/smoke screen if the LB sat and played run. I'm really glad they seemed to go away from this with the backup QB because it felt like they were getting 5-7 yards a pop and that was considerably more successful than they were with their actual running game.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
I hate to agree with anything Greg Davis did, but with this offense and QB, we need a bit more horizontal passing to spread the back 7 and loosen up the running game. Petras has the arm to do this.
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O'Keefe ran this to perfection in 2004. Never praise Davis. He was brought in to pave the way for Brian.
 
I don't remember a great horizontal passing game from KOK. My recollection was that he pounded the rock and threw the ball deep more often that BF does. He also loved the boot. Loved.

The current approach is to hand the ball off to Goodsen or play action and throw the ball underneath to a squatting TE or a crossing WR. Not exactly a lot of incentive for the D to pull their guys out of the box.

We need to spread the field with high percentage horizontal throws and take a few vertical shots as well. That will loosen the box for Tyler and the OL.
 
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