Players saved staff from serious scrutiny

[silvanthalas]

blah, blah, blah. just be happy Iowa won.

Wow, I'm surprised it took this long for somebody to make such an inane comment.

I like that Iowa used some no huddle, and Podolak said in the post game they had worked on that this week and had planned to use it.

No, they didn't plan to use it, or they wouldn't have waited until they were down 21 and it forced their hand.

Hint: if you're going to go no huddle, you do it from the start of the drive. You wouldn't wait until after a silly holding call by your O-line or something else that would then give you an excuse to point at as to why you didn't. We. were. not. going. to. use. it.

 

[iahawk20]

My thoughts exactly

The players played like garbage the first three quarters, committing stupid penalties and missing assignments.

But once they start clicking its because the coaches stopped holding them back?

Give me a break

89, you just stop it with logical thinking. No place for it here, lets just balme every made play on the coaches! The first three quarters had nothing to do with lack of execution?!! Riiight, lol.

 

[smoot27]

I like that Iowa used some no huddle, and Podolak said in the post game they had worked on that this week and had planned to use it.

That said, Iowa was in the hole they were in due to a lot of failed execution in this game. Iowa's offense killed itself for two quarters either with mental mistakes or the players not seeming to be on the same page in the passing game, and it sounded like that had something to do with Pitt's coverage schemes, which Iowa figured out late in the third quarter.

It was pretty clear from the tape that Pitt was uncomfortable defending our 3 WR shotgun formations out of the no-huddle. They had no time to switch personnel, put 8-9 in the box and put in multiple blitz packages. Funny how the most consistent team in the NFL (patriots) run this offense constantly, but some on here still don't face reality.

The schemes had a lot more to do with our success in the 4th than anything.

 

[imported_ankle23]

I'd say it was the players that almost caused them grief. So tHe first three quarters were all on tHe coaches yet the fourth quarter was all players? Good thought!

+1.

These posts - like the OP is making- are brutal.

 

[smoot27]

+1.

These posts - like the OP is making- are brutal.

I wouldn't say it was all on either side, but you have to be ignorant of reality to not realize that Pitt's defense was unable to handle the shotgun passing attack as easily as they did our base formation where they could stack the box.

 

[stevoskin]

The coaches should try this, we play ULM on saturday. I believe this is a last chance game to try anything and everything before the level of competition rises. The coaches have to know this. They should come out in the first quarter right into the no huddle like they finished the pitt game. If it works, keep it going. It doesn't hurt any to try it once or twice. Just see what happens. Yes, the run game when established will open up the pass, but maybe this is what coker needs. If the pass game starts to get noticed defenses will start to drop another man back into coverage leaving coker one less man to beat. And yes coker has looked shaky but we all know what he is capable of. If Iowa established the pass and then if the run game clicks, I think we could beat just about anybody.

 

[scourt]

Wow, I'm surprised it took this long for somebody to make such an inane comment.



No, they didn't plan to use it, or they wouldn't have waited until they were down 21 and it forced their hand.

Hint: if you're going to go no huddle, you do it from the start of the drive. You wouldn't wait until after a silly holding call by your O-line or something else that would then give you an excuse to point at as to why you didn't. We. were. not. going. to. use. it.

I.would.believe.what.Ed.Podolak.says.about.Iowa.football.every.time.and.twice.on.Sunday.before.I.would.even.consider.what.you.think.

 

[dyerhawk]

If Iowa ever runs the spread offensive, I dont even want to think about. I love smash mouth football. That being said play calling could be better and not so predictable

 

[smoot27]

If Iowa ever runs the spread offensive, I dont even want to think about. I love smash mouth football. That being said play calling could be better and not so predictable

It would suck to have to run an offense like Green Bay, Houston, Philly or New England.

 

[homes]

Iowa's offense killed itself for two quarters either with mental mistakes or the players not seeming to be on the same page in the passing game, and it sounded like that had something to do with Pitt's coverage schemes, which Iowa figured out late in the third quarter.

Wait a minute, I thought Iowa's coaches were incapable of making in game adjustments?

 

[zhawkzrule]

I love the smash mouth football as much as everyone else, but this team does seem to have the ability to create the holes needed for coker to have much success. I think its a combination of him trying to make too many cuts and make people miss, hes a north south runner, who needs to put his shoulder down and be more physical in my opinion. However I think they need to adjust to the 2004 offense more as well, throw it around more, then mix in the running game and I think the offense will be much more successful, again, your making a defense prepare against multiple looks and harder to defend us, makes much more sense to me.

 

[dyerhawk]

It would suck to have to run an offense like Green Bay, Houston, Philly or New England.

I dont care for that style, thats my opinion

 

[silvanthalas]

I.would.believe.what.Ed.Podolak.says.about.Iowa.football.every.time.and.twice.on.Sunday.before.I.would.even.consider.what.you.think.

You go ahead and keep your head in the sand over the fact that this coaching staff has NO INCENTIVE WHATSOEVER to do anything unless absolutely forced to... like being down 21 when they had all damn game to go into a no huddle/hurry up offense.

They just keep doing the same stuff over and over, even when it clearly does not work. Mixing things up is anathema to Ferentz.

 

[olivecourt]

Did you watch the game? Once Iowa got down by 21, they FINALLY had to give up on the running game which was going nowhere. I mean, how bad was that stubborn play calling through the first 2 and 1/2 quarters?

They didn't give up on the running game down 21. They also didn't go to the hurry-up or the shotgun. JVB played under center, they utilized play-action, and they gave the ball to Bullock on 1st and goal from the 5... I don't care what the refs say, that was a touchdown. Regardless, they ran it in the next play.

I thought the play-calling was awesome through 2.5 quarters. How does Marvin McNutt, a guy the other team should be double covering, get that wide open in the end zone without a great play call?

What was terrible in the first 2.5 quarters was the 85 yards we gave away in penalties and the 65-yard kick return that was wiped out by a block in the back. Are we to assume that Iowa can't even get their own snap count right if they aren't in the no huddle?

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

You must have been watching a different game. When the offense switched to no-huddle shotgun, it didn't allow Pitt to rotate out defensive players or put 8-9 in the box and blitz. They had to spread out the defense and were constantly on their toes. You need to watch a Patriots game to see how this works. There is a reason Bilechick is considered the greatest coach in the game now and look at the offense he runs (no-huddle, shotgun passing attack).

I understand how a no huddle offense works chief, but thanks for the explanation anyway.

Iowa had 8 penalties for 85 yards and a turnover...but yeah, that had nothing to do with us playing like garbage the first 3 quarters. When you're 3rd and 15 or 2nd and 20 every series, you're very limited play calling.

 

[olivecourt]

Do you really think the coaches were calling every play during the no-huddle, hurry-up offense on the last two drives? I don't. I think they largely turned it over to JVB to work out with the receivers and line.

Then you should watch the game again so you can see JVB staring at the sidelines between every play. Maybe he was just playing patty-cakes with Weinke.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

Did you watch the game? Once Iowa got down by 21, they FINALLY had to give up on the running game which was going nowhere. I mean, how bad was that stubborn play calling through the first 2 and 1/2 quarters?

Did you watch the game, or read my post? Because I'm not sure you did either.

Iowa threw the ball 48 times, the coaches adjusted once they had to, which I give them credit for.

The PLAYERS committed 8 penalties for 85 yards, and a turnover the first three quarters. They put themselves in that position.

Kudos to the coaches for changing the gameplan

 

[herkeye]

All you fair-weather fans stop your ********! This team is definately a work-in-progress. That said, one cannot deny that Ferentz and Co. aren't making the necessary changes to start winning ball games. Defensivley speaking, Bernstine finally started and they moved Hyde back to CB. The rotation at DL is seems to be working better (not quite there yet, but the season is young) and the LBers are really playing well (granted Nielson was out for most of the game Saturday). Overall, they have 10 turnovers in the last 3 games...I think, and they have shown vast improvement since the Iowa State game. Offensively, switching away from the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" mentality is a great step in the right direction and it only took the coaches 2 games to figure that out (11 games left). As Jon pointed out in his article, this year's offiensive mentality will be the exact opposite of what they are used to playing, pass the ball to set up the run game. Obviously, the season rests on the arm of JVB and the hands of the WRs. Otherwise, the running game won't open up and this offense will be one-dimentional.
I for one, am pleased to see how the Hawks turned around in the 4th quarter last week. They have a whole lot of momentum heading into practice this week and after a win next Saturday (knock on wood for a win and no injuries), and then 2 weeks to prepare for the Bi. This team WILL be ready by the time the Big Ten season starts and they faxe Penn State. Sure, the Iowa State loss stung, just like an apple falling from a tree onto your head, but it doesn't mean the sky is falling, Chicken Little.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

Then you should watch the game again so you can see JVB staring at the sidelines between every play. Maybe he was just playing patty-cakes with Weinke.

LOL

Come on, stop making sense. That isn't allowed here.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

IMO, the players saved KOK and KF from getting hammered like never before by pulling the game out Saturday. Seriously, how freaking clueless are these two guys offensively? Game after game we hear the opposing coaches say "stop Iowa's run and you stop Iowa". We continue to run into stacked boxes, run a north-south runner wide on the zone play and refuse to play anyone but Coker. Our TE's barely get any looks and our passing game, with the exception of the 4th quarter Saturday is about as rudimentary as it gets.

Saturday proved we have ample talent at the QB and WR spots to throw the ball more. I would even go as far as to say we are a better passing team than running team and should pass to free up the run. Blasphemy I know, given our addiction to beat out Penn State for the most conservative, vanilla, boring offensive team in the conference. If the staff can't be flexible to account for variances in their talent, they are holding the program back.

I am sure the spin machine will be in full gear this week and Saturday's comeback will be attributed to KOK's brilliant play calling NOT a failure of the staff to make in game adjustments until the situation became desperate.

Wrong ....

The issue boils down more to player execution.

Many of our issues on O were self-inflicted ... and quite stupid. Some blown blocks ... some penalties ... and all that. Of course, we also suffered some from bad calls too.

AND, on D, we had 2 new starters at safety ... and Hyde was switched back to CB. That's a lot of change in the secondary for just a week of change. Such an abrupt change can lead to communication issues ... and that can negatively impact execution.

Specifically, we bit hard on the run for Pitt's first TD ... and on their second TD, while the refs missed a call, it's also true that our CB who as on a island left his man when he shouldn't have. Those are mistakes ... and fortunately correctable ones.

The reason why we were in a holes was due to the players ... however, the credit also goes to the player for stepping up and digging themselves out too!

For as poor as the execution was through the first 2.5 quarters ... the last 1.5 quarters was excellent!