re-watched the game last night

[IowaFanSince82]

Wow ESPN sucks at coverage of a game, dang I hope all our games are on ABC or Big Ten. No post game coverage and i am sorry but I really did not care about Auburn post game interview with chizik!

Offense: well oline struggled, but arizona had at least by my count (18 times) 9 guys in the box! They were playing with 2 guys in the secondary and the rest were up in tight coverage or run support! Good Luck running against 9 guys in the box, damn near impossible! The last drive 2 of the plays they blitzed their safety and they also played man to man coverage. Where in the heck was a jump ball to McNutt in that situation? we need a check off when we read blitz to either McNutt or DJK. Also could of used more screens or even TE screens. I'm sure KOK has some tricks up his sleeve for Big Ten Play!

Defense: God this game reminded me of Northwestern last year in the fact that zona just dinked their way down the field. Foles was throwing to a spot on the field and the receivers were right there. I will say this Iowa had Arizona 2 &12 in the second quarter and they ran a draw play, WOW clayborn was out of position on that play. Also did anyone else notice KLUG get blown up on a stunt? Our Dline probably played their worst game since ISU last year. They did get pressure at times, but they also got out of position at times and gave up big plays. Also on the last drive Sash got burnt on the 38yd pass, he bit on the pump fake and allowed that guy behind him. I can bet this will be the last time you will see Iowa's Defense have that many mistakes. Also Hyde got ripped on a PI call, he was in position (might of been his only time all night.)

Special Teams: You all know what happened, the PAT is the kicker for me, how did moss brucker kick that ball so low? All his other attempts were high enough, that one was a line drive. Did it not make it to the cross bar? It looked like it went through and then hooked around, but maybe my tv is so old I couldn't see it.

Overall: I thought our start was horrible, but this team showed alot of guts coming back. They played very well in the 2nd half, minus a few mental break-downs. They were in a tough environment and outside of PSU (playing at Bama) This was the big tens toughest test. This will help Iowa move forward and we are a pretty darn good football team. I was impressed with Daniel the Dlinemen and Neilsen the LB. Both of those guys played a good game. I have a really good feeling heading into conference play, I think we will be just fine. Go hawks!

 

[Jeebus]

Good post/observations.

I haven't watched the game a second time yet but I plan to. My biggest gripe aside from the special teams was the lack of execution by the offense. Arizona and the score took away the run game. This isn't the o-lines fault and this is when the best receiving corp in the history of the program should shine. Instead the O took consecutive sacks. I wonder if Stanzi was concussed.....either that or he was channeling the Jakester.

 

[thecaptain]

I re-watched it as well considering I missed most of it due to a wedding this past Sat. This is my 2 cents and then I'm moving on.

Punt Block- well played by AZ

McNutt INT- still haven't seen it but from the way it sounds it was a lucky bounce for AZ (kind of like our lucky bounce against IN last year)

McNutt/DJK- Made some really good plays and a couple bad plays (I still think they are a great tandem and will be explosive all year)

Kick Off Return- that really sucked but I think we did a pretty good job in coverage the rest of the game
Blocked Extra Point- still not sure what happened on that one

OLine- actually thought they did a pretty good job considering the pressure that they were under, this will improve as the season goes on, especially since I don't think we will be down 20 pts the rest of the year

Stanzi- pretty good game except for the final drive- that 2nd and 3 yds killed that drive (we had great field position), he held on to the ball way too long and then self destructed (no one is perfect) but really other than that he moved the ball well against a pretty stout AZ defense

CB's- I don't think they played as poorly as people are making it sound

Sash/Greenwood- I do think they gave up a couple of deep balls, especially the one on the last drive but you have to take the good witih the bad, they also do a hell of a job the majority of the time

DLine- I don't see the beef here, to me they seemed like they did a good job, AZ's oline is huge!!! They also scored a TD which is always a good thing.

Defense- We kept a very good offense in check a majority of the game. We caused a fumble in our own redzone and actually on the last drive we held them to a third and long. Unfortunately their receiver made a big play (kind of like our receiver making a big play last year against MSU).

JH- I think he is the biggest loss from this game. It really sucks he went down with an injury.

AZ- Hats off to them for playing a good game and winning it. I think that they will finish number 2 in the PAC 10. I still think Oregon is the better team. Especially since Oregon plays AZ at home. I think that they end up a top 15 team which isn't a bad loss at the end of the day.

Concerns- Obviously depth at running back and our ability to kick field goals. Other than that I still think we are a solid team!

Iowa- Moving forward I think we still have a great team and I think we can still make a run for the Big Ten Title! I think our offense can still move the ball, I think the defense is still rock solid and I think our Special Teams will improve. I hope the crowd brings it this wknd against Ball State (unfortunately this will probably the only home game I can't make this year) and then we all get fired up for Penn State!

Go Hawks and thank you for letting me get this off of my chest!

Enclosing-

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zc0BI7T1LA]YouTube - ANIMAL HOUSE Bluto's Germans Speech[/ame]

 

[HwkFn4Life]

I re-watched the game last night myself, and a good observation on ur part OP, but I came away with a few myself...

Offensively, as far as the line play goes, Arizona was definately more physical then I expected. But, I don't think that was the problem. My initial thoughts after Sat. night were that Reiff was manhandled for most of the night, but after watching, I think he held up much better than I thought. The line as a whole is asked at times to make some rather difficult blocks, and in a loud stadium, such as it was on Sat. night, you really need to get off the ball to get ur head across on the zone read plays. Iowa struggled at doing this, and I feel the crowd noise played a big part in this. There were plays where Iowa seemed slow out of the blocks from the O-line spots and were unable to get there head across the D-linemans body. This led to defenders in the backfield on probably 75% of the run calls. This did set up the playaction very well though, as AZ defenders seemed to get so much push to the playcall side that Stanzi's fakes were getting bit on hard up front. Arizona did stack the box, and I agree with OP that there has to be some audibles in the playbook for changing to a throw even when lined up in the double tight sets. Everytime Iowa went double tight, they were facing 8-9 in the box. Both DJK and McNutt have the agility to get open on quick slants in these situations. I know in the past the offense has had good luck and broke some good runs by checking to the 4 man side of the 9 man box, it just wasn't Sat. night. DJK played a very good game. A lot has been said on his inability to catch the deep pass at the goal line, but that would have been a great over-the-shoulder catch. Overall I think Stanzi's deep balls were good. The most important thing in throwing the deep ball is putting it somewhere where only YOUR receiver can make a play on it, and he definately did that. Saying that, I bet he wishes he had a couple of them back. In the end, offensively we will come away from this game much better, b/c the defense AZ ran will be the formula for most teams Iowa faces this year, and 27 points is enough to win 95% of Iowa's games. KOK has been calling some good games this year, and I think we'll see a 50 pt. game somewhere in the near future.

Defensively, a lot of posters are quick to pick on our defense as they didn't "rise" to the occasion this game. It has been well documented that the Iowa D was only responsible for 13 points this game. Blocked punt and all, I still hang 20 on the Iowa D, and I know they would say the same. Iowa had AZ outside the 10 yard line on 2nd & goal that drive and I think could have held them to a field goal. The D is good enough to put out fires like the one the punt team put on them. Tough circumstances I know. I would disagree with the OP that the D-Line didn't play well. Clayborn's frustrations I believe got to him and he missed some assignments, but Ballard, Binns, and Daniels played some of there best football yet IMO. Daniels is showing why the coaches can't keep him off the field, and Ballard, much like Davie said during the game, is definately NFL caliber. Foles did a good job of getting rid of the ball. He rarely had to cycle through his reads, and if he had, he would have seen a defender there on a lot of plays. Iowa's blitzes were very effective, and Foles did a good job of throwing right into the blitz. AZ came in with a good game plan, executed it well, and still only managed, IMO, 20 points on Iowa's D. The run game was very ineffective for them, which is a Iowa trademark. I don't like to single guys out, but if there was a weakspot in Iowa's armor this week to me, it would have to be safety play. I don't know the ins and outs of Iowa's defensive schemes, and maybe some of the playcalls didn't call for over the top help, but Greenwood and Sash weren't the safety valves that they have been. Maybe by design, maybe not, but if there was a weak spot, that was it. Sash seemed very antsy to jump up in the box and left his corners on an island on a few plays. Prater played very well IMO, with only one play standing out on the final drive where he seemed to be in a great position to make the read and jump in front of a pass when Iowa was blitzing. I would think that if the blitz is called, bump coverage would be the better option as opposed to play 10-12 yard off the receiver, which he did, allowing a 10 yard out for a 1st. Other than that, they didn't challenge Prater much. Hyde, believe it or not, is definately improving. He was beat on a good double move by a good receiver on one play, other than that, I think he is definitely learning the game on the fly very well. He will see a lot of balls thrown his way this year as Prater is getting a lot more respect, IMO. Iowa's D worked there gameplan very well overall IMO. The short passes in the zone are guaranteed to happen everygame.

Specials..... well documented. Assignment football. That's what special teams is all about, and that is what Iowa football is all about, assignment football. Were getting beat at our own game right now. I think the coaches nip this in the butt quickly and we seem a more inspired special teams effort the rest of the way. (figers crossed)

Overall, I think there are times when a tip of the hat is needed. I think both teams executed there gameplans well. Neither teams were stellar, nor sloppy. The bounces seemed to go both ways. I think crowd noise, in the end, was the biggest determinant that led AZ to the win, especially early. AZ took away the run game, and Iowa responded as well as I would expect them to. 27 points will win most Iowa games, and 13-20 points from Iowa's D should be enough to win most games. Sure up the special teams, hit a few receivers in stride, and Iowa should be just fine. The Big Ten (minus bucknuts) has been very underwhelming so far this season, IMO. I still don't see a game on the slate that Iowa shouldn't be favored in. Go Hawks!!