so it is the OL or the HB rotation?

[ibahawkeye]

At first, I liked the idea of trying to protect Weisman but it's obviously at the point that it's almost costing us games.

So give him the carries. If he isnt successful, go to Canzeri and then Daniels.

Use Bullock in 3rd down passing situations.

however I have a feeling that Danis is in the doghouse after his missed block that led to Jake getting creamed.

 

[HawksMN]

Cannot figure out how the pass blocking is so good (1 sack in two games), but yet the power run blocking struggles?

 

[bitmap]

I posted a bit in the past about natural distributions and how they apply to carries for the RBs. Rushing yards will peak when the distribution between rushers starts to look like a 50% declining distro. I think a lot of people here are saying they don't like this pseudo random "rushing by comittee" format and I agree. If you are going to run the ball 31 times then your top rusher should have about 15 carries, the next guy gets 8, the guy after him 4 and maybe a couple other guys get one or two. The trick is figuring out early on which back is most effective on the field and getting him the ball. I thought Daniels looked the part today. He only got 4, and I might add effective, carries and was pretty consistent in YPC.

Just running a bunch of backs won't gain you anything and may, in fact, hurt your total yards. I like consistency vs. explosive but inconsistent - so that skews my distribution here. This is just a numbers exercise but illustrates what such a distro might look look using today's stats:

Player	Carries	YPC	Total
LD	15	5	60
JR	8	5.1	40.8
JC	4	5.2	22
DB	3	5.7	17.1
MW	1	2.2	2.2
Total	31	4.54	142.1

Historically JR has been the #2 or #3 rusher and is a given. Spread the ball around early and see who is most effective and then use him. I would think coaching staff should have a feel for it by the end of the 1st Qtr. if not sooner. Reality rarely looks like theory, but generally if you are giving multiple people touches and getting lots of total yards then the "distribution of carries" curve is going to look more like half of a bell curve than not.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Could it be 9 men in the box vs. the run? Maybe? That's part of it.

This is the main reason. Absolutely have to get the intermediate passing game going earlier.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Both. I think they need to spread the field and use Canzeri as the main back with bullock as a third down back and then Daniels and Weisman as short yardage and time grinders. Backs need a feel for the hole and they aren't getting it. Line needs more space as they aren't getting the push. Outside of scherff and Blythe they are struggling.

Canzeri and Daniels is your answer. Bullock goes down with just one hit. I like the Weisman story but it's time to move on.

 

[HaydensHawk]

This is the main reason. Absolutely have to get the intermediate passing game going earlier.

ding ding! we have a winner!

This is truly the issue, not the OL or running back by committee. The formula against Iowa is simple: just compress the field. Jake can't hit the deep ball and is hesitant on anything more than 5 yards deep. coaches either need to fix this issue with him or go with Beathard. He really needs to start trusting in his receivers. mmmkk?

 

[Hawk1960]

There's an old saying that says "depth is great until you use it"....meaning it's more of an advantage on paper than in reality....typically your "depth" is on the bench because they aren't good enough to start.... just ride the best horse or two until they break down...

I'd much rather be in the position we are in this year with 4-5 capable RBs as opposed to the issue we had two years ago when we had no where near the depth.

 

[gamblinghawk]

9 guys in the box? Ball St had 6 guys in the box for almost the entire second half and alot of the first. When Jake sees that he needs to audible to a quick hitting running play inside the tackle. Less risky than a 3-5 dump pass to your RB in the flat and allows your OL to beat up on the DL and LB's.

His audibles seem predictable and not necessarily based on number of defenders in the box.

 

[racerhawk]

At first, I liked the idea of trying to protect Weisman but it's obviously at the point that it's almost costing us games.

So give him the carries. If he isnt successful, go to Canzeri and then Daniels.

Use Bullock in 3rd down passing situations.

however I have a feeling that Danis is in the doghouse after his missed block that led to Jake getting creamed.

That was brutal. He totally missed the blitzing guy. My very first thought was that KF will not like that at all.

Isn't it odd that for years, we've been plagued by AIRBHG? Now, we're upset that we are using too many running backs. It's just odd.

 

[ohhawk]

Podolak was asked on the post game show about our RBs and he picked Canzeri and Daniels as his two to go to.

I'm still confused about the early game shuffling of personnel at RB and QB. I don't believe for a moment that it was designed to see who performed best and then leave them in the game.....so what's the purpose? What are one or two plays going to show you? If Beathard was brought in to throw the long ball then why didn't we see him again in the game? There were certainly some other long ball opportunities.

Anyone have a reasonable explanation for this early game series of events?

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

Well god damn hawk nation, all summer long you've been saying we need to use this rb or this play, and this rb for this situation, and only use this one or this type of play, do think there's any easy way to do that? Do you think they can get into any groove or comfort level doing that? Everyone just hears something, grabs onto an idea and then we gotta do it. Well...were doin it.

 

[LASBUR]

And We Have A Winner !!!!!!!!!!!!! Until we can stretch the field teams are going to load the box. Why wouldn't they

Could it be 9 men in the box vs. the run? Maybe? That's part of it.

 

[Foval21]

Canzeri and Daniels is your answer. Bullock goes down with just one hit. I like the Weisman story but it's time to move on.

I agree bullock goes down easy but he is dangerous as a receiver and blocks better than Daniels and Canzeri. He is utilized well as a third down back. They need to let Canzeri have a full series minus 3rd downs with bullock. I still think Daniels is the best all around in the long run but I think he needs more time.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Canzeri and Daniels is your answer. Bullock goes down with just one hit. I like the Weisman story but it's time to move on.

.Did you also like Daniels whiffing on a blitz pickup that got Jake drilled from the blind size.

Daniels has a ton of potential and appears to have a few raw tools MW doesn't. He's getting more reps, and should, but can we please stop pretending that MW and/or Canzeri are not our current most productive options.

3 back rotation is fine. 4-5 is too many.

Board summary, CJ is our best qb option and MW is just a FB. Ugh.

 

[guffus]

I like the idea of using Canzeri early for entire series and using weisman/bullock late in the game. I am still trying to see what the coaches see in Daniels. I still don't understand why he is getting playing time, but maybe he would look better if he could get into a rhythm. Maybe Daniels should play the entire 2nd quarter and see what he can do if he plays the entire series .

 

[bws258]

you want to run the ball better? put in the QB that threatens the defense vertically, and you won't have 9 in the box

 

[RocknRollface]

I despise the 4 headed RB monster. Sack up and pick 2 at most. If the other 2 are so talented they need to get on the field, then find ways to get them on the field without sacrificing the running game. That's what coaches do.

Also, can anyone tell me why Jonathan Parker was the 2nd back in the game today. As if having 4 wasn't enough, you put a 5th guy in there? This has nothing to do with the later fumbles on the jet sweep and the kickoff...but I was truly baffled by that move.

It was because of the zone read they were running with CJ. That's not something you attempt with out a lot of practice and I'm sure KF didn't want his other backs spending the last few weeks practicing that instead of the regular offense.

 

[hawkinn3]

It looked to me like if Iowa had run a counter or a RB had pulled off a cutback we would of had some huge runs. Whole defense was flowing to the run side a lot with no backside contain.

 

[RocknRollface]

The elephant in the room is the run blocking. It's the reason these weak teams give us trouble every year. Wisconsin probably would have had 300 yards rushing against that team, any year. North Dakota State probably could have done the same. The question is how do we manage to have at least two future NFL players on the OL and can't establish the run against a MAC or FCS team.

The run blocking is poor.

but running the same stretch play into a stacked box and mixing in a bunch of short passed is a difficult and stupid way to attack a defense who is over committed to stoping the run and overreacting to initial movement.

 

[NCHawker]

teams have been stacking the box against Iowa for years. There is nothing new here. We've seen Iowa keep running into it, mix in play action and somehow find a way and in the 2nd half those 2 yard runs become 10 yard runs.

What is different this year is that Iowa did not persevere running as they have in the past. This, to me is the most curious thing about 2014.