No doubt. Stanley could see Hubbard was off balance in that split second when he turned around from his play fake and he helped him go down with his stiff arm. It wasn't a 'beast mode' one but it didn't have to be. And then the throw itself was just on a line right on the money. There wasn't anywhere else it could have been either for it to get to Hockenson.
Spring an Important Time for Hawkeye Trio of Quarterbacks
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
It is a factor of Iowa's "pro-style" offense. I don't mean pro-style like it has TEs and FBs, that is not really what things look like in the pros (nor have they for a long time). Pro-style means that players must make decisions pre-snap and post-snap based upon what the defense is doing. Many current college systems, especially the super uptempo ones, do not rely upon the same sort of read and react, but rather have rigid assignments based upon play.
A pro-style has great flexibility; one play can potentially defeat a whole range of different defenses if the players make the correct reads and adjustments. The other system lacks that flexibility, which they generally make up for with a bigger playbook, which they can get away with because typically a coach calls plays from the sidelines and the players figure things out from their wrist-worn playbooks, decreasing the player-burden of playbook memorization. They also overcome the lack of flexibility by going at such a high tempo as to limit the defense's ability to recognize what they are doing and adjust to it.
The pro-style system put a lot of learning burden on the players. The other system almost amounts to the coach playing chess, with the players being the pieces.
Yeah that is so clear and you really don't know. He struggled early. Doesn't imply he is still struggling with anything, and imagine a true freshman coming and struggling because you know high school is just like big time college football. Step right in and make all Big Ten year 1.
Exactly! Heard Joe Montana speak of this on the radio. These QBs in the spread system don't have to think nearly as much they stand and wait for the coach to tell them what to do. Why they struggle when go into the NFL, see about every Texas Tech QB there has been.
Nearly the perfect game. Especially from about 4 minutes left in 2Q onward.
I probably mischaracterized by saying many modern college systems don't have the same read-and-react as pro-style. There is still decision-making that goes on, but often by only one player (QB), and often based upon 1 very simple and specific cue. That is kind of the basis of the RPO plays that go back to the days of Joe Tiller at Wyoming (and probably before) but are currently all the rage in college and seeping into the pro game as well.
So that is reading and reacting, but very different from a pro-style O where QB is identifying fronts and coverages pre-snap (this is done by the coach in many modern college systems), changing plays based upon what he identifies (also done by the coach in many systems), and in the case of pass plays, reading multiple cues post-snap before making a downfield throw based upon those reads.
So that is reading and reacting, but very different from a pro-style O where QB is identifying fronts and coverages pre-snap (this is done by the coach in many modern college systems), changing plays based upon what he identifies (also done by the coach in many systems), and in the case of pass plays, reading multiple cues post-snap before making a downfield throw based upon those reads.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
It may not be as productive as we would like, but to call it mundane, in terms of learning the O for a QB, is pretty naïve.
Good point regarding Iowa and why it may be harder for guys to know the offense.
but that still doesn’t address the other half of the key issue and that is opponents seem to have Iowa’s offense figured out easily. If Iowa is making pre and post snap decisions based on what the defense is doing that should make things harder on that defense to figure out.
Where as what I see most Saturdays is opponents know what Iowa is going to do pre-snap and if Iowa adjusts and calls a audible the defense still knows what they’re going to do. The flexibility doesn’t not seem to be there. I’m not a coach, I will freely admit that and defer to anybody who is but damn it seems to me that Iowa’s offense is hard to learn and easy to defend.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Can't overstate how badass that was. Set his feet, knew he was gonna get drilled, and rifled it on the money.
Knight78
Well-Known Member
How do you signal your teammate it's time to go in motion over center vs shotgun? How to you see coverage differences from the different perspectives? How about simply taking the snap, which you probably hadn't done in your life before coming to a pro-style offense? How is the footwork different, i.e. 1 step drop vs. 3 step drop vs. 5 step drop? How are the footwork for handoffs different, where you may or may not pivot completely around? How about hiding the ball when faking a handoff? And we haven't mentioned terminology differences, hot reads, etc. LOTS of different things to learn when you come from one system into another. These are just a few.
Knight78
Well-Known Member
In some cases, yes. But not always. If opponents really did have Iowa's offense figured out we would be dead last in the FBS in offense. Somehow or other we managed to have a number of big plays last year. While that is a matter of the player doing what they do, it's also a matter of calling the right play at the right time and then executing that play. Now, if we could just get at least 2 more audible "fall-back" plays....
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Dead last...no. How about 116th out of 129 in total offense? Close enough?
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/21/p3
Excellent point. I would say the pro-style offense puts more burden on the players, necessarily constraining how deep and varied the playbook can be. That should not be an issue if players are making correct reads and adjusting to what defenses are doing. However, things become exponentially more challenging with lack of creative game-planning and play-calling, which I think have been chronic issues at Iowa recently. So in summary, the pro-style offense makes it harder to learn, mediocre game-planning and play-calling within that pro-style offense have made it predictable for defenses. But those 2 things don't necessarily have to go hand in hand.
The other factor that I think comes into play here is the approach defenses are taking these days. It used to be pretty common for defenses to read, diagnose, and react. I think these days defenses are much more likely to try to dictate through pressure and aggressiveness. So if your plan is, "I will do this, the defense will react this way, and I will counter with this." and the defense is thinking, "We don't give a rat's ass what you do, we are pinning our ears back and attacking," I think it is easy to get caught flat-footed. Iowa needs to do a better job of punishing this defensive approach.
earlkoppelman
Well-Known Member
Seems CAP also has problem with our OFFENSE no?...
Fryowa
Administrator
The last way I would ever describe Iowa’s offense is deep and varied.
Not applicable in this situation.
seepig
Well-Known Member
I'm amazed that clearly superior athletes CAN'T take a snap under center. Anyone who's played QB even at the high school level can take a snap from under center......it's not very hard folks. There are probably several guys on here that have played QB in High School and, like myself, scratch their heads and wonder why this kid can't take a snap from center.
Xerxes mentions the main thing with defensing against Iowa which is we are very predictable out of various formations, sets, motions or whatever. I am not a coach either but I know how offenses need to fool defenses much of the time to succeed,
Defenses know to a high degree what we are doing so they can jump into certain defenses and they have a high probability to shut down the play or cause negative yardage which is hard for Iowa to come back from.
There was little counterplay action when GD was OC and I think BF had a little more in his first year by dragging TEs underneath against the flow of the play which worked very well. We need more off script vs down and distance play calling and more counter plays. OKeefe was pretty good at counter play action to beat specific opponents having the QB turn one way from center, blocking action going that same direction, then handing back the other direction to set up blocks and pulling linemen, sort of the old Redskins counter-trey action who still see sometimes.
Iowa is not a big yardage per game offense but was 72nd in scoring last year which many times is a function of their defense giving them short field situations. I say 72nd is not great either.
The last two years Wadley was a one player counter play on any play.
I hope BFerentz can get to throwing more successfully on 1st and 10 to go offscript and build in more counter play action to burn defenses who load up the LOS and move toward Iowa's first motion.
Ree4
Well-Known Member
Generally speaking, when you've never done something before (or haven't for a long time), it takes a little practice to become comfortable with it- this isn't that complicated people...
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Taking a snap from under center and handing the ball off are things the quarterback has to do automatically without thinking. It isn't a matter of athleticism, it's about body memory. You only get good at it by repeating it, correctly, until your body can do it without thinking about it.
