When the ball is on the two yard line,and it is first down,and you are facing a team that has run the ball as well as PSU did, of course the corners are going to play run.
I think the whole stadium was surprised that JoePa passed the ball. That is why it worked.
In addition to above, here are a couple others that just epitomize my biggest criticism of KF's dogmatic resistance / blatant ineptitude to make in-game adjustments to the gameplan based on
actual game flow, what the opponent is doing here and now -- this day / this game, how the bounces are going today how to seize an opportunity and / or defuse the opponents momentum ...
[All taken from Pat Harty's "Iowa Players Blame Themselves ... " column on Hawk Central.]
“We usually don’t blitz that much,†Nittany Lions linebacker Gerald Hodges said. “But (Saturday), we blitzed a lot.â€
Not only does the Ol' Dog still recognize when to change it up (based on this player's quote), he also recognizes it often requires an element of
unpredictability and surprise! -- as the quoted poster, above, pointed out. What's more, he still realizes that football theory and dogma often need to be adapted to the here and now to be successful and, sometimes, ya just have to take the risk and "go for it" (fake FG)
Then, this nugget from KF,
“Football 101,†coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Football is about execution no matter what your style is. We’re learning about our team as we move forward. I imagine we’ll be doing that for the next seven weeks.â€
Yikes. Not to be melodramatic but that screams "dogma" and passiveness to me!
Of course you always have to execute, regardless of your scheme / gameplan. What he so often glosses over is that more and more over the last couple years the problem is not just lack of execution but also
what is being asked of his players to execute. He's blind to the possibility that
in certain situations, in certain games, against certain opponents and often with his own players and team his dogmatic obsession with balance and run ---> pass, not to mention his hyper aversion to risk to the point that he can't even fathom the reward as a possibility -- in other words, his scheme, gameplan and overall m.o. -- are the root of the problem.
This ties right into his passiveness. He's so content to "let it play out" that it almost seems like proactive adjustments and adaptations are just not an option, or, are simply to contradictory to his established football theoretical training. Why is it that he needs an entire season to "learn" what has been clearly demonstrated since game #2 to be
this team's strengths and weaknesses, as well as what strategies would offer them the greatest opportunities to
execute successfully?
The guys didn't play well against PSU. There were times they didn't execute (i.e., drops, missed tackles, out of position). At the same time, there were plenty of situations where the perceived lack of execution was the result of failed situational strategy that simply minimized success.
