Cover3
Well-Known Member
In the past, I may have been considered part of the 'negative Nancy' crowd, always calling for changes in the Hawks' tactics, etc. Well, I actually saw a good deal of change yesterday, contrary to what many are suggesting:
There is absolutely no reason to be fatalistic about this squad. Beating a MAC team by 1 could be considered commensurate with losing to a PAC-10 team by 37, and we all know of a squad that did the latter and won the Big Ten. Nobody has title expectations for this team, so let's just enjoy the ride. All today's struggles mean is there is plenty of room to improve this week.
1. The defense got a good deal of 3 & outs, especially in the last quarter and a half when we needed to get the ball back. There were no easy underneath throws available to the QB. Yes, a day may come where they hit on a couple of the 1-on-1 deep balls, but they didn't today, and we denied them all the short stuff; Phil made a great adjustment at halftime to take away that RB drag.
2. We tried to score, driving a good chunk of the field in the last minute of the first half. We didn't score, but evaluation should not always be result-based; even the best 2-minute drill fails sometimes. Fact is, we came out throwing where in the past we likely would have run into the line and hoped to bust a long one. That drive had good pace, and even a great hot read by both JVB and Keenan (something we NEVER saw before). Stalled with big protection problems, but that will improve.
3. Our offensive playcalling did adjust to the play on the field. It was hard to see because many plays got blown up so quickly, but we saw many more screens in the second half after they really started blitzing us. Davis called a nice PA bootleg, where Derby released his blocked and flashed to JVB away from the play side. JVB overthrew him, but in later weeks if JVB (who is allowed to be human, no?) is more settled, that could be a big play.
4. I thought Bullock's TD run came on a dynamite playcall. 3rd & 8 in four-down territory and NIU's back seven were dropping into zone. Frickin' beautiful.
5. We picked up a lot of third downs, which has not always been the case. The 3rd & 1s were especially encouraging, because Iowa used to never give the FB the ball and would often have trouble picking up 3rd & 1 or 2 against a penetrating defense. Kirk and G. Davis has an answer for that past ill.
6. Our DBs played the ball very well today, and Castillo...how often before has Iowa failed to down a punt inside the 5??? That and the kid broke up a deep ball, too (along with Micah on multiple occasions).
2. We tried to score, driving a good chunk of the field in the last minute of the first half. We didn't score, but evaluation should not always be result-based; even the best 2-minute drill fails sometimes. Fact is, we came out throwing where in the past we likely would have run into the line and hoped to bust a long one. That drive had good pace, and even a great hot read by both JVB and Keenan (something we NEVER saw before). Stalled with big protection problems, but that will improve.
3. Our offensive playcalling did adjust to the play on the field. It was hard to see because many plays got blown up so quickly, but we saw many more screens in the second half after they really started blitzing us. Davis called a nice PA bootleg, where Derby released his blocked and flashed to JVB away from the play side. JVB overthrew him, but in later weeks if JVB (who is allowed to be human, no?) is more settled, that could be a big play.
4. I thought Bullock's TD run came on a dynamite playcall. 3rd & 8 in four-down territory and NIU's back seven were dropping into zone. Frickin' beautiful.
5. We picked up a lot of third downs, which has not always been the case. The 3rd & 1s were especially encouraging, because Iowa used to never give the FB the ball and would often have trouble picking up 3rd & 1 or 2 against a penetrating defense. Kirk and G. Davis has an answer for that past ill.
6. Our DBs played the ball very well today, and Castillo...how often before has Iowa failed to down a punt inside the 5??? That and the kid broke up a deep ball, too (along with Micah on multiple occasions).
There is absolutely no reason to be fatalistic about this squad. Beating a MAC team by 1 could be considered commensurate with losing to a PAC-10 team by 37, and we all know of a squad that did the latter and won the Big Ten. Nobody has title expectations for this team, so let's just enjoy the ride. All today's struggles mean is there is plenty of room to improve this week.
