Things I Found Encouraging

olivecourt said:
Great post, Cover3.

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Yes great post Cover3. Where did you learn all this excellent infor about football?

I still would have liked to see the defense crash down from the outside with the corner or outside linebacker blitz to tackle the running QB for a loss.
 
Sure is nice to read a positive series of posts and more importantly, staying on topic. The positive feedback to posters on their comments was good to see.
NO sarcasm here.
 
Cover3 said:
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:

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).​

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.
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Good post. I think some of our issues will be fixed... JVB didn't have a great game, but we know he is very capable of it. He will have a much better game this coming Saturday.
 
I sure hope we work on pass pro, because every team on our schedule has that game on tape and will be bringing heat to test JVB.

I was really pleased to see the D clamp down late. Very pleased with Damon's running yesterday. Kid has a higher gear than I thought.
 
I think that we have young players, new coaches, and a new system on both side of the ball. A few stumbles early in the season are to be expected. It is great to stumble and still get the "W."

Go Hawks!
 
I was encouraged that the Hawks could win a close game especially being 5 down with 3 minutes to play, regardless of who we played. Does anyone know who took credit for the touchdown call? I assumed it was our new Offensive coor.
 
I agree with almost everything, although I wouldn't have been upset if we had taken a knee, and gone into the locker room at halftime.

The O line concerned me, but JVB took at least one sack as the receiver didn't read the route as he is supposed to. On some plays, according to the new OC, after receivers read defense and routes, JVB almost needs to throw in to space. To me at least on one sack, he had no confidence to throw the ball in to space.

The D line improved series to series throughout the game.

Typical Soldier Field experience. Once the Iowa fans booed a running play in the 4th quarter that picked up a first down. It seems to me at least, at home games, and road games farther away, the fans have a better understanding of what is happening on the field. The Soldier Field fans, a large percentage anyway, were drunk, and not the most football savvy fans. There were some comments made that I couldn't stand listening to.

Next week will be another tough game, and I still maintain Iowa getting through the these first two games is vital to an acceptable season.

My uneducated opinion only.
 
Too much bacon this weekend. Next week, beef. Seriously though Scorp, this team will be fine. There will be some rouygh patches, but they will be ok if they keep getting better. The improvement on both lines throughout the game was encouraging. It was clear Saturday, and usually these things are more subtle, so keep positive.
 
Golfer said:
Too much bacon this weekend. Next week, beef. Seriously though Scorp, this team will be fine. There will be some rouygh patches, but they will be ok if they keep getting better. The improvement on both lines throughout the game was encouraging. It was clear Saturday, and usually these things are more subtle, so keep positive.
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I'm working on it, brah. I'll feel brighter by Thursday.
 
We broke NIU's nine game winning streak. It's always good if you can spoil things for the other team, even if they are a MAC team.
 
With a team this young, I'm happy with any road victory. Especially one in which we trail the majority of the game and never quit fighting.
 
I was impressed with the opening drive- the scripted plays, I also felt like a lot of the mistakes are correctable. As many have noted Iowa struggled in the red zone, but with the running game performing better than expected I think that playaction will become a bigger part of the offense inside the twenty.

Several individuals really impressed me- Gaglione, Hitchens, Castillo!, and Kornbrath really played well yesterday and the d-line is going to get better through out the season.

Also no turnovers despite shoddy pass blocking and green ball carriers is huge. This team will improve nearly every week, but they have a long way to go to beat Big Ten teams.
 
spudhawk said:
I was impressed with the opening drive- the scripted plays, I also felt like a lot of the mistakes are correctable. As many have noted Iowa struggled in the red zone, but with the running game performing better than expected I think that playaction will become a bigger part of the offense inside the twenty.

Several individuals really impressed me- Gaglione, Hitchens, Castillo!, and Kornbrath really played well yesterday and the d-line is going to get better through out the season.

Also no turnovers despite shoddy pass blocking and green ball carriers is huge. This team will improve nearly every week, but they have a long way to go to beat Big Ten teams.
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Nice point about Gags! His first step is impressive for his size. Hope he makes it through an entire year.

Also agree on the first drive, as the offense looked like a machine on the first drive. lots of positives.
 
Many excellent observations already. I would add-

(1) The D and O philosophies appear to complement each other and are tailored to available personnel. The D was attacking -- either getting stops (usually) or giving up the big play. This is preferable because it exposes the D to fewer plays and keeps the TOP in Iowa's favor. Obviously, the key is to limit big plays (at least not let them become long TDs), which we did (even accounting for the 73-yard TD). The O did its part as well churning out downs.

(2) PP made his adjustments but didn't hurry to implement them. He waited until half-time thus forcing niu to have to adjust in real-time (which is harder). First signs of synaptic life from PP (showed none in 2010) and that's encouraging.

(3) First time in 4-years that special teams contributed positively (otherwise, just not being a liability was cause for celebration).

(4) Some mistakes are fixable (sloppy tackling for instance, better QB-WR comm) and should yield a solid team.

(5) All said, the limited data showed me a team that appears to be better than the 2011 edition.

Since this is a feel good thread, I won't mention the major elephant issue that is here to stay for the season.
 
A couple of other positives that I have not seen mentioned much, especially on a first game with a young team:
1) no turnovers - 2 self recovered fumbles I think
2) only like 2 or 3 penalties all game.

Those are major things to be sure.
 
1.Dline didnt get dominated although NIU was starting many new players up front on o line
2.They moved the ball and controlled the clock although it didnt result in td's until needed
3.Played tough D last few possessions when NIU was trying to run down the clock
4. Meyer
5. kick coverage
6. pass D even though they didnt much


Think ISU will test Defense. Think ISU will shut down Iowa offense expect many 3 and outs. Hope Meyer can hit a bunch of long field goals up to 65 yards out so we can put up some points and stay in the game? Lets Go Hawks
 
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