Upon Further Review

[WinOneThisCentury]

I watched the game again. Our senior QB needs to play better period. I believe he can (I predicted he would break the single season passing record and now i'm almost ready to recant that prediction) but he needs to make better decisions. I know he was under pressure yesterday and there were breakdowns in protection, but he made some crucial mistakes in the red zone.

Red Zone Glaring Mistakes
1) the miss on KMM on the out pattern...perfect execution and he just flat out missed him. That was a touchdown...and I'm sure its a pass he makes in his sleep. He needs to make it when it counts.

2) the throw into the middle to KMM that needed to go through two defensive lineman to get there. On the play, CJ was breaking to the corner with a safety coming from the inside and he had him boxed out going to the corner. The guy was grabbing CJ's jersey because he knew he was beat...and JVB inexplicably threw into 6 people in the middle of the field. That's not a senior decision. I'm sorry, but I'm a little old school and I'm hoping we have progressions...CJ #1, KMM#2, and Weisman #3. If we did, then CJ would have gotten the ball.

Those are two plays that get us touchdowns that should not have been difficult to make...why are you looking for KMM in the crowded middle when your monster TE is breaking free? Even if it's a jump ball, CJ wins.

The other thing that bothered me upon review again, was on the drive prior to our touchdown drive...we moved the ball 35 yards on the ground on three straight runs by Bullock. NIU was gassed and their D had been on the field all day, then Davis calls a first down pass and JVB makes a throw to Weisman in the flat that would have netted one yard maybe. We then blow up the next two pass plays and punt. I'm sorry, but you are gashing a D thats been on the field all day. Run the freaking ball until they stop you. KOK used to do this stuff all the time. I will NEVER understand this. There was a reason we moved the ball so well on the ground. They had their hands on their hips. Act like a Big 10 team and smashmouth them...remember, we want our OL to be the bullies of the B10...and we called them off.

Inconceivable!

 

[seepig]

I watched the game again. Our senior QB needs to play better period. I believe he can (I predicted he would break the single season passing record and now i'm almost ready to recant that prediction) but he needs to make better decisions. I know he was under pressure yesterday and there were breakdowns in protection, but he made some crucial mistakes in the red zone.

Red Zone Glaring Mistakes
1) the miss on KMM on the out pattern...perfect execution and he just flat out missed him. That was a touchdown...and I'm sure its a pass he makes in his sleep. He needs to make it when it counts.

2) the throw into the middle to KMM that needed to go through two defensive lineman to get there. On the play, CJ was breaking to the corner with a safety coming from the inside and he had him boxed out going to the corner. The guy was grabbing CJ's jersey because he knew he was beat...and JVB inexplicably threw into 6 people in the middle of the field. That's not a senior decision. I'm sorry, but I'm a little old school and I'm hoping we have progressions...CJ #1, KMM#2, and Weisman #3. If we did, then CJ would have gotten the ball.

Those are two plays that get us touchdowns that should not have been difficult to make...why are you looking for KMM in the crowded middle when your monster TE is breaking free? Even if it's a jump ball, CJ wins.

The other thing that bothered me upon review again, was on the drive prior to our touchdown drive...we moved the ball 35 yards on the ground on three straight runs by Bullock. NIU was gassed and their D had been on the field all day, then Davis calls a first down pass and JVB makes a throw to Weisman in the flat that would have netted one yard maybe. We then blow up the next two pass plays and punt. I'm sorry, but you are gashing a D thats been on the field all day. Run the freaking ball until they stop you. KOK used to do this stuff all the time. I will NEVER understand this. There was a reason we moved the ball so well on the ground. They had their hands on their hips. Act like a Big 10 team and smashmouth them...remember, we want our OL to be the bullies of the B10...and we called them off.

Inconceivable!

Yeah you are right I went back and looked too. JVB gets it into his mind that this is the guy im throwing to because he "Should" be the one open and he won't pull off him and look through his progressions.

 

[uihawk82]

I watched the game again. Our senior QB needs to play better period. I believe he can (I predicted he would break the single season passing record and now i'm almost ready to recant that prediction) but he needs to make better decisions. I know he was under pressure yesterday and there were breakdowns in protection, but he made some crucial mistakes in the red zone.

Red Zone Glaring Mistakes
1) the miss on KMM on the out pattern...perfect execution and he just flat out missed him. That was a touchdown...and I'm sure its a pass he makes in his sleep. He needs to make it when it counts.

2) the throw into the middle to KMM that needed to go through two defensive lineman to get there. On the play, CJ was breaking to the corner with a safety coming from the inside and he had him boxed out going to the corner. The guy was grabbing CJ's jersey because he knew he was beat...and JVB inexplicably threw into 6 people in the middle of the field. That's not a senior decision. I'm sorry, but I'm a little old school and I'm hoping we have progressions...CJ #1, KMM#2, and Weisman #3. If we did, then CJ would have gotten the ball.

Those are two plays that get us touchdowns that should not have been difficult to make...why are you looking for KMM in the crowded middle when your monster TE is breaking free? Even if it's a jump ball, CJ wins.

The other thing that bothered me upon review again, was on the drive prior to our touchdown drive...we moved the ball 35 yards on the ground on three straight runs by Bullock. NIU was gassed and their D had been on the field all day, then Davis calls a first down pass and JVB makes a throw to Weisman in the flat that would have netted one yard maybe. We then blow up the next two pass plays and punt. I'm sorry, but you are gashing a D thats been on the field all day. Run the freaking ball until they stop you. KOK used to do this stuff all the time. I will NEVER understand this. There was a reason we moved the ball so well on the ground. They had their hands on their hips. Act like a Big 10 team and smashmouth them...remember, we want our OL to be the bullies of the B10...and we called them off.

Inconceivable!

 

[uihawk82]

I watched the game again. Our senior QB needs to play better period. I believe he can (I predicted he would break the single season passing record and now i'm almost ready to recant that prediction) but he needs to make better decisions. I know he was under pressure yesterday and there were breakdowns in protection, but he made some crucial mistakes in the red zone.

Red Zone Glaring Mistakes
1) the miss on KMM on the out pattern...perfect execution and he just flat out missed him. That was a touchdown...and I'm sure its a pass he makes in his sleep. He needs to make it when it counts.

2) the throw into the middle to KMM that needed to go through two defensive lineman to get there. On the play, CJ was breaking to the corner with a safety coming from the inside and he had him boxed out going to the corner. The guy was grabbing CJ's jersey because he knew he was beat...and JVB inexplicably threw into 6 people in the middle of the field. That's not a senior decision. I'm sorry, but I'm a little old school and I'm hoping we have progressions...CJ #1, KMM#2, and Weisman #3. If we did, then CJ would have gotten the ball.

Those are two plays that get us touchdowns that should not have been difficult to make...why are you looking for KMM in the crowded middle when your monster TE is breaking free? Even if it's a jump ball, CJ wins.

The other thing that bothered me upon review again, was on the drive prior to our touchdown drive...we moved the ball 35 yards on the ground on three straight runs by Bullock. NIU was gassed and their D had been on the field all day, then Davis calls a first down pass and JVB makes a throw to Weisman in the flat that would have netted one yard maybe. We then blow up the next two pass plays and punt. I'm sorry, but you are gashing a D thats been on the field all day. Run the freaking ball until they stop you. KOK used to do this stuff all the time. I will NEVER understand this. There was a reason we moved the ball so well on the ground. They had their hands on their hips. Act like a Big 10 team and smashmouth them...remember, we want our OL to be the bullies of the B10...and we called them off.

Inconceivable!

Good points. I was hoping GD would have more motion or something and JVB more quickly reading to the open receiver. I really hope JVB puts it together because we need to score TDs.

You are right that we should have finished at least 2 of those early drives with TDs.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Great analysis.

Vandenberg, for whatever reason, is a MUCH better QB at home. I expect him to play much better the next 4 weeks.

 

[kmajhawk]

Great analysis.

Vandenberg, for whatever reason, is a MUCH better QB at home. I expect him to play much better the next 4 weeks.

I concur: excellent analysis. Some things I had overlooked. CJ is so tall and strong I don't understand why he was not featured in the offense. Great game by Bullock; why no Garmon when NIU was gassed in the last few series?

 

[CAARHawk]

NIU was gassed and their D had been on the field all day, then Davis calls a first down pass and JVB makes a throw to Weisman in the flat that would have netted one yard maybe.

I have NEVER understood this pattern or why you would run it. The fullback runs basically parallel with the line of scrimmage while looking back into the backfield. WTF?!

Even if that pass is caught, it would take the guy doing a radically abrupt stop to not go out of bounds and be able to get up field and he basically has to do a 180 to turn up field.

When the guy doing this is like 240 LBS and running at top speed...

It would make way more sense to have the back loop out facing up field.

 

[marshallcart]

Inconceivable!

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means!

 

[Travisam]

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means!

When in Rome.

 

[SeattleHawkeye]

The analysis of the OP is spot on. I also watched the game again, and was definitely surprised at what I saw compared to what I thought I saw yesterday.
First, Greg Davis called a really good game. Seriously. He put together some great route combos and stretched the field much, much more than I thought...but those receivers weren't targeted. They could have had at least 5-10 plays that would have been substantial gains if JVB had targeted different receivers and made accurate throws (and these wouldn't have been tough throws, as often there weren't defenders w/in 3-4 yards of the receivers). I was never one to buy the "it's all about the execution" arguments as an excuse for KOK, but I'm buying it for Greg Davis after game #1. I thought KOK's route combos never challenged teams enough vertically, creating more difficulties for receivers getting off the line and getting separation, making the throws tougher for the QBs. See last season's game at PSU as the prototype of what I'm referring to, when something like 33 of 37 called pass plays didn't have routes deeper than 12 yards (per Gamefilm, not me). But yesterday Greg Davis constantly had WRs running deeper routes, and at times getting wide open...only to not be targeted. I definitely think there can be easy adjustments and improvements in the passing game for next week, but we'll see, as ISU should send the house every play until IA can burn them.

Relatedly, the one (yes, they only tried it once, not counting just before half, which was f'ing awesome to finally see!) series IA went hurry-up, they completely neutralized and stymied NIU's pass rush...not to mention gained yards and easily moved the ball down the field...only to never go back to the hurry-up. I'm dumbfounded that if something works they abandon it. Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I thought it was a great change of pace and was something they should have utilized in the 3rd and early 4th quarters when things got a little stagnant.

 

[bitmap]

... Relatedly, the one (yes, they only tried it once, not counting just before half, which was f'ing awesome to finally see!) series IA went hurry-up, they completely neutralized and stymied NIU's pass rush...not to mention gained yards and easily moved the ball down the field...only to never go back to the hurry-up. I'm dumbfounded that if something works they abandon it. Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I thought it was a great change of pace and was something they should have utilized in the 3rd and early 4th quarters when things got a little stagnant.

The strategy is to keep the defense off of the field. Time of possession IA ~39 NIU ~21.

Can't do that if you blaze down the field. Our D looked good down the stretch because the they had only been on the field for 30% of the time.

A ball control offense is a Greg Davis thing. One of the big complaints from TX fans was the O moves down the field with a flurry of activity and has nothing to show for it. Ends w/ the "run, pass, pass, punt" sequence or some variation of that. It's still all about execution. Execution in the red zone. Meyer kept us in the game. Good to see special teams showing the potential to be a strength this year. Still have to execute.

People talk about "balance" in the run/pass paradigm but I maintain that there are other dimensions to "balance" like tempo and depth.

The O needs to become proficient enough to just switch from a deliberate pace into the no huddle and do it in a fashion that will catch opposing Ds totally off guard. Ditto for switching from the "dink and dunk" eat the clock O to the "go for the juglar" deep game. Or combinations thereof.

 

[Billso]

One of the better threads of this young season.

 

[CorkyTheHawk]

Seemed like Steele Jantz played a much better game. I'm a little concerned we're not going to be able to stop ISU's offense. They can actually pass too. N Illinois could not pass and had a new offensive line and still put up 17 pts. Life Goes On though Go Hawks!

 

[BlackHawk01]

Seemed like Steele Jantz played a much better game. I'm a little concerned we're not going to be able to stop ISU's offense. They can actually pass too. N Illinois could not pass and had a new offensive line and still put up 17 pts. Life Goes On though Go Hawks!

Thanks for being obvious.