Watched a bit of the replay of the Nevada Game and

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
Our Offensive Line is still really bad. #70 was running down field without hitting anyone. Really no one was blocking much. And to their defense our scheme is a big part of the problem. Even with Nevada which is a very bad team it seemed like on most running plays they had us outnumbered at the line of scrimmage. We have to lead the nation in plays for negative yardage
I think we had maybe 350 total yards or so but if you take away 3 or 4 plays where a bad Nevada team broke down for big plays it was not pretty

I know this is nothing new but I had hoped we could look a bit better against a team like Nevada. I guess now I expect a close and boring game this weekend against another not great team. My fear is that the defense will wear down and find it difficult to play inspired when we start playing some good teams. God help us at Ohio State
 
okeefe4prez said:
The last time we played Michigan we only lost by 39. If anyone can find an extra 39 points of offense it is our current staff. I wouldn't put that one in the loss column just yet.
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Pottebaum catches that halfback pass 9 times out of 10, so only need to find 32 points. And our new freshman phenom kicker won't hook one like Shudak did in the title games. So really only 29 points. Plus, Petras won't be all banged up this time against Michigan, so still only 29 points.
 
longtimer said:
Our Offensive Line is still really bad. #70 was running down field without hitting anyone. Really no one was blocking much. And to their defense our scheme is a big part of the problem. Even with Nevada which is a very bad team it seemed like on most running plays they had us outnumbered at the line of scrimmage. We have to lead the nation in plays for negative yardage
I think we had maybe 350 total yards or so but if you take away 3 or 4 plays where a bad Nevada team broke down for big plays it was not pretty

I know this is nothing new but I had hoped we could look a bit better against a team like Nevada. I guess now I expect a close and boring game this weekend against another not great team. My fear is that the defense will wear down and find it difficult to play inspired when we start playing some good teams. God help us at Ohio State
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Yeah when you contextualize who we played against that game shouldn't have gotten any of our hopes up a whole lot. Petras looked just ok at times. His best throw was probably that first 3rd down he converted when he riffled that ball inbetween like 3 dudes. It was accurate and on time. He made a couple other good throws too but man he's so inconsistent. Combined with the Oline play our O is just not going to be able to do anything unless the D we are up against has a breakdown. It's going to be tough sledding the rest of the way I'm afraid
 
Correct. This OL might go down as the worst under KF. I said that after week 1. Everyone is so consumed with Petras and rightfully so but by doing that it loses sight of a very big problem that this OL is not good, not good at all.
 
I concur on the OL play. It has been so inexplicably bad. My only solace is that despite all of their flaws and faults, both KF and BF know how to develop players as the season goes along, and they are especially good at developing young O lineman. There is a track record there. We are a lot more raw than I hoped, but there is size and talent there. It just needs a lot of work.

I ultimately think KF is sticking with Petras for two reasons. He knows the root of the problem is his OL and changing QBs won't fix that. And, he knows Petras is the only QB in the room with the arm strength to push the ball down the field. Our only hope for this offense to be not the worst on the planet is that the OL starts blocks and BF calls more vertical passes to loosen up the safeties.
 

"Watched a bit of the replay of the Nevada Game and"​


I tried but just got bored and couldn't get into it. You are more dedicated than me, I guess.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
I concur on the OL play. It has been so inexplicably bad. My only solace is that despite all of their flaws and faults, both KF and BF know how to develop players as the season goes along, and they are especially good at developing young O lineman. There is a track record there. We are a lot more raw than I hoped, but there is size and talent there. It just needs a lot of work.

I ultimately think KF is sticking with Petras for two reasons. He knows the root of the problem is his OL and changing QBs won't fix that. And, he knows Petras is the only QB in the room with the arm strength to push the ball down the field. Our only hope for this offense to be not the worst on the planet is that the OL starts blocks and BF calls more vertical passes to loosen up the safeties.
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Do you believe that about during the season? Why not prior to the season?
 
HawkGold said:
Do you believe that about during the season? Why not prior to the season?
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Why not win the lottery? Life is messy, especially coaching a bunch of 20 year olds in a brutal sport.

I suspect KF thought his line was further along then it turns out they are. Or, maybe he knew they weren't very good. Who knows. We are mostly playing 5 guys that have all been on campus for 3 years or less. I think the group is talented, but they are just raw as a group. It may just take live game reps, teaching, film study and technique work to get materially better. Camp is great, but there is no substitute for game experience. These kids just have to get better under fire. KF is a good teacher. I think the OL will improve, but it may not be in time to make this a memorable season. As the OL goes, so goes this offense.
 
longtimer said:
Our Offensive Line is still really bad. #70 was running down field without hitting anyone. Really no one was blocking much. And to their defense our scheme is a big part of the problem. Even with Nevada which is a very bad team it seemed like on most running plays they had us outnumbered at the line of scrimmage. We have to lead the nation in plays for negative yardage
I think we had maybe 350 total yards or so but if you take away 3 or 4 plays where a bad Nevada team broke down for big plays it was not pretty to

I know this is nothing new but I had hoped we could look a bit better against a team like Nevada. I guess now I expect a close and boring game this weekend against another not great team. My fear is that the defense will wear down and find it difficult to play inspired when we start playing some good teams. God help us at Ohio State
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I am concerned that our punter might get worn down! LMAO!!!!
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Why not win the lottery? Life is messy, especially coaching a bunch of 20 year olds in a brutal sport.

I suspect KF thought his line was further along then it turns out they are. Or, maybe he knew they weren't very good. Who knows. We are mostly playing 5 guys that have all been on campus for 3 years or less. I think the group is talented, but they are just raw as a group. It may just take live game reps, teaching, film study and technique work to get materially better. Camp is great, but there is no substitute for game experience. These kids just have to get better under fire. KF is a good teacher. I think the OL will improve, but it may not be in time to make this a memorable season. As the OL goes, so goes this offense.
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I want to believe what you just said, but there had to be clues. Really big ones.
 
HawkGold said:
I want to believe what you just said, but there had to be clues. Really big ones.
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Even if there were, what could he do differently? Maybe there were clues, but there is only so much KF can do. Its not like there are tons of ready to start Big 10 Lineman out there on the open market that he could nab at will. And, he would have had to have known the line was gonna be this bad last winter/spring so he would have had time to recruit the portal.

I mean, I guess he could be honest with the fans and say, "hey, the OL isn't very good and won't be for a bit, so get ready for some shit offense at least to start." What coach would ever say that?

Two things have hurt this OL. First, we clearly just missed on a couple cycles given the lack of upperclassmen depth. Its damn hard to be a great OL with all sophomores. Second, a lot of those sophomores have been battling injury and missed a lot of valuable reps. A 5th year senior can miss some camp and not impact game play. These younger guys needed all the reps they could get.

I believe this OL can improve and has about the best coach in the business to get that done. Whether it will be enough and soon enough is the better question.
 
longtimer said:
Our Offensive Line is still really bad. #70 was running down field without hitting anyone. Really no one was blocking much. And to their defense our scheme is a big part of the problem. Even with Nevada which is a very bad team it seemed like on most running plays they had us outnumbered at the line of scrimmage. We have to lead the nation in plays for negative yardage
I think we had maybe 350 total yards or so but if you take away 3 or 4 plays where a bad Nevada team broke down for big plays it was not pretty

I know this is nothing new but I had hoped we could look a bit better against a team like Nevada. I guess now I expect a close and boring game this weekend against another not great team. My fear is that the defense will wear down and find it difficult to play inspired when we start playing some good teams. God help us at Ohio State
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The right side of our OL whiffed on way too many blocks.
NorthKCHawk said:
Even if there were, what could he do differently? Maybe there were clues, but there is only so much KF can do. Its not like there are tons of ready to start Big 10 Lineman out there on the open market that he could nab at will. And, he would have had to have known the line was gonna be this bad last winter/spring so he would have had time to recruit the portal.

I mean, I guess he could be honest with the fans and say, "hey, the OL isn't very good and won't be for a bit, so get ready for some shit offense at least to start." What coach would ever say that?

Two things have hurt this OL. First, we clearly just missed on a couple cycles given the lack of upperclassmen depth. Its damn hard to be a great OL with all sophomores. Second, a lot of those sophomores have been battling injury and missed a lot of valuable reps. A 5th year senior can miss some camp and not impact game play. These younger guys needed all the reps they could get.

I believe this OL can improve and has about the best coach in the business to get that done. Whether it will be enough and soon enough is the better question.
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What can he do? I think this scenario is precisely suited for the transfer portal. We are starting a RS freshman & sophomore on the right side and they are overmatched. I don’t believe KF and staff did not see this coming.
It seems we have been waiting for talent to develop for years now, but we’re playing freshman & sophomores which indicates the development is not happening. What is alarming is the lack of Plan B (transfer portal) when the development doesn’t happen.
 
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The stink of the o line- It’s obvious to us. Imagine the horror of an informed observer like Reese, Brian or Kirk
 
Speaking of apathy look at the crowd who came out to see HawkTalk tonight

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Hawk Talk with Kirk Ferentz

Watch the Hawkeye Radio Network broadcast of Hawk Talk with Kirk Ferentz! This show is LIVE from VUE Rooftop in Downtown Iowa City! Video and audio are a cop...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
I used to watch the Fry show but Kirk's show has always been unwatchable. Kirk is boring, they completely gloss over any negative parts of games, and having to listen to Kirk justify some of his game decisions is a waste of time. I could listen to Fry for hours. Kirk takes 30 minutes to tell you nothing.
 
SCHawkeye2 said:
The right side of our OL whiffed on way too many blocks.

What can he do? I think this scenario is precisely suited for the transfer portal. We are starting a RS freshman & sophomore on the right side and they are overmatched. I don’t believe KF and staff did not see this coming.
It seems we have been waiting for talent to develop for years now, but we’re playing freshman & sophomores which indicates the development is not happening. What is alarming is the lack of Plan B (transfer portal) when the development doesn’t happen.
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I get it, but I honestly do not believe that the coaches anticipated that the returning players would struggle this much. Let's not forget that we unexpectedly lost a pretty good starter in Britt over the Summer. Having him at RG would be a huge improvement on the right.

And, even if the coaches knew there was a problem over the Winter and Spring such there was time to comb through the portal, the portal is a tough place to find OL that can come in over the Summer, learn the system, and be ready to contribute as a starter after being on campus for a few months. Its an unlikely scenario to say the least. Do I wish they would have tried? Sure. Do I know that they did try and could not find anybody? I don't.

The reality is that we (and Petras) are just going to have to live through some growing pains.
 
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