Who Grew More In That 2nd Half Yesterday?

MelroseHawkins

MelroseHawkins

Well-Known Member
The young players or the coaches?

Those young guys really came together & matured as a team right in front of our eyes & on each subsequent play. Vandenburg ran the no huddle flawlessly & was money once the coaches took the reigns off & cut he & his teammates loose.

As much as the young players developed I think the coaches also learned just as much in the 2nd half of that game. The team was backed against the wall & the coaches had no choice but to deviate from the system or "Iowa Football" & let the playmakers make plays. It wasn't just "That's just who Iowa is & they aren't flashy" or "Iowa isn't that difficult to prepare for because you know what they are going to do".

Of course, this is still Iowa football & this isn't going to translate into a spread no-huddle O as a style the whole game, but, it will be a wrinkle & part of the Iowa O going foward & is just another aspect opposing D's will have to prepare for.

What a fun game & rollercoaster of emotions as a fan. :p
 
iahawk20 said:
LOL. Seriously? I love how some of you simply refuse to give coaches any kind of credit. Just hilarious really.
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Not really sure if you read what I said.

We were down 21 yesterday with 18 minutes to go. I think anyone who ever watched football before would know that it is go time. So we abandoned what we were doing all game (and doing horribly at) and went into shotgun/hurry up offense, and we all know the rest.

My point in saying "we wont know in a couple weeks if they grew or not" is because I want to wait and see if were going to try to incorporate more shotgun into our play calling. Not all the time like some people are asking but I feel Vandy is more comfortable from there and we have 3 playmaking receivers.

We all know Ferentz can be stubborn at times so I question if were going to see the offense that struggled for 3 quarters or the the one that thrived.
 
I couldn't help but laugh walking back from the stadium and listening to a guy screaming from a house Are people really that dumb? Surely both coaches have had their moments, but the improvised yesterday and called IMO a nearly flawless 4th quarter. Some people simply hold a grudge and refuse to give anyone on this staff any credit.
 
bkim24 said:
Not really sure if you read what I said.

We were down 21 yesterday with 18 minutes to go. I think anyone who ever watched football before would know that it is go time. So we abandoned what we were doing all game (and doing horribly at) and went into shotgun/hurry up offense, and we all know the rest.

My point in saying "we wont know in a couple weeks if they grew or not" is because I want to wait and see if were going to try to incorporate more shotgun into our play calling. Not all the time like some people are asking but I feel Vandy is more comfortable from there and we have 3 playmaking receivers.

We all know Ferentz can be stubborn at times so I question if were going to see the offense that struggled for 3 quarters or the the one that thrived.
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Yea. I knew what you meant when reading your first response & agree with you to a point. We will not know until the start of the BIG season.

Iowa will still play clock control, time of possession & field position game. With Iowa's young D I think they are worried about going 3 & outs in a no huddle offense & not giving this young D rest. This is a disadvantage with no huddle O's. But, I think it will be incorporated at times throughout the game just to change up pace.
 
bkim24 said:
Not really sure if you read what I said.

We were down 21 yesterday with 18 minutes to go. I think anyone who ever watched football before would know that it is go time. So we abandoned what we were doing all game (and doing horribly at) and went into shotgun/hurry up offense, and we all know the rest.

My point in saying "we wont know in a couple weeks if they grew or not" is because I want to wait and see if were going to try to incorporate more shotgun into our play calling. Not all the time like some people are asking but I feel Vandy is more comfortable from there and we have 3 playmaking receivers.

We all know Ferentz can be stubborn at times so I question if were going to see the offense that struggled for 3 quarters or the the one that thrived.
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Iowa had planned to go with an uptempo offense at times, that was thrown out the door early because of the numerous penalties that continued to haunt us in the first half.

You realize when it was 27-24 the staff could have easily went to more of a ball controlled offense, right? They kept the pedal on the gas, obviously. It paid off. Of course you and a few others refuse to acknowledge this.

It certainly helped that JVD was not missing wide open players, making good throws that a WR could actually catch, and Iowa wasnt having major penalties on drives. All of which consistently happened in the first half. But hey, the first half was the coaches fault and the final quarter all on the players. Um ok.
 
I'm not sure what you mean about the 'coaches' from my point of view I saw Ferentz finally admit that 'his' way wasn't getting it done and let KOK do it his way. When left to his own devices this is the offense that KOK would and has run in the past. Still too early to tell imo but I think this was a huge game for a young team - we'll see what Ferentz has learned going forward.
 
bkim24 said:
Not really sure if you read what I said.

We were down 21 yesterday with 18 minutes to go. I think anyone who ever watched football before would know that it is go time. So we abandoned what we were doing all game (and doing horribly at) and went into shotgun/hurry up offense, and we all know the rest.

My point in saying "we wont know in a couple weeks if they grew or not" is because I want to wait and see if were going to try to incorporate more shotgun into our play calling. Not all the time like some people are asking but I feel Vandy is more comfortable from there and we have 3 playmaking receivers.

We all know Ferentz can be stubborn at times so I question if were going to see the offense that struggled for 3 quarters or the the one that thrived.
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I agree with this completely. I'd been hesitant to jump on the Vandy bandwagon, because I felt that he was too inconsistent to be that guy everyone wants him. That said, I'm definitely one to eat crow and say that I saw a completely different QB achor the comeback, and felt that he looked much more comfortable running the hurry up offense than he had at any point up til now. I made the comment after the game and truly believe that we have the talent at the skill positions to thrive if the reigns are taken off this offense if they can play a more uptempo pace. I think a more pass happy offense would benefit us especially since we haven't found a way to distribute the touches to any back other than Coker, and it is unknown how long he can carry that load.

That said, it was definitely a position in which we had to abandon the game plan and play at a faster pace. Hopefully the staff made the realization that most of us did, but its too hard to say if they will ever take the reigns off the offense at a time where it isn't absolutely necessary. I still think the coaches remain conservative, but hopefully they will open up the play book more and allow our receivers to stretch the field.

Maybe it's time to abandon constant pounding of the ball to open up the passing game mentality and use the passing game to set up a more efficient running game.
 
Boy, and having a young QB (starting experiences) being able to bring a team back in the 4th quarter on multiple occasions should pay huge dividends going forward. That could potentially really lay the foundation for a solid career. That is such a valuable experience for a young QB. The coaches put the team on his shoulders & he led his team to victory & the team responded to him. Can't put a price on it.
 
iahawk20 said:
Iowa had planned to go with an uptempo offense at times, that was thrown out the door early because of the numerous penalties that continued to haunt us in the first half.

You realize when it was 27-24 the staff could have easily went to more of a ball controlled offense, right? They kept the pedal on the gas, obviously. It paid off. Of course you and a few others refuse to acknowledge this.

It certainly helped that JVD was not missing wide open players, making good throws that a WR could actually catch, and Iowa wasnt having major penalties on drives. All of which consistently happened in the first half. But hey, the first half was the coaches fault and the final quarter all on the players. Um ok.
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When did I ever say this? Why are you so angry? Did I sleep with your sister or something? Are you Tom Kakert and angry at my sig?

Yes, KF and KOK are geniuses because they stuck with the offense that got them 21 points in 15 minutes and not the ones who got them 3 points in 42 minutes. All I was saying lets wait a couple weeks until we actually see how they call the games coming up (Penn State in particular)

I really dont think it was that brilliant of coaching to keep "the foot on the throat" when we were down 3. All game our drives looked something like: 3 yard Cooker Run, Incomplete Pass/Sack/Penalty leading to a third and long, then a short pass completed, punt. Anyone with half a brain would pick the offense that just led us down the field 3 times.
 
That 4th Q offense was going against huge cushions and a defense that had been leaving guys wide open all day. Seriously guys, you can't take away a whole lot from what happened in the 4th quarter in terms of expecting the coaches to throw the playbook out the window.

The 4th Q offense kind of reminded me of O'Keefe's masterful 2004 season, where we saw what O'Keefe is really made of when he has to rely on the passing attack. Ferentz had mentioned on his postgame show that he wanted to maintain a 60/40 run to pass ratio, but with only RB who he trusts (and barely) I think he needs to let O'Keefe just do what he needs to to win and if that involves a little more passing, so be it.
 
bkim24 said:
When did I ever say this? Why are you so angry? Did I sleep with your sister or something? Are you Tom Kakert and angry at my sig?

Yes, KF and KOK are geniuses because they stuck with the offense that got them 21 points in 15 minutes and not the ones who got them 3 points in 42 minutes. All I was saying lets wait a couple weeks until we actually see how they call the games coming up (Penn State in particular)

I really dont think it was that brilliant of coaching to keep "the foot on the throat" when we were down 3. All game our drives looked something like: 3 yard Cooker Run, Incomplete Pass/Sack/Penalty leading to a third and long, then a short pass completed, punt. Anyone with half a brain would pick the offense that just led us down the field 3 times.
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You just proved my point! Oh wait, you'll blame the coaches for the numerous penalties, sack, or incomplete pass in the game, right?

It all comes down to execution. You'll eventually get there, maybe.
 
iahawk20 said:
You just proved my point! Oh wait, you'll blame the coaches for the numerous penalties, sack, or incomplete pass in the game, right?

It all comes down to execution. You'll eventually get there, maybe.
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Well when they keep calling RB dives that get two yards for 42 minutes, yes I blame the coaches. What they were calling wasnt working and they stuck with it until they had to.
 
The development of a team personality is what I like about college football. Traditionally, we know what the KF led Hawks want to do, but as has been metioned, similar to the '04 team, you play to your strengths.

I suspected the talent we have in with the WR's and TE's and KOK and KF need to exploit that but in no way do I think they'll move away from the run to a great extent. Coker will have some solid games and the passing will complement the running and help open it up more in future.
 
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