why did we wait to throw deep?

hawkeyebob62 said:
Everyone SAYS this, but the right side of the OL still needs work/synch-ing. Almost every "dump off" pass yesterday was to the left side. The right side was jammed up around the line.

What worries me isn't the front 7--or ANY 7--of our offense, it's the back 7 of our defense.
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bob, I think the lb's in pass coverage were the issue. UNI ran patterns that caused the db's to vacate an area and then sent Johnson 1 on 1 on a lb. I thought our cb coverage was good and the safties were ok, but need work.
 
Being we were ahead for most of the game, and then being able to extend the lead in the 4th, the lb's got a lot of quality reps which will lead to more coaching opportunities. I also think that we will likely mix in some nickel defense with either Draper, Flemming, or possibly Taylor at safety and Lomax in coverage (he played CB last year) in getting in there to cover the slot receiver which will allow us to get more speed on the field.

If our lb's struggle again this week in coverage, especially in the middle of the field, this will happen or you will see much more zone mixed in on 3rd downs. I believe we have two very capable lb coaches and Reid has been around a long time, so I am guessing he has seen this before.

I am glad that we don't play ISU until week 3, as I would like to think that they are more of a passing team than Ball State. This just gives us another week of preparation and getting this issue resolved without having to show future spread all of our cards.
 
Eda said:
And that's all he did. He chucked the long ball entirely too many times. It back fired big time. When you throw the deep ball, and don't connect, you basically just threw a play away. Our passing game was solid. We took some shots (completing some & getting. PI calls on some), threw some decent short yardage routes, and opened up the run game some because of it. JR threw for 250 yds today, which in IMO, is a solid performance.

Why are you beeching? Cuz we didn't 40 point an FCS opponent? Get over yourself.
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So if throwing an incompletion on a long ball is a wasted play then what is getting stuffed on a running play for no gain in your opinion?
 
I don't have stats in front of me, but I want to say that every single time JR through it over 15 yards excellent things happened, from large gains (willies), to TD's (Smith's 1 hand grab), to the pass interference call.

I love the use of TE's by iowa as well as Bullocks ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. That will be huge down the road, but for now Jake needs to be airing it out more

All that being said, its hard to argue with Rudock's stat line...31/41 250 yards and 2 tds.
 
Dammit! We won another game!
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OlePeep said:
Yes, I don't think FCS teams should play us to within 1 pt in the 4th qtr b/c our team culture is terror of risk. Read Hawkeye Gameday's tweets. Listen to Chuck Long. Even KF acknowledged they needed to get it down field "a little better." I'm not way out on a limb here.

In 14 starts, yesterday's 250 yds was his 2nd highest total (257 in the loss to NIU last year). That is pretty weak imo in this era of D1 CFB. Chuck Long made a great point yesterday: Iowa needs Rudock to be more than a game manager for Iowa to take the next step this year. I like Rudock's guts re: his personal safety; he is not afraid to get hit. But he sure is terrified to make a mistake, or just committed to showing he doesn't "lock in" on the primary like his back-up supposedly does.

I watch the games to be entertained. Not giving a chance to our most athletic/fastest/most explosive players detracts from the entertainment value. Try to step on some throats, please.
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It's obvious Rudock worked on his interceptions throughout the off-season. And now in the first game back you want him to start heaving the ball into coverage, and taking risks!? Why? Especially when there's an underneath or check down that's open?

Rudock threw to 13 different targets on Saturday. Seems to me like they are getting their weapons out and spreading the field!

IMO: Winning IS entertaining.
 
PCHawk said:
So if throwing an incompletion on a long ball is a wasted play then what is getting stuffed on a running play for no gain in your opinion?
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You think throwing the ball deep into coverage hoping to throw the guy open/get a PI/take a chance/keep the D "honest"; as opposed to throwing the underneath or check down guy, who happens to be open, is not a waste? We made hay on those long drives taking the check down! And guess what... Some of those drives ended with a touchdown, rather than a punt.
 
We're going to throw deep more this year. I don't think this is anywhere near a concern yet.
 
I think Rudock did just fine. He was 31-41 for 250 yds. He was very accurate and only missed on a couple throws. He put the ball where it needed to be 99% of the time, IE on the crossing routes he hit them in stride and gave them a shot to make a move, and when he threw into a window like to KMM over the middle he put in where the receiver could make a play, but the defender could not.

He will see on film the guys he missed that were open, and he will correct it. He is a smart guy, and he will continue to get better. All in all very encouraging start for Rudock, and he will continue to build on this IMO.
 
NCHawker said:
They were looking deep, but either Jake could not see the receivers open or they were not open..and Jake dumped it off.

This is what frustrated me so much...I hoped that Iowa's receivers would be a bit better at getting open this season.
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Chuck Long was hinting at this all game. Criticizing his not looking downfield and checking down too quickly as nicely as he could.
 
brozley said:
Chuck Long was hinting at this all game. Criticizing his not looking downfield and checking down too quickly as nicely as he could.
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Hawkeye Gamefilm was making the same observation over and over in his feed.

We're going to need our QB to have some games averaging 12 ypc, not 8 ypc if we're going to make waves this season.
 
Without attending practice all week long I don't know if any of us know for sure if Jake was coming off the deeper reads too early or if he was strait up coached to look to the shorter routes first. It seemed he was throwing short really fast and quick as if that was his first read most of the time. And if that was so then that game plan worked. He had a great day. After the JVB year a couple years ago I'll never complain about a qb that goes 31 for 41 with 2 tds and 0 picks followed up with getting the W.

I really really hope that they do mix it up in regards to when he audibles. Cause it was really obvious what he was checking to and when UNI knew it along with the Chuck Long telling the TV audience that needs to get fixed and I think it will. I think that was why the running game didn't have as much success as we were hoping for. Too many of the runs were pretty much predictable and easily defensed.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I really really hope that they do mix it up in regards to when he audibles. Cause it was really obvious what he was checking to and when UNI knew it along with the Chuck Long telling the TV audience that needs to get fixed and I think it will. I think that was why the running game didn't have as much success as we were hoping for. Too many of the runs were pretty much predictable and easily defensed.
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I'd be interested to know what the numbers were on last year's audibles because I seemed to feel like for every 10 times Jake seemingly changed a play at the line, 8-9 of them would be zone left/zone right. So this isn't exactly a new thing...but Chuck certainly made sure that everyone knew that's what Jake was doing!
 
deanvogs said:
I think Rudock did just fine. He was 31-41 for 250 yds. He was very accurate and only missed on a couple throws. He put the ball where it needed to be 99% of the time, IE on the crossing routes he hit them in stride and gave them a shot to make a move, and when he threw into a window like to KMM over the middle he put in where the receiver could make a play, but the defender could not.

He will see on film the guys he missed that were open, and he will correct it. He is a smart guy, and he will continue to get better. All in all very encouraging start for Rudock, and he will continue to build on this IMO.
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I saw plenty of check downs that were late, thrown behind the receiver and could have been picked. He had a decent game and a pretty good percentage but he didn't make perfect throws, and he made the receivers work and left a few guys out to dry and they took some big hits.
 
dave3912 said:
I saw plenty of check downs that were late, thrown behind the receiver and could have been picked. He had a decent game and a pretty good percentage but he didn't make perfect throws, and he made the receivers work and left a few guys out to dry and they took some big hits.
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Good point Dave. I only watched the game the time it aired live, but remember thinking that his receivers were helping him out in several cases. The placement wasn't perfect, nothing that a D-1 receiver shouldn't be able to catch, but certainly not ideal for where you'd "want" to catch the ball. So even though the completion percentage was good, it wasn't necessarily a crisp 75+% rate.
 
hawkfan2679 said:
I'd be interested to know what the numbers were on last year's audibles because I seemed to feel like for every 10 times Jake seemingly changed a play at the line, 8-9 of them would be zone left/zone right. So this isn't exactly a new thing...but Chuck certainly made sure that everyone knew that's what Jake was doing!
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Most of those checks are just which direction the run play is going. He isn't changing the play per say, but just calling out which direction to run the ball, right or left.
 
I have to put this mostly on Jake. Replays showed plenty of open guys on intermediate and deep routes wide open and Jake just dumped it off. He isn't even looking at those other routes right now. For example on one (of the many) on yard out routs he threw there was trailing WR that was past the 1st down line and wide freaking open looking right at Jake and he turned away and threw a long risky pass to get a 1/2 yard gain.

Come conference time if defenses know they don' have to keep safeties over the top, it will get ugly a hurry.
 
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