Why not give Another MLB a look?

[deanvogs]

Bret Meyer found Cyclones third-string quarterback Phillip Bates -- the freshman was playing wide receiver on the play -- isolated with Iowa linebacker Mike Klinkenborg downfield late in the fourth quarter. He hit Bates with a 38-yard pass that put Iowa State on the Iowa 17.

Watching Alston trail Johnson was a real déjà vu moment. Klink was a good run support MLB, but was very challenged in space.

Didn't you bang the drum for years that Alston was better then Morris?

 

[DexterMorgan]

Yeah, lets go replace our defensive captain because of a few poor plays. Who are we? The cyclones?

 

[DP5555]

Here's a thought....

If he's the starter don't ya think that means the coaches believe he's the best MLB on the team? I mean gee wiz I bet ya they've seen them all play a heck of a lot more than Hawkcrush has. Maybe they just weren't paying attention to Kenny or Gilson in practice!?

We're replacing 3 NFL linebackers and you expect all of them to make an immediate transition without flaws? Here's a newsflash for you: there is going to be some growing pains and it shouldn't be a surprise that we same some of them in the first freaking game. Give the kid a chance to get comfortable.

 

[DP5555]

Dude, the help was on the sidelines where their man coverage took them. There was no one within 20 yards or more of both Q and Johnson. I'm sure Johnson had free reign to make what ever move he wanted. Q could have gotten more depth, but there was no way he was going to stay with Johnson in space like that...and there are maybe a handful of MLB in college that would stand chance of defending that situation. Johnson was the best player on that field offensively for either team. He's a legit NFL running back.

I love guys that know more than the coaches do by seeing guys play 50 snaps, 48 of which they do pretty well, but on the two they don't, it's got to be because the guy can't hack it and isn't our best option. If by game four or five, you see glaring mistake, then you may have something. The problem I have is that you think this is a player issue...it wasn't. It was a coaching issue...and ours got their butts handed to them by UNI. UNI knew exactly what they were doing and what they expected from Iowa's defense and they knew Morris, Q, Larry Station, Abdul Hodge, or Dick Butkus weren't going to be able to stop that without changing coverage. Which is what Iowa did and why you didn't see Johnson in the middle of the field one on one in the fourth quarter. K.

In the immortal words of another HN poster...Learn the damn game.

Q needed to jam him. That's the one part you're missing out of your analysis. Changing coverage helps, but in the coverage they were in he needed to be jamming him and he wasn't so that was absolutely on him and not the coaches. Read Hawkeyegamefilm's analysis. We all know he knows what he's talking about.

Read my above post - I'm not bashing Q. I think he's going to be a damn good player for the Hawks, and I'm smart enough to give him a few games to get adjusted to being the guy. With that said, when you're the MLB and your responsibility is to cover seam routes down the middle by the TE or RB then they absolutely need to make it more difficult on them to get down the field by jamming. Q let Johnson run free and that's the sole reason he got beat. I'm sure it will be addressed.

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

This isn't just a rag on Q it's about what is best long term. I don't see the rationale for an argument that says he gives us the best chance to win when it was basically what gave UNI a chance to win the game. How much worse could it be than giving up 200 yards to a rb receiving. I don't see how one can make an argument it was an experience thing--5 th yr senior has some game experience already. In CFB you have to be comtantly thinking long term, and this isn't the solution.

just a hunch, but all the guys have been given a chance in practice to perform and Q won the job, just like a walk-on Bower did. Apparently the other options on MLB haven't shown enough in practice to get a shot on Saturdays. So if they can't do it in practice, they are not magically going to do it in a game.

I disagree on thinking long-term if it hampers winning now.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

While I think he will make improvement and be able to be serviceable for us, he played really really bad. To get beat that bad, that many plays, I would be fine with giving someone else a shot. Coaches have to be aware of his limitations and do their best to not leave him alone in an island in situations like those from Saturday, if possible, am I don't know if it is.

 

[Hawkcrush]

just a hunch, but all the guys have been given a chance in practice to perform and Q won the job, just like a walk-on Bower did. Apparently the other options on MLB haven't shown enough in practice to get a shot on Saturdays. So if they can't do it in practice, they are not magically going to do it in a game.

I disagree on thinking long-term if it hampers winning now.

I am not sure how giving up 200 yards receiving, gives us the best chance of in winning now. The point I am making here is lets at least give someone else a look. And to say he doesn't show us in practice, so he can't do it at all is not always true. If you have ever coached football you would have certainly seen kids that are gamers. Like it or not there are also some people who are all world in practice and wither under the lights anti gamers. I get that q is a captain however Gillison is also a senior who has earned playing time. If he gives up a long pass play bench him. Again, not saying bench Q , but he doesn't need every snap. Imagine how much pounding a MLB takes in a season, why not take a load off every now and then.

 

[trj]

This is why Alston wasn't able to overtake Morris over the years. People are seeing why Morris was the starter. Alston is great run defender but is a terrible pass defender. Hopefully he gets better but we are going to have to blitz because our lbs are not good coverage guys.

Or more nickel packages......I realize PP wants to play more man, but he may have to bite the bullet this year and have these guys, especially the linebackers, drop into deep zones, keep everything in front of them. Old school Norm.

 

[Hawkcrush]

Proof that we recruited the guy please? So your saying he picked UNI over Iowa? Fact, he is an FCS running back, no slam on him just fact. Who do we put in, perhaps the back up. I did not say to bench him, just give someone else a look. So this is not jumping off the deep end, this is just common sense. Again, a look.

 

[IowaFan81]

jeez, its one game.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

 

[IowaFan81]

I am not sure how giving up 200 yards receiving, gives us the best chance of in winning now. The point I am making here is lets at least give someone else a look. And to say he doesn't show us in practice, so he can't do it at all is not always true. If you have ever coached football you would have certainly seen kids that are gamers. Like it or not there are also some people who are all world in practice and wither under the lights anti gamers. I get that q is a captain however Gillison is also a senior who has earned playing time. If he gives up a long pass play bench him. Again, not saying bench Q , but he doesn't need every snap. Imagine how much pounding a MLB takes in a season, why not take a load off every now and then.

How do you know Chad Gilson, not Gillison, has earned playing time? He's a 5th year senior that transferred to Iowa from UNI after the 2012 season and didn't play last year. He had 25 tackles in his 2 years at UNI, about the same Alston.

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

I am not sure how giving up 200 yards receiving, gives us the best chance of in winning now. The point I am making here is lets at least give someone else a look. And to say he doesn't show us in practice, so he can't do it at all is not always true. If you have ever coached football you would have certainly seen kids that are gamers. Like it or not there are also some people who are all world in practice and wither under the lights anti gamers. I get that q is a captain however Gillison is also a senior who has earned playing time. If he gives up a long pass play bench him. Again, not saying bench Q , but he doesn't need every snap. Imagine how much pounding a MLB takes in a season, why not take a load off every now and then.

this I can agree with.

i knew as I was typing someone would bring up the gamers, and I've coached kids like that (as well as the anti gamers lol

 

[CAARHawk]

Didn't you bang the drum for years that Alston was better then Morris?

Yep. I jumped on the bandwagon based on a way too small sample. But after I did, there were whispers suggesting that pass coverage was a problem with Q. I didn't want to believe them. Then I saw this game and all I could think of was watching Klink trailing Bates and thinking, uh oh.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Several questions...

1) Who do you want to put in there?

2) Are you familiar with the concept of attacking leverage (from an offensive player standpoint)?

3) You and Hawknick must be cut from the same cloth...do you know anything about David Johnson? Assuming yes, I would ask that if you think it's fair to pigeon-hole him as "an FCS running back" like he's second tier football player? Following up, you realize we recruited that guy, right? And that he's hovering amongst the top 10 or 11 running backs to be selected in next year's draft?

4) Give a guy (even your somewhat athletic next door neighbor who played HS football 10 years ago) about 10 yards to make a move, give him a two way go, and see if you can blanket him. Now, try to do that same thing against a guy who is going to be selected in the first 3-4 rounds of the 2015 draft. That's what Alston was asked to do. Do you have any idea how hard that is?

The posters who mentioned the play call nailed it. We can't continually ask our MLB to do that...hell, we wouldn't be able to get repeated success out of our DB's in that situation. If we are going to run that defense, we need to provide some sort of assistance over the top OR we need to get home with our blitz package. Phil did a great job in the 4th quarter of giving Alston the help he needed...he ditched the man blitz stuff and went with the zone blitz, putting athletic DE's in the short middle area with zone over the top while twisting our LB's on blitzes and they worked masterfully.

Proof that we recruited the guy please? So your saying he picked UNI over Iowa? Fact, he is an FCS running back, no slam on him just fact. Who do we put in, perhaps the back up. I did not say to bench him, just give someone else a look. So this is not jumping off the deep end, this is just common sense. Again, a look.

You missed a few, but to address your question, see below link.

http://qctimes.com/sports/football/...cle_f67537d9-551f-547a-b445-49298df4347a.html

He didn't pick UNI over Iowa, but we cooled on him based on grade and attitude rumors. I will agree with you that he is an FCS running back; that is a fact. But that doesn't in any way diminish his talent; he is a future NFL running back playing at the FCS level right now.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Q needed to jam him. That's the one part you're missing out of your analysis. Changing coverage helps, but in the coverage they were in he needed to be jamming him and he wasn't so that was absolutely on him and not the coaches. Read Hawkeyegamefilm's analysis. We all know he knows what he's talking about.

Read my above post - I'm not bashing Q. I think he's going to be a damn good player for the Hawks, and I'm smart enough to give him a few games to get adjusted to being the guy. With that said, when you're the MLB and your responsibility is to cover seam routes down the middle by the TE or RB then they absolutely need to make it more difficult on them to get down the field by jamming. Q let Johnson run free and that's the sole reason he got beat. I'm sure it will be addressed.

I read his analysis and I agree with some, Q needed to slow him down, or get depth and keep him in front of him and force a cut in front of him rather than just running by him. I also get that MLB's often need to handle the seam routes with TE's and RB's...it's part of Iowa's normal defenses. Here's where I disagree and think GameFilmDude is wrong. Who was the more explosive offensive weapon UNI had? Johnson that's who. If you are going to run a coverage, not once, but twice, where you put your middle linebacker on the most dangerous player with the middle of the field wide open, and your safeties on the sidelines guarding decoys...I'm going to say you got out schemed by the other team and say that's a coaching issue. Do you think Phil Parker would do it again? No he wouldn't. And he didn't in the fourth quarter...he changed the coverage. You needed to account for Johnson with more than one player, especially in space...and that means using a safety, or bringing in a nickel back and putting an LB on the sideline. I say it was a coaching issue. Q didn't perform to the best of his ability, but he shouldn't have been in that position by the coaching staff.