Why shutdown the offense in 2nd half??

[ArvadaHawk]

There is no style points into losing to horrible teams also. Iowa has proven they can and will lose to the worst teams in the country because of 2nd half conservative play calling. Iowa over the last couple years is the example on how to not close games out.

OOTH, I regret that I have but one thumbs up that I can give you for this quote.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

KF's strategy, right or wrong, is also not to show teams any additional aspects of your offense, or go deeper into your game plan, if the game is in hand. You save things for games you really need them. It can backfire and i think we all know the pain of an ISU this year. I think he thought with his defense, no way Iowa State comes back from 14-3. It's so old school.

Your team has to get better and your offense needs work. Let them play and work on your passing game in these situations. Indiana's defense crept 8 in the box the entire second half. It's painful to watch that style when safe throws, ESPECIALLY on first down, move the chains.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

The 2005 Michigan game broke a years' long home winning streak and was really a harbinger of the next 3+ years of Iowa football. The play calling in the red zone as time wore down was criminal, but Kurt wanted to settle for the FG and take it to OT. Prior to that game, Iowa had won every close game for something like 3 years and after that game our record in close games tanked until PSU in 2008 (I think the only close one we won was the thriller at Syracuse).

Wasn't it something like 24 in a row? IIRC, that was the first home loss since ISU in 2002: Another one where a 17 point halftime lead got away. Of course turnovers deep in our own red zone bit us in that game (the 2002 ISU game) but the Hawks were rolling and putting points on the board in the second quarter.. Only scored 7 in the second half, and that was a late TD when the game was more or less over.

 

[PCHawk]

You would think Kirk has been burned enough over his career by going conservative that he would try the other approach. I've said this before but I'll say it again. It seems like Kirk knows that if we stay aggressive and make a few mistakes, there is a pretty good chance we end up in a dog fight. To avoid the mistakes he goes ultra conservative and almost assures we end up in a dog fight.

I agree with Jon that with the backup qb it was pretty much a done deal (even though it was only a couple big plays from happening). But does anyone think for a second that the backup being in the game factored into the decision anyway? We would go conservative and try to hang onto a 10 point lead even if we were playing Oregon.

 

[uihawk82]

Well Indiana's weaker unit is their defense and especially their pass coverage so attack your opponent's weakness. I think good play action with run pass option or even QB draws are better against the weak pass defense than trying to run into an 8 man in the box.

Same thing upcoming this week. Maryland scores points yet their defense is their weaker unit. The hawks need the mindset to keep moving the ball and being aggressive enough to score points and not just get a few first downs and punt and play the field position game.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

With all that said we still sit here the day after the 6th game of the season without anyone to rush for 100 yards in a game. Pretty remarkable and TELLING if you ask me..

 

[notsoold]

I agree with winone, why show more than needed. Wisconsin played that way. Also it pains me to admit, I missed the game. Did they go with different personnel in the second half? Maybe get some pt for others while the scores up?

 

[uihawk82]

With all that said we still sit here the day after the 6th game of the season without to rush for 100 yards in a game. Pretty remarkable and TELLING if you ask me..

A very telling point. And the overall run game stats minus Parker's big run are again pretty anemic.

The offensive line and rbs always seem to get their blocking calls and cutbacks going a little better in the second half but we dont have a dominant running game to overall all run out the clock.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

KF's strategy, right or wrong, is also not to show teams any additional aspects of your offense, or go deeper into your game plan, if the game is in hand. You save things for games you really need them. It can backfire and i think we all know the pain of an ISU this year. I think he thought with his defense, no way Iowa State comes back from 14-3. It's so old school.

Your team has to get better and your offense needs work. Let them play and work on your passing game in these situations. Indiana's defense crept 8 in the box the entire second half. It's painful to watch that style when safe throws, ESPECIALLY on first down, move the chains.

KF bread n butter response after a loss is we didn't execute. He should know better than anyone that executing in practice and taking it to a game is different. IMO Games like yesterday is when you should work on those things. I think that would go a long, long way to better execution in the future.

If we have a coach risking games to not show his offensive hand to future opponents than all I will say is that is weird.. However what you said WINONE has sure got me thinking..

 

[PCHawk]

I assume there have probably been times but can anyone think of a time where we were in a tight game and we pulled out some secret never before seen play?

 

[IAHAWK1982]

With all that said we still sit here the day after the 6th game of the season without anyone to rush for 100 yards in a game. Pretty remarkable and TELLING if you ask me..

I believe the reason for that is we have been using a running back by committee running game. Give almost all the carries to one back and we have a 100 yard rusher. I like using more than one back to keep them fresh, but I don't necessarily like the changing of backs play to play or even every series. It takes time for a running back to get a feel for the blocking and flow of the defense. Let's face it, we don't have a Coleman or Gordon so we aren't going to have anyone who is going to gash opposing defenses with huge gains. Just going to have to grind it out.

 

[trj]

I assume there have probably been times but can anyone think of a time where we were in a tight game and we pulled out some secret never before seen play?

Didn't KOK pull out a reverse pass against someone? Northwestern??? i am getting old and all these years are starting to blend together to me. I can't remember which NW debacle it was.

 

[LG210]

A 17 point lead was nice, and with Indiana's starting QB out, yeah, I felt that there was little chance Iowa was going to lose that lead. But a 17 point lead is hardly insurmountable. It's too early to just shut it down IMO. If you go up 21-28 and it's in the 4th quarter, sure, different story, but as someone pointed out, if Indiana's pass into our end zone had been a TD instead of an INT, it could've been a 1 possession game, and anything can happen in an on-side kick scenario.

Put your opponent away!!!!

And I'm not saying hang 70 on someone the way Wisconsin or OSU have done, but it never hurts to add some style points for recruiting's sake. KF seems opposed to being "sexy".

They went for the TD on 4th and 1 with 3 seconds left in the half. That is not exactly playing not to put your opponent away.

 

[uihawk82]

They went for the TD on 4th and 1 with 3 seconds left in the half. That is not exactly playing not to put your opponent away.

That was gutty , huge call but it was IN the FIRST HALF (not yelling with caps just for emphasis).

I just thought the 3rd qtr especially was really conservative on offense.

 

[PCHawk]

Didn't KOK pull out a reverse pass against someone? Northwestern??? i am getting old and all these years are starting to blend together to me. I can't remember which NW debacle it was.

We pulled out a reverse pass against MSU once when we were killing them. Not sure if that's the one you're thinking of or not. Truth is we don't need to pull out new plays to keep our foot on the gas. Just keep doing more of what we were doing.

 

[LG210]

That was gutty , huge call but it was IN the FIRST HALF (not yelling with caps just for emphasis).

I just thought the 3rd qtr especially was really conservative on offense.

What? The play that took place with three seconds left in the first half was in the first half? Really? j/k

Let's not forget that Iowa has not been an offensive juggernaut this year and that there were a number of things that went right for Iowa in the first half that you could not reasonably expect to continue into the second half.

Part of what seemed to be shutting down the offense in the second half may have simply been Iowa's offense returning to a production that is closer to the norm.

The play calling was muted, but with Indiana being a one-dimensional team after Sudfeld went down, it would have been extremely unlikely that Indiana makes a comeback against a conservative offensive strategy--and that turned out to be the case.

Without second half turnovers, Iowa was not going to lose that game with Sudfeld out.

 

[okeefe4prez]

We pulled out a reverse pass against MSU once when we were killing them. Not sure if that's the one you're thinking of or not. Truth is we don't need to pull out new plays to keep our foot on the gas. Just keep doing more of what we were doing.

Also ran it against Texas in the bowl game. Ferentz admitted he is the one who called it. It went for like a 22 yard loss. Instead of having Jason Manson, who had moved from QB to WR handle the ball, we had a freshman, Doug E. Fresh, I believe, handle the ball and he got swarmed and couldn't throw it away.

 

[okeefe4prez]

What? The play that took place with three seconds left in the first half was in the first half? Really? j/k

Let's not forget that Iowa has not been an offensive juggernaut this year and that there were a number of things that went right for Iowa in the first half that you could not reasonably expect to continue into the second half.

Part of what seemed to be shutting down the offense in the second half may have simply been Iowa's offense returning to a production that is closer to the norm.

The play calling was muted, but with Indiana being a one-dimensional team after Sudfeld went down, it would have been extremely unlikely that Indiana makes a comeback against a conservative offensive strategy--and that turned out to be the case.

Without second half turnovers, Iowa was not going to lose that game with Sudfeld out.

Correct, sir. The only way Indiana comes back in that game is if we have two second half turnovers. Nice job by Ferentz.

 

[PCHawk]

What? The play that took place with three seconds left in the first half was in the first half? Really? j/k

Let's not forget that Iowa has not been an offensive juggernaut this year and that there were a number of things that went right for Iowa in the first half that you could not reasonably expect to continue into the second half.

Part of what seemed to be shutting down the offense in the second half may have simply been Iowa's offense returning to a production that is closer to the norm.

The play calling was muted, but with Indiana being a one-dimensional team after Sudfeld went down, it would have been extremely unlikely that Indiana makes a comeback against a conservative offensive strategy--and that turned out to be the case.

Without second half turnovers, Iowa was not going to lose that game with Sudfeld out.

With our inability to cover onside kicks, I was getting pretty nervous. I really don't care about how the second half played out this particular game. It's just that every single game we get a lead in ends up playing out this way regardless of circumstances. It's just bit us in the *** too many times in games we had "no chance of losing".

 

[okeefe4prez]

Wasn't it something like 24 in a row? IIRC, that was the first home loss since ISU in 2002: Another one where a 17 point halftime lead got away. Of course turnovers deep in our own red zone bit us in that game (the 2002 ISU game) but the Hawks were rolling and putting points on the board in the second quarter.. Only scored 7 in the second half, and that was a late TD when the game was more or less over.

It was twenty something - I forget exactly. But we should have won that Michigan game the way we played that day. Michigan also broke a super long TD on a short pass that looked to me like it was sprung by a questionable block.