The Takeaway: Eastern Illinois
by Adam Jacobi on Sep 5, 2010 10:57 AM CDT
in Iowa Hawkeyes Football
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PrintSure, Iowa just rolled over Eastern Illinois, 37-7. But how much do we really know? What was so important about beating EIU? What does it all mean, Basil? The Takeaway has the answer.
Nice work, kid. The star of the show, especially in the first half, was tailback Adam Robinson, who has a knack for making the most of the opportunities given to him. Last season, the prevailing wisdom was that Brandon Wegher would win the RB duel and take on a featured role over Robinson. But Robinson showed more of a knack for grinding out yards and breaking tackles, and he earned the starter designation he held for the rest of the year.
Likewise, this year, the thinking is that Jewel Hampton has the physical gifts to overtake Robinson, and the coaches are certainly going to use him in the platoon starting next week. And maybe Hampton will shine and leave Kirk Ferentz no choice but to give him 20 carries. It's possible.
But Hampton's going to have to really bring it, because given the feature role yesterday, Adam Robinson ran his ass off. 24 carries and 109 yards is nice, and the three short-yardage touchdowns were a welcome sight, considering that role belonged to Wegher last season. But more importantly than that, when Ricky Stanzi went down with that tweaked knee (more on that in a bit), Robinson put the offense on his back and carried the ball five times for 36 yards and a score. He broke roughly 3,000 tackles in that spree, keeping his legs churning and punishing anyone who tried to use an arm tackle. When A-Rob scooted into the end zone from six yards out on that fifth carry, he got probably the largest cheer of the game from the sold-out crowd, who wouldn't let that effort go unnoticed. And neither shall we.
Oh yeah, Ricky almost got hurt again. Early in the third quarter, Stanzi rolled out to his right, then planted to make a cut before taking off. Except the cut didn't really take, and Stanzi fell awkwardly on his left leg. He would limp off under his own power, but for Iowa fans, the parallels to just Apocalypse were a little too eerie.
James Vandenberg was fine in relief, but seeing Stanzi come back and go 5-7 on the very next drive was an enormous relief, and underscored what a critical component of this offense Stanzi is. He went 18-23 for 229 and a score (no picks) on the day, and avoided the Ricky, No! decisions that usually crop up whenever Iowa's ahead by 10-14 points. He looked good. And Iowa needs him to stay healthy this year...
...which is is why it was so disappointing to see the offensive line's inconsistency. Look, we know the line was missing starter Adam Gettis and co-starter Josh Koeppel for today's game, and the starting RG was a guy who was a tackle on the game's 2-deep sheet that came out a week before the game. But against EIU, there's an expectation that the offensive line moves the LOS forward consistently, and that didn't happen. They didn't look terrible, mind you, but it seemed as if someone was getting pushed backwards on every other play or so. The left side of the line looked good, but Riley Reiff is not Bryan Bulaga yet, and we don't really have any other mashers. Again, yet--that entire right side of James Ferentz, Nolan MacMillan (or when he comes back, Adam Gettis), and Markus Zusevics have some time and room to grow. But grow, they must--this is not a line that can neutralize an elite front 7.
Back to full strength. The more players that can get back on the field, the better. Iowa was missing two of their top seven linemen, as mentioned earlier, but the absences went much farther than that. Broderick Binns and Jewel Hampton were suspended, and both will bolster their positions substantially starting this week.
Shaun Prater is already running on his hamstring, and if he can make it back for ISU, Iowa will be in much better shape against the passing game. Micah Hyde and Greg Castillo looked decent, we suppose, but as advertised, that Iowa defense really should have kept EIU out of the end zone at least until garbage time. Prater's the best pass defender on the team, and he'll be an upgrade over Castillo if he can go.
Whether Daniel Murray gets healthy or not is largely irrelevant, as there's little difference between him and Trent Mossbrucker, who dresses to kill. Two healthy kickers is better than one, technically, but we're in six-of-one/half-a-dozen-of-another territory here.
All that said, well done. We can criticize the minutiae of this game, but on a macro level, Iowa did exactly what it set out to accomplish: coasting to a win against a cupcake opponent and keeping the playbook largely under wraps before the Iowa State game. Mission accomplished, no? And lest we take all that for granted, hi Ole Miss. Hi Kansas. Hell, hi Oklahoma and Florida; though those two teams were playing I-A teams, they looked like such eye-murder that fans can't possibly be half as optimistic about the season as they were 24 hours ago. This? Ferentz will take this, and so will we.
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Agreed
One minor point that I noticed. The defense seemed to coast through the 2nd half, and didn’t create any turnovers. I realize that’s probably a function of being comfortably ahead, but that’s not something we can repeat against legit opponents.
Seriously?
They held them to like 20 yards in the 2nd half. EIU wasn’t moving the ball at all, and guys were flying around. It seemed like there were always like three or four defenders around the ball That’s not coasting.
They did sort of fall asleep in the 2nd quarter on that one TD drive, but even though would have been a 3 and out were it not for the fake punt.
Really, I think the only issue I saw (aside from the line, but I’m willing to give them time to gell) was Micah Hyde. It seemed like an awful lot of the few completions EIU had were going to his side of the field, and he was responsible for their only big gain of the game. I think it was his guy who scored the TD too, although that was just an incredible catch as much as anything. Not a huge concern right now, but something to watch going forward.
I think it can be said
that the DLine gave less than their best effort…however, to your point, one player in particular did seem to be flying around the entire time he was in there and that was Tyler Sash. Sash has shown he can lead by example…maybe we need him to be the more vocal leader on this defense to replace a guy like Angerer. We all thought it was going to be Clayborn but maybe Clayborn is the silent…lead by example type…which is fine but I think we need someone to grab this defense by the balls and make sure no one slips up at any point throughout the game.
All that being said…this was EIU…and these guys have proven that when the lights are at their brightest…they never let off the gas. I just hope that continues this year without the presence of Angerer and Edds…or King and Kroul.
Re: the defensive line
It wasn’t an A+ effort by any means, but I thought they were still good yesterday. They swallowed up the run well most of the time and got good pressure on all but a few plays; you aren’t always going to get a lot of sacks or tackles for loss against an offense so predicated on short, quick passes out of the shotgun. They were a hair away from a few sacks at different points, too — there was one near-miss in the end zone where Clayborn was thisclose to getting the EIU QB only to have Ballard barrel into him in an attempt to do the same.
I thought Daniels looked good (especially on that one sack he had) and Daniel did decently in spot duty. I was impressed by Ballard’s speed off the edge, too; despite packing on weight to be a DT, he still looks pretty quick.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Keep in mind, as well
That EIU had a total of 157 yards offense, over half of which came on the lone TD drive (and 37 yards of that was the fake punt)
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Agreed
They didn’t get sacks, but there’s more to a great defensive line than that. They were consistently getting pressure on the QB and rushing his throws, and as you said, they did a nice job pushing the EIU line back and making it hard for their backs to find running room. It wasn’t their greatest performance anything, but I wouldn’t say they were slacking.
I would agree
Didn’t intend to indicate they were slacking – just not going at 100% like they were in the first half, or more specifically the first quarter. Again, likely just a function of being comfortably ahead, but not something that can be repeated against a more competitive opponent.
Rewatched the game on the BTN replay
Hyde wasn’t as bad as I had thought during the game. Yes, on the play immediately following the fake punt he got burned on that deep pass he bit on the play-action (the WR also had a hell of a nice hitch move on a hitch-and-go) which wasn’t good. The subsequent TD seems to have been a mix-up in coverage by him and Greenwood. But there are two semi-mitigating factors on that play: (1) on the play before, Greenwood made a good tackle,but came up looking like he got something in his eyes (some of the turf stuff) and was having a little trouble seeing clearly and (2) the TD took so long and had broken down that the coverage suffered (Clayborn went offsides then jumped back and was slow getting back to the rush).
Other than that series, however, Hyde played pretty well he decent in coverage and had a couple of pass break-ups before and after the TD drive so he didn’t let it bother him for the rest of the game. He’s no Spievey, but wasn’t as bad as it seemed during the game. still needs work, to be sure, but I think he showed he’ll be decent.
Was pleasantly surprised by Castillo’s play. More of the completions EIU had were on his side of the field but he did a good job tackling and had a few pass break-ups. Definitely seems improved over last year.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
No Mention of Das Pakibomb?
For shame. That kid played his heart out yesterday.
I will haunt your dreams and eat your children.
No mention of that activation of
DAS BOMB.
A Voice From Kinnick - A Hawkeye Blog
by mikjones24 on Sep 5, 2010 11:19 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
I would of liked to see them air it out a bit more, but I’ll just chalk the conservative calls up to not wanting to reveal to much and a cupcake opponents like the article stated. Entering conference play though JK and McNutt need to get their hands on the ball. Especially with a newer line.
All your doing is spewing garbage with no sense of order or articulation whatsoever. - SimplePsych
Bingo
I’ve gotta believe a lot of the dink-and-dunk passing, and work over the middle to the tight ends, was just Ferentz and KOK’s way of planting some thoughts into ISU’s head. I’d be surprised if DJK and McNutt didn’t break out a bit next week.
by LowcountryHawk on Sep 5, 2010 11:36 AM CDT up reply actions
I think they were trying to establish
some rhythm with the less proven receivers…even though we were working the getting the TE position involved it was mostly Herman in the first half…then Reisner got a few looks late in the game. At least we know that Herman can catch the ball and he actually looked pretty good. The Polish Hat seems to have his work cut out for him to see any significant playing time.
Herman was definitely the most pleasant surprise on offense.
He looked good catching the ball and running with it afterwards. Which shouldn’t really be a surprise, I guess, considering our consistent ability to produce good tight ends… but it’s still nice to see.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Herman looked great...
does this make him a possibility to unseat Reisner?
I feel similarly about Castillo v. Hyde.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 5, 2010 5:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Don't be that guy
One game, against inferior competition, does not a career make. Herman looked good out there and it was nice to see him make a significant contribution. At the least, it means that the Polish Hat won’t have to be rushed into the lineup if he’s not ready (blocking). But there is a reason why Reisner has the #1 spot, he’s earned it and has a much larger body of work to draw from. And, while Castillo looked good today, it is only one game. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves reworking the depth chart while swooning over the flavor of the day.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Did you see my question mark?
Also, I’m pretty sure I have a lot of influence on the depth chart by posting a comment on a freakin’ internet blog.
Also, I don’t have the stats, but it seemed like Herman got more playing time today. And if you don’t think Hyde looked out of position on multiple plays, then you just weren’t watching. I even saw an Iowa D-lineman shove Hyde in a “get your s*** together” way (I think it was Clayborn).
But, I forgot that it’s football season, and you can’t even discuss things politely around here anymore.
Sorry, NorseHawk and HoyaGoon, I forgot that you guys were Reisner’s/Hyde’s immediate relatives.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 5, 2010 6:59 PM CDT up reply actions
Don't be so butt hurt
No one said that you, or me or anyone around here, had any influence on the depth chart. If your only response is to offer up non-sequiturs, then hopes for a polite discussion ain’t going to happen. I’m not in anyone’s corner, and I’m all for whoever gives us the best chance to get the W being on the field; I’m just also willing to look at a larger body of work than one game versus outmatched competition.
As far as observations go, I’ve watched the game three times now. Hyde got burnt deep on that play-action after the fake punt. And he may well have gotten a wake-up slap from a D-lineman. I also saw him break up a lot more passes than Castillo. In fact, the number of completions on Castillo’s side of the field were probably double that of Hyde’s. That said, Castillo did a very good job tackling, and a lot of the passes were the short, out routes that our D will always give up. All in all, our corner play was not where it was last year, but neither corner looked particularly bad.
And you can discuss things around here, I was merely pointing out that you might be premature in thinking things need a shake-up.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Chill the fuck out.
They pointed out that one game against Eastern fucking Illinois is not grounds to overhaul the depth chart. And they’re right. Did Herman and Castillo look good yesterday? Yes. Did Hyde struggle a little? Yes. But it’s one game against a lousy opponent and a game in which we weren’t showing much, especially on offense. It’s worth waiting and seeing how things play out over the next few games before we go jumping to conclusions.
Sorry, NorseHawk and HoyaGoon, I forgot that you guys were Reisner’s/Hyde’s immediate relatives.
This is so fucking played out.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
I've looked up some info...
and I was actually wrong about one thing. Reisner actually had 4 catches to Herman’s 3. But, Herman got his 3 in the first half, and Reisner had a couple of his in the second half. I wasn’t quick enough to notice which guy actually “started” the game, I’m just assuming it was Reisner.
To me, Herman looked more dynamic yesterday. He had 19 ypc to Reisner’s almost 10. Sure, not enough to shake up the lineup, but if the trend continued, it is something you’d have to consider.
As for Hyde, the guy gave up 2 or 3 passes on that EIU TD drive, including the TD. I looked up last year’s OVC all-conference teams, and the EIU receivers were not on it. I thought Castillo looked better, but maybe it was because of what EIU was trying to do offensively. Hyde played in all games last year, Castillo only played in 4 (but started one). One game ain’t enough to make a decision, but if Hyde gets exploited by ISU and/or Arizona, I’ll be looking for Castillo.
The main reason I was so pissed at the responses was because I was asking a question. I wasn’t really agitating. And yet, what I got was a “don’t be that guy” and a “you probably thought Shonn Greene should have sat the bench” crap. If people can respond with intelligence, then I don’t have to bring the “butt hurt, played out” jokes.
Go Hawks.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 5, 2010 10:41 PM CDT up reply actions
Hyde was legitimately beat on the long throw.
I still think he was expecting safety help on the TD throw. The defense gave up one TD and everyone’s jumping up Hyde’s ass about it. Castillo and Lowe were made to look like fools when given the opportunity last season. Hyde has shown the coaching staff that he’s the clear CB2 on this defense.
As for Herman/Reisner, I’d wager that most people will assume Herman had a much better game because of his 30+ yard catch in the first quarter. I don’t think either really separated himself from the other.
As fans, it’s easy to get excited about a couple plays and attempt to extrapolate season long results. There’s no reason to make assumptions in either direction based on Saturday’s performance. Take it for what it was. We’ll learn significantly more about the Hawkeyes in the next two weeks than we could have ever dreamed of learning on opening day.
by The Mexican't on Sep 5, 2010 10:53 PM CDT up reply actions
This is the response I probably would have enjoyed above.
I’m not angry at Hyde for one play. But it seemed like it happened about 3 out of 5 plays in that drive, including the TD (which was about 25 feet from my face).
And I’ll admit, I was probably “distracted” more by the danceline (be bold, wear gold indeed) in the second half, but I never really noticed Castillo having big problems.
In hindsight, your comment about Herman seeming better than he was, is true. When I looked at the stats, Reisner actually had one more catch. But the fact that neither one separated from the other tells me that Herman may have caught up to Reisner. On the other hand, Reisner could be a much better blocker.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 5, 2010 11:30 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't want to get in an argument with you Chazz
Because we simply have a difference of opinion. But your argument would be strengthened if you were relying on facts rather than your recollection, because your impression in this case is flawed. Quite simply, there weren’t “3 out of 5” plays in that drive for Hyde to have made such errors that you are holding against him, there were two. Total. Here, from ESPN is the play-by-play for that drive
Jimmy Potempa rush for 5 yards to the EIU 19
2nd and 5 at EIU 19 Brandon Large pass incomplete.
3rd and 5 at EIU 19 Brandon Large rush for 1 yard to the EIU 20.
4th and 4 at EIU 20 Cody Bruns rush for 36 yards to the Iowa 44 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at IOWA 44 Brandon Large pass complete to Chris Wright for 37 yards to the Iowa 7 for a 1ST down.
1st and Goal at IOWA 7 Jimmy Potempa rush for a loss of 4 yards to the Iowa 11.
2nd and Goal at IOWA 11 Brandon Large pass complete to Von Wise for 11 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. 7 21
Kevin Cook extra point GOOD.
Prior to the fake punt, EIU only attempted one pass, that was broken up by Hyde (i.e. good defensive play). Following the fake punt, Hyde was indeed burnt on the deep play-action move (as I noted above the Hyde bit on the hitch the EIU ran on a hitch-and-go). The next play was a running play that Greenwood blew up. Again, as I noted above, Greenwood came up from that tackle looking as if he got something in his eye (some of the pellets from the turf or something) and had watering eyes. The next play was the TD that (1) was a coverage breakdown because of how long the QB had and (2) was Hyde’s fault though it looks like he was supposed to have help from Greenwood who was also out of position. That is 2, I repeat 2 bad plays by Hyde. Not 3-5 or a repeated occurrence. Plenty of room to improve, but hardly the type of horrible play that warrants immediate demotion, especially in my view Castillo was not as effective in breaking up passes throughout the game.
As for Herman, maybe you’re right. Or maybe he was just targeted more often this game. After all, ARob had 3 catches for 43 yards, by your logic that must mean he is 3 times the receiving option that DJK is because DJK only had 1 catch.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
I will say you are correct...
until I catch the replay tomorrow afternoon.
As for your last paragraph, that is not at all what I said. What I am saying is that Herman appeared way more dynamic, and got his catches earlier. Might mean something, might mean nothing.
Finally, I’m going to get a bit smart-alecky with this last comment. Do you think it is a tolerable thing for a CB to get “burnt” on a 30-yd pass, and then 2 plays later, not be able to cover a pretty obvious corner route and give up a TD to an FCS receiver who is not all-conference? It may not be cause for demoting Hyde yet, but he must improve (maybe a lot) if we are to avoid similar scenarios in Kinnick later this year.
Another thing I noticed at one point, and I can’t remember if it was that drive, but it was definitely with EIU heading into the South end zone (where I sit). An Iowa LB (can’t remember who, maybe Nielsen or Tarp) came out and switched with Hyde on coverage before the snap. You almost never see an LB come out to the edge of the formation and tell the CB to move inside. Of course, then EIU motioned one of those two receivers to the other side. Instant tactical advantage for team Spoo.
Again, I don’t get angry with Hyde for giving up a TD, or getting beat on play action. But doing both within 3 to 5 plays was pretty bad, and I had a great view of it. And I was probably a bit more ticked about it because we had also just given up the huge run on the fake punt.
As a Hawkeye fan, I have adapted and will have to stay accustomed to needing to rely on young corners fairly often. It has happened more often than not in the Ferentz era. And I know Spievey left a year early. And I know there will always be Big Ten teams who just have better athletes at WR than we have at CB. But, it would be nice to not be reminded of all those items against EIU.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 12:35 AM CDT up reply actions
Spievey
Gave up a 70+ yard bomb on the first play from scrimmage against PSU because he, too, bit on a well-executed play-action fake. Clearly, it was a mistake not to replace him as a starter immediately following that game.
And giving up all of 92 yards passing is hardly an indication that we’re just going to be torched through the air all season long.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Well...
Do you think it is a tolerable thing for a CB to get "burnt" on a 30-yd pass, and then 2 plays later, not be able to cover a pretty obvious corner route and give up a TD to an FCS receiver who is not all-conference? It may not be cause for demoting Hyde yet, but he must improve (maybe a lot) if we are to avoid similar scenarios in Kinnick later this year.
Many (if not all) of our best corners could have been victimized by that touchdown because coverage tends to break down quarterbacks have as much time to throw as Large did on that play. You’ve consistently harped about Hyde on that play, but never once mentioned the fact that our defensive line shares a good deal of culpability on that play for not pressuring Large. That play was a breakdown on multiple levels: bad pressure from the line, bad coverage from Hyde, and bad communication between Hyde and Greenwood. Maybe your view wasn’t so “great” after all.
And you’re harping on two bad plays, despite the fact that (a) he had other good plays, too (as mentioned by others) and (b) he’s a sophomore corner making his first start. Mistakes will happen. Frankly, I’d rather see them happen now than against Wisconsin or Michigan State or Ohio State two months from now.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Look...
The main reason I was so pissed at the responses was because I was asking a question. I wasn’t really agitating. And yet, what I got was a "don’t be that guy" and a "you probably thought Shonn Greene should have sat the bench" crap. If people can respond with intelligence, then I don’t have to bring the "butt hurt, played out" jokes.
And I’d really appreciate it if you quit making fucking stupid jokes and wisecracks (particularly the gay jokes), but we don’t always get what we want.
Look: if you wanted to have a more substantive debate about the merits of Reisner v. Herman or Castillo v. Hyde, it might have been more helpful to develop your argument more in the initial post. For the record, this is what you said:
Herman looked great…
does this make him a possibility to unseat Reisner?
I feel similarly about Castillo v. Hyde.
That’s not much to go off and it’s pretty easy to see why people would think you were making a knee-jerk reaction based on one game.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Honestly, I think I've done a pretty good job...
at curtailing my “gay jokes” compared to many other commentors around here. I understand that there are people of all different persuasions around here, and I don’t throw out many (or any) slurs here.
I’d think the word “possibility” and the question mark should make my intent pretty clear, regarding the football players.
And if you are wanting no stupid jokes or wisecracks, then say goodbye to about 2/3 of your readers.
Thanks for the anger, though.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Whatever, Chazz.
I’d think the word "possibility" and the question mark should make my intent pretty clear, regarding the football players.
So you won’t even acknowledge at all that it was pretty easy for people to misread your initial post? We should all have just instinctively understood what you meant based on two lines and a question mark?
at curtailing my "gay jokes" compared to many other commentors around here. I understand that there are people of all different persuasions around here, and I don’t throw out many (or any) slurs here.
You’ve gotten better. You still got called on it some of the open threads this weekend.
And if you are wanting no stupid jokes or wisecracks, then say goodbye to about 2/3 of your readers.
I’m not going to debate humor with you.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
So acknowledged.
But, I was asking a question, not stating “anyone who doesn’t play at All-Big-Ten level should be thrown on the scout team in perpetuity.”
As for the other two items, you have a right to your opinion. I’ll admit I make lots of dumb jokes, but I think I do a pretty decent job of not denigrating people who are homosexual.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 3:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Watching the replay on BTN now.
I’ll give a third or a half of the blame on the TD to Greenwood.
And yes, two slightly bad plays on that drive for Hyde, but also one pass breakup. The thing where I saw one of the LBs telling Hyde who to cover must have come on a later series.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 4:01 PM CDT up reply actions
At the least, it means that the Polish Hat won’t have to be rushed into the lineup if he’s not ready (blocking).
Unfortunately, they have already burned the hats redshirt so it would be nice to see him get some serious reps in games like this.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
I would bet...
that being able to play in year 1 might have been a big reason why CJ came to Iowa.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions
I think the Zooker treating tight ends like they do in the Big East
(i.e. huh?) didn’t hurt
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Sep 6, 2010 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions
He mostly played on special teams yesterday
But got into the game on offense in the 4th quarter. Had a really nice block on the edge for a Robinson run – that went nowhere because one of the linemen missed his assignment – that completely took his (CJ’s) man out of the play. It was just EIU and only one play so caveats abound, but he looked better doing it than I thought.
I know the Polish Hat was going to play this year, regardless, so a redshirt was out. I just meant that Herman’s play and development meant that CJ wouldn’t be asked to do too much this season as he gets practice/comfortable with blocking.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
As the season progresses...
I would expect to see more and more of the Polish Hat…probably mostly in specialized situations either as a decoy (pretty hard for a defense to ignore a 9’10 753 lb gorilla with soft hands lining up as an eligible receiver) or as a serious red zone threat. I would expect our run of the mill 2 TE sets to feature Reisner and Herman.
Other than a single pass in the 3rd quarter
Where Captain America overthrew McNutt a little bit, I don’t remember a single deep pass Iowa attempted. Everything was underneath/short out routes to Sandeman. We barely seemed to be throwing at the the wideouts at all, more often than not it was a check-down to Robinson. And after the first quarter, there wasn’t much need for Iowa to go deep or pour it on. Really think Iowa went turtle-shell after the first half (maybe even quarter), we seemed to decide to close the playbook and just run the same 5-6 plays so as to not give anything away.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
McNutt seemed to have given up on that route and appeared to be running at 80%
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
Couldn't tell
Might have been a combination of that and Ricky being a little off on his throw. A shame, too, because McNutt was WIDE OPEN. That would have been six for sure.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Agreed
We certainly left more than a few points off the board on Saturday. That is probably a good thing. In weeks to come, Stanzi and McNutt hook up on that pass, the Ferentz to Stanzi exchange becomes flawless and the rest of the OL becomes more consistent. Good news is that the flaws are not fatal or even serious.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
On the radio
they said that it appeared that Orne got a little anxious on his pull block and ran into Rick on that fumbled exchange.
Forgive me Father for I have sinned
Actually I’m just an idiot…it was de…de…def…definitely MacMillan and not Orne that I was referring to
And watching the game on BTN replay
It’s pretty obvious that Ferentz dove to his left before completing the exchange. The ball hit Ferentz’s right leg before it ever hit Stanzi’s hands.
I must say that....
the takeaway is my favorite of all the serial articles you guys do. I never really know what to think about a game until you put it in perspective for me. Probably a bad thing but hell, whatever.
About the offensive line...
They were definitely inconsistent, but I did think they did well in one area that’s been a source of trouble in recent years: short-yardage situations. On a few third-and-short (or fourth-and-short) and near the goalline, they seemed to do a good job in getting a solid push and enabling the runner to get the few yards needed. We’ve been stoned so often in those situations in recent years (hell, we needed the SuperWegher play to have any hope of getting a rushing TD in some of those same spots last year) that it was nice to see that not happening yesterday, even if it was just against EIU.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
I didn't get to pay complete attention while at work but,
I got the feeling that at least a few times we would have a second and short and get stuffed at the line or for a short loss and then would be able to break off the first down on the next play
by A True Americanzi on Sep 5, 2010 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions
It definitely wasn't perfect.
It just seemed better than it had recently.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
A couple of times
was because on 2nd and short we’d run a stretch play that, unfortunately, doesn’t play to Robinson strengths and it wouldn’t work just to come back on the next play and just go straight up the gut
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
I was also encouraged by the special teams play.
As noted by others, Paki made a hell of a play on the punt-block and we were close to blocking 2-3 other punts, too. Donahue’s lone punt of the game looked good and Mossbrucker looked good on extra points (which isn’t saying much unless you watched the jNW/Vandy game last night); we’ll have to wait and see how he does with field goals, I guess.
I was happy to see Meyer doing kickoffs and even happier to see him booming them into the end zone on a few occasions; it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve had a kicker that could do that without the aid of a 20mph tailwind. The kick coverage seemed pretty solid, too; it would be very nice for field position if we could consistently make teams start 10-15 yards farther back than we did last year.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Meyer was one of the more impressive players yesterday for me
It’s been awhile since we had a kicker who could consistently boom them deep like that. The kid’s got a hell of a leg, and I think he’ll be a real weapon for us. With the way we play, consistently getting a field position advantage like that is huge.
Like you said, it’s hard to take too much away from Mossbrucker’s performance, but at least he doesn’t seem to have the mechanical problems that Murray had last year. He was consistently getting the ball up, rather than shanking and bunch of awkward looking line drives that just barely cleared the cross bar.
I wonder if we'll see Meyer attempt longer field goals
Given Ferentz’s past record of not attempting long field goals and instead favoring to play the field position game we probably won’t be trying any…but I’m wondering if we’re on the 30 toward the end of a half if Meyer might be called upon simply because he’s our only option with enough leg to even get it there.
Depends on his accuracy
And something tells me that Ferentz doesn’t want to rush out and add another name to the placekicking controversy
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Tailgate Law Enforcement
So this may not be the time or place to bring this up, but was anyone adversely affected by the new tailgating rules yesterday? I personally was not, but I was in a private lot and was drinking (moderately) responsibly. Wasn’t doing any driving either.
I was reading some posts over at the rivals site and some reasonable people had some very legitimate gripes – the one that bothered me the most concerned a 60 year-old sober woman getting the first ticket of her life for walking across the street to pick up a ticket with a cup of beer in hand.
I will haunt your dreams and eat your children.
A friend of mine got an open container ticket
On Melrose around 730. I was careful on Melrose as every cop I saw was writing someone a ticket. On the news last night it said they wrote 147 tickets most of which being open container.
by Hank Thrasher on Sep 5, 2010 3:02 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Had one incident..
with the cops showing up on private property. We had music playing and he asked us if we had an “Amplified Music Permit” which, of course, we didn’t. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Thankfully the cop was a decent human being and said turn it down and if he had to come back then maybe it would be a citation. He also kicked us off the “public” side of the sidewalk with any open containers.
I had heard that cops were going to be giving mostly warnings and not trying to be dicks about all of this. 147 tickets makes me think they aren’t exactly giving people a chance to correct their actions after years or decades of doing the same thing. You can’t walk in and suddenly start strictly enforcing laws when you never cared before.
I agree, a law is a law (even stupid ones) but doing the right thing the first couple weeks – giving warnings – would be a nice gesture to those Iowa fans that bring millions of dollars of income to the U of I and to the area business to buy food, drinks, etc. for these parties. Ticket/arrest the idiots causing problems, not the people minding their own business drinking a beer having a good time.
Amplified music permit?
That’s pathetic.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Sep 7, 2010 6:05 PM CDT up reply actions
SoCal hawk Report
Barney’s Beanery in Santa Monica home base for SoCal Hawks Fans VERY crowded, bartender said the biggest crowd ever for Hawks. A lotta enthusiasm and EXPECTATION. Saw maybe one old geezer and wife my age but throng skewed decidedly young. A bunch of good looking women.
As far as game went, good news and bad news. Good news was they won handily, Stanzi was under control, Robinson a pleasant surprise. Bad news, I thought the Iowa corners played their one on one’s too soft, the defense kind of let up off the gas mid 2nd quarter , very disappointed that EIU scored a TD. Like the guy next to me said, “I could have lived with a 3, but that 7…” Also fumbled snap didn’t look good.
This would be an awesome victory if the opponent had been, say, Arizona but I wonder how much of the domination was due to Panthers sucking and not the Hawks awesome. We’re gonna find out against ISU I have a feeling but in the scheme of things, I like our chances.
P.S. What’s up with Paki-Bomb? Was it just garbage time or is he that agile?
For goodness sakes,
EIU had 31 net yards in the second half. That includes garbage time. The defense did okay even though Clayborn was invisible.
We were 4th and 2 at one point and went … EMPTY BACKFIELD, FIVE WIDE. That will make the rest of the year easier. Gameplan that, Mark Dantonio.
Herman could help Fran, based on his agility, I say.
The O-Line didn’t get blown up: a plus?
We didn’t play down to their level: a plus?
The first (scripted on Wednesday) drive was so good, you think we can’t gameplan?
The third quarter was so … meh … you thing we adjust on the fly so well on offense?
My take is that the big decisions next week are:
a. do we let Stanzi throw v. an eminent blitz, risking Apocalyptic Staninjury? (Staninjury: © me.)
do they dare throw over the middle, where Artaud looked Retaud against whoever they played? (No.)c. do they try to beat holy hell out of our corners? (Yes.)
Mr. Boh Knows ...
Micah Hyde better
get some sleep and eat his Wheaties this week because Iowa State is going to try to hammer him like a nail. But this is why God created Norm Parker. He saw the game just as we did and he and KF know that ISU is going to try to exploit a perceived weakness. They’ll make adjustments and coach the kid up. Having Prater back will help too.
Frankly, I don’t foresee Arenot having a whole hell of a lot of time to really exploit much of anything anyway. We will have a top flight DE return to the line-up and Daniels showed we can give guys a breather if anyone gets tired for any reason—so the ISU no huddle will not be such an issue over course of the game.
Which brings me to another point; the no huddle against Iowa is badly chosen …we do not do situational personnel moves. So all that bullshit offense is going to do is speed up the game for their QB which means those two INTs vs. NIU become 4 INTs against Iowa. I think Iowa is in great shape to really stomp on Iowa State. I think Rhodes might be entering the territory that Ferentz is vacating…unable to beat the cross-state rival. That offense is a BAAAAD match-up for our defense, regardless of personnel and our personnel is MUCH better.
Bottom line, this team doesn’t appear to handle prosperity very well. They act like fish out of water with large leads. When we are blowing a team out we look awkward doing it.
This team’s potential is still resting on the O-line, which is weeks away from being as good as last year. But it played better than I expected in this game and since everyone outside of the O-line is a year better, as good as last year will probably be good enough.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
Great points.
I wouldn’t mind seeing us go real conservative after we go up 21-0. Just run the ball until they stop it. And we did run for one more series. But, on the drive with about 5 minutes left in the half, we were all passes, until didn’t get a first down at the 40 yard line. And in the second half, there was still quite a bit of Ricki and the receivers, or maybe even throwing to A-Rob. I would’ve expected more RB rotation at that point.
While I am confident against ISU this year (they gave 3 TOs to NIU, and gave up more rushing yards than they got), I’m not sure we can talk too long-term. We’ll see how much Rhoads can develop his talent and recruit new talent. Plus, 2012 is at Trice, so who knows how Iowa will play there or how the field conditions will be.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 5, 2010 11:19 PM CDT up reply actions
Rhoads was able to watch
the master at getting ISU ready to play Iowa, McCarney, at work. They’ll come out strong, but they just don’t have the personnel. That’s what Rhoads inherited—they’ll get better, we won’t always have such a talent advantage and this will probably remain a tricky game.
Ferentz was messing with us last year at this time, 5 wide set and all that. I’m sure we’ll pass, but I think a lot of yesterday was passing to limit the number of overall carries for Robinson-didn’t want to overwork him. I assume we will see alternating series with Robinson and Hamption and a much closer to even pass-run ratio. We will see longer passing return, too, I suspect.
I suspect there will be a lot of coaching this week, of the corners and linebackers. Hyde’s burn job was just one play, assuming the other was someone else’s blown responsibility, but the guys I really missed yesterday were Angerer and Edds. The new starters were okay, but definitely not that to which we have become accustomed. I just keep thinking how big a year this can be for the other side of the D-line, with everybody focusing on Clayborn. He impacts the game with or without personal stats.
We’ll win, but the bigger thing I think to watch is how much we grow with next week’s game.
In Norm we trust.
Definitely miss Angerer and Edds
Though Nielsen had a play or two where he really reminded me of Edds. But the sample size is far too small to draw any real conclusions from. Additionally, Tarpinian didn’t play at all yesterday, despite being listed as a starter, and Bruce Davis played in his place. According to Mas Casa, this was a decision by the coaching staff so as to not risk aggravating Tarp’s broken hand so that he’ll be good to go next weekend.
In the end, it’s hard to draw any significant conclusions from the EIU game. The defense, for the most part, dominated an overmatched opponent to the tune of 157 total yards. Or, for fun’s sake, 2 more than the “unstoppable” triple option of GT put up on us.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
I hate Iowa State's offense
I think it is the worst sort of offense for a team like Iowa State (which is to say like us). That kind of offense needs super skill players and a QB who can compute and calculate in fast motion then throw acccurate passes, over and over again while he is kind of winded. The idea behind it, I guess, is to make the defense reactive. But defenses are built to be reactive. I guess it is also built to make defenses tired and I guess that could happen. But if Rhodes is going to build a program around an offense that does not really reflect his recruiting advantage, then I expect many years of Iowa advantage.
I mean last year Iowa State had the worst scoring offense in their league…20.5 points a game which was an 8 point drop off from the prior year. That was with an offense designed to increase the number of offensivve plays and thus increase their scoring average. Arenot was a worse QB in that offense by far, his completion percentage dropped 3 points and his total yards went down by nearly 800 yards!! even though he was a year more mature.
What is more baffling is they averaged UNDER 200 ypg passing last year in a passing league with what appeares to be an offense built around passing (hell, Iowa averaged 222 ypg to Iowa State’s 185 ypg). In reality, Iowa State is really a rushing team I guess. They averaged approx. 180 ypg last year which is considerably more than Iowa was able to amass per game (112 ypg) and put them in the top half of their conference. Or, that was a happy accident. I honestly do not know.
The hurry up is a gimmick that might be useful against certain teams. I am sure it will not affect Iowa. If we can shut down the run then the game is going to speed up coniderably for Arenot and I could see another day like he had last year.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
one correction
I did not notice before above post that Arenot missed two games last year (Nebraska & Texas AM) and this would account for some of his nearly 800 yards of dropoff in total yardage. Although, in the two games he missed ISU had 250 yards passing total.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
I thought Artaud was a different QB
against NIU than what we saw last year. He was totally in rhythm and very accurate on all the dink and dunk stuff.
Mr. Boh Knows ...
Did the few poorly thrown balls remind you what happens when he goes downfield?
If he throws like that this week, Greenwood and Sash will be betting hamburgers over who gets the 5th int again this year.
by PackerHawk on Sep 6, 2010 12:20 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
He looked nearly hapless on some of the intermediate-depth,
middle of the field passes, imo, just like last year.
But remember, Iowa can struggles with patient teams, and that they were for the most part.
Mr. Boh Knows ...
Rhoads also has my least liked ex-Iowa coach - Bob Elliott
I think he has a serious hate hard-on for Ferentz and company. With a son like this, I don’t ever see them ever dedicating a Bump Elliott Alley behind Kinnick.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
Evidence?
Bobby Elliott lost an awful lot when he was too ill to be Fry’s successor. He is very loyal to the university and Iowa City. What could possibly cause you to say that? Do you have first hand experiences with either Bump or Bob?
Mr. Boh Knows ...
I’d be interested too. Given all the family’s done for UI, I’d be surprised if he harbors a grudge. Maybe I’m missing some of the backstory?
Here is his ISU profile:
http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=204969204
His initial coaching tour of duty in Iowa City ended in 1995. After a year in charge of the Iowa Alumni Association, Elliott worked three seasons under Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
Then he was jolted out of the blue. Doctors told Elliott that he had a rare blood disorder that could only be cured with a bone marrow transplant. The operation in April 1999 was a success, but a struggle for survival followed. Elliott had taken a job as an assistant to Iowa Athletics Director Bob Bowlsby. He was not optimistic about getting back into coaching. But fate intervened in the person of Cyclone head coach Dan McCarney.
I don’t really think he hates Ferentz, but he is probably more close to McCarney. And at this point, he may be more of an ISU guy, if that makes any sense.
I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.
-- Judge Smails
by WaterlooChazz on Sep 6, 2010 3:56 PM CDT up reply actions
there has been much discussed of Elliott's negative recruiting
vs Iowa while a Kansas State and at Iowa State. He apparently has burned many bridges and is not well liked/respected by Iowa coaches and staff. It was a common subject a number of years ago on the old Herky e-mail discussion group. I don’t know if any of those old timers post on this forum. However Bump is was/is a a good guy and solid Hawkeye supporter.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
Yup (to Bump being a good one)...
…just talked to him after the dedication of Evy Dr. on Friday (kickoff of Fryfest) and thanked him for years of service.
I know it wasn’t always smooth with Bump (har har), but the guy coached with Evy in 57 and brought us Hayden AND Lute/Dr. Tom, which I told him pretty much makes up for him being one of the “Mad Magicians” and helping Michigan go undefeated (he chuckled about that).
Good guy, and the family that was with him seemed very proud of their Big Ten history.
by Eyeheartfreedumb on Sep 7, 2010 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions
ISU's passing rhythm is so quick
that I don’t think we will achieve pressure unless they go to the intermediate or vertical routes. I just don’t think he holds the ball long enough, and if they are willing to stay underneath, we will give it to them.
Mr. Boh Knows ...
Then they better not play action much...
I thought we got pressure on the EIU kid and he was in shotgun backpedalling like a maniac most of the game. As for dink and dunk, I think that is what we saw a lot of last year so no surprises there. I think ISU’s only chance is to be very spot on in the passing game and pop some runs…their receivers are not the kind that strike fear in the heart. The problem with this offense is that it requires too much QB perfection. There is good reason why they struggled to score points last year. In the middle of the NIU game they went fumble, fumble, interception, punt and NIU did nothing with that. Defensively, I think ISU will give up 200 yards to us on the ground. That is a recipe for disaster for them. If they go 8 in the box I can see Stanzi going ape shit. This is just a bad match-up for them all the way around. Arenot has to win this game and I just don’t think he is that kind of QB. That defense is not going to stop us. They gave up 34 points or more six times last year. The teams that struggled to score against them were Minnesota who we shut out, Army who was awful, Baylor who played a 3rd string QB, Colorado whose coach was imploding and Nebraska…which was the outlier.
Maybe Arenot finds lightning in a bottle. It has been done before. I gotta see it though.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
Nebraska had multiple redzone turnovers in that game.
Or they would have had a lot more points in that game (and a win). So, as you said, a definite outlier for them.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
A Heartbeat above a Scrimmage
is really what happened at kinnick on Saturday. An extension of practice that allowed KF, NP and the rest of the Hawkeye braintrust to test the troops with more than a multiple choice exam. A solid “B” effort with a game plan that didn’t allow for any extra credit. Next week at this time we will have the opportunity to really know what we are in for. Reisner, DJK, McNutt, Hampton and ARob again…….will be given the pigskin allowing us to witness just what we thought we would see from these Hawks. Excellent!
Hate Northwestern, Hate OSU, Michigan State, Michigan too...you get the picture.
can we finally turn the page on wegher?
pretty sure arob can run the tough yards now(dudes legs dont stop)…and hampton is gonna turn some heads w his vision and quickness in zone blocking schemes next week, so bye bye wegher, wish u the best…
by HeavenBetterHaveBeer on Sep 6, 2010 2:21 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Depends if we have a back, other than Morse, who can catch passes.
I don’t know if we do. Robinson killed one drive with a drop on 4th&2, when we went 5 wide, iirc. That was a tailor-made play for Wegher.
Mr. Boh Knows ...
Jewell has good hands and Adam does too. Sometimes players just drop the ball.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
Well, Jewel's hands are still a slight question mark...
since, as I recall, he’s never caught a pass at Iowa. I think he probably can (in fact, he probably did in that BTN practice special a few weeks ago), but we haven’t seen him do it in a game yet. A-Rob did have three grabs in Saturday’s game, so I think he generally has pretty reliable hands. He did have that one costly drop that Bellanca noted.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Robinson is an okay receiver
and Jewel is completely unproven there.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
Blame goes two ways on that one
Ricky threw it a little high and away from Robinson on that play as well
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
OT
Both King and Kroul made final NFL rosters — and not on the practice squads. Bruggeman, ditto. Chandler cut. Mattis a practice squad guard again.
Mr. Boh Knows ...
I was underimpressed with Sandeman's punt catching skills.
I suspect they coach caution but we give up so many yards watching punts roll to a stop. I sometimes thing we would be better off with somebody with zero return skill but who would step up and down a punt at the point it hits the ground.
the trailer hitch scrotum was my idea
And yet he might still be far better than the guys we experimented with last year when he was hurt.
They let the ball roll even more, as I recall.
But, I agree, I would like to see him be a little more aggressive on punt returns to pick up a few more yards. A little surprised we didn’t see Chaney on any punt returns.
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
I think EIU was punting away from Sandeman
he is going to be good. He has instinct, the other guys are just guys who can catch and run.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
They also seemed to be trying some line drive/rugby style
Or maybe he was just a really bad punter. After the Spievey and Brodell NOOOO!!s the last two years, I say let the dangerous punts roll. Especially when they’re coming in low and the coverage team would get to the ball the same time as the return man.
/drunken stadium recollection w/o subsequent film study to validate field observations
by PackerHawk on Sep 6, 2010 12:25 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm sure there is a stat out there about
punt fumbles vs. big punt returns and KF knows it. He is a guy who plays for the mistake so it drives him nuts when we make a boneheaded one.
"I wish you luck with a capital 'F'" - The Real Elvis.
A couple of his punts
looked really good statistically but were awful punts with a good roll. I think the real problem for Sandeman is that most of the punts came off as low, careening, knuckle-ball type punts that are a havoc to try and return. The only booming punt, the first, went over Sandeman’s head but he was able to field it on the hop and got a decent return out of it.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Meyer
Really was the revelation of the game. If he kicks off like that consistently and Donahue punts as he has punted, then I’m gonna be pretty optimistic about winning field position battles.
And then AC can eat in the end zone.
"I will go to Germany and then play in a couple of AAU Tournaments like Peach Jam and Boo Williams." - Junior Lomomba
by Ornery Woody on Sep 6, 2010 6:45 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Yes
I would like more of the death spiral that was EIU’s first possession:
Touchback, chop-block, false start, please don’t let Clayborn eat our qb, other plays that didn’t work but at least weren’t penalties, punt.
Clayborn
It seemed to me that Clayborn spent more than a few plays getting run ten yards past the LOS trying to speed rush off the edge. A couple of those led to wide open gaps for the QB to dash through all the way to the secondary. I hope the coaches curtail that a bit; there’s a difference between pinning your ears back and completely surrendering containment.
Brunettes not fighter jets
The O Line
I actually thought they did a fair job this week. It was a much better performance in the opener than they had last year against UNI. They opened some holes and kept Stanzi upright. yes, they could have dominated more but they were also going against 8 and 9 man fronts all day.
Coaching Points
Overall the game was almost everything we could expect. The areas of concern like O-line, linebackers and corners all played well for most of the game but had enough mistakes that the coaching staff can focus on those to improve going into next week. EIU had a decent game plan and on several occasions could have played better, they simply couldn’t take Robinson down on first contact and got chased down/strung out on several offensive plays. Exactly what you would think Iowa could do to a team like EIU.
ISU is an upgrade in competition and will give us another test to see if we can improve on what we did against EIU.
"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."
―Obi-Wan Kenobi
by The Bacon Explosion on Sep 7, 2010 8:23 AM CDT reply actions
Re: Vandenberg
James Vandenberg was fine in relief, but seeing Stanzi come back and go 5-7 on the very next drive was an enormous relief…
I had a different take. I thought Vandenberg was surprisingly crisp given the fact that two minutes earlier he wasn’t really sure where he left his helmet. He was 3 of 3 for 27 yards. Robinson did a lot of work on that drive, but I thought Vandenberg was a little better than “fine” in relief.
Ricky is still the unquestioned leader of this team and the offense is better when he’s in there. I just think that the drop off between the starter and backup is smaller at QB than it is at some other positions.
by Abbas_Cincinnatus on Sep 7, 2010 8:34 AM CDT reply actions
I would agree.
I think Vandenberg played well in relief and the time he spent in the three games last year have obviously settled his nerves when showing up on the spot like that.
I must say this as well – I was truly inspired by the applause and roar the crowd gave when Vandenberg took the field. Looking back now, that was one of the high points of the game for me as a Hawkeye Fan.
doesn daniel murray have a redshirt available?
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
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