What type of offense is coach Jimmy Rogers bringing or wanting to implement? How do the players once on our roster fit into those plans, especially QB? I recall seeing that CJR likes a mobile QB - is that correct?
Offensive Style - CJR
- Thread starter CycloneBob
- Start date
If you have ever watched North Dakota State football, that is the similar system we will be using with Tyler Roehl as OC.
Think of a system that is predicated on:
- Power running game is a central core competency
- I formation utilized on early downs
- Fullbacks, tight ends, and H backs more involved in short passing and creative blocking inside the box
- Less shotgun, and majoirty of plays from under center
- A balanced attack that uses play action to generate down the field pass gains
So think like a system that is similar to Iowa but puts up actual points.
My biggest fear so far with Jimmy is a return to the 4- man defensive front and introduction of whatever this new offensive system is going to be. The last time we saw a 4- man front in Ames, we regularly had bottom 3rd of the big 12 defenses. Those end of the Paul Rhoads era offenses were bad enough to make Brian Ferentz blush. I don't expect to revert back that badly on both sides of the football, but there's a still small voice inside me that says be prepared to on at least one side of the football. There is a reason Campbell didn't run 4- man fronts at Iowa State, and i hope Rogers doesn't have to find out the hard way why. Maybe it can work with him. Hopefully.
The 3-3-5 was brought to stop the air raid. We don’t have nearly that many teams that run the air raid offense compared to when they implemented it
The reason Heacock/Campbell changed to a 3-3-5 was because of the air raid and up tempo offenses in the Big 12. A few years after that change everyone started going back to an offense that put a big emphasis on running the ball. We didn’t switch from the 3 man front and at time we struggled to stop the run. I think switching back to a 4 man front is the right move going forward. The air raid offenses that the 3 man front was designed to stop just don’t exist any more.
His offense is going to "hit you coming off the bus.".
Fair point about stopping the air raid. But I legit thought it also stemmed from difficulty recruiting 4 legitimate starting level DL. Rogers must be more optimistic about that part
I think some of the injuries to the defense can be blamed that a finesse defense was asked to stop physical run offenses
I would argue it’s harder to find 3 to fit the skill set required to have any success in the 3-3-5. Must have a monster at nose guard…like Dom Orange. And then you have to find 2 elite rush ends that can win against double teams and really good left tackles. Very rarely did we have a 3 man front that could apply any pressure on the QB without bringing pressure. One you bring pressure the advantage of the 3-3-5 is nullified. I think the 4 man front will be easier to recruit to. Obviously requires more bodies at that position but I think Rogers and staff will be good talent evaluators. Imagine how dominate Dom would have been in a 4 man front. He would have been Suh type dominate.
We switched to the 3-3-5 because it let us put our best 11 players on the field. In other words, we got better as a defense by removing a mediocre DL and adding a very good safety. We still played the run well.
You wouldn't normally make a major scheme change mid-season unless there was some personnel issue. The Big 12 offenses had been in place long beforehand, so it's not like they didn't have an opportunity to do a more measured implementation in the offseason. The switch was in response to poor defensive play against Big 12 offenses, but the CAUSE was not enough talent on the DL to play 4.
You wouldn't normally make a major scheme change mid-season unless there was some personnel issue. The Big 12 offenses had been in place long beforehand, so it's not like they didn't have an opportunity to do a more measured implementation in the offseason. The switch was in response to poor defensive play against Big 12 offenses, but the CAUSE was not enough talent on the DL to play 4.
It wasn’t really the air raid. By that time a lot of teams were running run-heavy offenses out of the spread, which the 3-3-5 helps as well.
Even by 2017 it wasn’t really an air raid conference. OU and OSU threw for a ton of yards jut also had guys with well over 1000 yds rushing. It was a bit more pass oriented but balanced.
By 2021 it was a run heavy league. There were two passers over 3000 with Purdy leading with like 3100 yards. Meanwhile there were 7 1000 yard rushers in a 10 team league. Compare that to this year when there were three 1000 yard rushers in a 16 team league.
ISUs success with the 3-3-5 came mostly in an era of balanced offenses and more run-heavy offenses than the league has now.
The difference is more teams using bigger formations rather than running a ton out of smaller and more spread formations. It certainly is going to have challenges there, but you’re trading off that challenge for another. What the 3-3-5 allows a team to do is have the best chance to get a body in a gap and outside. Albeit smaller bodies.
Good DTs and elite edge guys cost a lot. While a stud NT in a 3 man front is really hard to find, at least you only need to find one. It also lets you find good guys that are tweeners between DTs and edge guys and play the DE in a 3 man front.
I don’t really care what D they run. Every one has pros and cons. Just run what their staff knows, likes and feels like they can recruit to.
Yep, ball carrier often had a pretty good head of steam by the time the defender met them. It was a good defense when compressed up against the end zone where space for the offense to operate was limited though.
The NDSU reference someone made is good, but think BYU this year from an offensive standpoint
Imo it turned into something different that opponents had to prep for which gave ISU an advantage for their lack of athleticism.
I don't really care what they run, as ISU still generally won with the 3 man etc but those clamoring for the 4th down lineman will probably get their wish.
Offensively I thought ISU was much more urgent the last two years and I hope that continues.
The 3-3-5 is actually really good at that. Heacock just didn’t blitz often. The last two years we were particularly bad at blitzing due to 1) DL unable to win 1-on-1 battles consistently and 2) injuries to those second level players who would be blitzing. It ended up just putting our corners and cover safeties on islands.
Agreed. It’s probably as good at bringing guys from different positions. Heacock just was really selective in bringing pressure.
They still do, just not in the volume they used to be around us. Baylor and Tech still play a lot of air raid style. TCU has teetered with it also. It's just more like 25% of the teams in the conference now instead of 50%+ of the old conference. At those levels, it's not something we have to have every single week anymore.
In all fairness to Iowa, they have been putting up points now that they finally have a running QB in their system.
