Concerns heading into Iowa Game

[d4nim4l]

Our keys to victory will be dominating line play on the offensive side to establish the run, taking care of the football, and adequate line play on the defensive side to keep big plays minimized and use our depth in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

I, too, have a concern with special teams but if there's one thing we have noticed in Rhoads' tenure it's that the special teams can snap back pretty quickly. Some of that had to do with Messingham being the coach but Rhoads and the entire staff spend time on special teams and I have no doubt that the strategies that did not work last week will be corrected. As someone pointed out, Arceo was fine when kicking with the wind, but against the wind the ball hung up there. We'll get there though.

Steele's unproven play on the road vs Vandenberg's apparent superiority at home does have me concerned, but this can be mitigated a lot by line play and setting Steele up early for easy, confidence building throws.

 

[RustShack]

Only thing I'm worried about is kick return coverage. Awful

 

[Cyclonin]

Completely disagree that he didn't have a chance to return one. There was one in the second half where Horne could've caught it in stride and had the entire right side of the field open for the taking. Instead he let the ball hit the ground and bounce away. That one frustrated me.

Touche. I would have to watch again, but I dont recall that one. I guess my point was, then on the other 8-9 punts they had, the punter hung it up there. So my point still stands minus the one you speak of. Still wouldn't say we had a lot of opportunity.

 

[tejasclone]

I'd like to see Shontrelle and James channel their inner Darren Davis and each go for 200+.

 

[clone99]

Play from off and def lines, we need to establish a run and contain theirs to have a good chance of winning. not sure after last week either will happen unless greatly improved on which is possible. Both lines looked better in the second half. but since only Iowa will be improving this week because that is all we here about from fans and media is how much improvement teams make from week one to week two, we are probably screwed. I would like to think ISU might make a lot of improvements from week 1 to week 2 also, but nobody mentions that.

 

[jahfg]

This all comes down to Steele Jantz. Is he the Steele of last year or does he crumble from the pressure a la Austen Arnaud? I think it helped last year that he came in without knowing the intensity of the rivalry and it was at home. This year he knows about the rivalry, knows what he did last year, and knows the game will be played in the most hostile environment of his career. I really hope our running game comes out strong so Steele doesn't feel like he has to flip the switch and carry us himself because that is pretty much what he did last season against the Hawkeyes. I'm confident we have the talent to beat Iowa in Kinninck, but do we have the composure?

 

[cygrads]

Other than being concerned about darn near everything I think the key is Jantz play at QB. If SJ plays well the offense should work - if he plays poorly we loose. I think the defense is good enough to keep ISU in the game but if the offense sputters and turns the ball over the defense won't be able to win the game by themselves.

 

[The_Architect]

1. Jantz keeping his cool

2. Pass rush pass rush pass rush. Iowa has no game-breakers on offense, in fact this is BY FAR the slowest offensive team at Iowa I can ever recall. As long as our defense is able to generate some pressure and not give up the big play over the top I don't believe their offense can drive the length of the field consistently.

 

[rholtgraves]

This all comes down to Steele Jantz. Is he the Steele of last year or does he crumble from the pressure a la Austen Arnaud? I think it helped last year that he came in without knowing the intensity of the rivalry and it was at home. This year he knows about the rivalry, knows what he did last year, and knows the game will be played in the most hostile environment of his career. I really hope our running game comes out strong so Steele doesn't feel like he has to flip the switch and carry us himself because that is pretty much what he did last season against the Hawkeyes. I'm confident we have the talent to beat Iowa in Kinninck, but do we have the composure?

I think they should come out and run the majority of the time at first and only give Jantz some easy passes to complete to get him settled in and avoid making mistakes. Turning it over early and letting Iowa get up like Tulsa did won't be as easy to overcome at a place like Kinnick. I say run the ball, keep it close and avoid the turnovers and it gives them the best chance of winning on the road in a hostile environment.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

Guys, by now you should know rholt is a fringe "fan".

The Tulsa game showed nothing either way about the Dline. We play 12 guys because we have a bunch of of average Big 12 Dlinemen, not because "none of them are any good".
As for playing in Kinnick, please. I am concerned because it is a road game, not because it is at Kinnick.

 

[rholtgraves]

Guys, by now you should know rholt is a fringe "fan".

The Tulsa game showed nothing either way about the Dline. We play 12 guys because we have a bunch of of average Big 12 Dlinemen, not because "none of them are any good".
As for playing in Kinnick, please. I am concerned because it is a road game, not because it is at Kinnick.

Kinnick is a very tough place to play. Ask Arnaud.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

I am concerned about the defensive line. The didnt show me anything in the Tulsa game. Who cares if they played 4 guys or 20 guys. They are playing that many guys because none of them are good enough to play a majority of downs. Teams can still run on ISU and the only sacks ISU got were when all they had to do was pin their ears back and go after the quarterback because they were up two scores with under two minutes left. Tulsa also passed the ball nearly 50 times and the only sacks that happened were on the last few plays.

Also concerned about Jantz playing in that kind of atmosphere. He hasn't played in that kind of hostile atmosphere before. Playing at Missouri, Baylor,or UCONN is not even close to playing at Kinnick.

Did we watch the same football game last Saturday? The D-line played quite well. How many times did Tulsa have 3rd and 1 and got stuffed? Until Tulsa's late 77 yard run they had racked up exactly 83 rushing yards on 33 carries. As a matter of fact... Tulsa has a higher caliber group of running backs then that of Iowa. You also must have missed #95 (Simon) caving in the center of the Tulsa O-line on multiple occassions. Tulsa couldn't convert on short yardage situations because the ISU D-line was getting penetration. The ISU D-line will be just fine.

 

[RustShack]

I would like to see Ronnie Nelson play more. I think he could help a lot with the pass rush problem, not too worried about Iowa killing us on the ground either.

 

[Tailg8er]

Other than being concerned about darn near everything I think the key is Jantz play at QB. If SJ plays well the offense should work - if he plays poorly we loose. I think the defense is good enough to keep ISU in the game but if the offense sputters and turns the ball over the defense won't be able to win the game by themselves.

I'd agree with this, but I'd put more emphasis on O-line play. If Steele gets adequate time, I am absolutely confident he can make the right decisions & good throws.

If he has to run for his life often, that might not be so great... Especially if Iowa keys on keeping him from escaping outside like we assume they will.

 

[VeloClone]

I would like to see Ronnie Nelson play more. I think he could help a lot with the pass rush problem, not too worried about Iowa killing us on the ground either.

My understanding is that Rony hasn't been playing much because of his weakness in run support. I wasn't that concerned about Tulsa beating ISU on the ground, either, but it was pretty clear what a team can do when an assignment is missed in run defense - 77 yards and nearly a TD.

The best player in a situation should play. If Rony at this stage can really only be relied upon on clear passing situations, that is when he should play.

 

[Bestaluckcy]

I am not worried about SJ. He will do fine. I think Iowa will play to their strengths Saturday. Like most years I expect them to grind out some long drives that end in field goals and Td's. Our defense needs to play as a team and shut them down on possession downs. The Iowa running game was better than I expected last weekend and as typical allowed them to control clock (38 minutes possession time), keep it close and win a tight game at the end. Vintage Iowa. We need to shut down their running attack and force JV to beat us with his arm (in my opinion). Last year when they got away from their run game the passing game cost them the victory because Wally's boys were up to the task.

 

[rholtgraves]

Did we watch the same football game last Saturday? The D-line played quite well. How many times did Tulsa have 3rd and 1 and got stuffed? Until Tulsa's late 77 yard run they had racked up exactly 83 rushing yards on 33 carries. As a matter of fact... Tulsa has a higher caliber group of running backs then that of Iowa. You also must have missed #95 (Simon) caving in the center of the Tulsa O-line on multiple occassions. Tulsa couldn't convert on short yardage situations because the ISU D-line was getting penetration. The ISU D-line will be just fine.

Does a 77 yard run count or does that just get thrown out at the end of the game? Look at the their two main running backs. Watts and Douglass. One had 10 carries for 125 yards even taking the 77 yarder away which I am not sure why you would do, he averaged over 5 yards a carry. Douglas avereaged over 5 yards a carry. Stopping one 3rd and 1 doesn't mean the Dline can stop the run on a consistent basis. They may have gotten a little better from last year but they are still not very good.

 

[CyFan61]

My key to the game is the pass rush that we can get from the front 4. If we are able to get pressure on Vandenberg without having to send 5+, I'm confident that we'll be able to handle their passing game. I think our rush D will be pretty tough, but their rush O is good as well. It makes it all the more important to shut down a passing attack and give our LBs an opportunity to go into run defense.

 

[ShopTalk]

On 2. 2., the left guard/tackle is supposed to let him free so that he can go up field and block...the right pulling lineman needs to get there faster to blow up the guy left untouched

I agree it was a bad play call on the goal line to pull a lineman.

My issue was apparently the OC thought our line could do so and not have the defender look like a track star. Basically, that sums up what I saw from the line - they were getting burned by what appeared to be faster and stronger Tulsa defenders. That's not good.

 

[ShopTalk]

I'm concerned about Jantz and nothing else. If he plays a clean game I think we win. Assuming others don't give away the ball to make up for it.

If Jantz gets decent O-line protection, he's going to light it up.