Instead of working up a preview piece, thought I would just open it up to questions for a period, if there are any. I will share my thoughts about the team and the match-up. So, let me hear from you because I have some hot air to expel.
UNI Q&A -- Jay Jordan
- Thread starter JJIII
- Start date
Is a game like this going to be a good way to highlight possible deficiencies we have, or will they be masked by the talent difference on the field altogher? Ex., CB position turnover replacement for us, and/or just our OL in general. If we excel in those areas this game, is it unsafe to assume that we will continue to excel there for the remainder of the season?
Do you think our defensive line or defensive backfield was more responsible for controlling the pass last year?
1st game of the year, vs a tough, motivated in-state opponent. Will you be concerned for the rest of the season if the game is close throughout?
Re-al Mitchell seems like he has enough speed to do something on the field. In what ways can the offense make use of him that are not completely odd gimmicks or completely replacing Purdy.
UNI's offensive line seems to have huge linemen (320, 320, 340, 325, 320). Do you think their line, lines up against our defense?
We open with 3 down, and I suspect we will see some 4 down on 3rd and short and perhaps on obvious passing downs. I think the four down look will be primarily to get Jamahl Johnson in on more plays and perhaps to get some pass rushers on the field.
The 4 down will be seen more often this year, but will relate to the opponents formations and primary run plays. But, I could see them being in 4 down as much as 25% of the time.
Would you be more surprised with our offense getting off to a fast start, or not being able to establish a rhythm until the 3rd quarter?
It is unsafe to read much out of this game except in the case of a decisive victory (28+ points) or a close win (10 or fewer points). Most improvement occurs between week 1 and week 3 and you have to view those collectively to make a season long projection, but in the past we have seen a much more deficient team in the first 3 weeks than what is seen in the balance of the season. Largely due to injuries and poor performance dictating personnel changes.
However, this year, even with the youth and needed talent emergence, the ISU team is far more stable than in the past three years. An expected performance based on talent disparity can be relied upon in the early games more than in years past.
Fun question. UNI had a solid front 7 and a very weak tackling secondary last year. That was due to youth in some regard, but I believe the same manifests with this years team.
The question then becomes, how does ISU get to the secondary? The common thought would be to throw the ball to the outside and down the field, but the mismatch is not in coverage as much as it is in tackling. Therefore, the way to attack it is to test the offensive lines growth by running the ball at the front 7 and particularly to the edge in order to challenge the secondary to tackle the runners on consistent basis.
It is my opinion that against a weak tackling secondary, even if improved, the best matchups are found with the TE's of Iowa State. Since I believe the TE's will be a vertical stretch element and a consistent presence in the passing game this season, that is where I believe you will see Iowa State distance itself from UNI. Allen and Kolar with some Soehner misdirection routes will be more prominent and will yield excellent results based on the matchup.
I think it is too predictable to put him in for gimmicks or in a particular package. I think Real sits unless the game gets out of hand or there is an injury. It is possible that there are specific option based packages in which he could be used effectively, but Purdy is mobile enough to run those as well. You would use Mitchell to save the hits on Purdy.
If he is used on a regular basis, I believe it will be in speed option and speed option pass schemes where the staff feels that the speed of the qb and rb are superior to that of the linebackers that will need to flow and fill in order to stop it cold.
Can/should we disguise/mix our defensive alignments in an attempt to confuse their true freshman quarterback?
Size Matters, but not as much as how you use it.
Depends on their feet, but Iowa State brings a mix of size, speed and strength on the defensive line that I believe causes problems for Power 5 offensive lines, let alone UNI's line.
More importantly, UNI brings disciplined blockers who are well schooled at their assignments and techniques and are the primary reason that they are problematic to play against. They generate creases that allow the run game to sustain drives. It will be imperative that Iowa State's defensive line be what the pre-season hype has dubbed it to be -- which is dominant.
I think they are and suspect there will be less room to run than what has been seen in years past.
