How did Baylor football do what ISU couldn't?
- Thread starter Clonedogg
- Start date
I think we can all agree that Baylor did the little things better than us all year - basically they were the ones “winning in the margins”.
We made so many mistakes with games on the line - false starts, turnovers, not converting on key 3rd downs, stalling in the red zone, not getting stops on 3rd and long (I firmly believe giving up that 3rd and 23 lost us the Iowa game), we continued to make this mistakes all year. And it was the difference betweeen a 10 win season and our 7-6 season. Not to mention our special teams was as bad as I ever remember it being.
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I wouldn’t say “lucky bounces”, I’d say a few less controllable mistakes. The repeated mistakes we made weren’t us being unlucky.
But the silver lining is that they are all correctable moving forward.
But we were one lucky bounce away from losing to UNI too, which NEVER should be the case.
So that brings up another interesting thought.... why are we always in such close games every week where just one of our boneheaded plays or mistakes cost us a game?
Is there anything to the idea that we play too many close games? I felt like we allowed UNI and Iowa both to stay in the game against us, and it nearly cost us both games in the end by not putting them away.
The difference is Matt Rhule is an elite football coach. Probably going to the NFL. Probably the next bill belichick
I think the staff has to look long and hard, at why in year 4, they are plagued by these discipline things. The BU/ISU contrast is stark here.
Here is another thing that is is odd to me. Take a look at Heacock's resume. He has years of DC and head coaching experience. ISU's defense seemed to stumble a bit this year, but was still good, and was excellent in years 2-3. I think his experience shows. If things start out rough in a game, there are typically adjustments in the second half.
Now take a look at Manning's resume. He has no OC experience prior to ISU. ISU didn't have an offensive coordinator in year 3. The offensive coaching staff as a whole is rather inexperienced. I think this is directly the reason for problems with the red zone issues, the "interesting" calls on 3rd/4th and short, and the difficulty with making in-game adjustments. It's a coaching experience thing.
It is difficult to understand the rationale in having a well-seasoned coach for defense, but significantly less experience on offense, or the thinking that ISU can be successful on offense in the Big 12 without experience on the offensive coaching staff.
At the end of the day, the team with the most points wins the game, and the offense is the primary points scoring unit on the team.
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Because ISU isn't talented enough to blow many teams out.
Not a dominant defense and while the offense put up big numbers, there wasn't much of an option for explosive plays.
I think people are over-stating what Baylor actually accomplished this year. They lost to Oklahoma twice and lost to Georgia - the only elite teams they played. The Big 12 was down this year so they were able to win the rest of the games. But they escaped several very close games. Top to bottom, they had more talent than us. I will give them credit for mental toughness, discipline and execution. So sure Rhule is a good coach. I think it's waaay overstating things to say he's elite based on this year. I believe our offensive coaching was our downfall this year. I believe Campbell will make corrections.
I think Campbell doesn't mind being in close games, but this year I think our pass-first offense made it harder to complete drives. I hope we get back to running the ball more effectively next year
People laugh at this comment, but despite me constantly reminding my wife of their rape culture, she is slowly becoming a Baylor fan because of the Gaines. Its the only other Big 12 football stadium that she's seen.
Close games vs. someone you likely shouldn't be competing with are great, and chances are good for a win if your team is fundamentally sound. ISU wasn't and it made the difference on those few plays.
that seems very weird and stupid. Are chip and Joanna Baylor fans? I realize their empire is in Waco but do they talk about Baylor a lot.
They were better in the most important moments due to better talent at some key positions. ISU was close, but Baylor had a couple more players.
Defense:
Copied our scheme, with better players. The key there is the physicality/tackling and pass rush. Look at the size and number of defensive linemen on their roster. We had a good D-Line by ISU standards. But we did not generate a consistent pass rush. Pass rush is key, because it creates bad plays - not just sacks, but incomplete passes and turnovers (interceptions, fumbles). In addition, open field tackling was down this year. Last year we excelled at tackling in space, this year the 5 yd gains from last year became 7-9 yards and 10 yds grew to 20+ due to missed tackles. When you are playing to force 3rd downs you can't allow extra yds.
Offense
I think Baylor was more physical up front than we were... but could be just my perception. The key though was their play makers - Mims specifically. Our defensive philosophy has been to stop the big play and make offenses work their way down the field. Eventually they make a mistake, or miss on 3rd down and we force a punt (that is the hope at least). The problem is, our offense really did not have much big play capability (yes, I know Milton made a few plays, others also, but not consistently). So, we were forced to work our way slowly down the field (Butler was missed big time in my opinion). Eventually the offense stalled (more often than not) and we were forced to punt, kick FG, go for it on 4th down... hard to score TD's picking up 4 yds at a time. One penalty, sack, incomplete pass, and you are off schedule.
Net, they were not head and shoulders better than us... but they had a little more talent at key spots allowing them to make a few more plays a game... 3 more plays a game and we could be a 10 win team...
I think most of the ISU fan base would take a 11-3 record, losing to OU by 3 the first time, and in OT the second time in the conference championship game. Then losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Years day. Over a 7-6 record and finishing tied for 3rd in the conference with our only quality win over Texas.
Look at the conference stats, scoring on offense was basically the same Baylor scored 3 more points than ISU, but the on defensive side they gave up 177 points in conference while ISU gave up 240. A difference of 63 more points scored on ISU.
Matt Campbell is the man but I am tired of the learning how to win line. These kids weren't on 2-8 high school teams, most were very successful and know how to win. And even if they weren't that is the kind of thing a high performer just knows.
