Quick Note On The OL

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isufbcurt

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Apr 21, 2006
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Offense definitely regressed towards the end of the season. We became extremely predictable due to our inability to run the football. I believe Iowa State ranked 9th the Big 12 in rushing (for conference games) last year. Running the football has to improve to make this offense more "multiple" (CMC quote). 2nd half last Saturday was not encouraging in that effort.

The reason we are ranked low in rushing offense is because we completely abandon it and think Purdy needs to throw 35+ times a game. Put the ball in Breece's hands more, then the offense and Purdy's play will be what we expect it to be.
 

Aclone

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Dec 14, 2007
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Is this speculation? I'm a tad skeptical but that rarely means anything...

CMC did something similar last year or the year before when not starting Newell I believe? He was tabbed a starter but CMC overthought it and didn't want a young Iowa kid to have his first start against Iowa because the pressure may have been too great.
This is observation and speculation. Sorry, I thought I made that pretty clear.

You’re talking about him not playing one single player as a starter that game. If that was all that had happened, it wouldn’t surprise me.

In this case, it’s a matter of not playing four or five players so much as a single snap—not even on special teams, which CMC usually does.
 

Carlisle Clone

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The same guy that was the coach last year when we had a record setting offense.

I said this exact same thing to a guy on a cyclonefanatic facebook post from tuesday and his response-"they went 11-3 in 2018 when Campbell was calling plays". I didnt have the courage to tell him. Wish I remembered it that way too.
 

SpokaneCY

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Sure, the offense can be better, but it hasn't been throughout the history of Iowa State football. So I don't know why you'd think it'll magically be better with a new coordinator. History suggests it would likely be worse.

Our offense was bad with an entirely different group of players and coaches. Being historically bad at offense is not historic especially when you have an entirely different cast of current coaches and players... Current schemes, current coaches and current players alone factor into offensive efficiency...
 

usedcarguy

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Apr 12, 2008
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Explain that to me; I've read multiple accounts mentioning the same and how it affected our 'push' and opening blocking lanes and causing Purdy to rush passes.
Is our OL personnel that susceptible that losing one guy alters our entire game plan?

Downing was the second starter we lost, not the first. Hudson was slated to start. But with that being said, it really wasn't a susceptibility issue. Read what Ben Bruns had to say about it. There's a thread on here with his comments.
 
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SpokaneCY

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This is observation and speculation. Sorry, I thought I made that pretty clear.

You’re talking about him not playing one single player as a starter that game. If that was all that had happened, it wouldn’t surprise me.

In this case, it’s a matter of not playing four or five players so much as a single snap—not even on special teams, which CMC usually does.

I read your post as you were alluding to covid being the issue but that's my reading comprehension problem...
 

Aclone

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Downing was the second starter we lost, not the first. Hudson was slated to start. But with that being said, it really wasn't a susceptibility issue. Read what Ben Bruns had to say about it. There's a thread on here with his comments.
If you count Treiber likely starting over Foster—which seems likely—it was our third starting OL we were down.
 

isucy86

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In response to the OP. Covid could be a reason, but more likely reasons are injury or suspension. I have no knowledge of the later, but in a lot of cases if a player breaks team rules in the off-season they sit the 1st game.
 

Frak

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The first play Juergenson was in at LG, he got blown up at the line of scrimmage and was forced to hold his guy, which caused a penalty. He looked like he had no business being out there.

I heard that Foster's dad might have worked for one of the recruiting services. He knew how to use the system to have his son appear higher in the recruiting rankings. I'm not sure how all of that works though.

I don't blame them for signing Foster, no matter how many stars he had. Campbell was hired that December and they had to fill a class. Not to mention, the kid has been in the two deep most of his career and started a few games. It's not like he was a wasted scholarship. I'm just disappointed that they don't have anyone better to roll out there at LT.
 

Frak

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Offense definitely regressed towards the end of the season. We became extremely predictable due to our inability to run the football. I believe Iowa State ranked 9th the Big 12 in rushing (for conference games) last year. Running the football has to improve to make this offense more "multiple" (CMC quote). 2nd half last Saturday was not encouraging in that effort.

We were near the bottom of the Big 12 in rushing with an NFL starter at RB a few years ago. That shows how bad the OL has been.
 

CycloneVet917

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Explain that to me; I've read multiple accounts mentioning the same and how it affected our 'push' and opening blocking lanes and causing Purdy to rush passes.
Is our OL personnel that susceptible that losing one guy alters our entire game plan?

I agree with you the loss of one player SHOULDN'T make this much difference. We had a few guys who couldn't go and the depth was not good, so it DID make a big difference.

I am not saying if he plays we win, but I do think we have a shot to win.
 
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clonedude

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Apr 16, 2006
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What about Hufford? I think someone said he wasn't dressed either.

Me thinks we have about 4 decent OL total.... and no depth at all after those 4.
 
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besserheimerphat

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Bruns made a comment a few years ago when Farniok was our starting center, that part of the reason we had OL issues was he was so much faster than everyone else. It created gaps because the OL was playing like 5 people rather than one unit. If we were playing a combo of OL that hadn't practiced much together, it can create timing and spacing issues that we normally wouldn't expect. That's on top of decreased talent. That COULD be PART of why our OL was so bad in the second half. I thought they looked good against a very competent, P5 level DL in the first half. I suspect UL's DL will end up being in the top half of DL we play all season.

From a play calling perspective, it's hard to make anything work when the DBs can eliminate your passing game with man coverage. That allows you to always put one more guy in the box than the offense has blockers. When your QB can't/won't run, the defense has two more guys. That's one or two unblocked guys to always rally to the ball, either filling gaps or rushing the passer.
 

clonehoodie

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We don't develop OL talent, because that would be too much like that other school.

Besides, JGJ was FIRST team All-Big 12 last year, and you know how good He was.

"Forget it, Jake. It's the Big 12".
 
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jdcyclone19

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Just an observation. An expansion on something I already posted in a thread.

I thought it was odd that when Trevor Downing was hurt, that Noah Juergenson was the guy who came in for him. Not who I would have expected at the top of the depth chart. Of course, I’d also thought that it was at least a bit odd that neither Rob Hudson nor Grant Treiber started.

When I finally got around to checking the participation report, it says that neither Hudson nor Treiber even played. Not even on special teams. Which is...odd.

Matter of fact, the only other reserve OL mentioned as playing is redshirt freshman Darrell Simmons, who was listed with Enyi’s vacated #5. Since Darrell usually wears #55, that’s probably a typo somewhere.

But using just two reserve OL is...weird. It implies they didn’t even line up any of the RS freshmen on special teams.

So, I have an odd suspicion that when Trevor got hurt, we were down more than just one OL.

And of course, because of HIPAA, if there were other minor injuries—or the OL room had a bunch of guys ruled out because of COVID-19 protocols, the staff wouldn’t be able to tell us, either. And we wouldn’t know at least until they’re back.

Honestly, the COVID-19 game rules say you have to play if you have five OL you can put on the field. It kinda looks like maybe...we had a grand total of seven?

So, maybe, just maybe, we dodged a bullet.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be complaining so much about the lack of OL depth?
I’ve always wondered how HIPAA works with this, I mean they tell the media that a player is injured and the injury, so I’m not sure that HIPAA really applies since they aren’t sharing information to make medical decisions.

If HIPAA was a real reason, why did they tell us Downing just had a sprained ankle and Kolar a lower body injury?
 

t-noah

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Feb 2, 2007
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Just an observation. An expansion on something I already posted in a thread.

I thought it was odd that when Trevor Downing was hurt, that Noah Juergenson was the guy who came in for him. Not who I would have expected at the top of the depth chart. Of course, I’d also thought that it was at least a bit odd that neither Rob Hudson nor Grant Treiber started.

When I finally got around to checking the participation report, it says that neither Hudson nor Treiber even played. Not even on special teams. Which is...odd.

Matter of fact, the only other reserve OL mentioned as playing is redshirt freshman Darrell Simmons, who was listed with Enyi’s vacated #5. Since Darrell usually wears #55, that’s probably a typo somewhere.

But using just two reserve OL is...weird. It implies they didn’t even line up any of the RS freshmen on special teams.

So, I have an odd suspicion that when Trevor got hurt, we were down more than just one OL.

And of course, because of HIPAA, if there were other minor injuries—or the OL room had a bunch of guys ruled out because of COVID-19 protocols, the staff wouldn’t be able to tell us, either. And we wouldn’t know at least until they’re back.

Honestly, the COVID-19 game rules say you have to play if you have five OL you can put on the field. It kinda looks like maybe...we had a grand total of seven?

So, maybe, just maybe, we dodged a bullet.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be complaining so much about the lack of OL depth?
In response to the OP. Covid could be a reason, but more likely reasons are injury or suspension. I have no knowledge of the later, but in a lot of cases if a player breaks team rules in the off-season they sit the 1st game.
I’ve always wondered how HIPAA works with this, I mean they tell the media that a player is injured and the injury, so I’m not sure that HIPAA really applies since they aren’t sharing information to make medical decisions.

If HIPAA was a real reason, why did they tell us Downing just had a sprained ankle and Kolar a lower body injury?
Forgive my lack of knowledge on who is available or might/might not play, being out of state. I merely listen on game day and hope whoever plays is good enough for a win. But it sounds like there may be good deal of secrecy going on here. Is that just our staff (vs. others) who wants to keep more closed mouthed than normal?

It would seem to me that the coaching staff might want to make it more known if there are players not available and the general reasons, especially after a game. I don't know.

And I understand HIPPA and all that but this is football/sports, maybe a little different for that reason? Or is this just the new realm of secrecy we are in, especially this year with the added "injury" of covid19?