On to Kansas Week Thread

[madguy30]

KSU looked quite fundamentally sound as well against OU. ISU has played 2 P5 teams so far, and had 3 TOs in the Iowa game and 2 in the BU game. KU has had one TO in the three games against WVU, Houston (not P5 I know), and Duke.

If ISU's turnover issues continue, its going to be a tough year. These fundamentals things have been bugging ISU for several years, and have never really been cleaned up. As mentioned above, I too hope ISU turns the corner really fast in this area, but past history would indicate otherwise.

I think also the sloppy blocking on crucial plays Saturday and poor tackling.

Even Macdonald had some issues with penalties.

While I think CMC let the cap off a bit to open things up in the first few games, there's still plenty that needs to be synched up.

Oddly this is the most intriguing KU/ISU game in a very long time and could be defining one way or another for the season.

 

[Jer]

I think it's the opposite actually. Teams that aren't overly aggressive and take what this defense gives them ( 4-6 yards) succeed. Most college teams won't (or can't) do that. The Baylor scoring drives were 12, 11, 9, 10 and 4 plays. That doesn't scream aggressive to me.

Sorry, we're saying the same thing - my wording just sucked. I meant to imply teams that are patient can dink and dunk down the field at will.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

No doubt - but that also goes back to the offense., When we have two or three incomplete passes and go 3 and out -

that also increases the time of possession difference between the two. If we had our own 8 minute drive for a touchdown in the 2nd and 3rd quarter - would that not also impact the way that the defense played? Because now they're chilling and resting even more after half time.


Again, I'm not disputing that the refs and the horrendous calls they made had a huge impact on the game. I'm just stating that it didn't occur in a vaccum, even with the bogus calls we still had a chance had we executed at a higher level. Both things are and can be true.

The refs screwed us.
And by turning the ball over and having some quick 3 and outs on offense, notably in the 3rd quarter, we screwed ourselves.


Hopefully, the ref piece does not happen again - at least to the blatant degree it did in the 1st half at least.
But unless we can fix some of what we can control, within reason - we may yet come up short in other close games.


We are tied for 80th right now in turnovers lost. That is just not a winning stat.

I never want to see those refs again - but there are other reasons besides the ref's that we lost that game. The refs are certainly and were certainly a major part - but so was some sloppiness on our own end.

This team is never going to be perfect, they couldn't overcome the hand they were dealt in the first half. It's easy to say "it didn't occur in a vacuum" but what about Fryler? Does he assist in making some stops? does he force a turnover? We will never know because he was tossed for a bull sh!t targeting call. What about the possession Baylor scored a TD on when our DB was picked? That was text book offensive PI and should have been a 15 yard penalty. It's easy to say make the next play but those calls matter!

 

[stewart092284]

This team is never going to be perfect, they couldn't overcome the hand they were dealt in the first half. It's easy to say "it didn't occur in a vacuum" but what about Fryler? Does he assist in making some stops? does he force a turnover? We will never know because he was tossed for a bull sh!t targeting call. What about the possession Baylor scored a TD on when our DB was picked? That was text book offensive PI and should have been a 15 yard penalty. It's easy to say make the next play but those calls matter!

They do but - bad calls are gonna happen. Hopefully not to that level because that was insanely bad.

There are things we are never going to be able to do anything about - bad calls and injuries. You never want either and you hope neither ever are going to happen to a key player - or anyone, or at any time really - but at a key moment or to a key player.

The calls do matter - but so does our own missed opportunities. Both are true. Its not a great analogy but right now my mother is in all likelihood dying of cancer and a bunch of other stuff but she still has good days. She still called me early on my birthday and sent me a card from the hospital when other family members did neither, again, bad analogy but my point is the response to crap matters.

Now, granted, that's life to football so its not a great analogy. But my point is - yes, the refs screwed us. Yes, that was some of the worse officiating I have ever seen in my life of watching or coaching football. Yes, they should never be allowed to step onto a football field with a whistle again in their miserable lives as officials. All grace to them as people but as officials, they should never be allowed to work again as refs IMO.

BUT - were there opportunities for us to over come those calls? Yes, yes there were. That's all I'm saying. The refs are the obvious and rightly so, scapegoat. But that doesn't mean we still didn't make enough mistakes to lose. Because just as we are never going to play perfect, refs are never going to call a perfect game either. There will be more blown calls and missed calls throughout the season. And there's nothing we are ever going to be able to do that - but we can correct an issue here or an issue there and those horrible calls are easier to over come. You never want them but its like a bird crapping on your head, its always possible if you're outside

 

[cytor]

They do but - bad calls are gonna happen. Hopefully not to that level because that was insanely bad.

There are things we are never going to be able to do anything about - bad calls and injuries. You never want either and you hope neither ever are going to happen to a key player - or anyone, or at any time really - but at a key moment or to a key player.

The calls do matter - but so does our own missed opportunities. Both are true. Its not a great analogy but right now my mother is in all likelihood dying of cancer and a bunch of other stuff but she still has good days. She still called me early on my birthday and sent me a card from the hospital when other family members did neither, again, bad analogy but my point is the response to crap matters.

Now, granted, that's life to football so its not a great analogy. But my point is - yes, the refs screwed us. Yes, that was some of the worse officiating I have ever seen in my life of watching or coaching football. Yes, they should never be allowed to step onto a football field with a whistle again in their miserable lives as officials. All grace to them as people but as officials, they should never be allowed to work again as refs IMO.

BUT - were there opportunities for us to over come those calls? Yes, yes there were. That's all I'm saying. The refs are the obvious and rightly so, scapegoat. But that doesn't mean we still didn't make enough mistakes to lose. Because just as we are never going to play perfect, refs are never going to call a perfect game either. There will be more blown calls and missed calls throughout the season. And there's nothing we are ever going to be able to do that - but we can correct an issue here or an issue there and those horrible calls are easier to over come. You never want them but its like a bird crapping on your head, its always possible if you're outside

3 and outs happen for every team in most or all games. Yes, that did hurt. The refs completely blew this game. If they call it correctly, ISU wins by 2 scores, despite the 3 and outs.

 

[OscarBerkshire]

Tell him what? Yes, the refs suck but losing the turnover battle and not being able to stay on or off the field also loses games. Things don't exist in a vaccum - if we score on our first two drives after half time or even just after stopping them on 4th down and go on to win - how much weight does the first half calls have? They have more weight certainly because we lost... but the idea that getting out rushed, out pressured and the turnover battle etc played no role in losing -

that just isn't true IMO. The refs certainly helped Baylor in the first half - that doesn't change the fact that Dekkers is averaging 1.5 turnovers a game right now. He's young, he'll get better and he's insanely talented. But that is not a recipe for success, even in a game where you don't get screwed by the refs.


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I get frustrated with Heacock's seeming to wait till half time to adjust BUT those numbers would indicate that we are generally good to great on defense. I think we are a little slow at the line backer position at the moment and we lack a consistent pass rush but what more are we really asking for?

We are 14th in total defense thru 4 games
We were 21st in defense last year
We were 25th in defense the year before in 2020
We were 49th in defense in 2019


Yes, Kansas is going to be a freaking awesome challenge defensively with that QB and the offense. But the number of games I felt like the defense has lost us over the years compared to the number of games that the offense fell short is probably countable on one hand

yes we are 14th in total defense but keep in mind we played Iowa and SEMO for half of our games so far. most teams should be top 20 in total defense with our schedule.

 

[67CY]

It seems like we play poorly when favored

 

[OscarBerkshire]

worried about the game. the SEMO QB honestly lit us up and he has half of the KU QB's skills. We will only win if we score on >90% of our drives and don't turn the ball over. this team has had turnovers in every game. dekkers seems very interception prone. reminds me of steele jantz.

 

[Raiders70]

Looking at the thread someone said this game is soldout. not true. Just looked at the official KU website. There are thousands of unsold tickets.

 

[stewart092284]

3 and outs happen for every team in most or all games. Yes, that did hurt. The refs completely blew this game. If they call it correctly, ISU wins by 2 scores, despite the 3 and outs.

You may be right - IDK - you are certainly correct in how bad the refs are / were. But I'm not looking at the game from a standpoint of if we do what we did against Baylor we're fine moving forward. I"m looking at it from a stand point of how do we get better. If we want to have a truly special season - which I think this team is capable of having - then there are things we need to do better.

And are going to need to do better against Kansas, regardless of the refs. That's my main point. As bad as the refs are and were - we are never going to be able to do anything about that. Like if the sun does or doesn't rise tomorrow - its out of my control. A ref throwing a series of heinous flags is always out of a teams control.

Doesn't mean that those refs weren't an F- on the scale.

 

[jbhtexas]

ISU has faced some very stout defenses too, though. Iowa is #2 in defensive yards per play and Baylor is #20. WVU is #42, Duke is #87 and Houston is #105. When you face defenses that allow you to move the ball you aren't generally pressured to make nearly as many mistakes.

Baylor got 1 TO against Albany, 0 against BYU, and 1 against TxSt. Iowa got 0 TO against SDSU, 1 against Nevada, and 3 against Rutgers. I will agree that BYU and Iowa are good defenses, but they both got more TOs against ISU than they are averaging (small sample size, but so are defense rankings at this point).

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

worried about the game. the SEMO QB honestly lit us up and he has half of the KU QB's skills. We will only win if we score on >90% of our drives and don't turn the ball over. this team has had turnovers in every game. dekkers seems very interception prone. reminds me of steele jantz.

LOL he was 19-38 for 222 yards, 1TD, and 1 INT. He did not light us up.

 

[OscarBerkshire]

LOL he was 19-38 for 222 yards, 1TD, and 1 INT. He did not light us up.

he also ran for 74 yards on only 12 attempts. the Kansas QB could run and throw for a lot more than he did

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

he also ran for 74 yards on only 12 attempts. the Kansas QB could run and throw for a lot more than he did

half of that was on like two runs...

 

[DarkStar]

KANSAS MUST BE DESTROYED.

In every way humanly possible.

It is as simple as that.

No excuses.

KANSAS MUST BE DESTROYED.

 

[NorthCyd]

ISU has faced some very stout defenses too, though. Iowa is #2 in defensive yards per play and Baylor is #20. WVU is #42, Duke is #87 and Houston is #105. When you face defenses that allow you to move the ball you aren't generally pressured to make nearly as many mistakes.

More importantly ISU, Baylor, and Iowa are all elite at stopping the run. All top ten in YPR allowed. It will be interesting to see how that holds up against one of the best rushing attacks in the country with KU, albeit against bad defenses.

 

[CyCloned]

Haven't really watched any of their games. Would you say what they do is, gimmicky?

They use a lot of formations in the backfield. Lots of ball fakes and misdirection stuff, multiple backs, some wing T stuff I think. The kind of stuff where guys can get lost if you are not following your assignments. The key to stopping most of that stuff is getting penetration in the middle of the OL. Not so sure we are good at that this year.

 

[CascadeClone]

The refs screwed us.
And by turning the ball over and having some quick 3 and outs on offense, notably in the 3rd quarter, we screwed ourselves.

Spit Roasted?

 

[awd4cy]

I could see this being high scoring. 45-42 type game.

 

[Dryburn]

This is going to be a tough one.

Saw KU against Houston & some on Saturday switching back & forth.

Their qb Daniels is no joke. True dual threat qb with great speed. In fact, their whole team speed on both sides is pretty impressive.

ISU will need to play great on both sides or they will not come away with a win and it will be a very long season.