Another Manning S^*T sandwich

[IcSyU]

It cracks me up how everything thinks this is all on Manning and fails to remember the head man saying he sits in on all the offensive meetings and helps with the game plan. Manning is doing what his boss is asking him to do. Frankly keeping all these games close is probably why Campbell is totally comfortable with what's going on. I believe he's the one who said first teams get beaten badly, then they lose close, then they learn how to win. We're skipping the "beaten badly" part because his program is established and losing close anticipating in his mind closing those games more consistently in the future.

It also blows my mind how this fanbase expects every flaw in the team to be covered up. Every week they're going against coaches whose jobs it is to exploit us. You can't defend every single thing every single play and sometimes you just flat out get beat (see: fake FG). We're doing the same thing to opposing teams but opposing teams certainly execute at a better rate than we do. How often do we have the opposing team's best player dropping an easy TD catch? How often do we have short fields from bad turnovers?

Our line stinks. Running the ball has been an issue all year. There isn't an easy way to fix that. The QB isn't fit to run the air raid or throw to open the run. He's proven time and time again he's not capable and now teams are daring him to do exactly that.

I can respect trying something totally different yesterday with going under center and trying to get more timing throws not requiring more than counting bodies at the LOS but until you get either a QB who can throw the run open or a line that can consistently produce positive rushes to force additional defenders into run support you're in really deep ****. Compound that with drops, bad interceptions, etc. and you have next to no chance at success.

The defense is keeping the games within reach. 20-13 is a score Campbell is comfortable with. He's wanting to see his team execute to make it 20-20 instead of see a bad drop, a bad pick, or three and out. Recent history says it's a bad play on his part but that strategy has worked just fine for him over his coaching career.

 

[clone4life82]

This is right. This is not like Paul's last team that was trotting out Sam Richardson to play QB when the kid had no business playing football anywhere. There are kids that can and have played well on this team.



We look like we don't practice but we do..so what's going on? Angles are poor, spacing isn't right, game changing mental errors, penalties, and the timing is always a step off. We have no identity, and no scheme. There is not one thing that we do well offensively. Campbell says this means we are close, when in reality it means we are just really poorly coached. The timing aspect is the most damning thing, everyone just is a second off.

I have seen certain of our o linemen play great, there are 3 or 4 good linemen there, but they suck right now and get worse every week.

It just boils down to really poor coaching on that side.

I might have been in the minority but I always thought Sam Richardson could’ve been a nice qb had he had talent around him. Seems like he was always getting chased around and he never had more than one target to throw to. Think he had bundrage one year and then the next, q got injured right away and we had to play Lazard as a freshman….. give Sam what we had last year or when we had both Lazard and butler and maybe a little better blocking and it’s a different story.

 

[cycloneworld]

I can’t get over CMC’s continued insistence there’s nothing wrong with ISU’s special teams. Paraphrasing yesterday’s announcers when the OU kicker walked into the end zone untouched on the fake FG, “OU coaches must have noted something on film they could exploit.” That’s an understatement - every team we play exploits our poor special teams play, and every week Campbell downplays it. It’s way past embarrassing, getting out coached each game!

Yep. And offensively too. We all have seen what Big 12 teams have done to OU:

42
49
55
41

And we put up 13 at home. 13!! We make every Big 12 defense look the the ‘85 Bears.

 

[IcSyU]

Yep. And offensively too. We all have seen what Big 12 teams have done to OU:

42
49
55
41

And we put up 13 at home. 13!! We make every Big 12 defense look the the ‘85 Bears.

I understand your point but its a bit disingenuous. We aren't trying to be the "give up 42 but we're going to score 45 so we don't care" team. We want to be the "give up 20 but we're going to score 24" team. We aren't trying to run 80+ plays. We aren't trying to be in tempo all the time. We're trying to control the clock, retain possession, and give up field goals on defense. We aren't ever going to be the team that's raising opposing teams OPPG stat...we're focused on cutting into their PPG. Now certainly we've been very good at the give up 20 side of things...but the whole "score 24" or even 14 has been a major issue.

 

[Stormin]

If Matt does not, can not, or will not make personnel changes for the good of the organization, then he doesnt belong as a head coach.

Probably the #1 most important job of any coach/leader is to get the right people in place under you.

Campbell will make his own decisions regarding coaches. Those decisions will be made by him. Not you. We are more than struggling. Players and Coaches. Campbell is not going to be fired. And he will get time to turn things around. I trust that he will.

 

[Stormin]

Anyone who wants Prohm back should be arrested on the spot.

No one wants Prohm. Never did.

 

[joefrog]

I do hate that. I call it Meerkat Manor. Always looking to the sidelines.

Do you think that's fun for the players? To interrupt rhythm like that?

 

[joefrog]

His biggest sin is the lack of development in off season.

And limited use of transfer portal, not to mention building momentum off the 2020 season. What are they doing with all that time?

 

[joefrog]

I understand your point but its a bit disingenuous. We aren't trying to be the "give up 42 but we're going to score 45 so we don't care" team. We want to be the "give up 20 but we're going to score 24" team. We aren't trying to run 80+ plays. We aren't trying to be in tempo all the time. We're trying to control the clock, retain possession, and give up field goals on defense. We aren't ever going to be the team that's raising opposing teams OPPG stat...we're focused on cutting into their PPG. Now certainly we've been very good at the give up 20 side of things...but the whole "score 24" or even 14 has been a major issue.

You ever think that maybe, just maybe, A might be leading directly to B?

Teams have figured CampbellBall out. His record against a 3 point spread is atrocious.

Keep it close now appears to work much more to the favor of our opponents.

Still think it is a wise strategy?

Think that is fun to watch as a fan?

 

[cycloneworld]

I understand your point but its a bit disingenuous. We aren't trying to be the "give up 42 but we're going to score 45 so we don't care" team. We want to be the "give up 20 but we're going to score 24" team. We aren't trying to run 80+ plays. We aren't trying to be in tempo all the time. We're trying to control the clock, retain possession, and give up field goals on defense. We aren't ever going to be the team that's raising opposing teams OPPG stat...we're focused on cutting into their PPG. Now certainly we've been very good at the give up 20 side of things...but the whole "score 24" or even 14 has been a major issue.

If we aren’t trying to be a team that scores 42 in a league where half the teams regularly score 42 or more - we are in for a looooooong few years.

In fact, we DID score 42 frequently last year. Granted with more talent but the idea that Campbell “isn’t trying” to score 42 is incorrect.

We don’t need to be Oklahoma or TCU. But we cannot be Iowa either. Or we go winless in the Big 12 like we likely will this year.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Gotta be able to put up points regardless of your strategy.

 

[MyNameEhJeff]

It would help if our QB could throw it to guys in the same uniform as him

 

[KidSilverhair]

I do hate that. I call it Meerkat Manor. Always looking to the sidelines.

I have never understood this type of offense. I mean I get what it’s supposed to do - you line up, check the defensive alignment, then the coaches adjust the play call to best attack that defense. But it almost never works out … the offense gets set, they stop and stand up and look to the sideline, they shift, reset, and run between the guard and tackle for a yard and a half.

It’s not just Iowa State, it’s college teams and even high-school teams that do this, and 95% of the plays run after checking with the sideline are average everyday 3-yard runs. Trust the play you called, trust the players you’ve coached to execute the play, and if the defense is perfectly set up to stop that play, trust your QB to audible. Doing the “meerkat” offense and having your team check with the sideline every play just shows you don’t trust your players. It also ruins tempo.

 

[CoKane]

No one wants Prohm. Never did.

I saw multiple people saying he deserved another year on twitter when we had the funk in Big 12 play

 

[CascadeClone]

I keep seeing this. Statistically they're practically identical.

However, if there's one thing Iowa is known for it's being fundamentally sound. Every year.

ISU is not that.

That's my biggest concern. Good coaching means guys know what to do, they are in the right place, they don't make mistakes. Offensively, this team is the polar opposite of that.

People gripe about play calling, but really I think the root cause is the guys just aren't well-coached on offense. Thus poor O-line play, missed blocks, penalties, drops, bad reads, etc. Whatever they are doing in practice to get reps and get ready to execute, is clearly not working.

Contrast with the defense.

I can't tell you if it is Manning, Myers, someone else, or all of them. But the whole approach to prep on that side of the ball needs a reset. Throw out the binders on that and start from scratch.

 

[CascadeClone]

I dont want to alarm anyone but since we beat Okie State a year ago today ISU is 2-8 in the Big 12. That's some Steve Prohm level futility thats starting to develop.

Disagree. Football losing by 7 is a lot less bad than basketball losing by 30, and being down 20 at half. Those Prohm teams weren't even competitive, and miles away from competence. The football team has some big problems on offense, but it is far from hopeless and clueless.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

My biggest problems with what Campbell is too stubborn to fix. You cannot run this type of strategy, low score close games, without being able to run the ball. Period. He also seems to be micromanaging everything like slowing the pace so he can audible the call or for all we know decide what to actually call. They may just be quick line up and waiting for the call after the motion is used. Special teams. Play calling rhythm, which is basically impossible when you're lining up quick and running the play clock down 75% of the time. Running out of the shotgun on short yardage situations. General offensive cohesion. They do not look like an organized unit. Not attacking with counters, draws, and true screens as well as hot audibles pre planned to gash vacated blitzing areas.

I started writing this and realized there's so much there to even quantify at this point and the stark contrast to the defense is what is really frustrating. This is a championship level defense.

 

[CascadeClone]

Campbell will make his own decisions regarding coaches. Those decisions will be made by him. Not you. We are more than struggling. Players and Coaches. Campbell is not going to be fired. And he will get time to turn things around. I trust that he will.

My point was about good leadership. I hope CMC is up to it. He has a ton of good things that I really like, but this is a big challenge facing him.

 

[isucy86]

A lot of folks are acting like ISU football is a disaster. The reality is we are a grocery cart with a wobbly wheel. Fix the wheel and we can be one of the Big12's better programs. It's too late for the 2022 season, but at this point we are playing for a minor bowl and the 2023 season.

Again, yesterday's loss to the Sooners came down to a few plays:

• Special teams giving up TD on fake FG -4 pts.
• Dekker's interception returned to the ISU 2, easy Sooner TD -7 pts.
• ISU blitzes 5 and doesn't get close on 3rd & 11. Sooners 41 yard TD pass -7 pts.
• On 4th & 1 at the OU 3- Dekkers throws a out to Hutchinson in the end zone. A low % call on a scoring play.

As much as we want to put ALL the blame on Manning, we are falling a little short in all facets of the game. The negative is this sucks right now. The good is incremental changes in a lot of places, means we can finish this season strong.

That doesn't preclude that the coaching staff needs to make changes in the off-season. Campbell was willing to move on from Wade (S&C) after the ND loss- I think he is a good enough coach to make the needed changes after this season.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

It also blows my mind how this fanbase expects every flaw in the team to be covered up. Every week they're going against coaches whose jobs it is to exploit us. You can't defend every single thing every single play and sometimes you just flat out get beat (see: fake FG). We're doing the same thing to opposing teams but opposing teams certainly execute at a better rate than we do. .

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you when it comes to Special Teams. We are last in the Big XII in punt return average yards and second to last in kickoff return average yards, last in both when it comes to longest return. We have had punts blocked and we're spotty on punt & kickoff coverage. Our kicking specialists, while young, are inconsistent and below average for the Big XII - see Kansas game.

Thru eight games, I don't recall ISU exploiting anybody else on Special Teams - no blocked kicks and no long returns, no punt fakes or FG's attempted. The walk-in fake FG yesterday was just embarrassing - ISU rushers going thru the motions with no idea what was happening in front of them! This has been beaten to death, but we need a Special Teams Coach on the field, reminding these guys of their responsibilities on every play. Campbell's refusal to acknowledge special teams deficiencies has become laughable - his eye in the sky approach is obviously not working and our Special Teams failures have cost the team wins. When you play the thin margin game, every facet counts.