Defensive thoughts...

[Boxerdaddy]

Ok just trying to see what everyone's feelings are on the defense this year so far. Plain and simple...i think our defense is adequate. We lost some great players. We've given up points, however...this offense has killed them this year. If our Offense can sustain drives and and just get a few first downs to keep the D off the field I think they'll be ok. I'm really excited to see Luke's progression. He seems to be right there, just undersized right now.

I would like to see the corners roll up and get rid of those huge cushions but I know they are trying to not give up the big plays....but on third down...gotta close that gap imo.

Thoughts or are we saying the whole team is crap?

 

[Wesley]

George had 13 tackles. He made it to the sidelines to make tackles. Morrisey had some key plays at opportune times. Irving arm tackles were a thing of beauty. The DEs need to step it up overall. People are still getting outside easily. SamR had three tackles in spot duty. The Arceo tackle was fantastic.


Thought the tight end was free too much in our secondary. We know he will be the target and we did not stop it. The Manley-Man caught the passes freely. Thought he was suppose to be a dropster.

 

[ISUFan22]

Got killed in the first half against UNI. Made good adjustments for 2nd half and were much better. I felt they were not to blame yesterday. Being on the field for 2/3 of the game and coming back out after a lot of 3-n-outs (no rest) is damn hard.

Everyone expected the D to drop off some from last yesr. They've been alright. Played well enough yesterday for us to be competitive and win.

 

[Wesley]

Been waiting for the offense to arrive for five years. The check is still in the mail.

 

[FanatiClone]

The defense is already showing steady progress, from one half to the next and then from one game to the next. They will be pretty decent by season's end barring any extensive injuries.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I thought the defense was good. I thought the Dline was disruptive a lot of the time and it was shown by not very many, if any long runs. I thought there were moments when our size killed us in terms of extra yards but Iowa didn't just run us over all game. Just over 3.5 ypc isn't too bad. The biggest screw up was on the fluttering ball Ruddock threw late that was played wrong. That should have been a pick, at least from my angle. I really don't have any complaints for a unit that spent damn near 40 minutes out there in a very physical game.

 

[hoopitup]

Got killed in the first half against UNI. Made good adjustments for 2nd half and were much better. I felt they were not to blame yesterday. Being on the field for 2/3 of the game and coming back out after a lot of 3-n-outs (no rest) is damn hard.

Everyone expected the D to drop off some from last yesr. They've been alright. Played well enough yesterday for us to be competitive and win.

I agree. Our d has gotten better since the first half vs.UNI. I thought our LBs were much improved. Too much cushion from DBs at times. It was good to see us get some pressure on qb as well. Our defense will keep making improvements this year. We may not be the best defense we've had but I think this group will be way better by the end of the year.

Offense has gott to help them out.

 

[Wesley]

Jeremiah Geoprge went from two tackles to thirteen tackles. That should be a one up from CW.

 

[CycloneErik]

The D was definitely not the problem yesterday.
I didn't think they were as physical as Iowa, but I didn't expect them to be.
They showed heart and improvement. I think the defense will be fine.

 

[nhclone]

They've sacrificed some size on D to get faster more athletic kids who can handle the Big 12. That showed at times yesterday (along with some inexperience), but overall they've been improving constantly this season. Certaintly not the reason we lost.

 

[ISUFan22]

I lol'd at this one from another thread. Defense made plenty of stops and our offense just acted swiftly to get our defense back on the field. Our offense really must admire our D and love watching them.

They ALL deserve more touches. That means the defense actually making stops--and the offensive line blocking with consistency.

 

[Luth4Cy]

Defense is good. A big missed tackle led to an Iowa touchdown pass. Besides that they were solid. Linebackers are weaker than last year and we are green on the line and the one corner spot but I still think it could be Rhoads's best defense yet by the end of the season.

 

[awd4cy]

I will say just a little below so/so. I think there will be a few teams this year that do hang atleast 50 on us.

 

[CyCloned]

I thought the defense was okay yesterday, not great, but not the mind blowing train wreck it was against UNI. Certainly good enough to win the game. I was really disappointed in Martin-Manly being wide open over the middle on a critical 3rd down play. That was like not covering Johnson for UNI, how can you let that guy be that open? Manly must have half of Iowa's catches for the season.

Really still sick about the offense or lack there of. It just mystifies my why ISU took the opening kick to run the ball up the middle twice and try a WR screen. If I was the OC I would have play action passed the ball to QB on a post route. Need to set the tone right away that you are going to pass, and pass down field. Based on what I saw at the game I would give that play a 20% chance of going for a TD. Yes, Iowa's pass defense was that bad.

 

[Boxerdaddy]

Glad to hear. Just hoping I wasn't sipping too much of the kool aid but I do think they'll be ok if we can get the offense to help them out a bit. Saw Morrisey's name called a few times. Thought he played pretty well last night.

 

[Boxerdaddy]

I will say just a little below so/so. I think there will be a few teams this year that do hang atleast 50 on us.

I could see that. Just depends if they can stay fresh. If they wear down...we're in trouble. Glad we have that bye week later in the season to get them fresh again...errrr...

 

[FanatiClone]

They've sacrificed some size on D to get faster more athletic kids who can handle the Big 12. That showed at times yesterday (along with some inexperience), but overall they've been improving constantly this season. Certaintly not the reason we lost.

And that increase in speed was fairly apparent yesterday. If anything, the D looks pretty fast.

 

[FanatiClone]

I could see that. Just depends if they can stay fresh. If they wear down...we're in trouble. Glad we have that bye week later in the season to get them fresh again...errrr...

Baylor and OK ST are both capable of doing just that.

 

[FanatiClone]

Glad to hear. Just hoping I wasn't sipping too much of the kool aid but I do think they'll be ok if we can get the offense to help them out a bit. Saw Morrisey's name called a few times. Thought he played pretty well last night.

Me too!

 

[matty74]

Irving belongs at DE. He's not a natural DT and can get moved off the ball due to his height (leverage)

The only reason Iowa didn't break off any long runs is because Weisman is a fullback masquerading as a tailback. Put a better back behind that OL, you're looking at a few 20-30 yard runs..There were numerous occasions during the game where I could see massive cutback lanes and open territory but their RB was a step too slow to exploit.

George was family last night at the Old Chicago on Duff. Limping pretty badly but that's pretty after a game IMO