Defensive thoughts...

[Frak]

I think that they played well enough to win. Held up against a physical run team until they got worn down. Thing is, we were counting on the offense to carry a young D somewhat and they've been flat out horrible. Of course this iowa offense is probably the easiest to prepare for out of any team we'll face all year. They're also not that talented. The ISU D will have some teams hang some big numbers on them, but we knew that they were going to have to outscore people to win, and this O couldn't outscore anyone.

 

[matty74]

How did they play well enough to win?? If Iowa does not get lazy/cocky at the end of the game..its not a 6 point game.

The Hawkeyes ran the ball 60 times! Obviously they felt comfortable enough just running the same plays over and over again. Teams that can run and throw well will score 60+ on this defense.

I do not post very often but the lack of football knowledge by some is infuriating.

They may not be that "talented" at WR, but I don't think the Cyclones will see a better OL all year. Weisman is a fullback...a real RB instead of a battering ram would have ran for 220+ yards

 

[JUKEBOX]

Defense was bad, but at least Wally makes adjustments. Looked better than they did during the UNI game.

Biggest problem on defense is recruiting and developing the D-Line and having no depth for linebackers.

 

[ISUFan22]

How did they play well enough to win?? If Iowa does not get lazy/cocky at the end of the game..its not a 6 point game.

The Hawkeyes ran the ball 60 times! Obviously they felt comfortable enough just running the same plays over and over again. Teams that can run and throw well will score 60+ on this defense.

I do not post very often but the lack of football knowledge by some is infuriating.

They may not be that "talented" at WR, but I don't think the Cyclones will see a better OL all year. Weisman is a fullback...a real RB instead of a battering ram would have ran for 220+ yards

lol @ you. If you're gonna come bust on people - at least have some common sense.

Meaning, most rational mammals know Iowa ran so many plays and dominated TOP because our offense did everything possible to set a new record for number of punts or failed 4th down attempts in a game.

The defense got plenty of stops. Law of averages comes into play when they're on the field for 2/3 of the game.

 

[isuno1fan]

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

We haven't had an adequate offense since 2005.

 

[Tre4ISU]

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

I think it was pretty evident last night compared to last year, that Irving is better suited to the inside. The defense was on the field for basically 40 minutes last night against a team more physical than any team but KSU we will face. That Dline held up pretty well all things considered and the linebackers did fine. If you give up 27 points when you were on the field for 40 minutes, that's pretty decent. Then you add in that they made at least one huge play to give our offense a great shot at scoring only for it to be squandered.

 

[F5cy]

I'm concerned that so far we've played two 'run first' type teams. When we get into conference play, that'll likely change.

 

[matty74]

lol @ you. If you're gonna come bust on people - at least have some common sense.

Meaning, most rational mammals know Iowa ran so many plays and dominated TOP because our offense did everything possible to set a new record for number of punts or failed 4th down attempts in a game.

The defense got plenty of stops. Law of averages comes into play when they're on the field for 2/3 of the game.

Plenty of stops? The defense was on the field because it couldn't stop them when it counted. Explain the 7 minute drive or the time of possession?

Iowa did NOTHING on offense but run plays that everyone in the stadium knew that was coming..

 

[Skidoosh]

We haven't had an adequate offense since 2005.

When is the last time we scored more than 24 points in regulation barring Kansas?

 

[Tre4ISU]

Plenty of stops? The defense was on the field because it couldn't stop them when it counted. Explain the 7 minute drive or the time of possession?

Iowa did NOTHING on offense but run plays that everyone in the stadium knew that was coming..

I think ISU had the ball for more than 2 mins about 4 times or so and that was barely 2 mins.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

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.

Good post and 100% correct.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

About the defense, who else sees Brackins taking over for Broomfield next season? And where is Darius White?

 

[CycloneErik]

Plenty of stops? The defense was on the field because it couldn't stop them when it counted. Explain the 7 minute drive or the time of possession?

Iowa did NOTHING on offense but run plays that everyone in the stadium knew that was coming..

You may have missed the offense's performance last night. It's understandable. If you blink, they're back on the sideline.

 

[matty74]

Throwing the ball a lot guarantees a lot of three and outs

Especially when the run game is non-existent

A bit OT: Does Firefox or Chrome work better for others on this site than IE?

 

[Tre4ISU]

About the defense, who else sees Brackins taking over for Broomfield next season? And where is Darius White?

Brackens needs to stay where he is.

 

[matty74]

Good post and 100% correct.

It'll take time and for a DL to develop.

Irving was playing DE by the end of the 3rd quarter...He's inside because he's the best option ISU has but on a team that has decent DT depth, he'd be an even better weapon at DE. It's not the difficult to grasp

 

[Cyclophile1]

I think the defense is adequate and improving, gaining experience. They are very, very green. Still pretty inconsistent at the LB spot where we're built much more for the high-flying passing attacks than the ground-pounding rush attacks. We're giving up size this year in order to be solid or better against the pass. I think the DL is actually coming along pretty well. We're not uber-talented there, but I think they are pretty workman-like. Need the edge guys to be better and more disruptive. Overall, our problems are much more on the offensive side (obviously).

 

[AuH2O]

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.

I am happy with the defense, and I think if the current pace of improvement continues CPR and Burnham will have done another very good coaching job in terms of maximizing talent. I think it's much more difficult to mask talent deficiencies on D. With that said, I think there is talent there, albeit obviously inexperienced. I also disagree with the posters getting down on Coe. Playing a new position and technique without spring practice wasn't going to be easy. I think he'll end up making some big plays by the end of the year and will be good next year.

I think they've played one terrible half of football and have been solid otherwise. Last night they were a victim of the ISU offense. The D was on the field way too much and Iowa had too many short fields.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

Brackens needs to stay where he is.

Brackins is going to be good wherever he is next season. We lose a lot in the secondary next season so I could see this move happening

 

[Tre4ISU]

Brackins is going to be good wherever he is next season. We lose a lot in the secondary next season so I could see this move happening

IMO, he doesn't have the range to play safety.