Hey all. If anyone has down time in January (and we know that you do), I encourage a great podcast that's about an hour from Levi from WRNL, Marchie Murdock, and JD Waggoner. I love the pods on this site with Williams, Blum, and J Stanz. But these guys are great every now and then.
www.widerightnattylite.com
They brought up some thoughtful critiques of the ISU offense last year. I for one think Manning had a difficult job last season. When you have the best running back in CFB it is tempting to go so vanilla, and just get into a groove of handoffs with Breece. And with Breece getting like 20 td's and over 1,400 yards, the running game was a success this year in many ways.
But what these guys did on the pod was in terms of things they saw this year, things we need to clean up to be less predictable:
- How many times did we move Breece out to the slot at WR, and then motion him back to the middle in the backfield, and then it's a hand off to him. (this move worked for no gain many times this season, cough Iowa game.). Teams know we do this now.
- Some of the TE motions are the same every time. Also they criticize that Jared Rus, while a capable pass catcher, should not be going out to the flat a ton because he doesn't have the speed to pick up 20 on a pass. Would it be better on some plays with him out, and then an extra receiver as a downfield threat? I'd say yes.
- All of the underneath curls to Charlie, Chase, and Xavier (8-12 yards downfield). This to me was working really well in the first half the year and it seemed Brock was competing 90% of these types of passes. But didn't it seem by the Clemson game they knew what we were doing? They completely knew all our passes would be within 15 yds of line of scrimmage. And they clogged the middle with their safeties to shut us down. Other teams did this too like TTech, Baylor, and Iowa.
- If this offense wants to take a evolutionary step forward (and it needs to), the downfield passing attack has to be different, more of a threat, and a part of the playcall sheet.
Xavier Hutchinson is clearly an all big 12 guy, and future nfl guy. He needs to be thrown a deep ball once a game. I bet he comes up with some of them for td's or chunk gains.
- Jaylin Noel next year after several short crossing routes underneath needs to have a double move in the repertoire where he shoots up field for a long route
Here's where I'm willing to give some benefit of the doubt to Tom last year. Joe Scates was a headcase who was always in the doghouse, perhaps not a great teammate, and wildly inconsistent. Tarique Milton was so hurt often his last two years and ineffective. Maybe, not having a true WR 2 was the reason for a weak downfield pass game.
What these guys highlight is that we had a legitimate reason to be conservative last year with Breece and the run game, and a really above average D. But next year and beyond we absolutely cannot play like this anymore. The three TE sets, slow motion stuff, and predictable play calling will send our ass directly to 6-6 or worse next year. If we want 7-5 or better we have got to be more unpredictable on offense. A good starting point for this would be Iowa next year. No more treating the non conference like a glorified pre season.
Especially when we look at the D next year I don't think we take a step back... Anthony Johnson, Will M, and Orien Vance coming back is massive. Those are three potential first team big 12 guys right there.
I look at the league and think KState, Kansas, TCU, TTU, and Baylor will all be better than this past year (or equally as good). So the question begs what does our offense do to take a step forward.
Manning: you now have some quality skill guys like Dekkers at QB, Silas and Brock at RB, and then Hutchinson, Noel, Essex and Greg Gains at WR (and shaw), what are we going to do to get more explosive plays in the pass game? Time to get creative.
Down the Pipe & Natty Lite (Ep. 137) -Putting a Bow on the 2021 Season
We sit down and put a bow on the 2021 season.
www.widerightnattylite.com
They brought up some thoughtful critiques of the ISU offense last year. I for one think Manning had a difficult job last season. When you have the best running back in CFB it is tempting to go so vanilla, and just get into a groove of handoffs with Breece. And with Breece getting like 20 td's and over 1,400 yards, the running game was a success this year in many ways.
But what these guys did on the pod was in terms of things they saw this year, things we need to clean up to be less predictable:
- How many times did we move Breece out to the slot at WR, and then motion him back to the middle in the backfield, and then it's a hand off to him. (this move worked for no gain many times this season, cough Iowa game.). Teams know we do this now.
- Some of the TE motions are the same every time. Also they criticize that Jared Rus, while a capable pass catcher, should not be going out to the flat a ton because he doesn't have the speed to pick up 20 on a pass. Would it be better on some plays with him out, and then an extra receiver as a downfield threat? I'd say yes.
- All of the underneath curls to Charlie, Chase, and Xavier (8-12 yards downfield). This to me was working really well in the first half the year and it seemed Brock was competing 90% of these types of passes. But didn't it seem by the Clemson game they knew what we were doing? They completely knew all our passes would be within 15 yds of line of scrimmage. And they clogged the middle with their safeties to shut us down. Other teams did this too like TTech, Baylor, and Iowa.
- If this offense wants to take a evolutionary step forward (and it needs to), the downfield passing attack has to be different, more of a threat, and a part of the playcall sheet.
Xavier Hutchinson is clearly an all big 12 guy, and future nfl guy. He needs to be thrown a deep ball once a game. I bet he comes up with some of them for td's or chunk gains.
- Jaylin Noel next year after several short crossing routes underneath needs to have a double move in the repertoire where he shoots up field for a long route
Here's where I'm willing to give some benefit of the doubt to Tom last year. Joe Scates was a headcase who was always in the doghouse, perhaps not a great teammate, and wildly inconsistent. Tarique Milton was so hurt often his last two years and ineffective. Maybe, not having a true WR 2 was the reason for a weak downfield pass game.
What these guys highlight is that we had a legitimate reason to be conservative last year with Breece and the run game, and a really above average D. But next year and beyond we absolutely cannot play like this anymore. The three TE sets, slow motion stuff, and predictable play calling will send our ass directly to 6-6 or worse next year. If we want 7-5 or better we have got to be more unpredictable on offense. A good starting point for this would be Iowa next year. No more treating the non conference like a glorified pre season.
Especially when we look at the D next year I don't think we take a step back... Anthony Johnson, Will M, and Orien Vance coming back is massive. Those are three potential first team big 12 guys right there.
I look at the league and think KState, Kansas, TCU, TTU, and Baylor will all be better than this past year (or equally as good). So the question begs what does our offense do to take a step forward.
Manning: you now have some quality skill guys like Dekkers at QB, Silas and Brock at RB, and then Hutchinson, Noel, Essex and Greg Gains at WR (and shaw), what are we going to do to get more explosive plays in the pass game? Time to get creative.
