Iowa Game Thoughts and UNLV look ahead

[cyclone1209]

I'll start with the good and end with the bad (that would be the O and then Special Teams)

Defense

• Zach Peterson looked all big 12 yesterday. Tackles for loss (2), qb hits, and just everywhere owning people. I loved to see it.
• Will McDonald is averaging a sack per game in the last two seasons all most, unbelievable. He has to be on first round draft boards coming up.
• Our starting LBers are studs but the backups are proving they are very good too. Daeshawn Davis, Aric Horne, and Gerry Vaughn are all very quality.
• CB play as good minus the Iowa throw in Q2, that was a dime by Petras (his only good throw of the day really)
• Kymmani King (19) is my surprise impact guy on defense thus far. He hits people like Isheem and is probably faster. Great player.

Offense

• Hutchinson - don't want to pick on him too much but that was a poor effort outing by him. The two dropped crossing short passes were killer and the tipped one led to a gift INT for Iowa.
• As Williams and Blum alluded to, against a team like Iowa - playing slow is doing exactly what they would want. I'm upset we didn't adjust more to an uptempo strategy. Hindsight is 20/20 but you do have to know when it's not working. An uptempo worked with Dekkers obviously.
• Milton - great to see him finally get a TD on a good play. We constantly move him around and need to work on getting him the ball more. He is just a lot better than Scates and is our best hope for a threat outside of Hutchinson.
• 3rd receiver - what do we do here? This so far has been a real disappointment. Scates hasn't done much at all, Wilson showed a flash with his 40 yard catch and run but we obviously need more from the whole room. Daniel Jackson had a catch for 20 yards, does he need to play more? Ezeriah Anderson got some snaps. The entire WR room needs to be challenged, they've been a dud so far.
• TE - I would sit Charlie this week to get him healthy, we do not need him to beat UNLV.
• Rus has been a bright spot, he blows people up in blocking and is actually pretty talented at the quick slip screen I love that play.
• O line - in run blocking they finally got something in the 3rd quarter going but by that time the game had slipped away already. Simmons, Remsberg, Downing, and Newell all need to get more room for our rb's. I expect Breece to go wild next weekend.
• It's very easy to see why Dekkers was the Iowa gatorade player of the year. 6"4, can move, and has a bazooka. Future is bright.
• Eli Sanders, let's see some more of him, ditto with Jaylin Noel.

Special Teams

• Kicking has been fine, the kick return and punt coverage units have also been fine
• Punt return - I saw multiple punt returns in the nfl today, many punt returns on highlights yesterday. I don't know if we operate under different rules here at Iowa State but this is kinda embarrassing to me.
• The punt return is an easy way to get a cheap 5-10 yards and we seem to forfeit that all the time. For Tarique Milton - his likely only shot in the nfl is to play as a punt returner or slot guy, and we don't even give him a chance. It's a blatant disrespect to his skillset. I think at this point the strategy of fair catch, or let it fall an extra 20 yards sucks and i'm now done ranting about it

Time to put a beat down on UNLV. They're 0-2 and have to be mentally beat some. Need a total attitude shift on offense and I hope we can do that Saturday. Still a lot to play for this season. I look at the tier of the big 12 outside of OU and hardly anyone scares me. Brock has been great for 3 years in a row in October and I hope that continues.

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

UNLV has a horrible offense and defense...our defense should have no issue stopping them from putting together drives really at all....now it's up to Tom Manning to actually be creative and not be so vanilla...this should be a blowout but I won't predict that until I have seen us do it once

 

[Gunnerclone]

UNLV has a horrible offense and defense...our defense should have no issue stopping them from putting together drives really at all....now it's up to Tom Manning to actually be creative and not be so vanilla...this should be a blowout but I won't predict that until I have seen us do it once

That’s the thing, he doesn’t need to be creative against UNLV, he needed to be creative LAST WEEK. Failed miserably. I’m just getting more and more angry with the offensive game planning as we go along. Manning is the obvious target here but CMC is also involved. They want to **** around with Iowa every year. I didn’t really care that much over the last few losses against Iowa, but It’s a problem now.

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

That’s the thing, he doesn’t need to be creative against UNLV, he needed to be creative LAST WEEK. Failed miserably. I’m just getting more and more angry with the offensive game planning as we go along. Manning is the obvious target here but CMC is also involved. They want to **** around with Iowa every year. I didn’t really care that much over the last few losses against Iowa, but It’s a problem now.

very true....UNLV is probably one of the worst FBS teams and UNI would beat them, I know that. We should have no issues running all over them...but we are the kings of playing to the level of our competition

 

[CyBobby]

If our fan base thinks that we are going to beat Iowa on a regular basis then this fan base if Delusional....

THIS IS THE BIGGEST GAME IOWA PLAYS ALL YEAR AND THE POWERS THAT BE IN IOWA CITY WILL NOT LET ANY COACH LOSE TO ISU FOR LONG.....

IOWA STATE FORCED IOWA INTO THIS GAME AND WE HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR THAT DECISION FOR THE LAST 44 YEARS!!

When we play Iowa I always expect to lose that way...if we WIN I am EXTREMELY HAPPY......

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

If our fan base thinks that we are going to beat Iowa on a regular basis then this fan base if Delusional....

THIS IS THE BIGGEST GAME IOWA PLAYS ALL YEAR AND THE POWERS THAT BE IN IOWA CITY WILL NOT LET ANY COACH LOSE TO ISU FOR LONG.....

IOWA STATE FORCED IOWA INTO THIS GAME AND WE HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR THAT DECISION FOR THE LAST 44 YEARS!!

When we play Iowa I always expect to lose that way...if we WIN I am EXTREMELY HAPPY......

I think you're in the wrong thread, buddy

 

[ZRF]

Defense -

-Unit was outstanding pretty much all game long. Only gripe was Petras had way too much time on some drop backs but that's to be occasionally expected against a team that has a very good interior line. Goodson was completely shut down and that was due to both strong interior line play, great LB play, and strong tackling across the board.
- As already pointed out, Peterson was solid but I really think JR Singleton is an animal in the making. He was one of the few bright spots in the UNI game and continued that strong play over into the Iowa game.


Offense -

- The offense is a complete ******* disaster right now. Let's just start there.
- Offensive line, along with QB play, has probably been one of the most disappointing facets on the year thus far. They struggle to get a surge and have a hard time opening up consistent holes. If Iowa State was going to make a leap this year we needed to see better line of scrimmage play against the elites. That simply hasn't happened.
- I'm sick and ******* tired of our offensive play calling and the play book in general. Yes, Purdy has been terrible thus far, it's hard to throw the ball when plays are called in which NO RECEIVERS are out of their breaks at the point our QB needs to get rid of the ball. We can't keep calling plays that require 5 seconds to develop when our QB doesn't have 6-7 seconds to throw the ball. Nobody runs crossing routes, quick hitches, etcera. There needs to be more "1, 2, 3 boom" play calls where the ball is designed to be out of our QBs hands in under 3 seconds.
- We don't utilize the middle of the field in our passing game, like at all. 80-90 percent of our plays are to the outside and it's obvious that is also by design. We need to keep linebackers honest in having to cover the middle of the field. By taking it outside we allow the linebackers to key on Breece and shut down the running game. Right now, we are basically stopping ourselves.
- Purdy has absolutely ZERO confidence in his abilitites right now. Manning has done a horrendous job with play calling but at some point a 4 year starter should be making guys "open" by putting the ball where it needs to be. He appears hesistant to throw to anyway that doesn't have clear separation. That's a problem.
- Breece is dancing around too much. Not really his fault but teams are able to load up and send backers as we aren't exploiting the middle of the field on the passing game. Once Breece commits he needs to hit it hard and try to maximize his gains. Right now there isn't much there.

Special Teams -

- UNI game was fine, probably the the biggest bright spot of the game. But the Iowa game? Our punting was atrocious. Coverage had lapses. Milton made a lot of mistakes. It was a complete ******* clown show. Then we had to watch Iowa's units which, I have to say, may be the best group of special teams I've seen in a while. That ******* punter will have a 20 year career in the NFL, his pin kicks were a thing of beauty. Their coverage units were outstanding. Their kicker drilled a 51 yarder. I think through the quality of their units and the futility of ours they gained a 150 yard advantage just through special teams disparity.
-Everyone has a boss including Matt Campbell. If he won't hire a special teams coordinator then Pollard should force his hand. If our offense hadn't laid an egg special teams might have been the difference in the game. How many times has this happened? Too many. Campbell owes everyone an apology for his refusal to address an area that consistently costs his team field position, points, and games.

 

[Drew0311]

Our Offense sucks, It's going to suck until we get someone with a better offensive system. Our offensive is just like Iowa's. Luckily we play UNLV this week and maybe we can get some Schwag back and get on the right path.

 

[VeloClone]

The thought that Matt Campbell owes you an apology is laughable.

 

[ZRF]

That’s the thing, he doesn’t need to be creative against UNLV, he needed to be creative LAST WEEK. Failed miserably. I’m just getting more and more angry with the offensive game planning as we go along. Manning is the obvious target here but CMC is also involved. They want to **** around with Iowa every year. I didn’t really care that much over the last few losses against Iowa, but It’s a problem now.

How many passing plays can we call to the sideline? You have to move the ball vertically and be able to throw over the middle of the field. Everything from the design, play calling, and sequencing is a disaster right now. Case in point, you bring Dekkers into the game. Normally I have no problem handing the ball off to Breece, but our run game has struggled (even against UNI) and Iowa had largely contained it up to that point. There is a strong likelihood Iowa creates minimal gain on a run play, setting up a predictable passing situation. Why no show a young QB you have confidence, while also creating a stronger likelihood of success, by calling a quick passing play on 1st down? Get him an easy completion and help get him some rhythm. That kind of crap sums up our play calling in a nutshell. It's often downright illogical.

 

[ZRF]

The thought that Matt Campbell owes you an apology is laughable.

What's laughable is this response. I'd like to see you defend his position of NOT hiring a special teams coach when it's been a constant problem. I'm sure there are a lot of big money donors that would front 5 years worth of salary for the position right now after having watched 6 years of STs futility under his watch. His refusal to hire one is simply inexcusable right now.

 

[ScottyP]

The offensive staff needs to run some faster developing routes. The routes are slow developing that it takes forever to get them open.

 

[BCClone]

What's laughable is this response. I'd like to see you defend his position of NOT hiring a special teams coach when it's been a constant problem. I'm sure there are a lot of big money donors that would front 5 years worth of salary for the position right now after having watched 6 years of STs futility under his watch. His refusal to hire one is simply inexcusable right now.

Which coach do we fire them?

 

[BCClone]

From what I could tell while at the game is that purdy has developed a slight Sam Richardson type issue. Separation is made at the break, why there is one, and the pass is to hit the receiver about 1-2 steps after the break. Brock appears to be throwing th ball after the break which by that time a safety or the original defender is closing on the ball. It’s like his faith that the receiver will make the correct cut is limited.

This also can be a problem with zone coverage. Receivers run their route and feel/find the hole and sit in it for the pass (so to speak). The QB needs to read the zone and see the hole they provide and put it there while the receiver is going to it. It can change, and will, play to play where that hole is. So the QB and receiver have to read the zone the same. It appears there may be concern on thathole reading.

 

[ZRF]

Which coach do we fire them?

We don't fire anyone. The talk and thought that we can't find the money to hire a glairing need is both sad and laughable at the same time. I guarantee you if Pollard sent out an email right now saying "we'd like to hire a STs coordinator but need 300k in donations to make it happen" he'd have the money vouched for before noon. EVERYONE is tired of our STs situation and it's not an "either or" situation. It's both.

 

[BCClone]

We don't fire anyone. The talk and thought that we can't find the money to hire a glairing need is both sad and laughable at the same time. I guarantee you if Pollard sent out an email right now saying "we'd like to hire a STs coordinator but need 300k in donations to make it happen" he'd have the money vouched for before noon. EVERYONE is tired of our STs situation and it's not an "either or" situation. It's both.

So we should violate NCAA rules by having too many coaches is your answer?

 

[ZRF]

The offensive staff needs to run some faster developing routes. The routes are slow developing that it takes forever to get them open.

I was at the game, so I'm sure I missed several instances, but I counted at least 5 plays where Purdy needed to throw the ball but none of the receiving "options" were even out of their breaks. That's a fundamental flaw in both design and play calling. It's rare you should ever have a play in your book where their isn't a hot route option but even if you do you can't be calling such plays when you know your QB likely doesn't have the protection to make those plays possible.

We are setting our QBs up for failure before the ball is even snapped.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

So we should violate NCAA rules by having too many coaches is your answer?

It's a bold strategy. Let's let it play out...

 

[MeowingCows]

The offensive staff needs to run some faster developing routes. The routes are slow developing that it takes forever to get them open.

This wouldn't hurt, but something I noticed SAT was actually that there were many plays were pass pro was oddly good and there was time and space for Purdy to use. The real problem on those plays is our WRs didn't actually get open or create any space of their own.

I'm not sure if that's a coaching gap, a talent gap, or both. Playcalling may not be helping, but our WR room has not been sharp either way.

 

[JM4CY]

This wouldn't hurt, but something I noticed SAT was actually that there were many plays were pass pro was oddly good and there was time and space for Purdy to use. The real problem on those plays is our WRs didn't actually get open or create any space of their own.

I'm not sure if that's a coaching gap, a talent gap, or both. Playcalling may not be helping, but our WR room has not been sharp either way.

I spent more time than I ever have watching particular WRs on a given play. Lots of times Charlie. The space for Non-Charlie receivers was often next to nothing. Iowa did a good job of always knowing where Charlie was. I know there is speed in that group which is why I cant figure out what the issue is. I think the routes need serious examination this week.