***Iowa Pregame Thread***

Although some hints of homerism, I thought this podcast was pretty detailed, thoughtful analysis of the game- especially if you appreciate the X and Os.

If the average fan (me?) was required to understand everything that was covered in order to watch the game, attendance would fall. How the hell can you run "12 personnel" with only 11 players? (just kidding). I found it to be very detailed and informative--well done. Coordinators (and players) have a lot more on their plate than average Joe (again me) can comprehend. When a play doesn't work we are quick to judge why it was called when in fact it wasn't executed properly or the opponent countered it brilliantly. I didn't view their takes so much as homerism as I did them understanding what needed to be done and believing they had the personnel to do it. They did acknowledge that we are good at making halftime adjustments and let's hope we don't have to make too many--there is a reason the point spread is tight. More nervous about the game than I was prior to listening to this.
 
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Was perusing the roster, and noticed that while only the #30 has been retired, there is no one listed on the roster with #1. That would normally be a popular choice. Any idea why no one wears #1 for ISU football?
 
If the average fan (me?) was required to understand everything that was covered in order to watch the game, attendance would fall. How the hell can you run "12 personnel" with only 11 players? (just kidding). I found it to be very detailed and informative--well done. Coordinators (and players) have a lot more on their plate than average Joe (again me) can comprehend. When a play doesn't work we are quick to judge why it was called when in fact it wasn't executed properly or the opponent countered it brilliantly. I didn't view their takes so much as homerism as I did them understanding what needed to be done and believing they had the personnel to do it. They did acknowledge that we are good at making halftime adjustments and let's hope we don't have to make too many--there is a reason the point spread is tight. More nervous about the game than I was prior to listening to this.
Personally, I enjoy learning about the football as it allows me to watch it differently. Not having played or coached football at any level, I don’t really have a “players perspective” like I do in other sports.

p.s. I actually found little to no homerism, but put the disclaimer to set expectations ;) Myself included, I saw the black and gold and kind of dismissed that it would be worth the listen. I was pleasantly surprised.
 
Wearing #1 seems like a characteristic of a me guy. Maybe Campbell has a rule that he won’t allow that?
Solid guess actually. Although i didnt get that vibe from Anthony Johnson necessarily.

Isheem Young and Tarique Milton however, this is 100% accurate
 
Iowa has one offensive player that really concerns me...and he doesn't get talked about enough.

Kaden Wetjen...the kid is highly dangerous on returns and...though they under utilize him on offense...if he gets in the open field good luck catching him. Outside of this kid, their offense is pretty vanilla...but he scares me. He seems to be quite under the radar as I've not seen much discussion of him on the preview shows.
 
This game is all turnovers and special teams. In the last two games played in Ames ISU has put up more yards than Iowa, but I do not believe Iowa has a turnover in Ames since 2013
Agreed. Iowa did throw an interception in 2023. However, 2 plays later, Rocco threw a pick-six.
 
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Iowa has one offensive player that really concerns me...and he doesn't get talked about enough.

Kaden Wetjen...the kid is highly dangerous on returns and...though they under utilize him on offense...if he gets in the open field good luck catching him. Outside of this kid, their offense is pretty vanilla...but he scares me. He seems to be quite under the radar as I've not seen much discussion of him on the preview shows.
if Jace Gilbert is not doing kick-offs and Konrardy has to, I hope we just boot it out of the endzone every time. Don't make Iowa Special teams beat you.
 
if Jace Gilbert is not doing kick-offs and Konrardy has to, I hope we just boot it out of the endzone every time. Don't make Iowa Special teams beat you.
Huge bummer that Flora is out, but i expect Townsend to do some big things in the return game
 
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Solid guess actually. Although i didnt get that vibe from Anthony Johnson necessarily.

Isheem Young and Tarique Milton however, this is 100% accurate
Isheem is still playing, now wearing double-one for Memphis!
 
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You know what I find funny is Hawk fans always thought it was an insult to call Iowa State transfer U in basketball. At least we did it well! Here we have the Hawks paying millions of dollars for rental transfers at QB year after year and their offense has been the laughing stock of the country. One transfer QB after another! Keep the transfer QBs coming lord knows their coaching staff can't develop a QB in their own program!
 
am I the only person concerned about our run game? I am not comfortable with what we couldnt do against South Dakota, it seemed we really couldnt run consistently until our secon string was in? I hope im wrong....
Im also concerned but after watching the game back, SD was definitely putting 7-8 players in the box. While our OL wasnt great, im not overly concerned. We ran the ball "fine" against KSU the week before
 
You know what I find funny is Hawk fans always thought it was an insult to call Iowa State transfer U in basketball. At least we did it well! Here we have the Hawks paying millions of dollars for rental transfers at QB year after year and their offense has been the laughing stock of the country. One transfer QB after another! Keep the transfer QBs coming lord knows their coaching staff can't develop a QB in their own program!

Also a few of their most notable athletes were transfers over the years but the scrappy kid from Linn-Mar is the hero because he grew up a Hok.
 
Solid guess actually. Although i didnt get that vibe from Anthony Johnson necessarily.

Isheem Young and Tarique Milton however, this is 100% accurate
Ish. Man, what could have been for him at ISU. After his Fresh year, I really thought he had NFL potential.

And I'm absolutely not one to **** on transfers, just what could have been...
 
Im also concerned but after watching the game back, SD was definitely putting 7-8 players in the box. While our OL wasnt great, im not overly concerned. We ran the ball "fine" against KSU the week before
We know IA will stack the box also....
 
am I the only person concerned about our run game? I am not comfortable with what we couldnt do against South Dakota, it seemed we really couldnt run consistently until our secon string was in? I hope im wrong....
Similar to @RagingCloner comments, USD wanted us to throw the ball much of the game. In previous years (under a different OC) I think we would have forced the run-game.

Still a little concerned about not being able to effectively run the ball against Iowa's front 7. If they are putting 7 to 8 in close, we have to complete passes early to open the field a bit.
 
am I the only person concerned about our run game? I am not comfortable with what we couldnt do against South Dakota, it seemed we really couldnt run consistently until our secon string was in? I hope im wrong....
A little. We’re likely not going to run it that well but when we have ran it okay, it’s because we’ve set it up with the pass. Trying to jam the ball down their throats is not going to be a successful recipe.

I like us getting creative here in how we utilize the run game.
 
Iowa has one offensive player that really concerns me...Kaden Wetjen

One concern of mine: can our replacement kicker boom kickoffs deep enough for touchbacks? Don't need to give up a big special teams play after we score

As for punting, just don't. Or punt it out of bounds. Based on what we have seen, Iowa's return team is 10x more lethal than its patty cake offense.

H
 
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