MONDAY MUSINGS: The biggest reason for Iowa State's turnaround

[ChrisMWilliams]

I've gotta take my little girl to the doctor tomorrow so I'm posting Musings tonight. Enjoy.

https://cyclonefanatic.com/2017/10/monday-musings-the-biggest-reason-for-iowa-states-turnaround/

 

[Brandon]

3rd in the big 12 in rush defense is pretty impressive. Lima is a beast and Trent has improved 10 fold. Johnson is gonna be a good one as well and he's only a sophmore. Future is looking bright with this staff.

 

[FinalFourCy]

3rd in the big 12 in rush defense is pretty impressive. Lima is a beast and Trent has improved 10 fold. Johnson is gonna be a good one as well and he's only a sophmore. Future is looking bright with this staff.

Agree. It's too bad Johnson missed early season development time. That's a very good 3-man rotation. The main thing the line lacks is that Berryman level pass rusher.

 

[EYEoftheSTORM]

Agreed with the elite pass rusher, If we could get just a teeny weeny bit more pressure in passing situations this D would be STOUT. All in all I'm. It going to complain too much. Aside from struggling to get off the field on 3rd down, I have been nothing but happy with the defense.

 

[IAStubborn]

Biggest reason? Depth. We lose our starting qb and train keeps rolling. We have stud backups at most positions. It is really awesome the level of depth he has been able to bring in such a short. time. That and overall talent is upgraded at most positions. The line always takes longest but we are close there too. Count me in as bought in on "the process".

 

[FinalFourCy]

If Manning can coach up the Oline to be more sound and physical in their run blocks, this staff will have turned straw into gold. I wonder if those 5th year guys we missed out on would have made a difference.

 

[CycloneErik]

It's pretty cool that we're doing so well against the run for real, without that stat being a mirage because we're just so easy to pass against.
These guys are really putting something together.

 

[Brandon]

If Manning can coach up the Oline to be more sound and physical in their run blocks, this staff will have turned straw into gold. I wonder if those 5th year guys we missed out on would have made a difference.

We took some lumps on the oline missing out on 5th year guys but we have more youth this way. All in all its probably better.

 

[mj4cy]

Probably not a popular take, but I'm not 100% sold yet to say it's been a turnaround. Yes, I seem vast improvement, but beyond an amazing upset, and a rivalry game, ISU hasn't yet to really face a 50/50 game. However, that can change this weekend. Perfect chance for ISU to show OU wasn't just a dream.

 

[bosco]

Is it time to consider that this defense is good? I'm not saying this to be a smartass. I know compared to past Iowa State defenses it's good. But nationally is this a good defense?

I've been jaded so long I don't know what to think about this team being "good". I watch them play and have to think are we playing well? Is this what good teams look like or is the other team just playing like crap.

 

[cydline2cydline]

I've gotta take my little girl to the doctor tomorrow so I'm posting Musings tonight. Enjoy.

https://cyclonefanatic.com/2017/10/monday-musings-the-biggest-reason-for-iowa-states-turnaround/

 

[CyCloned]

This defense have come a long ways in the last 6 weeks. 2 for 17 on third down and both 4th downs attempts stopped?? 5 weeks ago it didn't matter what the distance was on third, there was a pretty good chance the other team was going to make it.

 

[cycloneworld]

Probably not a popular take, but I'm not 100% sold yet to say it's been a turnaround. Yes, I seem vast improvement, but beyond an amazing upset, and a rivalry game, ISU hasn't yet to really face a 50/50 game. However, that can change this weekend. Perfect chance for ISU to show OU wasn't just a dream.

I'm with you. We've made HUGE progress but KU is 8th in rushing, Texas is 6th, and OU is 3rd. And we gave up 190 yards to OU (right at their season average). Major improvements over last year for sure (its the reason we've already surpassed our win total from last year) but I'm not ready to call them great just yet. But it is definitely nice to be able to stop people this year.

To me, the turnaround is more due to not turning the ball over. Zero turnovers in the last 2 games.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Is it time to consider that this defense is good? I'm not saying this to be a smartass. I know compared to past Iowa State defenses it's good. But nationally is this a good defense?

I've been jaded so long I don't know what to think about this team being "good". I watch them play and have to think are we playing well? Is this what good teams look like or is the other team just playing like crap.

This defense is good. This defense is borderline nasty if a few things continue to improve. Our corners, and I mean all the players that are getting time are doing great. Even when they do give up an underneath reception they are sound, disciplined, and laying the wood. Follow that with good violent pursuit angles and fits from the middle backers.

Here are some stats I was looking at the really stood out to me the other day.

Iowa State has allowed the least points in the conference right now. Not only that but in total games we are 3rd in scoring allowed, and its pretty close. TCU has allowed 104, K-State 126, and then us at 130. Also, in total defense we are 2nd behind TCU. Last but not least we are 3rd in the league in rushing defense behind, TCU and Texas. Some crazy stats to behold when you consider what the expectations were to start the season.

That's not all. Joel Lanning is 2nd in tackles in the Big 12. I think it's time to start drinking the cool-aid on the Joel's NFL possibilities. Then right behind him Spears is tied for 3rd in the Big12 for tackles. That's right folks, two of our starting linebackers are leading the league in tackles and Spears is just a sophomore.

The secondary has been pretty stout as well. Kamari has 3 INT which is good enough for 2nd in the league, behind UT's amazing 5 INT performance from DeShon Elliot. Spears is tied for 2nd in the league on fumbles forced. We are 2nd in TO margin.

Just to pile on, we are 1st in the league for penalties, and 2nd in the league for penalties against opponent. That means we are playing sound disciplined football.

We have room for improvement in the redzone, and 3rd down conversions allowed, but if that starts to tighten up we will have one of the nastiest defense in the country. So proud of the effort we are seeing out of the players and coaches.


http://www.espn.com/college-football/standings
http://www.big12sports.com/fls/10410/pdfs/football/2017OverallStats.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=10410

 

[dinger]

Probably not a popular take, but I'm not 100% sold yet to say it's been a turnaround. Yes, I seem vast improvement, but beyond an amazing upset, and a rivalry game, ISU hasn't yet to really face a 50/50 game. However, that can change this weekend. Perfect chance for ISU to show OU wasn't just a dream.

Im here with you. I love all the talk about how we've turned a corner, but what real evidence is there besides one big win. We had one of those in 2011 too. I see positive differences from this big win to that one, and in the culture of this team as a whole. Im optimistic for sure, but Im trying to stay grounded and cant comfortably say the corner is turned.

 

[SpokaneCY]

We need to slow the roll when declaring our defense great. But to keep it in perspective, our current defense IS great by ISU standards sadly set by prior coaching staff.

Our team no doubt has nicks and bruises, but I don't remember being this healthy this late in the season? Feels in every season past we've lost 2-3 MAJOR pieces with nobody ready in the wings. This season it looks like a legit "next man in" and the staff is able to - more times than not - have these guys in the right position to take advantage of our strength.

1 game means nothing, 1 season is more important, and how we follow-up on our hard-won gains is what will define these young men.

 

[dinger]

If Manning can coach up the Oline to be more sound and physical in their run blocks, this staff will have turned straw into gold. I wonder if those 5th year guys we missed out on would have made a difference.

After watching what he did last year, Im excited to see how these guys are playing in about 4 more weeks. The week to week improvement didnt stop last year and I think that says a lot about Manning as a position coach. I think we will see that year after year with him and his olinemen.

 

[CycoCyclone]

our three man rush, which has definitely frustrated me at times, has made our LB and DB play outstanding. Those 3 d linemen are really eating the their opponents

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

This team just doesn't shoot themselves in the foot with penalties. Outside of Bailey's triple lutz in the Texas game the team has really eliminated the back breaking penalties. Last year we had a ton of illegal formation and motion issues but year 2 in the system has definitely helped clean that up.

 

[Rural]

We're essentially daring teams to run the ball, quite the contrast from being a sieve against the run.