I was there tonight...a great crowd, great support, just a head scratcher of a game.
First, JJ Bass is a very good player, and you had better not try to arm tackle him. Unfortunately, the rest of his offensive teammates weren't at his level on Thursday night.
I don't know what Bret Meyer stats were, but his two picks were pretty ugly. The DB's jumped those routes and were sitting there for nearly a full second waiting to make the pick's. Not good at all.
I was very underwhelmed with Iowa State's offensive attack. I didn't see anything that I expected. This team was vanilla, and it wasn't because they were saving pages of the playbook. No way. Bret Meyer is a better thrower on the run, IMO, rolling pockets. There was very little of that. There wasn't as much spread formation on Thursday either. I think that is going to change between now and the Iowa game. I think they go back to a drawing board some on that front. i expect them to look different offensively by the Iowa game.
They had to keep tight ends inside to help block, because the new OL is a work in progress. They looked good at times, but not consistent at all. I don't know that they get consistent by the Iowa game. I felt this aspect would be one of the reasons we would see more spreads and rollouts, but we didn't.
Todd Blythe had better finish plays as a blocker, because he cost Bass some yards and some possible long TD's.
On defense, Iowa State brought some heat on the first few possessions, but the rest of the game, they played it very conservatively. And Kent State ran up the middle every time they wanted to, which is the most demoralizing thing to a defense. Kent State chose to outsmart themselves a lot, they should have just hammered things between the tackles. Their linebackers did not look great tonight, outside of Banks early on.
Shaggy missed a 44 yarder and a 47 yarder. Not good for his confidence to start his last year.
ISU's punter is solid, that's a good thing.
If this game is any indication of the new kickoff rule affecting the game, we are in for a lot of fun this year. A lot of solid returns in this game.
ISU had the two turnovers, but KSU had two turnovers in the redzone...one of them was on the ISU 5 yard line. The score could have been a lot worse for ISU in this game.
Phil Steele picked KSU to win this game, and to win the MAC's Eastern division. ISU was a 3.5 point favorite, at home, which is basically a pickem. KSU returned 8 starters on O and D. Their OL looked solid, they were excellent in pass blocking as well as running up the middle.
I think ISU will make a lot of changes before the Iowa game, but I they don't have the 2005 DL on this year's team.
First, JJ Bass is a very good player, and you had better not try to arm tackle him. Unfortunately, the rest of his offensive teammates weren't at his level on Thursday night.
I don't know what Bret Meyer stats were, but his two picks were pretty ugly. The DB's jumped those routes and were sitting there for nearly a full second waiting to make the pick's. Not good at all.
I was very underwhelmed with Iowa State's offensive attack. I didn't see anything that I expected. This team was vanilla, and it wasn't because they were saving pages of the playbook. No way. Bret Meyer is a better thrower on the run, IMO, rolling pockets. There was very little of that. There wasn't as much spread formation on Thursday either. I think that is going to change between now and the Iowa game. I think they go back to a drawing board some on that front. i expect them to look different offensively by the Iowa game.
They had to keep tight ends inside to help block, because the new OL is a work in progress. They looked good at times, but not consistent at all. I don't know that they get consistent by the Iowa game. I felt this aspect would be one of the reasons we would see more spreads and rollouts, but we didn't.
Todd Blythe had better finish plays as a blocker, because he cost Bass some yards and some possible long TD's.
On defense, Iowa State brought some heat on the first few possessions, but the rest of the game, they played it very conservatively. And Kent State ran up the middle every time they wanted to, which is the most demoralizing thing to a defense. Kent State chose to outsmart themselves a lot, they should have just hammered things between the tackles. Their linebackers did not look great tonight, outside of Banks early on.
Shaggy missed a 44 yarder and a 47 yarder. Not good for his confidence to start his last year.
ISU's punter is solid, that's a good thing.
If this game is any indication of the new kickoff rule affecting the game, we are in for a lot of fun this year. A lot of solid returns in this game.
ISU had the two turnovers, but KSU had two turnovers in the redzone...one of them was on the ISU 5 yard line. The score could have been a lot worse for ISU in this game.
Phil Steele picked KSU to win this game, and to win the MAC's Eastern division. ISU was a 3.5 point favorite, at home, which is basically a pickem. KSU returned 8 starters on O and D. Their OL looked solid, they were excellent in pass blocking as well as running up the middle.
I think ISU will make a lot of changes before the Iowa game, but I they don't have the 2005 DL on this year's team.
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