Playcalling, coaching, etc. - consolidated thread

[joefrog]

I can give you guys that Iowa won the game with superior O-Line and D-Line play. I will also say that the game wasn't decided on that one bad call. While it was momentum breaker and a very decisive point in the game, you can't assume Iowa State would've won if they got that call.

However, I still will say that Iowa State out played Iowa and I will still say that Iowa State is the better team (or has the potential to be the better team). Iowa did nothing in the game that would inspire me for their future. They controlled the line and made a few great plays that ultimately won them game, but they didn't do anything in the game that made me think they could be a good team. Their passing game was pretty sad and by the second half Iowa State was moving the ball pretty easily against their defense. Iowa won the game fair and square. But they didn't do anything that would make me think they outplayed and outcoached the other team. They scored more points and made some great plays. They deserved the win. And that's that.

Big emphasis there. Going forward, I feel a lot better about ISU than I would as an Iowa fan. Feel good today, you won. Looking forward, umm, we played a lot of underclassmen, under a second year coach, on the road, in a hostile venue. I think ISU is moving in the right direction, while Iowa has settled into its 7th in the Big10 (11) spot. Good thing for them, in that conference it gets you a January bowl game. Go figure.

 

[Angie]

ok i closed this topic... what/who's next? I'm not done with my opinions and my beliefs.... I take it you aren't ready to argue with me either.

You haven't explained why you care enough to still be posting here...

 

[Cyclonick182]

My opinions of the game, we had a shot, we didn't deliver. Simple as that. As long as we keep taking strides forward, then I can live with an L here or there.

 

[cybsball20]

LJ's head was up, therefore it was OBVIOUS it was not the crown of the helmet and shouldn't have been called. Shoulder or helmet, the rule is the CROWN. It doesn't matter how slow or fast you look at it you can tell he didn't lead with the crown.

 

[cyclonenum1]

Wow! What a discussion. Totally amazing.

I was able to watch the game on television and it was my first time seeing us play this year. My observations:

Special Teams: Our poor play on special teams really cost us...multiple missed field goals and giving up a big return for a TD was very disappointing to me.

Offense: I like what we are trying to do by getting into a formation and then looking to the sideline for a specific play call after our coaches in the booth have a chance to look at what the defense is doing from up there. Unfortunately, this approach leaves little room for error and we have a very young team...especially at the skill positions. I certainly think Arnaud looks like a good QB but I am really impressed with the game speed of Bates...he can get to the corner.

Defense: Appears to clearly be the strength of the team. Chizik has really put his stamp on the team here. We are aggressive and attacking...as well as opportunistic. Not to mention hard hitting...the "helmet to helmet" play was clearly not called correctly and was clearly a fumble...that my friends was a HIT. I think you will see us continue to be a strong team in creating takeaways. I was also impressed with our scheming...there was one time I recall that Chizik had 10 on the line of scrimmage and the Iowa QB had to call timeout because he was confused. We did a great job of keeping the Iowa offense off balance and I suspect that as the Chizik era begins to develop and mature you will see us with a very complex blitz package that we will throw at the opponent every week.

Obviously, I was upset with the loss but I believe the program is clearly heading in the right direction and we will be bowl eligible this year with at least one upset win. I just do not understand all the doom and gloom on here from the same people that never question McDermott and what is going on with the BB program.

At any rate, I'm glad to see USC put a beat-down on OSU to ensure that the team that wins the ultra-lame Big 11 conference does not make it into the BCS Championship. My prediction is USC vs. the SEC Champion in Miami for the BCS Championship!

 

[Palmer]

I was mostly just down about that plays getting late to the offense. Happy with the effort...we had shot. With such a young team.....they have to do everything right in order to pull out the win. On to UNLV!

 

[threemuch]

I was watching with my brother, who is not a clone or hawkeye, and really doesn't care about Iowa football, and at the half he said, "Man, this is some bad football. Do we have to watch the second half?"

We tried to watch the chiefs-raiders the next day with similar results.

Both teams should be embarassed, us USC impersonators slightly more so.

 

[bellzisu]

I was watching with my brother, who is not a clone or hawkeye, and really doesn't care about Iowa football, and at the half he said, "Man, this is some bad football. Do we have to watch the second half?"

We tried to watch the chiefs-raiders the next day with similar results.

Both teams should be embarassed, us USC impersonators slightly more so.

What???? So we should be more embarassed cause we are impersonating USC??

Smoke another buddy... I don't think GC has a goal of being just like USC. Results maybe. I'm sick of people saying that line of crap.

 

[Wesley]

Um no I would not have made that call because it was not the correct call. Even at game speed, it's clear LJ led with his shoulder. So what if their helmets collided - it's friggin football, it happens on every single play. The idea behind the rule is to prevent people from leading with their helmet, which again, LJ did not.

It was not helmet to helmet. SHOULDER. It was not deliberate whether that means anything or not. Next time Leonard should just blow up Moekis kneecaps and there would have been no penalty. Of course, Tony would have been injured again for the season.

 

[Cyclonick182]

Both teams should be embarassed, us USC impersonators slightly more so.

Why?! I can't see how having similar uniforms to another program is reason enough for us to hang our heads more than Iowa in an overall bad day of football for both teams.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

No blame on the guys for throwing picks, dropping balls, missed blocks, etc?

Hmmm - ok.

Those things happen every game 22. We have a 3rd and 4 in the redzone and take a delay of game. That makes it a 3rd and 9 and the next play the play clock runs out while Arnaud is flapping his arms trying to get the coaches to send a play in and we have to burn a timeout. That is on the coaches. Another time we had the ball inside the 10 and they substitute Bates into the game after he has been sitting on the sideline in a cold rain for 45 minutes. The first play we call is a play action pass? There were several times that we set up in a tight formation in the redzone and tried to run the ball in short yardage situations. This allows Iowa to be able to defend while only covering a small portion of the field. Wouldn't it have made more sense to spread the field which means we aren't trying to run into 8 or 9 defenders in the box? Coaching.

These are just a few examples of ISU beating ISU rather then forcing Iowa to beat us. These simple coaching miscues are easily correctable and I am sure our staff will be kicking themselves when they review tape of the game.

Part of coaching is making sure you make the calls that give your guys the best chance to make plays which I don't think that we did.

At the end of the day we will learn from this and our future opponents will suffer the consequences for what we learned in our loss to Iowa. That in and of itself makes it worth it.

 

[scyclonekid]

The loss was a total team loss not coaching staff and players everyone.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

The loss was a total team loss not coaching staff and players everyone.

I am just saying in certain situations we set ourself up for failure. Did the same thing on a 3rd and 1 and then a 4th and 1 against Kent State. Tight formation allows the defense to only have to defend a small portion of the field. Spread them out and you have more options and you can take better advantage or our players superior athleticism.

We shall see if the ISU coaching staff changes up this strategy against UNLV. My guess is that we will spread the field more in those short yardage situations to allow our athletic qb's more options and make the defense have to defend the entire field from sideline to sideline.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

Those things happen every game 22. We have a 3rd and 4 in the redzone and take a delay of game. That makes it a 3rd and 9 and the next play the play clock runs out while Arnaud is flapping his arms trying to get the coaches to send a play in and we have to burn a timeout. That is on the coaches. Another time we had the ball inside the 10 and they substitute Bates into the game after he has been sitting on the sideline in a cold rain for 45 minutes. The first play we call is a play action pass? There were several times that we set up in a tight formation in the redzone and tried to run the ball in short yardage situations. This allows Iowa to be able to defend while only covering a small portion of the field. Wouldn't it have made more sense to spread the field which means we aren't trying to run into 8 or 9 defenders in the box? Coaching.

These are just a few examples of ISU beating ISU rather then forcing Iowa to beat us. These simple coaching miscues are easily correctable and I am sure our staff will be kicking themselves when they review tape of the game.

Part of coaching is making sure you make the calls that give your guys the best chance to make plays which I don't think that we did.

At the end of the day we will learn from this and our future opponents will suffer the consequences for what we learned in our loss to Iowa. That in and of itself makes it worth it.

Great post. You saved me from having to type out everything I was thinking.

I just don't understand why we didn't spread Iowa's defense out more while trying to run the ball. We were running straight into their one and only strength.

 

[ISUCLONES15]

I just watched the game, DVR'ed it, for the first time since seeing it live. Man am I even more disappointed, but more optimistic if that makes sense, then I was after watching it live. Here is a few things from my point of view....

Collin Franklin had a TD that he should have caught. Not an easy catch by any means, but he should have caught it. He also had 2 other balls that he should have caught. Rough day for Collin, but I am very excited about his potential. He will do great things for us!

The play that Arnaud completely missed Darks on, I think it was a 3rd down in the 2nd half, WOW! Darks did not have a guy within 10 yards of him. If Arnaud puts that throw on the money I honestly believe Darks could have went straight down the sideline 20 yards for the TD. I think Arnaud was shocked to see Darks so open and tried to force the ball in there.

I wish we would have ran a few designed QB draw's straight up the middle. When we spread the Hawks out 4 wide from the shotgun the middle of their D opened right up after the ball was snapped and the QB took a step back. I know, coulda, shoulda woulda right.

The Clones really had every opportunity to win this game, which gives me much more optimism for the rest of the season after my intial thoughts after the game. Execution will get cleaned up and communication from the sideline will get smoother. I still see us going bowling, but we MUST take a win in Vegas this Saturday!

 

[temperflare]

If I had a choice between winning this game and not being in the BIGXII Championship vs. losing this game and still having a shot at the BIXII Championship...

I'll take losing. I don't like it, but the season is far from over and we have a TON of potential.