I like the sentiment in this thread.
“We need to take the field and start kicking ass from play one until the the other team gives up.”
I’d love to hear Campbell or one of the players say this. It’s a game. Be passionate.
I heard a wrestling coach say recently that he wants his wrestlers to be fearless, joyful savages. That’s what I want to see.
We're gonna hit you comin' outta the margarine.
A lot of criticism (which I believe is deserved) but I'm gonna wait for a larger sample before I jump off the cliff.
We used to 'hit 'em coming off the bus'. Now it's 'between the margins'. Does this stuff really resonate with the players?
One is an emotional approach which flames out pretty quickly once the game settles in and scheme and talent come into play.
I've always thought 'between the margins' was really about getting down to fundamentals and for me fundamentals is football basics being done really well. Staying low out the stance, shoulders and hips squared up for blocking and tackling. Precise footwork on a route. Offense taking what's there to be effective. Staying the lanes on coverage. Communication.
Then the 'margins' like turnovers etc. favor the team that keeps at it with solid fundamentals.
Has ISU done these things well recently?
Looks like a steak knife handle on a butter knife. If that’s what it takes, go for it.
This.Giving up 2 special team TD's is very frustrating. They are such big momentum shifters. So if getting better in the margins means better special teams, we better get things figured out quickly. We were also fortunate on the muffed punt and personal foul didn't hurt ISU.
But I look at 2 area's that are not "Margin" issues that were as big of reasons ISU lost.
The 3-3-5 has been a good defense. But I feel that its kryptonite are teams with power run games, mobile QB or strong flair/screen game. IMO our talent on the DL has progressed that we should be playing a 4 man line 75% of the time or more. Go with a 4-2-5 and adjust the personnel on the back end depending on down/distance. Seems to me we have the talent on the d-line to be an aggressive defense that can dominate the line of scrimmage, put a little fear into the QB and create turnovers.
- Our OL was just OK. Mainly against the run. It has been mentioned a lot that after Downing went out we struggled. That really shouldn't happen when ISU is playing Louisiana. Maybe against against a Texas or OU losing your best lineman makes a noticeable impact- but not most teams. Especially in pass protection.
- We just lack a smash mouth mentality on both offense and defense. We just seem very reactionary and passive. Louisiana was a good team, but we should have been playing with a lot more swagger.
Notre Dame prepared very well for last year's bowl game and knew exactly what we were going to do... they took the crossing routes away and the offense really struggled. No offense to Tom Manning, but we need a whole new playbook. The talent is there... well, maybe not on the o-line, but we have some nice weapons.The linebackers are bad.
We won't be running left any more.
The goal this year is make Brock look good to attract real players.
The defenses have figured out the crossing routes, so all Brock can do is throw jump balls to Charlie and X (even when triple-covered). That's not an offense.
Didn't we set a bunch of school records for point and yards per game last year? The offense was good. The "margins" were awful. Turnover differential, penalties and special teams is where we lost games. That also includes the defense creating very few turnovers last year.It appears to me that Heacock doesn't go around demanding his players play a perfect game by demanding they win in the margins, whatever that is supposed to mean.
He came up with a defensive scheme that allowed him to put his most talented players on the field.
He then would identify some weaknesses in the other team. His gameplan would exploit that weakness unmercifully.
How many oposing Heisman caliber QBs has Heacock dressed up in a clown suit and spun around until they didn't know whether to **** or go blind? His players love it and it shows.
Time for the offensive coaching staff to step up to the plate and do the same. Set them up to succeed instead of demanding perfection.
Didn't we set a bunch of school records for point and yards per game last year? The offense was good. The "margins" were awful. Turnover differential, penalties and special teams is where we lost games. That also includes the defense creating very few turnovers last year.
Failures in the margins were just as big a problem on defense as they were offense last year. But, the biggest culprit was, and still is special teams.